the countdown

It's Sunday morning and this is the first morning since December that I have slept in and woken up relaxed. We are ready : boxes are packed, last minute equipment changes and purchases complete, and those itty bitty details have now stopped surfacing; details that would wake Diane up at 4:30am and nibble at her until she got up and started her detail-driven day. I have one last thing to do -reinforce a button (sew it on really tight) to a back- up pair of hiking shorts. I experienced some random butterflies in my stomach yesterday, stirred about by thoughts about leaving our kitty. I'm sure she will do just fine. We've told her what is happening and that should be enough right?

When doing a hike like this the most anticipated telling moment is when you weigh your pack to find out your base weight -the weight you will carry everyday minus food and water. This goal of a low base weight  is what you have been spending thousands of dollars on. Six hundred on a two pound sleeping bag, six hundred on a 1 pound tent,two fifty on an 8 oz. vortex rain jacket, hundreds on icebreaker wool products because they don't stink (no synthetic materials for us]. It all adds up but what is most alarming is that it gets lighter EVERY year so that is more thousands every year!  Food adds about two pounds per day and water is variable. It can be anywhere from nothing to 8 liters depending on your level of paranoia. There are three of us hiking together. I am the smallest therefore my base weight should be the least. Guess what? I lost that competition. Shelly is the winner. Her base weight is about 11 pounds. Diane slides in in second place at 15 pounds. Caroline will be dragging herself around with 20 pounds. Why is that? Two reasons : a heavier pack by 2 pounds and Chinese. I'm taking an MP3 player and a cut-in-half Chinese book to MAYBE study on the way. I'd like to become fluent by the end of the trip talking to trees and rocks or maybe I'll just drive Shelly and Diane crazy. I like crazy.

My legs have been walking the trail for awhile. They are so energized in anticipation. My adrenals have been getting me ready;   my feet have been aching ahead of time and sometimes my knees start to laugh hysterically. I've already been bitten by a rattlesnake and and broken both my legs; Diane's appendix have burst and I'm throwing up dehydrated food. Other than that I see a successful trip for us. Bye for now. Meet you at the border. Dirty Girl

This is the "stuff" for 6 months: Dirty Girl's:

Life is moving fast for the balaclava bubbies!

We are boxing & labeling & chasing our tails....loads of details & crazy logistics. We haven't done any walking or much sleeping in the last 2 weeks. .. i guess we will get lots of practice with those soon. Should we bring the balaclava or the wool hat? how many  pairs of socks? Are we going to like that food 6 months from now? Oh, did i mention working at our jobs? Yeah, well its all part of the great adventure!!

Where are we going? Map time.

Packing Boxes

As of 3.10.14 we have packed 17 boxes...only 17 more to go...can you spot the cat?
You might ask why & how can you decide what you want to eat 4-5 months from now?
Well it is scrambling our brains as we prepare each box.
Variety is key. We know what is available at convenience stores and that is not what we want to eat.
So we are guessing based on past experience "out there" of what we like to eat. Whenever we can get fresh food, we will chow down.

Getting ready

Hi,
This is the other bubbie speaking - the one without a profile yet. I'm Dirt Girl/Dirty Girl/Dirt, whatever. I like to be dirty - I love rolling around in it and I don't mind eating with dirty hands. Diane likes to be clean and tidy, even on a back-packing trip!
So here we are in the midst of our sorting food into the various boxes it will be shipped out in. Occasionally our eyes roll back in our heads and we faint away with the sheer logistics of organizing six months of food and gear but we regain conciousness and sally forth. The countdown is beginning...passports, entry permits, hiking permits, rendevous points with interested parties, house care and most importantly, cat care taken care of. But really the question many of you are burning to get answered is "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?" Well apparently we are not doing it, it is doing us.  It's all out there waiting for us, life and shit like that. Sometimes it feels more like it is coming at us, like a freight train but really my experience tells me it's all a big fat opportunity to find out who I really am and what it is all about. I could definitely wax on and off about this but I will spare you my optimistic upbeat philosophy of life. We're going and barring physical problems I am determined not to succumb to the tyranny of my mind with all it's trickery and tomfoolery. The mind that loves comfort and hates discomfort; the mind that thinks fresh tastes better than dehydrated; the mind that gravitates toward fear instead of trust and fearlessness; the mind that believes what it thinks is true. I could continue but I'm sure you are getting the gist of it. This is a perfect journey to explore my mind in a peaceful, relatively, non-stressful environment.
Our thanks to everyone who has us in their hearts. I'll be in touch. Love to you all, Caroline aka Dirt Girl. We might get my profile up sometime.