Jasper is Tired

We went on a 6.5 mile walk this morning with packs on and Jasper did really well, although he was tired after. I think he is going to do just fine with 10 miles per day at the beginning, although I may have to carry his pack after mile 5 or 6. I'll have to see how he does with breaks. Here's a cool log of the hike: Garmin Connect -Activity Details

I also downloaded and started listening to a book called The Final Empire: Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson today. So far, it's really good. It's like a mix between The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and the Jhereg series by Steven Brust. Best of all, it's really long and there's a whole trilogy!

Trail Mix

Mom and I went grocery shopping today and I decided I'd take the opportunity to try and build a trail-ready menu with stuff I found at a normal Wal-Mart. It turned out to be suprisingly easy. All of the pre-cooked, pre-packaged food they have these days makes perfect backpacking food.

From left to right:

• Thai Peanut Noodles with Smoked Salmon
• Cheesy Mashed Potatoes with REAL Bacon (yummy)
• Chicken Noodles with Chicken Breast
• Cheddar Broccoli Noodles with Tuna
• Snacks and Instant Coffee/Gatorade.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be eating a LOT more healthy on the trail than I usually do at home.

Update - The potatoes and bacon was really good but really really salty.

First Gear Roundup

Well, there's most of the stuff I will be living off of for the next 6 months. I don't have everything yet but I took what I did have and added in a few substitutes to get a feel for the weight of my filled pack. I'm trying to decide if the pack is really heavy or I'm just really out of shape. Or possibly both. I'm pretty sure I could shave some weight but I'm not sure I want to. I suppose I can pare it down a bit when I'm on the trail by sending stuff home.