With the weather in prime condition and the mountain snow leaving, we’ve been burning up the trail. You think we’d be experts at getting ready for our weekend explorations but we actually suck. We continue to forget food, clothing, equipment, sunscreen, you name it. Megan had a freak out moment on our previous hike when we couldn’t find the chocolate chip cookies she made the night before (they were actually hidden in my H2O sleeve, oops). It doesn’t help that our brains are fogged up from waking at 4 AM in the morning to beat the risk of lightning on our hike. So to help you avoid forgetting that savory piece of chocolate or your lucky pair of hiking undies, I’ll lay out how to prepare during the work week.
Monday – Thursday needs to be spent researching and planning. Use 14ers.com or whatever weather/hiking site you like. If you work at a computer, I’d recommend just leaving that site up cause you’re going to hit it at least 10 times a day checking the weather forecast, drooling at recent trip reports, and scouting out which mountain is most optimal for the weekend. You could start laying your gear out now but that is risky. No wife likes tripping over your crap and she will be sure to let you know that. Forgetting important gear is better than getting nagged all week. Better wait until Friday night to pack.
Friday after work, go to the grocery store and load up on your favorite munchies. Bars, smoothie materials, fruit, jerky, whatever floats your boat. My new favorite thing is to have a cold coconut water waiting in the car – just don’t forget to bring a cooler otherwise it’s pretty gross. Sorry but you’ll have to skip the gym and booze tonight. No hike is fun after a day of 5 x 5 back squats and you’ll probably be drunk driving c