J.G. (Just Go!)

J.G. (Just Go!)

Our best tips and techniques for getting back on the trail more often. You know you love it...now just go!

If your gear could talk, it would be calling to you, maybe when you’re awake at 3 a.m. and staring up at your bedroom ceiling glowing in the greenish light of your alarm clock. You can almost hear all that spiffy outdoor gear you have in your closet or garage screaming, “Use me! How come you don’t hike more? Backpack more? Snowshoe more…?”

Because I don’t have time, you answer. Because I’m earning a living. Because my kids are too little. Because my kids are grown and gone. Because, because… It’s a common lament and hey, we’re with you. Yet we all know people just as busy as we are who get out on adventures—be they day hikes or treks in Nepal—all the time. How do they do it?

We went hiking the halls here at our main office and in our stores—where a lot of our staff and customers seem to be getting into the outdoors just about every week—and asked a pretty simple question: “How do you do it? What makes getting out more easier, more fun, more rewarding?”

Here’s the scoop. But we gotta add: for all the great ideas and gear that can help you make outdoor adventure a bigger part of your life, you still have to nudge yourself sooner or later and say, “Just Go!”

1.
Beat the Time Trap

Noted outdoor writer Tom Stienstra calls it “the time trap” and we agree: try to juggle time for work, time for family and friends, and time for outdoors, and outdoors is the dropped ball. His advice? “Treat your fun just like you treat your work.”

That means scheduling outdoor trips, be they a day hike or a multi-day trek. You keep your appointments at work, don’t you? Then follow Tom’s advice and calendar the stuff that’s really important—your dreams! Check out our selection of Tom’s guidebooks at Adventure 16, and pay a visit to his website at www.tomstienstra.com.


2. Too out of shape?

Then why not use the outdoors to get in shape? Last we checked, the local trails near you were a heck of a lot prettier than the mirrored view from a treadmill. Many of us feel daunted by the prospect of exercising at least 60 minutes a day (recent government recommendations). Start slowly and build strength back up by re-discovering those beaches, parks and canyon trails near you. Walk the dog. Pack some morning walks into each weekend, preferably ones involving elevation gain (of course, you should consult your doctor before beginning any exercise program). Consider choosing a lightweight pair of trail shoes from Adventure 16’s wide selection and wearing them from street to trail to office.


3. Leave the planning to them

Sometimes you might want to hit the “default” mode and sign on with an “active adventure” vacation outfitter/tour company—one that emphasizes hiking, bike riding, and rafting rather than cruise ships and Vegas. Many do all the planning, cooking, gear organization, even the heavy lifting. Here are a few well-known options (search the web with key words “adventure travel” and “active travel” for more): Austin-Lehman Adventures, 800/575-1540, www.austinlehman.com; Backroads Adventures, 800/462-2848, www.backroads.com; Class VI River Runners, 800/252-7784, www.800classvi.com; Classic Journeys, 800/200-3887, www.classicjourneys.com; Footloose of TrekAmerica, 800/221-0596, www.trekamerica.com; National Wildlife Federation, 800/606-9563, www.nwf.org/expeditions; New England Hiking Holidays, 800/869-0949, www.nehikingholidays.com; O.A.R.S., 800/346-6277, www.oars.com; The Wayfarers, 800/249-4620, www.thewayfarers.com; Distant Horizons, 800/333-1240, www. Distant-horizons.com; Wilderness Travel, 800/368-2794, www.wildernesstravel.com; Sierra Mountaineering International, www.sierramountaineering.com, 760/872-4929.


4. Get comfortable…and updated!

See our “Going Light(er)” story in this issue for advice on how to drop pounds off your back, feet, even belly and what a difference this can make in your energy levels, comfort, hiking range and more. This, perhaps more than anything else, may revolutionize and revitalize your outdoor habits! Likewise, the gear revolution continues, especially in the realm of clothing, flashlights, stoves. Smaller, better, lighter. Fascinating really. Pay us a visit at Adventure 16 and get your juices going, because you don’t have to carry the same sleeping bag you used as a teenager anymore.


