I had a very enjoyable weekend. Whether it was successful or not depends on one’s opinion of the successfulness of spending investing nearly $600 at REI yesterday.
I say investing
mostly because it makes me feel better, but it’s not entirely untrue. Before yesterday, I did not own hiking boots or a internal-frame backpack, and now I do. I bought nice leather high-topped boots (even when the gore-tex lining gives up in a few years, the leather will still take waterproofing nicely) and spent the extra money for arch-supportive inserts.
The backpack as well is high-quality and versatile enough for anything from a day hike to a 3-4 day trip. It’s got a ton of volume inside (4300 cubic inches), but it can easily be belted down to less than half its maximum capacity. The best part is that it fits! I’ve got an extraordinarily short torso; even though Jeff is about five inches taller than I am, my legs are about half an inch longer than his. This was a bit of a shock to the woman faced with the task of fitting me with a backpack, but we got a nice one, and it feels lovely.
Of course I’ve never been able to buy new stuff and not use it, so although I didn’t wear the boots out of the store, I put them on as soon as I got home. I shouldered the backpack and walked to Jeff’s apartment (he wanted to walk with me, but he had to drive his car home). I also took the pack to the PCC for groceries and lugged it back with me up the long Fremont hill. Carrying and dragging more weight than usual, on both my hips and my shoes, was quite tiring, but I felt only tired and not sore. I think the boots are affecting me more than the pack, because my thighs aren’t used to lifting so much weight with every step. Therefore I intend to wear my hiking boots as much as I can stand before Jeff drags me hiking in the next couple of weeks. (I say drag,
but I’m not exactly resisting.)
Once I picked out the backpack, Jeff decided that we should do an overnight hike rather than a day hike. I noted that I didn’t have a sleeping bag, and Jeff put his hand over my eyes because we were facing the sleeping-bag section! I actually wasn’t very tempted by the sleeping bags; yes, it would be good to have one, but for the moment I’d rather borrow than buy. (Hmmm, maybe this is something I can hint loudly at people for a birthday or Christmas present?)
So now I’ve got nearly $600 worth of hiking gear. It’s a big investment, but the nice thing about hiking is that even though it’s a lot of outlay at the beginning, it’s pretty cheap once you’ve got the equipment. Jeff’s all excited about dragging me along hiking, and I’m looking forward to it as well. I’ve been in this area for nearly 10 months now and have only been hiking once. It’s time to get out of the city.
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