Dress Rehearsal

Only one week to go until the Foothills Trail!  Today Heidi and I did a full "dress rehearsal."  While we have been hiking once or twice a week with a weighted pack, today we fully packed our bags with everything that we'll have on our trip.  With all our food, clothes, sleeping bags, etc. and 2 liters of water each, our packs weighed in at 36 lbs. (mine) and 33 lbs. (Heidi's).  This is just about the same amount of weight we've been training with.  The good news, of course, is that every day we'll be eating a couple pounds off of our packs every day!

My pack looks so much heavier than Heidi's, right??

With our bags packed, we headed to the Cincinnati Nature Center for a 12 mile hike.  We've hiked and ran a lot at CNC this year.  Located in Milford, about 20 minutes from our house, the Nature Center boasts about 15 miles of well-maintained trails and scenic woods.  Memberships are super affordable as well... definitely worth checking out!

A scenic waterfall along the trail.

It was a gorgeous day, with blue skies and sun pretty much all day.  It was definitely chilly, but we were on the move all day which kept us warm.  Around one o'clock we enjoyed a delicious lunch of peanut butter and bagels, before hiking a few more hours to get back to the car.  We both felt tired by the end of the hike, but overall pretty good.  Instead of arriving at a camp site, setting up the tent and cooking some freeze dried meals, we were rewarded at the end of today's hike with burritos from Chipotle and a hot shower at home.  In spite of having to leave behind such creature comforts, we are both looking forward to the solitude and mental clarity that can only come from long hike!

 Well, for now it's back to work for one more week, and time to make some last minute preparations.  We'll definitely make a final blog post before we leave, and we will try our best to make updates on the trail, although lack of cell phone reception may mean you'll get a really long update when we get back!

As most of you know, we are dedicating our 76 mile hike to survivors and family members of those suffering from Leukemia & Lymphoma, and are raising funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  We've asked you, our friends, family and co-workers, to make a "pledge per mile" to help support this great cause and keep us motivated on the trail.  We are happy to report that we currently have over $350 in pledges!  Please click on our Make a Pledge page to see how you can support us, and consider making a pledge of 25 cents a mile (aka $19 if we finish the whole trail)!

Thanks for following along, and thanks for your support!
Matt