Hill of Life

This morning, and yes, I consider 10:30am to be morning, Gracie & I set out with full packs from the Mopac/360 greenbelt access. Our goal - hike to the top of the Hill of Life and back. A 5-6 mile round trip. The weather was cool and I had about 2L of water for us. The approach to the Hill felt great. A 25+ pound pack pushes me into a forward lean, and it feels like I'm being pushed along the trail. Gracie was wanting to surge ahead, and I kept having to hold her back. Someone is a little driven and goal oriented, as well as goofy. Wonder where she gets that? About halfway up the Hill of Life, repeats sounded like a good idea. We took a water break at the top, and I had a snack break, then we went down and back up again. Two was enough for today. I rewarded Gracie with a swim in the creek, while I tested the water filter.

When do we swim?









Atop the Hill of Life!










Filtering water is such hard work!









Glad you filled that water filter before I jumped in!









Best dog and backpacking partner Ever!

What does six months of dog food look like?

Paradise to miss Gracie Ann, who would like to let everyone know that it's a crab wonton a day, thank you very much. The only question seems to be whether to start at the bottom of the stack...

or the top...










I'm officially in overwhelm mode, and may well stay there until October. Gracie, on the other hand, is totally bored with all the prep work and ready to go take a hike!

training hike!

Gracie had her first training hike with her new, smaller, backpack today. Since I have yet to make a final decision on a pack, she got to carry everything. For this outing, she carried a bag of lentils and a can of corn in each side of the pack, car keys, a couple of poop sacks, and a small bottle of water on one side to evenly distribute the weight. I'd been a little concerned that she was out of practice for carrying, but she totally rocked it. Even though I was unencumbered, it was still a challenge to keep her from pulling ahead of me. That's my dawg!

We went for an afternoon hike at St. Edwards park, one of my favorite short hike spots in Austin. We crossed the creek, climbed up to the top of the hill that skirts the Balcones Canyonland Preserve, then headed back down. When we crossed the creek again, I took off Gracie's pack so she could go for a brief swim, then I carried her pack the rest of the way to the car. This pack is gonna suit her just fine, and I'm less concerned about her fitness for hiking. Upcoming training will include a hike to the Hill of Life and back from Loop 360.

A potential backpack arrives this week for testing, the camera is on order, and things are starting to come together. It's a little hard to believe this thing is really going to happen. I'm thrilled and nervous both. And incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from friends and family. I absolutely could not be doing this without them. Exciting times.

Gracie's Gear

So excited to receive Gracie's new backpack in the mail today. It probably weighs as much or more than the one I will carry. It's got ample room for a week's supply of food, booties (in case the terrain is hard on her feet, or it's especially cold) a food/water bowl, treats, and possibly a tennis ball or other toy. Plus it has two water bladders. We can use these to help balance the load, and carry spare water. It's much bigger than the day pack I've used on her before, and it will take some training/practice for her to get used to carrying a full load. Here are some cute pics of her with the pack loaded down with 14 cups of food, enough for seven days.

It's really hard to get an action shot of her with the pack, but here's an attempt. The training plan is to take her out on local trails with an empty pack and gradually work up to a full load over the next few weeks. One really nice feature of this pack is the separate harness/saddlebag setup. I can remove the saddlebags and carry her load to give her a break, without removing the harness. Here's a photo of her with just the harness on.

I have the best dog in the world!