In January 2009, I decided to set a goal of hiking the 93 mile Wonderland Trail which gains 23,000 feet in elevation on a trail that goes all the way around Mt. Rainier. I was completely out of shape and 50 pounds overweight at the time. I had hoped to do it in Summer of 2009 but the permit didn't work out for us. I used the extra year to continue working on getting in shape and acquiring necessary equipment. We also went on several backpacking trips to get some practice. Since we started pretty much from scratch in January of 2009 we were able to focus on getting lightweight gear in hopes of keeping our pack weights down.
Here I am on a backpacking trip last year:
At one time, in the not too distant past, I dreamt of making the circuit of Mt. Rainer with all four of our kids. However, kids grow up and move on. Some of our backpacking trips also made it apparent that it would be more fun for all involved if the kids got to choose whether or not to make the trip. At the beginning of this year we asked the kids if they wanted to come with us. We only had one taker, our 11 year old daughter.
Here she is on our 4 day Indian Heaven Wilderness Trip last year:
Then, of course, there's the pack mule AKA my husband Curtis. He doesn't get the whole concept of lightweight backpacking. He loves carrying a 50 pound pack and thinks that every pound he carries over 50 makes him even more of a man. Works for me!
He also hikes much faster than I (as do most tortoises) so he often gets ahead. He likes fooling around with the camera and taking pictures of himself while he waits:
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