Here's a peek at what is going on:
Training: Dave's body is doing a bit better than mine. The tendonitis in my shoulder that kicked in when we first started training is calming down This is very good because our day pack weight will be around 20 lbs., since we need to carry 3-4 liters of water to drink as we climb. My left hamstring keeps feeling tight. I am stretching and icing it, plus wearing my knee brace while I hike to be sure it is in good shape for Kili.
Gear: Dave, being a lanky guy with little excess fat, is thinking hard about staying warm. During our training hikes in colder temps, Dave takes much longer to warm up than I do. He slept on the porch last night to test his sleeping bag. At 30 degrees, he was cold! When the sun goes down on Kili it will be around zero degrees, not counting the wind chill. Dave is thinking of stuffing a sleeping bag inside of a sleeping bag. We also need to figure out and buy the right gloves, socks, rain proofing systems, etc. Plus, we must organize how to keep the weight in our duffle bags, which the porters will carry, below 33 lbs. each. Organized Packing is very important so we an find our various layers of clothing easily from inside our tents when it's pitch-dark outside.
Health: We still have a few doctors and dentist appointments for final vaccinations and checkups. Need to prepare our medical kits: in addition to our malaria pills, we will bring pills for travels dysentry and other ailments, such as blisters.
So--it is a bit mind-boggling. I could feel the shift from excitement to anxiety as I thought of all these tasks yesterday as we did another 12 miler up/down Greylock. I read somewhere if you have a big worry, simply visualize it as a dot. Cool! Instead of Mount Kilimanjaro as a 19,340 ft. peak in Africa, it became a dot! That was very calming!
Happy trails,
Linda and David
No comments:
Post a Comment