DMGSummer Plans
Joshua Tree this weekend. Climbing and camping.
After that it's pretty quiet for a couple months, until...
Wait. Let me start at the beginning. I was on the fence for a while about what I wanted to do this summer. I waffled between two options: the AIDS/Life Cycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles, or the National Outdoor Leadership School's Wind River Wilderness backpacking trip.
I'm extremely lucky in that somewhere along the line, I learned to ask my dad about stuff, and listen when he gives advice. In this case he was right on: go backpacking. More fun, more adventure. Hiking, climbing, packing, fishing! (Yes, I'm familiar with NOLS and know that they're not a guiding service.)
So that's what I'm doing. Or, that's what I'm trying to do. I've applied, but haven't heard back yet. If it doesn't come through, I'll be on the ALC ride having a blast. The ALC is only "second choice" in the sense that I've decided to pursue something even more amazing.
So, with that, I've got a lot of planning and training to do. I'm in great shape, but with all the challenges of a NOLS class, and this being my first backpacking trip ever, I want to be able to depend on my body absolutely.
I'll still be training with the ALC crowd, and plan on doing that ride next June. I've gotten so much from riding with that group, and want to give back. I have a project in mind that might be perfect, and would let me help the ALC community in a way that takes advantage of more than my legs, but that will have to wait until the staff there have more time. My instinct is to start sowing seeds for this project now, since it will require some community involvement, but it's too early to try to get people thinking about next year.
The ALC ride itself is next month, and they're headed into their last couple weeks of big rides. Once they start to taper off and prep for the ride itself, I'll be hitting the trails to get my body used to traveling under load. I've got between three and four months to prep for Wyoming, which should be perfect. Time enough to get my legs strong, but not so long that I'll get bored with it.
And in the meantime, I'm planning a Yosemite trip for September: we're going to do Half Dome as a two- or three-day backpacking trip. I'd love to use Labor Day to gain an extra day for the trip, but I suspect that reservations will be hard to come by, and I want to avoid the crowds. (Then again, the swimming hole seemed fine even on Labor Day last year, so maybe... Dunno. Depends on reservations.
So, all this boils down to: it's going to be a fun summer!