Friday, July 27, 2012

July 27th Lassen National Forest

I love road trips! Especially the kind where I don't have to be anywhere on a schedule. Just looking at the map and going however far I want to go without a care in the world.

In this spirit I got a late start this morning and then took the wrong hwy. Wrong in that it wasn't the most direct route but it did get me here so who cares? I stopped at the first NF campground I came to and found a spot to hang my hammock. It IS kinda close to the hwy but I really don't care. I'm here, my hammock is hung and I expect to sleep like a baby tonight. Hopefully not a colicky baby.

I stopped in Red Bluff this afternoon looking for a small, but not too small, ice chest for this adventure. Somehow I found a Walmart and not knowing where else to go, I walked in. The ice chest was found easily but the fun part was watching a knife demonstrator hawk his wares. I went for the promise of a free paring knife and got a pretty good show of top of the knife. It's a "forever sharp" - never heard of it.

I am so stoked to be sleeping outside tonight. And so, the next phase of my adventure begins.

Monday, July 23, 2012

July 23rd Almost time!

It's been a long time now since I had much in the way of hiking related news to yack about. This is changing now as I've got to get stuff packed and my truck new oil. BYW, Toyota trucks, aka Tacos, rock. All I ever do for it is change the oil... knock on wood.

Anyhow I have been dealing with what I thought was a chronic achilles tendon problem for months now and nothing I've done has helped. I finally went to my friend Dr Pat and she did her magic on my calf, the culprit in this mystery. Then off to see Amber, super massage queen and my leg feels better than it has for months. Looks like I've been treating the wrong thing all this time. Hopefully this will help me be able to treat it on my own once I hit the dusty road, in about a week. Yikes!

I can feel the anxiety building again as I prepare for this next section of my hike. How bad will the mosquitoes be? Will there be enough trees to hang my hammock? How cold will it be and when will it happen? Will I be warm enough? Is my rain gear up to the task of Pacific Northwest downpours? As I am a weather wimp, these kinds of things concern me.

It's funny how my worries of the past don't concern me now. I've done the desert thing, I'm familiar with the Sierras but the PNW is a new creature, one I know nothing of. Will it be friendly or snarl a bit? I hope for no bites but one never knows. To help me with these unknowns, Angela just finished casting me a silver token I will be wearing around my neck. Angela made a casting of it from a plastic charm I picked up somewhere years ago. Somehow wearing Lucky around my neck gives me confidence.