Backpacking Breaking In

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My brother John and I have two backpacking trips planned for the summer. In June we have a three day trip at Ross Lake to shake out our gear and food and make sure I can run faster than him in case we see a bear. In August we do the 93-mile Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier. I decided to load my back with 30 pounds and spend one hour hiking up and down the hillside behind Holmberg Park. It's the same trails I rode on last winter. I thought it would be a great opportunity to see what got sore and work from there.

Had I brought my camera I could have shown the wild flowers like my friend John wrote about elsewhere. Not as many flowers but it's pretty with Mt Spokane in the background.

The climbing got me breathing hard, but thanks to all the running and cycling I never felt out of breath. During my second time up I felt my right heel get a little warm. Rather than practice putting some moleskin on I thought I'd tough it out. I paid for that foolish decision on my third time up. Next time I'll wear thin synthetic socks under the wool ones and see if that works better. Other than the blister everything went great. Kathy reminded me that I'm supposed to run 26.2 miles in eight days so getting a blister is even more foolish than I thought.