Practicing, Like Old Times

Years ago I hiked countless miles with a backpack to prepare for a hike on the Appalachian Trail, across Isle Royale National Park, on the Escarpment Trail in the Porkies, or various other destinations.

Some time has passed since I last did a backpacking trip, but the urge is stronger than ever. I am hopeful that sometime this spring, summer, or fall I will be able to go for a long walk again.

To prepare for such an outing, Kristy and I hiked some miles today while I carried a pack. Over the past weeks I have gone over every item in the pack to decide whether said item would earn space in my pack or face eviction, since anything I carry adds weight. Today I was to the point of dropping ounces by carrying partial contents of items that I don’t need an entire bottle - like camp soap or hand sanitizer. Those extra grams of weight add up, so I have aggressively cut weight from the pack.

No matter how much weight I drop from my load, I still want to carry camera equipment to record my trips. Oh how I wish my cell phone or GoPro matched the quality of my Nikon. That has not happened yet, so I do my practice hikes with camera equipment loaded.

Today’s picture of a bald eagle was recorded during our hike with only my smallest focal length lens. On a hike I will not carry my longer lens. I am satisfied with the image, but not so much the plain sky.