Yesterday, I went to a Backpacking Clinic held at the Seattle REI store. For those not from around here, it is an outdoors-person's mecca. I could truly live there, and I'm no "granola" by any stretch. It's really everything I love about the outdoors and it's full of gadgets, which I am an absolute sucker for. I'm also a bit of a shoe junkie, an addiction they do a great job of supporting. The day fashion and function fell in love was a day to rejoice, in my opinion. There is nothing better than an adorable shoe that does a job. OK, enough about that. I could probably write a blog on that one topic alone.
So, I had learned of the clinic from a calendar at the Redmond store, but also online through Meetup.com. I've joined several area hiking groups that have very well attended hikes. This was on one of the calendars, so I RSVP'd and headed into the city after my normal Wednesday workout.
The clinic was good, in that it helped get me in an outdoor mindset, but it was definitely a backpacking course. I need to know all of that info, but for now, I'm training via conditioning and day hikes. Down the road, I'll need overnight experience, but I hope to do much of that on or near the mountain in classes through one of the mountaineering companies local. I'll need multi-day treks under my belt for the sheer experience of carrying a heavy pack for dozens of miles, and how to handle the elements at night, but for the time being, day hikes it is. It's my version of baby steps.
I did get lots of info on packs, tents, and sleeping bags, which are good to know no matter what. I also got the "Ten Essentials", which I need to have regardless, even for a plain vanilla hike up Mt. Si. With a little one at home, I can't afford to go out ill prepared.
In the zone, I wore my new hiking boots yesterday in a desperate attempt to work at breaking them in. So, I was at a backpacking clinic with my boots on.
It lasted 2 hours and the speaker kept it interesting, but I left as soon as he was done. I was hoping he would discuss GPS, mapping software (or maps in general), and compass use.
Most people don't know that I considered Cartography as a career path for college and even looked into it in the Forestry program at WSU. I was pretty obsessed with topographical maps at one point, so I'm OK with those...but I have no idea how to adjust declination on a compass or get a sight reading...or how to use a GPS unit.
These are all things I'll be trying to learn and/or teach myself. If there's anything I do well, it's becoming a geek in whatever it is I do... I obsess over every tiny detail of a travel destination, an interest, a task, a purchase, etc. I know for a fact I get it from my mother, who should have been a researcher or an event planner. It's in my DNA. If I can't learn everything there is to know about something, it's not worth doing. Maybe not entirely true, but it sounds good.
What was my "do something" today? Ian and I went to REI (the small store near my house) and I picked up a couple of items for my 10 Essentials (mostly for my first aid kit) but I also got a whistle, which I personally think should be on that list, and a quick dry towel. Ian loves REI and goes straight for the bikes. He also likes the tents and sleeping bags, and the "pretend jeep" they use to show how car storage and racking systems work.
I am also in the process, as we speak, of loading mapping software, which is more detailed and trail specific than "street/trip" mapping programs. I also picked up waterproof printer paper. See, I'm a total geek in the making.
Below are several pics of the Seattle REI store. They have the tallest indoor climbing structure in the country, which I would like to try out sooner than later.
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