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How to explain carrying 16 lbs of Peanut butter in a daypack
Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 9:15 pm
by Hetchy
The Dayhikers are suspicious.
There is a crazy person lugging 3 costco jars of peanut butter up to the top of the hill in a tattered pack.
What is he doing?
Who is that guy.. he must be crazy!
No it is just me Hetchy aka Bearlover, and yes I am still crazy. I have been workin' hard for my upcoming thru hike of the PCT (nobo). Leaving April 16 using the Jardine 5 month plan, and yes I am going to eat all that peanut butter.. and about 429,000 more calories before I am done. It will be 18 years since my last attempt and in fact I will depart on my 40th birthday, April 16 2009. I am taking my tattered High Sierra Topix shirt to wear at resupplies(my fellow plumbers could never figure that shirt out)! I know I ain't been around in a while and some might wish I stayed gone, but I got my self in order, sold all my crap, pulled the trigger, and there aint not turning back. Good to be back Y'all! This is still the best forum around.. No doubt!
Re: How to explain carrying 16 lbs of Peanut butter in a daypack
Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 6:13 am
by Strider
Don't y'all be feeding the bears with that contaminated Georgia peanut butter!
Re: How to explain carrying 16 lbs of Peanut butter in a daypack
Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:35 am
by Hetchy
Ha, I am a bit suspicious of this peanut butter. That is why I have been using it to train! Like what do I do with it.. boil it for fifteen minutes first?! I will say it makes a great training device.. real heavy and I can load it in 5 lb increments nice and compact. I would use my gear for weight but it is all scattered about the yard 'cause I just can't help settin' up camp out front each night. I feel like a kid again! Cheers!
Re: How to explain carrying 16 lbs of Peanut butter in a daypack
Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 11:01 am
by ERIC
LOL! Welcome back!
Re: How to explain carrying 16 lbs of Peanut butter in a daypack
Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 12:03 pm
by Snow Nymph
Bearlover! I was wondering what happened to you! Welcome back!
Re: How to explain carrying 16 lbs of Peanut butter in a daypack
Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 6:15 pm
by Hetchy
Thanks you guys.. it is good to be back. I cannot describe what has transpired in my life the past few years.. I don't even believe it! I have dumped a lot of mental baggage as well as removed a couple of monkeys from my back. I feel liberated for the first time in a long time, truly free. Hope you don't mind if I changed the name, seemed apropriate, 'cause I don't even recognize me. All I can say is my love for hiking and even better hiking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains kept me sane and brought me back.. I think thats twice now! I will have to thank the mountain gods and make a pilgrimage from say MEXICO to CANADA! I promise not to bring up the dog biscuit as emergency food thing anymore... HAHA.
Re: How to explain carrying 16 lbs of Peanut butter in a daypack
Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 7:38 pm
by copeg
Welcome back Bearlover...er....Hetchy! The PCT is a tough undertaking...have fun and good luck, and of course keep us updated!
The doors are opening for me folks!
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:59 pm
by Hetchy
Went down to the county recorders office today and got my passport rolling.
Paid the rent and told the landlord about my upcomming PCT trek.. (something everyone including my mother said not to do) to my surprise she said she will hold my room at the ranch open rent free! She has horse packed some of the PCT herself and was very understanding...
whew! there goes a huge worry out the tent door! Told my boss last week and he is holding my job for me as well(So long as the company is around still)!
Went to Mel Cottons outdoor store down in the concrete pond and after totally exasperating the sales clerk (he tried hard to get me to buy that "fully loaded 9 lb gizmo pack") he sighed and went in the back and pulled out the last GoLite Pinnacle they had in the store... 1lb 9oz...and $100.00 Perfection! That is 4 lbs lighter than my current Dana Designs pack and holds everything.
Got a Eureka Solitaire tent (again the last one) for $79.00 from them as well. I don't normally go with this brand but it's features are pefect..huge mesh top panel, integral roll em up rain fly, even has a vestibule of sorts built in. Inexplicably though it came with STEEL stakes! Pitched those in favor of my super light aluminum jobs and voila.. it is now a 2 lb'er.
Mailed off my thru permit request and joined that ALDHA thingy.
Now I just gotta get my Dad on board with the idea.. he still remembers my 1991 attempt... Hard to explain to him how different it is this time.. how different I am. But hey my job is crapping out and ain't nobody hiring new construction plumbers these days. I could stay home and go broke or follow a dream and take a new direction with my life.. If only for a summer. Not that I need his permission, I am a 39 year old independent adult after all.. I just hope he can see the value of what this trip means(has meant) to me.
It is amazing how many doors appear, where there were only walls before, when you proceed to follow your bliss. (Thank you Joseph Campbell for that insight may you rest in peace)
Re: How to explain carrying 16 lbs of Peanut butter in a daypack
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:39 pm
by ERIC
Kind of cheesy, but an email forward that's been going around for years came to mind in reading your post. While its suggestions read a bit idealistic, the overall concept is something I try to remind myself of from time to time:
We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we're frustrated that the kids aren't old enough, but we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We'll certainly be happy when they're out of that stage. We tell ourselves that life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.
The truth is, there is no better time to be happy than right now.
If not now, when?
Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said; "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life".
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.
So, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special; special enough to spend your time. And remember that time waits for no one.
So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you have had a drink, until you are sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination. Work like you don't need money. Love like you've never been hurt, and dance like no one's watching.
~ Author Unknown
Re: How to explain carrying 16 lbs of Peanut butter in a daypack
Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:44 pm
by Rosabella
Wow.... I wondered what ever happened to you. Your last post (I think it was a couple years ago) was a little concerning. You were getting ready for a backpacking trip and mentioned some concerns about a high river crossing you would encounter.... then we never heard from you. Anyway...glad you're back.
... and the quote is wonderful, Eric.