Getting in Shape for the Arizona Trail 2015

7/21/13: This morning I headed up the mountain from Alpine Lakes Wilderness Trailhead where I have been boondocking a couple of days. Planned on a 1-3 hr. hike.  In the words of C.W. McCall… the trail was a bunch of Zs and Ws all strung together.  Geez!  And a great gain in altitude in a very short distance.

Location : Alpine Lakes Wilderness Trailhead

First thing that occurred to me was that my lungs were congested.  Second thing that I noticed were giant heat-seeking mosquitos.  The trail was much steeper than I realized and after 45 minutes going uphill, I realized I was very out of shape and ill-prepared…. i.e. no mosquito repellent.  I had not seen ONE mosquito in my camp in two days, so I assumed there weren’t any.  I know my limits, and as soon as I came into contact with something that will make me itch, some internal panic alarm goes off… so I decided to turn back.

I ran into one gal coming down the mountain, who had just hiked 9 miles from Lake Augusta… with her dog.  I ran into an elderly couple heading up the trail… who looked to be older than me… judging from their sunken eye sockets… but were lean and moving pretty fast. They were heading out for a could days of backpacking and headed toward Lake Augusta and Big Jim Mountain.  Looked very experienced and I envied them their fitness level.  They said that gal must have left Augusta at 4am to get this far this fast.  She was flying.  Will I  need to be able to go that fast to hike the Arizona Trail???  Can I hike that fast?

Poison Oak… I don’t know?

The trail was steep… with a number of downed trees to climb over.  In places the underbrush was so thick it covered the trail… and was taller than me (5’7”).  There was a 3-leafed plant with some white berries on I, and some turned bright red… and I wondered if that was Poison Oak???  I checked at the trailhead and there were no warnings or photos posted.  I’ll have to check online.  Took some photos.  Just in case, I returned to the van, removed all my clothes and bagged them up.  And then scrubbed all my exposed skin.

Other thing I was unprepared for… wearing cotton.  While it is cooling, it holds the water… and I was surprised how much I sweated and how much humidity was in the air.  In just 1 hr. and 15 minutes, my cotton items were soaking wet.  I did have fleece pants on… so they were dry, but if I had been a long way from safety and weather had turned or it had gotten cold… I would have gotten chilled to the bone very fast.  So, even in good warm hiking weather, I need to take this “cotton” lesson seriously. 

Roots forming steps on the trail.

Final item/lesson… feet.  I’ve been sitting in a boat, kayaking all over the place and by back and shoulders are in good shape….however, the ol’ doggies aren’t in very good shape.  The balls of both of my feet were really hurting before I got back down the trail.  On a longer hike, I’d have gotten blisters for sure.  I need to ALWAYS carry either duck tape or mole skin.  I should also see a podiatrist about the left foot as I think there could be a bone spur that is causing a problem.  It’s been a chronic issue for a long time… but facing an 820 mile hike, I need to pay more attention to this and resolve it if possible.  I need to toughen up these feet.

And bug repellent… being a person very sensitive to insect bites, I MUST ALWAYS have repellent and a head net.  ALWAYS.

Nothing to do but return to camp and eat banana bread and a banana.

I left Hatchery Creek and pushed on in search of a trash can.  Finally found one at the restrooms at Stevens Pass.  Then driving a short way I took another side road… a dead end.

It went right past the Cascade Railroad Tunnel entry.  Neat-o!  Going up the Old Cascade Highway to the end and a turn around, I found a bike bridge crossing the Tye River?  I’m parking there tonight, maybe a few days if there isn’t any traffic.  Very peaceful.

Escape to the Wilderness (?)

…or What a difference a day makes…

I use that term lightly – escape to the wilderness.  I left Wenatchee, WA early this morning (7/19)… and thru Leavenworth, WA. 

Finally found a closed trailhead where I decided to try to spend the night, just to decompress.  I can hear road traffic, but there won’t be any sounds close around me.  I can see Rt. 2 just a few yards away.  I have a 3G signal (varying from 0-2 bars).  Soon that spot got too hot… 94 degrees inside the van.

In Leavenworth, I explored a little… bad memories there for me… as that’s where David Swankie and I had planned our wedding in June 2001, but he died June 4, and we were married in May in the hospital instead.  I found the B&B my son used to manage, I found the KOA (hell on earth) campground were our families met (David’s and mine) after his death, on the date that was suppose to be our wedding date. 

What a horrible place – the KOA.  I can’t see why anyone would want to camp there.  People are bumper to bumper, not to mention dozens of vehicles… like being in a very crowded city parking lot.  I made a loop through there and could not get out fast enough.  So, I left Leavenworth and found the below spot.

