Posted by : Dave murphy
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
If you were to learn that I was planning to hike from Mexico to Canada a few months ago, you may have be inclined to glance at my belly and raise your eyebrows a little. Well, after an intensive training regeime over the past month, you can now look at me and exclaim, "wow, that guy is in his physcal prime". Thank you for saying so.
On a related note I am not in tip top condition, because as you would guess when left to my own devices my training reigeme mostly consisted of beer consumption. But what I lack in physical fitness, i make up for in mental toughness. Even though i am now moustacheless and look less like a gang member/hobo, I am still a pretty tough guy.
I had a chance to go bush by myself up the Hapuku River in the Seaward Kaikouras last week to stretch my legs and test my pack weight. All went well and it ended up being a great wet weather test for my gear and good river fording practice for me. Key learning from the experience: no rain jacket will keep you dry if you fall face first into a flooded river ford. See figures 1 and 2.
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| Figure 1. Waterfall on Hapuku River |
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| Figure 2. A river ford in a gorge on the Hapuku River. |
I leave for the USA in 2 days time and i will upload a link to a webpage which show my gps location at any given time. That way you can spy on me if you like. I will attempt to update this blog once a week so hassle me if i am not doing so.
