Catch Up

So many things are happening so fast on the whole lets-go-climb-several-mountains front, that I think I'll play catch-up while still delightfully abuzz with gin concoctions.

First, when we were earlier discussing possible hiking groups us reporters could join, I was all concerned. Even with a newspaper behind me I wanted to know how we were going to vet people and make sure they weren't ax murderers and/or boors.

Then Matt, one of the editors stumbled across a listing on Craig's List of someone who wanted to hike the whole John Muir trail in August and was looking for people who wanted to join her. I called her today. Emma. She sounded smart and funny and incredibly roll with the flow. When I asked her about the gutsiness of just putting out an ad looking for strangers to hike with she said "Oh, you know, I figure things usually have a way of working out. " They sure did this time. I think we'll be hiking with Emma.

Then I stumbled across a series where a writer and photographer had hiked the 500 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail that go through Oregon. I called the writer, Mark Larabee --again someone who sounded smart and funny. I'm asking him "What things should I know about, what didn't you know going in?" And he tells me that he hikes and backpacks and rock climbs and kayaks etc in all of his free time and has his whole life and he still wasn't prepared for how hard it was to hike and write and how he wasn't emotionally prepared for the toll. At which point I take a pause, really roll over in my mind what I might say here, and decide "Oh, why not?"
"Really? " I tell him "And I've never even been backpacking." (I don't think the Palm Springs jaunt would count in the book of real backpacking) .
There is a deafening silence on the other end of the line (as I knew there would be). Then he laughed. He told me he'd definitely have to read it...

And tomorrow I am definitely grabbing my dog and hiking a couple of miles after work...