		Flora west of Leavenworth, WA VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

So this little snippet of road at a closed trailhead seems like heaven to this boondocker and I enjoyed walking around looking at all the plants, especially after urban-vandwelling for over a month.  I sent a SPOT signal out from here (https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47.64968,-120.72269&ll=47.64968,-120.72269&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1) and may just hole up and watch movies or take a hike.  Warning signs everywhere of Poison Oak… so I may not???  And I am in the shade which means my batteries will not be getting a solar charge today, but they are at 12.5 right now, but this spot soon became an oven with temps reaching 94 degrees in the van, no air flow… and so I moved on thinking driving with A/C on was better than baking in the van… even if it meant I had to drive all the way to the Ocean.

July 20 - What a difference a day makes... only 63 degrees in the van at 7:45am and I'm high in the mountains and have an internet signal. And I hear water running nearby. Will have to hike to the water today – Hatchery Creek. Slept well last night for the first time in weeks. 47.67081,-120.75569 https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode&q=47.67081%2C-120.75569&ll=47.67081%2C-120.75569&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1 . And at 11am it’s only 80 in the van… so the rest of the day should be comfortable.  At 3pm it was 89 in the van and beginning to cool off.  The sun has already gone behind the trees… and shade is now hitting the van.

Night before last I had to sleep with the sounds of the city, sirens, trains, cars, doors opening and closing, cars driving across manhole covers, people talking, kids screaming, dogs barking.

Last night all I could hear was the sounds of the breeze blowing through the treetops, the babbling brook not far away…and a few birds.  That’s all, not another sound (except my fridge kicking on once in while).  So very relaxing and air so clean and fresh, unlike the pollution layer that settles into Wenatchee each evening with the Columbia River Valley inversion effect and burned my throat.  Ick.  Oh, I enjoyed my sleep last night.

Three cars were parked in at the Trailhead yesterday, two more just arrived, but I have the best spot… and checked the water out awhile ago, fresh clean water coming down out of some rocks…. and a nice level spot to stand.  I’m going to have a little bath today… no place to sit in the water and it is way too cold to sit in, but I can sure splash it all over myself.

The solar oven is set up and I’m fixing to bake the rest of the cookies I didn’t have time to finish with my grandkids.  Yum. 

Life is good, and truly, it can’t get any better than this… no, wait, let me go check on the cookies.  Whoops, I almost burnt them.  So,then I mixed up some banana raisin bread and baked it.  It will be nice for breakfast tomorrow. 

Today, for breakfast I had Fritos and Rainier Cherries.  Oddly delicious.  It was handy.  What can I say?  I have decided to try and live off what food I have on hand, until after I return from Alaska.  I can do it.  I can do it.

Here I sit near the top of a mountain in the wilderness and still find a way to "do genealogy."  Have I died and gone to heaven?

http://story.sharing.ancestry.com/people/637770?h=20468c

By 3:30pm I am in full shade so the evening should cool off nicely.  I haven’t really walked yet, but think I will hike the trail tomorrow and check it out.  I am so relaxed… am off the extra meds I had to take while I was urban-vandwelling.  Yeahhhhh!

On The Road Again… hard to leave the grandbabies.

I've had a great visit getting to know my grandkids and I think it was positive for them too. I'm so happy my daughter-in-law was able to make the kids available to me. She is a gem. Wish I had had even more time with all of them... but ...they have very busy lives. As a school teacher, when Jenelle is off work, she likes to spend lots of quality time with her kids.

She said, “Look, it’s a little van just like Grandma’s home.”

But I told them I was headed to Alaska and would be kayaking with the Whales and Icebergs. Now Zoey wants me to carve her a polka-dotted pink Whale and a polka-dotted yellow Whale for Will. Carved like I carved the little yellow kayaks. That's just the coolest.

It was great, but now I’m headed up into the mountains to look for a little fresh air and solitude, if such a thing is available between here and Seattle.  My flight to Alaska isn’t until about 8/18-19… so I have some time to kill but need to do it where air is cleaner, fresher and hopefully a little cooler.

Great Resources for Newbies to the Tribe.

Links of interests to vandwellers, car dwellers, campers, boondockers, etc.

I’ve put this post together to help newcomers to the tribe/lifestyle, in a effort to consolidate our community. There are many many smaller blogs and yahoo groups out there that touch on some of these topics, but I think these links will give you quicker access to the major works and resources.

Cheaprvliving.com by Robert Wells

http://cheaprvliving.com/ - Maybe you were a gypsy, vagabond or hobo in a past life, but you think you could never afford to live the life of freedom you long for? Maybe you are a survivalist, or just want to drop out of society but don't know how. Perhaps you are just sick of the rat race and want to simplify your life. We have good news for you, you can, and we are here to show you how! The key is eliminating the single highest expense most of us have, our housing. We will do that by moving into our vehicle… by Bob Wells.

