One week to go...

One week and at this time of night I hope to be somewhere near Lincoln, NE.

I did the figures and I will travel approximately 4,413 miles with the expected travel time to be 74 hours and 5 minutes. That does not include a lot of side trips in Glacier and I may still hit the Canadian border. That is a lot of time in a truck. The boring part will be Nebraska and parts of Wyoming.

I will travel through 12 states (well Colorado will be the 3 point area near the Nebraska high point - I will be in 3 states at the same time - Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming).

I will hopefully do four high points in this time. Idaho will be the one that is a pain. If the weather keeps me off the first day I will stay and attempt it again. I have built in time for that mountain.

Glacier will be the long stay due to the mountains I want to hit there and some of the trails. I want to hit Ptarmigan Tunnel (  http://www.hikinginglacier.com/ptarmigan-tunnel.htm ) and Grinnell Glacier ( http://www.hikinginglacier.com/grinnell-glacier.htm ). That glacier may be gone in about five years. I want to see one of those up close before they disappear.

I would be a liar if I did not say this trip makes me nervous a bit. Traveling alone is not easy to do. Hiking in the back country alone is insane. I am hopeful it will push my comfort boundaries and push me as a person. It has been a long year and unfortunately I have felt like I have stood still for that entire time. This will push me to move, to live, and to enjoy.

If you have never climbed a mountain I would suggest you try it sooner rather than later. Skip the beach vacation for once and go climb a mountain. You will be amazed at what you see and what you will feel.

One week and the adventure begins! Stay tuned.

Ok, this Blog thing is pretty interesting. The software has statistics to see how many people have viewed your page and where they are located. As you could imagine most of my views have come from the good ole USA, but I have four views from Canada. Makes me think of the Strange Brew movie! I also have one viewer in Poland. Poland? Yes Poland! Hmmm...maybe somebody is interested in the trip out west.

Plus all of this thought about the West has made me think about the Pet Shop Boys song Go West!

For your viewing pleasure:

Counting down the days now for the trip. Spent the weekend readying gear. Look at my home away from home for the two weeks -

I have an air mattress so I can get some sleep. My backpack tent is ready as well. A couple of my climbs might need an overnight pit-stop.

Climbs on the list so far:

Panorama Point, Nebraska - 5,429 feet - highest point in Nebraska and mainly a drive up, but hey it is 4,000 feet taller than the Indiana highpoint.

Borah Peak, Idaho -12,662 feet - highest point in Idaho. An all day climb and maybe then some. One of the toughest I will face.

Reynolds Mountain, Montana (Glacier NP)- 9,125 feet - may not seem like much but look at it:

Triple Divide Peak, Montana (Glacier NP) - 8,022 feet - again may not seem like much but she looks like a pain in the ass:

This one will be a bit more since the total round trip hike is 15.5 miles. Now that may not seem like much, but in the mountains that is a trip. Plus add in the bear factor and it is an adventure! The biggest reason I want to be on top of this mountain is due to its uniqueness. It is one of only a handful of places on the earth where water from its top will travel in three directions. The west side goes to the Pacific, the east side goes to the Atlantic via the Gulf of Mexico and the northeast side goes to the Hudson Bay, which you can argue enters into the Arctic Ocean (that is up for debate though). 

I will add to the climbs in North Dakota and South Dakota - their high-points - 3,508 feet and 7,242 feet respectively. Plus I am thinking about Devil's Tower as a late add on. Not sure on that. I will have to pay for someone to help me climb it.

Well who the hell will want to read this? Maybe somebody. My hopes and plan is to write (blog) daily when I head out west in the end of August and early September. Maybe I will learn something about myself and more than likely it will just be a way for people to check in to see that I am still alive and well. The interesting part will be getting things to upload onto the cloud since the internet/cell phone connection out there is spotty. We will see. Trust me, I don't want too many connections to the world...I am trying to get away. Isn't that what vacation is for?