Date: 2008-01-03
To: Winter!
Miles today: 0.0

Even more snow!!! Heaps and tons of snow, the best winter in years! The snowshoeing is fantastic, and quite a workout since new snow covers any old tracks every few days. Yesterday I went in the local woods and found myself gaping in awe at snowladen trees, every little rock in the stream with its tall fluffy cap on, snow crystals shimmering in the filtered light, bits of blue sky radiant by contrast, ash leaves tender and translucent in the cold cold air. The freshness of the snow is such a passing beauty - well, I guess everything is when you get right down to it. Mmm, mmmm.****While chatting around the hors d'oeuvres table at Christmas I trotted out the observations from the last entry - a somewhat whiney dither about will I be fit enough for this expedition - and my nephew Lincoln came out immediately with "Well, when the training is easy, war is hard - and when the training is hard, war is easy...." (Sun Tzu)BOINNGGG!!!! Coulda blown me over with a feather. I "knew" this, of course, but I felt like I was HEARING it for the first time. For you military folks and you athletes, it's a no-brainer, but my background has been a whole lot of talk and less action, you might say, so this was a most succinct and timely gift.It has helped me to get out there every day now, and to be very cautious about taking "zero days" - just like on the trail. ****Gear is strewn all over the spare room, just like in every other aspiring hiker's house right now. I've seen people's photos of this, now it's MY spare room - amazing! Got me thinking about various expeditions that require long preparation - Himalayan, Arctic, ocean voyages - but instead of hauling it all with you, resupply is done enroute, with some items sent out periodically from home base. Stuff has to be set out and labeled so that the support folks can identify what you mean by "the long-sleeved black zip neck top" - there are several that meet this description, and I know the little differences between each one, but someone else might not. For food, I'll probably get most of it in groceries or convenience stores along the way, but will have some small boxes set up with more hard-to-find items, or luxury items, to refresh the palate...not that whole powdered milk or dehydrated vegetables sounds particularly refreshing right now, but in a couple of months I'm wagering they will. One hiker last summer was dumping a packet of smoked oysters into his Lipton noodles, and I thought that was worth remembering - thanks, Grasshopper.And then there is the journal. Trying to devise the most efficient, low weight, easily maintained system that also is efficient for the transcriber at home. I have always kept handwritten journals on hikes, but that was before planning to put them online. This trip I plan to keep this journal going fairly regularly from the trail, so am looking at how best to do that. I understand that there are computers at some hostels, but often there is a time limit or at the very least a line of anxious journalists waiting their turn. Could inhibit the muse. So, something like a Pocketmail device - 8 oz. tiny word processor with a regular keyboard and enough screen to see a few lines at a time - sounds like the way to go. They are being crowded out by "smart" phones, but their virtues are still many: bigger keyboard, bigger screen, lower price for device and service, and if it crashes it doesn't take your phone, camera and mp3 player with it.The problem is needing to use a landline phone to transmit the journals via email to your waiting transcriber. But I think this problem can be dealt with. Guess I'll find out!Best of luck to those on the trail already, and to the rest of the aspiring hikers as you gather yourselves and your gear for the Spring launch.