REI and Practice

Today I went to REI. REI has a lot of cool stuff. I spent a lot of money at REI… Well, I guess that’s kind a how it goes when you need to get a new backpack. The good news is that my new backpack is sooooo comfortable. It makes 60 lbs feel like 30 in my old one… YES!

I also took my gear for a dry run today. Good thing too, because the first thing that happened was a broken shoe lace in the parking lot. No worries, I still got to hike 8 miles up and down Mt Baldy. First time I’ve ever used trekking polls, and I love them! Thanks Mary Beth and Erich. Only problem is, I started getting blisters on the sides of my hands. Guess I’ll have to start using them more… I don’t really see that being a problem.

Today reminded just how meditative hiking can be. I got into a great rhythm and it felt wonderful. All sorts of random thoughts that were buried in the back of my head boiled to the surface. I’ll spare you the details, but the mind is much louder outdoors. That is, you can listen to yourself very clearly while hiking. This is getting me excited for the real thing…