First Overnight. Evah!

I'm nervous.

Like, a lot.

I didn't sleep well last night and I doubt I'll sleep well tonight.

A week ago, I decided that I was done with planning to go backpacking; I just wanted to fucking go do it. I decided that within two weeks, I was going to go on a quick initial backpacking trip. A simple overnighter. Everything around home here in the Sierras is still jammed up with snow and inaccessible which was frustrating.

All this planning and spending money--around $1,000 or so, I'd guess--and nowhere nearby that I wanted to go. My first trip was going to be to Weaver Lake in Sequoia National Forest, but it's all still under about 10 feet of snow and the roads aren't open. Fuck that. Everywhere I thought to go and found to go was always covered in snow. Or too long a hike. Or two damn much elevation gain. (I'm still worried about my knee.)

Then I found a little 11 mile round trip hike in Henry W. Coe State Park over by Gilroy, CA. Not too much elevation gain only about 1,350 feet. Not too long; about 11 miles. Not covered in snow. Water reports looked good, too.

So I started planning. Got my maps. Got everything I actually need. Got a little stove to boil water. Got the fuel canister (fucker's kinda heavy). And now I have everything packed up. And I'm fucking nervous.

I'm nervous about my knee. I'm nervous about the climbing. I'm nervous about the descending. I'm worried about how heavy my pack is.

28.2 pounds.

My pack weighs a whopping 28.2 pounds which includes two liters of water. (I think there's decent water out there, but I'm not 100% certain and two liters should get me through an 11 mile hike all by itself.) And I'm worried that carrying that much weight without a lot of training is going to be too much for my legs and knees.

And the route as described is 11 miles. 11 miles of carrying upwards of 30 pounds. Up and down hills. I just don't know if that's a wise place to start.

But. If I take the route and reverse it, it's a three mile walk up a creek. It's flatter. Probably wetter. And likely easier on my knees and legs. That's what I'm going to do. Hike to the end of the creek.

Then, if I'm feeling up to it, I'll continue the remaining two miles the pond. The slope up from the end of the creek to the pond is of 9.6% grade which, by the time I get to the end of the three miles of creek, I'll know if I'm able to do. And three miles of gently climbing alongside a creek should be easy and immensely doable. And fun. (This is supposed to be fun, remember?)

If nothing else, I'll find a nice secluded campsite all by myself and enjoy the evening and night and morning.

And, now, I'm ready to go. Excited and nervous. (I mean, what if I HATE backpacking???)

Onward!

Last week, I went camping in Joshua Tree National Park (Jumbo Rocks campground; highly recommend) and tested out the sleep system I have:

Sea to Summit Trek II bag (pre-2017 version)
REI Quarter Dome 2 (pre-2017 version)
Klymit Static V Insulated Sleeping Pad
Sea to Summit Areos Inflatable Pillow
Klymit X-Pillow

And it all worked beautifully. I already knew the X-Pillow wouldn't work for my head (but it came as a package deal with the sleeping pad) but I could easily use it between my knees while sleeping on my side or under one side of my chest while stomach-sleeping. The Sea-to-Summit pillow works great though when sleeping on my side, I have to stand it on end so my neck doesn't hurt. It also has to be slightly under-inflated for the most comfort.

I picked up a knee strap for my knee pain which is what I've come to realize is (dah-dada-DAHHH!!!!!!!) patellar tendonitis. I read about straps helping with pain and hoped it would.

And it did.

I did a lot of hiking, sans backpack (that was left back at camp). A total of about 18 miles over two days (according to the FitBit on my wrist...).  And my knee did a lot better than I had feared it would.

So, now I'm back home, doing exercises to help actually fix the problem with my patellar tendonitis and shopping for the next items on my backpacking list (stove for having hot coffee in the morning, now a must-have; and other things) and planning where the hell I'm going backpacking for the first time. Ever. (Redwood Canyon? Big Meadows? Sierra National Forest?)

And, just tonight, I loaded up my pack (a Cinnabar Red Osprey Atmos 65 AG) with the stuff I think I'd need for an overnight backpacking trip. It weighed about 20 pounds. And put on the pack. It felt really, really good. (I'm still struggling with the shoulder strap twisting when I put on the pack but I'll get that sorted out soon, I'm sure.)

All in all, I'm about 90% confident I could load up all that stuff for an over night, hike about 6 miles in, and then haul it all out the next day with ease.

I'm actually fucking thrilled.