Post by cuzimthedad on Dec 18, 2016 12:31:42 GMT -8
Howdy all! I'm an upper middle aged, semi retired, Explorer Scout, Navy Seabee, retread working on rebooting my old outta date gear and wanting to go places. When I was in Scouts and into my early 30's I loved to camp and hike. When my family and business started to grow I had to turn away from the outdoors and focus on them. Fast forward to ten years ago, I founded an astronomy club with a friend of mine and five years ago our group spread our wings into doing an annual "Out There" trip combining astronomy, camping, archaeology, and geology, which meant a lot of day hikes to areas of interest around our camp/observing sites. We've been to Chaco Canyon, the White Mountains around the Bishop area, and the Pinnacles to name some.
Three years ago my wife and I rekindled our love for Hawaii (and ourselves) and have made three annual treks to the Big Island combining over 7 weeks of on island time during that period and putting over 5,000 miles on our rental vehicles exploring and poking around. We both love the outdoors, discovery, and living in Sonoma County, gives us the ability to access a myriad of awesome hiking trails at different levels of experience. Last year I turned 60 and with that came a certain urgency that life was getting shorter and I should probably get the most I could from it. While researching for hiking trails on Hawaii, I came across the Waimanu Valley and learned it was best experienced by packing in and staying for 3-4 days. Lots to explore while there. I thought I would like to do this and thus began my research of gear. Realllllly fun stuff too! Out was my old outer frame pack, foam pad, and 8 pound sleeping bag! What I have discovered over the past year of research and trial and error use has prepared me for my first real overnight trial run after the holidays. I am fortunate to own ten acres... four of which are wooded with two seasonal creeks flowing through them...and will be doing at least three "overnighters" to break in my gear, myself, and reintroduce myself to the great concept of backpack/camping.
From there a buddy of mine (The wife only does day hikes and her concept of camping is staying at the Marriott rather than the Hilton) and I will be doing as many weekend backpacking trips as time will allow between New Years and next Fall. I mentioned Waimanu, but that's a 4 dayer for myself. Fred and I are in the planning stages to do the Kalalau Trail on Kauai and extremely excited to be able to do so. He's an Army Engineer, I'm a Seabee (Both no longer active) so the conversation should be good!
So that's it in a nutshell. I'm a "what you see is what you get" kinda guy with no pretenses. I'm happy to be here and look forward to getting to know some of you as time goes by. Oh yes...be forewarned...my daughter plays the pipes!
Three years ago my wife and I rekindled our love for Hawaii (and ourselves) and have made three annual treks to the Big Island combining over 7 weeks of on island time during that period and putting over 5,000 miles on our rental vehicles exploring and poking around. We both love the outdoors, discovery, and living in Sonoma County, gives us the ability to access a myriad of awesome hiking trails at different levels of experience. Last year I turned 60 and with that came a certain urgency that life was getting shorter and I should probably get the most I could from it. While researching for hiking trails on Hawaii, I came across the Waimanu Valley and learned it was best experienced by packing in and staying for 3-4 days. Lots to explore while there. I thought I would like to do this and thus began my research of gear. Realllllly fun stuff too! Out was my old outer frame pack, foam pad, and 8 pound sleeping bag! What I have discovered over the past year of research and trial and error use has prepared me for my first real overnight trial run after the holidays. I am fortunate to own ten acres... four of which are wooded with two seasonal creeks flowing through them...and will be doing at least three "overnighters" to break in my gear, myself, and reintroduce myself to the great concept of backpack/camping.
From there a buddy of mine (The wife only does day hikes and her concept of camping is staying at the Marriott rather than the Hilton) and I will be doing as many weekend backpacking trips as time will allow between New Years and next Fall. I mentioned Waimanu, but that's a 4 dayer for myself. Fred and I are in the planning stages to do the Kalalau Trail on Kauai and extremely excited to be able to do so. He's an Army Engineer, I'm a Seabee (Both no longer active) so the conversation should be good!
So that's it in a nutshell. I'm a "what you see is what you get" kinda guy with no pretenses. I'm happy to be here and look forward to getting to know some of you as time goes by. Oh yes...be forewarned...my daughter plays the pipes!
