First, to catch you up, I was in Portland for another week trying yet again to close out this new customer. Progress was made, there is a bit of work left to do but it can be done remotely and so it shall. Portland this time was not like Portland last time. What a difference having a weekend makes. This trip was in on Monday, out on a Thursday night red-eye from hell (perhaps more on that later but I'm trying to accentuate the positive right now and have nothing nice to say about the flight. Except I got to hold a cute baby, but there is a large negative to that as well so I will stop there)
Anyhoo, so I land in Baltimore Friday completely *completely* damaged because of the flight and the fact that I got roughly 10 minutes of sleep on said flight and I collapse into bed. HN and I had big plans for the weekend but between my being wrecked from flying and his other obligations, it was clearly going to push back from our original planned Friday afternoon departure.
Round about 10pm Friday night we finally get our act together and roll out of B'less and head for the hills. Final destination: WVa's pristine and hilly wilderness.
We made it about 2 hours of the 4 for the drive and stopped in at America's Best Value no-tell motel, which wasn't by far the worst place I've ever stayed and then up and out early doors on Saturday for the wilderness. Seriously this time.
During our 3 day/2 night stay in the woods I learned many things, some of which are just good life lessons and many of which I hope to apply to my Alaska trip to make that a more successful venture (Did I tell you I'm going to Alaska? Well I am)
Here are the lessons learned, interspersed with some not totally related pictures just so you don't get bored. Note: Sometimes the pictures are relevant to the point I'm making, but not usually. That would require a foresight I don't have, but it's something to think about for future ventures.
Lessons I Learned While Backpacking This Weekend
A photoessay by Kerry Smith
1) My balance? Not that great. Looking back, there were contributing factors like the fact that I apparently packed my pack like a total tard and didn't place things right at all. I theoretically know better but I never really stopped to think about it while I was ever packing up. Surely this would have helped, but not completely: lots of the blame just has to lie on me, I tilt to the left I guess. Every time we had to cross a major water or mud scenario (and there were plenty. The place is call the dolly SODS) I went in. This means I took my first dunk at roughly 1 mile into the walk on the first day. Good thing I hadn't ever gotten around to putting my boots around my neck like I should have. I opted instead to carry them in my hand, do you see where I'm going with this? When you fall you put your hands down. If you're falling over while crossing a river and you put your hands down with boots in them you actually dunk your boots and fill them with water. Go Team Smith!
The best fall I took had to be when Star and I both duffed and fell off some logs someone had setup to ford a particularly muddy pit. She went in right up to her backpack and got stuck, which I thought was pretty funny until my laughter apparently upset my already precarious balance and sent me in after her. There was a second of shock, followed by many minutes of raucous laughter on my part. All I could think of was Atreyu and Artax in the bog of despair, however I was unable to communicate this effectively through my alternating laughter and cursing and so it remained a supremely private joke.
Dog and I just a mile shy of the Big Muddy Dip.We are adventuresses!!
2) HN is a freaking saint. I was a "little" grouchy at times this weekend. Just being beat from traveling so much lately, compounded by the red-eye of doom and complicated by feminine issues I was just beat. I would say I was operating at roughly 75% capacity overall and he dealt with it like a champ. Not only did he carry the lion's share of the weight from the start but he split the dog food with me when dog became unable to carry her pack and when I abandoned my pack to take a side hike and then refused to return for it (I was going to go back, just later after I rested.) he went and got it for me. Plus the second night he opted for water duty and walked 1 mile to get it and carried 3 gallons back to camp. Nothing like someone nearby remaining cool, calm and collected to make you realize you're a f*cking nutjob. Plus, every now and then when I would be clearly on the verge of freaking out, he would placate me with snacks.
Which leads to:
3) When I am freaking out, a cookie is the key. Must remember this one, perhaps start bringing cookies to work. There were a couple of moments where I was tiring and getting a wee bit cranky and HN would waggle a cookie at me and grant me some rest. This was V helpful. However I either need to bake lower fat cookies or undergo an attitude change because if this lifestyle were to continue I could end up large.
Cookie break!Notice muddy and wet looking shoes.
Day 2 terrain was mostly like this. Hello sciatic nerve.Ouch.
5) West Va = not *totally* behind the times. Wind power!!
There were lines of these and surely more impressive pictures had I been motivated enough to stop the car.I think that's all I really learned this weekend, other than the fact the I need to stay home for a few days and recalibrate. I must be getting old, because I was B-e-a-t from traveling.
Speaking of getting old, my dog is getting old!!
What's up blue hair?!Now, unrelated pics of wildlife:
Ferns a fiddling out
Sphagnum world. Neat stuffs.
Insectivorous plants rule!
the ultimate fireside lounging
1 comment:
If I was going to start judging myself and doing stuff like "fix attitude issues"... forget it, I can't even finish the sentence. Lower fat cookies. Seriously. That's my personal take on the whole thing. I could be the wrong person to take advice from when regarding this subject. And with a swing of the pendulum, the best.
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