Cheaplivingblog.com by Robert Wells

http://cheaprvlivingblog.com/ - My name is Bob Wells and I am the owner of http://cheaprvliving.com, http://cheapgreenrvliving.com and http://cheaprvlivingforum.com.   If you have ever been to those sites, then you know I have lived in a vehicle for over over 10 years and I absolutely love it! I have always had two goals for my sites, and in this blog they are the same:

1. Inspire others to break out of the rat race and embrace simple living by living in a car, van, or RV.

2. Teach you how to do it comfortably.

How to Live in a Car, Van or RV--And Get Out of Debt, Travel and Find True Freedom (an ebook) by Robert Wells

http://astore.amazon.com/kayakin-20/detail/B008S129XY - How and why to live in a car, van or RV, and learn to love it! There are two main reasons you might buy a book on living in a vehicle: 1) You're being forced into it by a bad economy, divorce, or unemployment, or 2) The "American Dream" has become a nightmare for you and you are dropping out of the rat race. Whatever your reason, this book will tell you everything you need to make it the best possible experience it can be. We'll cover details like: which vehicle to live in and how to find it, where to park, staying clean, going to the bathroom, how to cook in a van, get out of debt, survive any bad economy, travel on a budget, how to get your mail, how to stay comfortable in the heat and cold, how to get electrical power, and so much more I can't list it all here. By Bob Wells.

An Inspiring Vandweller – SwankieWheels’ Story by Robert Wells

I first met Charlene Swankie in 2009 at a get-together of the Yahoo group vandwellers. She had just bought a 2006 Chevy Express cargo van and was just getting started on her conversion. She realized the most important thing for her was getting adequate ventilation in the van. So she bought a FantasticFan and had us help her install it. I say "help her" in only the widest terms. She did every bit of the work herself and refused to let us do any of the actual work. Read more.

SwankieWheels - Kayaking America by Charlene Swankie (AKA SwankieWheels)

(updated 4/5/13) In 2002, I took an Alaskan cruise hoping it would help me get over loosing my husband in 2001. It didn't! Bad knees and extreme pain got worse and by 2005, I was shopping for a wheelchair. I also had high blood pressure, was on meds for that, plus meds for my stomach, my bladder, my joints, my migraines, my allergies, etc. I was a walking medicine cabinet. Now I have new knees, better health (off all meds) and a kayak. I've lost weight (about 80 pounds) and kayaked the lower 48 states. August 2013, I will kayak Alaska, my 49th state. Join me in May 2014 to kayak Hawaii and celebrate my 70th Birthday.

On this blog you will find help with projects, general information on my life and much more. Here are links to some of the highlights.

My 50-state kayaking and camping adventure.

The last five years… for Bob Wells – an overview for Bob’s potential update on me.

Getting Healthy On-The-Road Again: Day 1

Recent Art Work…. sketches for gasoline money!

Photographic Restoration Services

SwankieWheels’ Amazon Store - Support my Adventure by visiting my store.  I you buy something from Amazon, they will pay me a small percentage. ( I don’t know when that kicks in but so far I have not been paid ONE penny. )

Dances with Coyotes

This was a morning of uniqueness.  I woke feeling very congested from spending two full days in the lapidary shop and even though I wore a mask, my COPD is acting up.  So, slept in, and then drove out to a wilderness desert area and walked (and picked up rocks, of course).  After about an hour I headed back to the van.  Got almost there when a coyote began yapping.   So, I turned… tried to spot it… walked to the side a bit and finally caught a glimpse of it with the sun sparkling of its light tan coat. (continued…)

Colorado–First Month (May 2012) – First Camp Hosting job in White River National Forest near Rifle, CO.

I lost what??? 80 pounds???? Are you kidding.

Laid-Off and ON-THE-ROAD-AGAIN!!! Forest Fire closed my campground.

Index of States Kayaked by Charlene Swankie

Finding Freedom and Health, once again!

My Rig….

A Swankie Desk

A Swankie Roof Rack and Vent Fan

A Swankie Bunk (bed)

Bucket List by Charlene Swankie

Index of States I have Kayaked.
I have also created a table/index of all the places I have kayaked.  I hope to add things like the altitude, distance paddled, and other details.  There are blog pages for most of the states, but not all of them.  I hope to have a page for each state, with details of what I liked and what I would do differently when and if I return to that state.  Some states I don't plan to return to, only those I really really like.

Also on my Blog you will find a listing of “followers” of my blog, as well as Links to other Blogs I follow.  You should check out those other blogs.

It is our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness… and I’m gonna give it my all. Life just doesn’t get any better than this, until tomorrow.

Happy 4th and Happy Trails.

Swankie
(as of July 4th 2013 I have 84,647 visitors to my blog site… not as many as other blogs but I am thrilled)