Fast Approaching

It is less than two weeks until we leave for the Adirondacks trip, and the excitement has finally kicked in. For whatever reason, with everything else that has been going on, I just haven't been thinking about the trip that much, and when I have, it has just been this distant recognition. But within the last week, that has changed.

Heart Lake, site of our campground

Last Monday, I sent an email to the guys asking for suggestions on a non-perishables shopping list that we could tackle ahead time so that we had all that out of the way. The resultant flurry of emails is what made the trip seem imminent. With that came the excitement. Perhaps concrete planning makes it seem more real, I don't know. But whatever it was, it came on strong.

A lunch trip to a nearby Eastern Mountain Sports store netted me a couple of maps of the area, including the Trails Illustrated map of Adirondack Park (Lake Placid / High Peaks). I also placed an order from Amazon which was delivered in a remarkable three days. For background reading, I now have Discover the Adirondack High Peaks by McMartin and Ingersoll, and the guidebook Adirondack Trails, High Peaks Region (13th edition), edited by Tony Goodwin. This second book covers the hiking trails of the region in great detail. So I have some reading to do.

I also still have a few things to buy, but nothing major. I went through all my camping gear and hiking clothing and am in good shape other than the need to have some warmer layers. The Dakotas trip had no real expectation of things getting cold. Here, there is that chance. And bad weather could set in during hikes or on the mountains, which has happened to these guys before. So some additional layering items are needed.

The packing list that I made for the Dakotas needs a little bit of tweaking, which I have been doing, as this is a shorter trip, but that list serves as a good starting point, and prevents me from having to start from scratch. I have begun setting aside some of what I need, and will do more this weekend.

I still have concerns over my fitness level, but there's nothing to be done about that at this point. On the bright side, Dave's back is apparently doing very well and he says he's just about 100%. I hope that holds for him.

Speaking of Dave, I have gone back and read his posts about the last Adirondacks trip in June 2008, and found it especially interesting given that we will be staying at the same campground and climbing at least one of the same mountains. All of a sudden, this makes Dave's posts very real to me. Anyone interested in what's in store for me should go to Dave's Musings and read the posts here.