No cook?

I must say that weighing all my packed gear was a sobering event. My base weight had climbed to 14 pounds 4.6 ounces which is quite a bit higher than my goal of 13 pounds. Nothing to do but go back through the stuff I was gonna bring and see what I could remove without losing comfort and safety. I managed to remove two pieces of clothing that wasn't necessary, given the heat wave I am facing when I get out there, but what else could I remove? Hmmmmmm.

For years now I have been resisting the notion of not bringing a stove with me on backpacking trips. I really only use it to heat up water for my dinner meal so it IS POSSIBLE to get by without heating my water on a stove. Especially with the hot sun we are having so far this summer. To see if there was another way to warm up my dinners I got a black bag I had made for another use and placed a ziplock containing my dinner and enough water to rehydrate it. I put it in the sun and within an hour my dinner was rehydrated and quite warm. It wasn't burning-hot by any means, but it turned out plenty hot enough for me. So here is what I am gonna do. Replace my cook kit which weighed 10.3 ounces, not including fuel

With the black bag, spoon and Ti cup (in case I have an emergency and have to heat water) I have dropped my food related weight to 3.1 ounces! I like it!

I painted my cup black with heat resistant paint so I can also use the sun to heat water in the cup, should I want to warm up some water for miso soup or anything else like that.

All things considered a respectable swap. I've removed 17 ounces from my overall weight but there is still something I can get rid of... I am sure of it. I still have three days to find a way...

Al-righty then

Dang. I've got six days till I take off for LA and family visiting. The good news? All my resupply boxes are done and ready to be mailed by my oh-so-trusty and remarkable girlfriend/partner for forever, Angela. All that remains for me to do is to get them to her art studio tomorrow, where they will await mailing. Truly, I couldn't do this without her support and doggedness.

Last time around (two years ago) I was feeling very different. Terrible intestinal trouble - I thought I might be getting an ulcer I was so verklempt. I was scared and…what? I don't know what. But I guess I was feeling so unsure of myself that I didn't know if I'd manage 100 miles…who could even think of 2,663.5 miles? Well, hey. I've walked 700 miles of hot, dry, waterless desert and I think, and believe, I will be able to do it again.

If there is such a thing as temperament and tendency, I have always been a scared individual. I was raised to be polite, kind and well, British in nature. Not that Brits as a people are timid, au contraire. But there is something about learning to be kind, appropriate and polite that can make a perfectly wild child kinda timid. You could say I've spent the past six decades learning to push against this kind of conditioning. Girl training is part of it. I remember the adult women in my youth saying that it was important to let the menfolk think they were the smarter ones. Really? Who ever thought that would be a good idea? Maybe people without economic power…? Well, never mind why, it is still a lesson I learned that follows me everywhere I go. When you have to temper your own talents against someone else's ego…Well, it isn't often a very good outcome.

Even given all of that, in ten days I will leave my perfectly wonderful life, home and friends/family/animal friends and start walking north, to Canada. What a crazy idea! I can't really say why this is a good idea but to me it seems right. I am a simple person with a silly idea but I hope to make it happen.