5. Take a course, learn new skills

Some of us make learning a lifetime habit. Consider alternatives like tracking, advanced first aid, landscape photography. Start with an overview via Gordons Guide, www.gordonsguide.com and UK-based World Outdoor Web, www.w-o-w.com. Then check out National Outdoor Leadership School (N.O.L.S.), www.nols.edu, 800/710-6657; Outdoor Leadership Training Seminars (O.L.T.S.),

www.olts-bt.com, 303/320-0372; Colorado Mountain School, www.cmschool.com, 970/586-5758; Northwest School of Survival, www.nwsos.com, 503/668-8264; American Alpine Institute, www.mtnguide.com, 360/671-1505; Wilderness Medical Associates, www.wildmed.com,

800-WILDMED; Sierra Mountaineering International, www.sierramountaineering.com, 760/872-4929; Wilderness Outings, www.wildernessoutings.com, 877-4WILDOUT.


6. Create the “Gear Zone”

You put all your clothes and shoes in a closet don’t you? Then why is your outdoor gear scattered all over the house and garage? Set aside a home for your most-needed gear (daypack, boots, hiking poles) and an adjacent area for longer-term storage (larger backpack, cross-country skis etc.). Consider making an inventory list of everything you own—it will help you find things, plan trips, remember items. Clear plastic bins are best; or label boxes with numbers keyed to your inventory list. Note: Sleeping bags and self-inflating mattresses should not be stored rolled up tight. Store instead in large, loose cotton bags made from old sheets or laundry bags. Periodically take all gear out for a good sun-bathing session on a warm day—UV and heat helps kill microorganisms that cause mold, rot, unpleasant odors.


7. Avoid disappointment

One reason some people don’t get out more—or quit altogether, God forbid—is because of an unpleasant experience. Training, practice, common sense: these all help avoid danger. But we’re referring more to disappointment, things like the ranger saying, “Oh, that trail is closed” or “Sorry Charlie, no more permits available”, or coming back to your car and finding the radio gone. Always call park and forest administrators first, get a human being on the line, and ask key questions like: 1. What permits, reservations, and fees do I need? 2. Where’s a safe place to park our car at or near the trailhead? 3. What are current trail conditions between X and X? 4. How long does it take most people to hike between X and X? 4. What temperatures and weather conditions are common this time of year? (See Jerry Schad’s advice about weather on page 10.)

8. Be flexible

We once got snowed out of a backpacking trip in the Palisades Glacier area on the east side of the Sierra. So we headed for Death Valley and the Eastern Mojave instead. A few extra items of outdoor gear in the car made the switch easy (we had an inkling it would happen). Too much planning can be the death of spontaneity, so a flexible attitude serves as a good antidote to becoming a control freak. Besides, you can’t control mother nature.


9. Find a friend, join a club, be sociable!

Hiking alone was great for John Muir and Pete Starr, but you’ll probably get out more often if you find a companion or two. Get a friend, set a time for training hikes and stick to it, rain or shine. Instead of Starbucks, go to a mountaintop near you!

Sierra Club, Audubon Society, and the natural history museum nearest you all have active day-hiking programs, and sponsor field trips to Baja, the deserts, Channel Islands, Grand Canyon, and beyond. Many state parks and reserves have volunteer and docent opportunities: a docent training program is an especially good way to get to know a new group of like-minded people, as well as steep yourself in new outdoor knowledge. Ask for trail duty or backcountry maintenance jobs if you really want to get moving as a volunteer.


10. Read all about it.

Some of the best books ever written will get you to the edge of your seat—and then back into the outdoors. Start with Colin Fletcher’s “The Thousand-Mile Summer” (if you can find it). This may be the book that started the backpacking “craze” way back in the 1960s, and it’s still a great read. Great nature writing is inspiring: we love Ann Hamond Zwinger (try “The Mysterious Lands” about the American Southwest). Water lovers will enjoy Eric Sevareid’s epic canoe journey in “Canoeing With the Cree” and John McPhee’s “The Survival of the Birchbark Canoe.” The adventure classics, such as the list offered by the Adventure Library, are timeless. Whether you buy these handsomely bound and reissued books from the publisher/club itself, or find them at Adventure 16 or used book dealer, they’re all must-reads. Outside magazine published a great story in January 2003 entitled “The 25 (Essential)Books for the Well-Read Explorer.” Talk about seizing the imagination! Their number one? “Wind, Sand and Stars” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Others in the top five include: “The Worst Journey in the World” by Apsley Cherry-Garrard; “West With the Night” by Beryl Markham (hmm, lots of aviation); “The Snow Leopard” by Peter Matthiessen; “Desert Solitaire” by Edward Abbey. Yeah!