The Hike Begins

This is what it looked like last week at Hiking Central.  Weighing, shaving off weight, weighing again was the order of the day.  We made the straps shorter on his backpack and I hemmed them.  A bandana lost two of its corners.  His base weight was about 9.25 lb.  Due to a blowout on the Colorado Trail Pete is taking a detour that will take him through some high peaks on the Continental Divide Trail.  For this reason he added another base layer to his clothing and decided to take his slightly heavier camera that takes better photos.  The pack weight (without consumables) was still under 10 lb so is classified as ultralight.

Packing resupply boxes

stove made from cat food tin and my (probably now defunct) hole puncher

weighed snacks vacuum packed and ready for mailing.  Each snack is about 400 calories.

Pete called today (Monday June 25) from Telluride where he's been at a big bluegrass festival.  He and his friend Chad are driving to Denver where they will sleep tonight.  Chad will take Pete to the trailhead south of Denver on Tuesday morning.  Pete has been following the wildfires out west and is mostly concerned about smoke in the areas he will be hiking.  He will be checking in at the ranger stations along the way.

The hike begins on Tuesday June 26, 2012.

Doggie Goes to Summer Camp

Since Pete will be gone for a few months this summer he arranged for a trusted friend to keep his dog for the summer.  Andrew and Pete have been friends since they were quite young as we lived in the same neighborhood.  Andrew was very excited to pick up his ward and take him to Iowa for the summer.  Obviously, this was hard on Pete but it had to be done.

Pete giving Andrew pet care instructions.

A happy camper!

This is how we treat his ears.

Andrew, Grisman, and Pete

Andrew is the most enthusiastic dog caretaker ever!  Grisman is going to have a great time at summer camp.

Partying with Pete

We are having so much fun helping Pete get ready for his big hike.  He will be solo hiking The Colorado Trail starting at the end of June.  It will probably take 4 to 6 weeks to hike 485 through the mountains.  Mentally he is ready to go NOW!  The first night he was here we had a party.  Pete made his delicious guacamole aka "guac" which is basically smashed avocado with a little seasoning.  Blue corn chips rounded out the appetizers.  Of course he bought an assortment of beer.

I made pizza dough and Pete came up with delicious toppings like goat cheese, zucchini strips, tomato, and carmelized onion. Two pizzas had pesto sauce and two had roasted red peppers.  We roasted the red peppers on the grill and then pureed them.

Perfect weather on our deck!