Day 1

I'm in Delta CO tonight. Eight rides and 300 miles from San Ysidro. There are some very nice mountains along US-550.

On the way!

I'm north of Albuquerque and headed to the Jemez.

Gear List

I'm ready to hit the road. I'll be out of Albuquerque tomorrow afternoon and should be in Colorado by Monday evening. North to Alaska!

42 Liters/26 Pounds

Here's a breakdown of my gear.

Packs:
Deuter futura Pro 42

Flash 19 pack (day pack and stuff sack).


Clothing (all chosen to be quick drying and light):
3 Pairs of Smartwool running socks.
3 Pairs of ExOfficio underwear (I haven't used these before, but they have excellent reviews online.)
2 Pairs of pants, one nicer, one convertible.
2 Thin T-shirts.
1 Long sleeve button down travel shirt.
1 Short sleeve button down travel shirt.
1 Pair of swimming trunks
1 North Face flight series half zip fleece.
1 Taku Jacket (The best jacket I have ever owned).
1 Pair Taku pants (I really dislike rain pants, but I'm giving these a shot based on the jacket).
1 Pair Five-Finger shoes (for hiking in water and questionable showers)
1 Pair North Face Hedgehog III shoes

Sleeping (mostly planning on hostel like places, but I want the option to camp):
Therm-a-Rest NeoAir pad (about half the size of my old Therm-a-Rest but same weight).
Mountain Hardware Phantom 45 deg bag.
Sea to Summit Reactor sleeping bag liner (I treated this with bug repellent for the interesting hostels)
REI minimalist bivy sack.
Inflatable neck pillow (A bit of a luxury, but I don't know any chiropractors along the way).

Hydration:
2 32 oz Nalgene Cantene (these fit in the side pockets of my bag).
1 2 liter Platypus water bag (for longer treks).
Steripen Freedom (Sorry Ioana I really like not needing batteries).
Half liter Nalgene bottle (for treatment).

Electronics (with required chargers):
Macbook Air.
iPhone 4S.
Pair of ear buds.
Pentax Optio W90 (completely water proof to 10m).
Universal adapter (smaller than a converter and everything I have can run on 220).

Miscellaneous:
Tooth brush with half the handle removed.
1 oz tube of tooth paste.
2 oz camp soap (Supposed to work for clothes and self, I'm a little skeptical, but trying it anyway).
2 oz Sunscreen.
2 oz Aloe Vera (in case I forget to put on the sun screen).
2 oz of 20% DEET repellent.

Mach 3 Razor (Probably just replace it with disposable when I run out of blades).
Nail clippers.
Towel ("about the most massively useful thing an intersteller hitchhiker can have"- Douglas Adams).
Micro wash cloth.
Braided bungee clothes line.
Dry bag (for the Macbook).
Pocket Knife (I'll leave this behind when I start flying if I do want carryon only).
Minimalist can opener.
Package of tissue.
Ibuprofen.
Therm-a-Rest repair kit.
Passport.
Wallet.
A pen (for filling out entrance declarations).

I think that's everything. I forgot to include the clothes I was wearing the first time I weighed it so I'm a little higher now. I have no idea how it all fits into that pack. If it's too much trouble packing it exactly right every time I'll get a slightly bigger pack in AK and try not to expand my gear list. If I find myself freezing on the way north, I may have to get a bigger pack so I can include a base layer. Why didn't I think to include camping in the rockies as part of every test plan when I was working?

Projections

Projection of world travel by RIEtech engineers. Thanks Matt!

This is what happens when you extrapolate from two data points. My progress should look better by next week. Though if Santiago got inspired and decided to just keep going east I probably wouldn't catch him...

Stuff

The early stages of packing.
My room is a disaster.
I can't believe I have so much stuff.

My new cubicle...

Last day of work!

Thank you RIEtech for being supportive of my alternative retirement plans. Hopefully I'll see you all in a year.

First Pack Test

I'll post an itemized pack list once I've finalized everything

.

23.5 pounds dry weight.

Snowboarding - AK

A few pictures from snowboarding in the Chugiak range about 45 miles north of Valdez Alaska. The boarding was not as technically difficult as we expected, but it was really fun. It was a great early start to the next year's adventures and hence the place to start this blog. 

One of those dots is not like the others.

As I was returning the avalanche gear one of the associates dropped the standard "safety is our number one priority" line. That puzzled me a bit, so I pointed out that if being safe was really her first priority, there were much safer careers than helicopter ski guiding. She thought about it for a second and agreed that safety is a good number two priority. Thinking about that conversation a couple days later I realized I knew what to call this blog.