Preparation

 We walk everyday 6-8 miles but as time gets closer for a hike, we load our backpacks with what we plan to take. We increase our mileage and we keep on walking. This morning we walked 4 miles and stopped at Starbucks for an expresso frappucinno for me and a black coffee for Stoney. With coffees in hand we walked over to McDonald's for a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit breakfast (we will not eat again until dinner time and it won't be a heavy dinner). We walked back to the house for a total 8 miles.

I had been testing a new smaller capacity backpack which I named Buddy, Jr. However, I could not get it adjusted quite right so I switched to my old reliable (Buddy) which is the ULA Circuit. It served me faithfully and comfortably for 420 miles on the Appalachian Trail in 2013 - see Appalachian Trail blog and in 2014 for approximately 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James).  We started walking from St. Jean Pied de Port in France and continued across the northern part of Spain. We walked for 40 days (not counting the rest days). If you are interested in our Camino walk take a look here.  Carrying a light load of only 12-15 lbs. it packs much smaller than the picture illustrates. I wonder if my back has muscle memory? When I hoisted Buddy and he settled on my back, my back and shoulders seemed to say "ahhhh, nice."

Stoney has an REI Flash 45 backpack which did the job on the Camino. You can see it in this video. I have it on here as well. This was test day #2.
 


After unpacking Buddy Jr. and packing Buddy (during an hour break at home), we went back out for 4 more miles. So, it was a 12 mile day. The first 3 days on the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) will be 12.5 mile days. However, in our part of Georgia, 12 miles walking at 900 feet above sea level, is not comparable for what we will soon experience. We count our daily miles as "time on our feet" and we gauge our progress by how hard it is to get up from the couch or how much we hurt the next day -- haha! Tomorrow, we'll do another 12 miles or maybe 13 if our feet and legs don't scream too much. Hopefully, we'll be able to do a third day in a row. If so, we are making progress and while our legs and feet might not scream as much in the mountains of France, Italy and Switzerland, we know our hearts and lungs will be screaming from the elevation gains.

Since we won't be carrying a tent or food and cook stove, fuel, etc., we plan to have a light load of around 12 pounds before adding whatever water we'll carry. It seems that there is abundant water coming off the glacier so I will take a Sawyer mini filter and we will probably carry a liter to begin each day and filter along the way.

I walked the Camino wearing Newton Boco AT (trail runners); they were very comfortable and provided good traction and cushioning. I removed the insoles and replaced them with Superfeet Berry. The Berry Superfeet insoles provide some arch support and ball of foot cushioning which is important because as we age, we lose the fat pad in the ball of the foot. At the end of the Camino there was still life in my Newtons and I brought them home. I have a new pair and new insoles for the TMB. I also have Ahnu Mount Tam Air Mesh hiking shoes (with Superfeet Berry insoles) which are comfortable. I tested them on two hikes in the Smoky Mountains and I liked them. But since they have less than 75 miles on them, I'm not sure yet whether my feet like them as much as the Newton's. I walked blister-free in Spain and my feet never cringed when I put them on each morning.

Stoney is a former runner and he hikes in running shoes. He has only taken one fall that scared the living daylights out of me. Many years ago as we were hiking back down the Alum Cave trail  from Mt. LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains, he slipped or tripped and landed on his back. His head was at the edge of quite a cliff and his body and legs were on the trail. The trail was quite narrow and we just stared at him -- mostly in fear not knowing how best to proceed to get him upright. If he released his pack, it could have fallen off the edge and been unrecoverable. He looked like an upside down turtle. He refused help and so we watched as he rocked back and forth on his backpack and managed to stand back up. What sweet relief. He has a pair of Ahnu Mount Tam Air which he broke in during a recent hike up Mt. LeConte. He considers them clod hoppers--heavy compared to his running shoes. He hasn't decided which shoes to take either ....

This flowering cactus grows in a neighbor's yard. A beautiful sight at the end our 12 miler today and a good way to end this blog post. Wonder what flowers we'll see on the Tour du Mont Blanc?