Two months to prepare for the departure trip

We are two months away from departure and there is a lot to do before then. The bedroom is full of equipment and we are making the final selections and accessories.

My backpack, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, pillow, underwear, spare socks and underwear, rain suit, puffer jacket, electronics, cooking system, possible bag, and hygiene kit weigh 15.1 pounds. It’s not bad, but I think I can lose a little more weight. I have many small bags to remove and more labels to find and cut.

Selection and testing of clothing.

Yesterday, I spent a good amount of time removing labels from clothing to save weight, even if it’s marginal, it’s worth the effort. Every gram counts on your back. I dug through my dresser and weighed all my base layers to find the lightest but warmest combination. Patagonia Capilene and Smartwool all season to win the lightweight.

Continuous physical training

The physical training before the trip is going well. We hiked 95 miles last week with our backpacks and felt pretty good. This week we started doing simulated weight carrying with our travel backpacks, rain gear, water bottles, lunch, and weighted vests stuffed into our backpacks. We’re planning test hikes with full gear soon, so my bag is pretty loose now. He weighed 26 pounds and had a couple of hot spots on his right shoulder and right hip. My pants selection may need to be rethought, the waist drawstring caused a bit of irritation under the hip belt. There will definitely be more testing and pack tuning sessions to come. I’ll remove the zip tie from the bear spray when we get to Lordsburg. I’ll leave it on for now to avoid accidental splashes during shipping.

Still working on the nutritional strategy for the trip.

We have most of our eating strategy covered with the basic needs of calories, protein, carbohydrates, fat and fiber calculated. The fine details still need work, but we’re still focusing on a mixed nut, date bar, and backpacker dinner strategy. More details to come. We are still planning to mail most of our food to save time on our days off. 25 large USPS replenishment boxes are headed our way. Before the trip, we focused on eating lean proteins, beans, whole grains, and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. We avoid any food that we will take during the trip to avoid palate fatigue.

To-do list for the next 2 weeks:

1. Finalize team
2. Finalize the nutrition strategy
3. finish the clothes
4. order food
5. Pack replenishment boxes
6. Make a Post Office Address List
7. Night test walk to practice setting up the tent and placing new reflective ropes
8. Permethrin sprays clothing against insects.
9. Buy the America the Beautiful pass
10. Purchase a Visitor Pass for the Blackfoot Reservation
11. Organize the first 10 days of rest in hotels.
12. Get taxes filed

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