Packing Your Fears

We spent today getting the final preparations to start the Newport to Newport Transcontinental Pilgrimage tomorrow, April 1st, 2019.  After waking up from a great night’s rest at the Beech Tree Inn and Cottage in Newport, Rhode Island, we started to sort and pack the final gear list in our packs.  We still have far too many things based on the weight of our packs, but it’s hard to know at this point what we can leave behind.

A common refrain I’ve heard in the thru-hiking community is that you have a tendency to pack your fears.  I’ve certainly found this assertion has held true for me. I have zero interest in being cold. Not one little bit, and if you paw through my pack you would probably be able to guess that’s one of the elements of the pilgrimage that I am vigorously trying to avoid.  Even after getting rid of an unnecessary fleece and a couple of other small items, I can tell you that I’m probably carrying an extra long pair of pants and maybe a shirt or two.

Knowing that intellectually and doing something about it are two different things.  Tomorrow when we finally strike out on the pilgrimage, the temperature is supposed to rattle the mercury around thirty-five degrees.  I’m going to be wearing those long pants. Not because I need to be wearing them. I should be wearing my rain pants until it warms up a little later in the afternoon, but I just can’t bring myself to get rid of the long hiking pants yet.

It’s silly.  I’ve said during the course of the last four years of training that any temperature above forty degrees is by definition shorts weather.  Tomorrow supposed to get well above 40, and if I get cold I can always throw on my Under Armour Cold Gear leggings. Somehow I’m still caught up packing my fears.

Hopefully a day on the trail will cure me of such silliness.  One way or another we’re going to learn a little more tomorrow.

Route Planning IV - Tension in the Expedition Party

I’m a little bit frustrated with Rory right now. I probably shouldn’t be writing this, but let’s face it, he’s probably not going to take the time to look at the blog anyway. I suspect I’m safe from being discovered. If I’m wrong about that, it will be yet another example of how bad I am at predicting the future, but I’m pretty sure I’m on solid ground this time.

I’m frustrated because of our morning phone conversation. I’m frustrated because I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job of planning and preparing for the N2N-TCP while holding down a day job with a non-trivial commuting burden. I’m frustrated a little because he has what I perceived to be loads of discretionary time. He also seems to want to wax philosophically about planning, but he doesn’t seem to want to do any of it.

Today, he laid out the case for the fact that “we” haven’t planned enough and that all we’ve really done is to put together a “vision” for the N2N-TCP. On that assertion, I agree that we really do need to buckle down and start planning the final details associated with the pilgrimage. Here’s where I think we need to focus our efforts:

1. Drafting a general letter of introduction to people or organizations that may be in a position to help with the execution of the pilgrimage. Like a logo or a brand, time spent on this type of activity has a very good chance of paying off in multiple locations an multiple scenarios. For example, I think we would be well served to introduce our proposed effort to the Cities of Newport, RI and Newport, OR. I’m not sure if this pilgrimage is going to generate any public interest, but if it does these two cities might want to capitalize on the publicity. I also think a letter of introduction would be useful in trying to drum up support for major logistics companies like Amazon or Sam’s/Walmart. Logistics in Nebraska seems to one of Rory’s major concerns since he keeps bringing it up, but other than research a pull cart, he hasn’t done a whole lot to address the concern. Getting a professional organization to help with the logistics aspects of the walk would be a real coup d'etat. It would also be a whole lot less physical work than pulling a cart.
2. We need to start purchasing our gear for the walk. There’s a couple of reasons behind this push. First, it would be nice to get a little experience with the equipment before we strike out in the event that we decide it needs to be replaced. Second, this is going to be a pretty expensive endeavor, and spreading out the burn rate is probably going to serve us well. When I refer to gear, I’m really talking about the major items that we’re going to need to accomplish the trip. In my mind this includes packs, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, and shelter. I’d thought Rory and I had decided to start off the trip with a single two man tent. This is by far the most weight efficient set-up. I’m pretty sure I asked Rory if he’d like to do enough research to make a recommendation. I’m not sure we ever closed out that perceived action.

Long story short, I think we’re getting to the stage of the project that we need to start closely coordinating and EXECUTING our planning process. For whatever reason, Rory and I don’t seem to be in alignment on what aspects of the planning execution need to be prioritized. I’ve asked him to provide an initial comprehensive list of focus areas by the end of the week. That will give us both a good picture of the differences in our approach (if any). We’ll see if he follows through on putting together the list. It’ll tell me a lot about how much work we have to accomplish.