u/refreshedaz

I feel like a moron. Our Amazon deliveries were taking two or three weeks sometimes to get to the house. Because we don’t get USPS delivery to our house here, everybody has a PO Box. In our address in Amazon, I had put the PO Box in the second address blank.

I removed that and now we have access to our local distribution center. We have prime delivery times now. Like I said, before, it would be sometimes weeks before we would get it. I think they were sending everything through the Postal Service.

At the risk of getting downvoted, I thought I would let everybody know in case anybody else made this mistake.

Have a great weekend!

This quote resonated with me this morning and I thought you might like it.

“I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news.”

John Muir

Do you have any quotes that encourage you to keep getting out there? Keep hiking, my friends.

Photo is an original from Hellsgate Wilderness Area, Gila County, Arizona. The escarpment in the distance is the Mogollon Rim.

I’ve noticed a few new hikers asking about how to get started with hiking. There is a lot of information out there and I think we suffer from overload sometimes.

Here are a few reminders based on my experience that will keep your hobby from becoming a hindrance.

1. You don’t have to have all of the latest gear.

Basically a bag and decent walking shoes will get you started.

2. Every hike does not have to be an epic journey of survival.

A walk through the woods on the flat watching the birds for a mile or two is very satisfying and can be therapeutic.

3. You will never go if you don’t go.

The first step to any journey is the first step. Do you have a natural place close by you can walk around? Do you have a free weekend to travel to the woods? In our pre-fabricated, overly-digested, incessantly-harried world we tend to overplan. The plan for hiking can be as simple as “do you want to take the dogs to the woods?“ I say this to my wife frequently and it begins an informal event that lately ended in the discovery of a cave in a place we hike a lot!

4. We were created to walk and observe.

Pay attention to your health, sure, but pay more attention to the surroundings. You will find your feet will move you without much thought when you get accustomed to hiking. Pay attention to the season changes. Your favorite trail will look differently different times of year. Start to notice the small things.

5. Keep a handwritten list of things you want in your backpack.

This will grow or shrink with need. That way you don’t have to think about it every time you want to go out. It makes a lot easier to just grab what you need and leave on a moment’s notice. Many have spoken about the ten essentials. That’s a good place to start.

6. You are not in a competition and you have nothing to prove to anyone else.

Having a destination is nice. The journey is the best part though. What I remember most about my hikes lately is the company I kept, the animals I saw, and the way I felt on the trail. Take your time or not, but whatever you do, hike your own hike.

7. Smile.

You have chosen to embark on a lifestyle that will help you in every way. Enjoy it alone, with a friend, in a group. But by all means, enjoy it.

Hang loose, my friends. I hope to see you on the trail soon.🤙

If you have any tips for new hikers, add them to the discussion!

Summary:

Using trekking poles changed my whole hiking experience. They reduced knee pain, reduced back pain, increased my stability, limited turning my ankle overs, and are efficient weapons against spiderwebs and my fellow campers while fencing at camp. En Garde!

The story:

“I’ll use them when I’m older.“

I was talking with a German visitor to the Grand Canyon as I climbed back up the South Kaibab Trail at the tail end of a rim-to-river overnight hike. As I was leaning on my poles, the day hiker stopped to engage me in some conversation. After telling him what we had done over the past day and a half, he asked me about my trekking poles.

I can remember when I first started hiking and backpacking. I thought they were for old people.

Occasionally, if I was bushwhacking, I would use a hiking stick. This was mostly to keep the spiders out of my face.

As time went on, I began leading a group of young people and their dads into the wilderness for a few days every year. I was carrying all of the food and cooking gear for the entire group so my backpack weighed somewhere around 55 or 60 pounds. I decided to take my walking stick just to keep my balance.

The canyon we were hiking into was pretty steep so my knees were barking at me a little bit. I found myself leaning on the walking stick more and more to take the pressure off. Unfortunately, as we were about halfway down the canyon, my hiking stick broke. I hiked the rest of the way to the bottom without a stick and did OK.

We camped and played around the woods for the next couple of days and then the time came to climb back out of the canyon. I could not find a suitable walking stick to help me hike out. To this day, I have never had a more difficult hike with all of that weight and the pain that was almost unbearable on my knees and lower back.

After getting back, I bought a cheap pair of outdoor products trekking poles, $16 well spent. I used them on my next few trips and found that I could create a nice cadence for walking with them. My knee and back pain began to improve so I planned another longer trip.

Hiking with the poles now became second nature. It was as if I had discovered a miracle that would improve my joint pain, my back pain, make me more stable, and help me to hike in a more fluid way.

Fast forward to our recent trip to the Grand Canyon. We woke up around 4 AM at the Maswik Lodge and made our way to the visitor center. We under unloaded the car double checked all of our gear and took the shuttle to the South Kaibab Trail head. As we disembarked, I realized I had forgotten my poles! Not good.

I had to hike down to Bright Angel campground, a trip of around seven or 8 miles, with a 5000 foot elevation drop, without them. The old knee pain started itself again and my calves were more sore than I can remember on a hike.

I remember telling my kids “if they have a pair of trekking poles down at Phantom Ranch, I will pay $300 for them.

They did, indeed, have some trekking poles for sale. I have now upgraded to Black Diamond aluminum poles. Thankfully, they did not cost me $300 for the set.

My old Outdoor Products poles will be set aside until I can convince my wife she also is not too young to use them!

The German hiker was not convinced. He said he will “use them when I get older.”