Kj: Grand Canyon or bust! We are seven weeks out from hiking what I consider one of the natural wonders of the world. The Grand Canyon is majestic, it is breathtaking, and it truly shows the power of Mother Nature. I am looking forward to the morning smell, watching the sunrise, feeling the cold chill in the air. The goosebumps, my heart racing with excitement and fear. The incredible conversations with family, the stories from complete strangers that are all on the same journey. 

Am I ready? Mentality I feel strong and excited to get this show on the road! Physically in the gym, I have been doing a great job of training, minus a couple weeks off for vacation. Weight wise I am scared! My nutrition has been, well at least I can say is poor. I am probably thirty pounds heavier than I was last time. I can lift a heck of a lot more weights than ever before. In addition, that goes for all exercises. Which for forty-one years old I think I am doing well in the weight lifting aspect. However, I do think it will be a big hindrance on the trails of the Grand Canyon. My goal was to be lean and mean. I wanted to be light and speedy. For some reason I have been truly struggling with eating. I am not sure if it is stress-eating, lack of willpower at the moment or what. However, I have never had this much difficulty eating healthy. Sadly, I am the one who always preacher’s food is the one thing you have control over. What you eat you can control daily, and at this point I do not feel like I can.

Time to reevaluate and get this under control. I know I will notbe able to make the weight I want to in the next seven weeks. However, I am turning the corner and going to get my self-control back. Remember I want this to be fun and enjoyable and today this is the only thing stopping it. Here is to getting back on the trail in a healthy weight that I can be comfortable with! GC here we come!

Pj: Obstacles, distractions and Pandemics! Really??? You can’t plan for a one hundred year unprecedented event! Schools are shutting down. Social distancing is the norm. TP is flying off the shelf.

As I wonder if air traffic will be possible in two months or if the National Park system will be open, I search for hope and faith and fall short. I feel mentally fatigued, cynical, and worried about humanity, civil society and feel my insignificance. I turn to the Grand Canyon as an object of meditation in my mind’s eye. I let go, breathe deeply, exhale my futile control efforts and give way the a rhythm of breath that links me with the oceans, the seasons, light, and universe. I notice the ground of being supporting me more than any effort for certainty. The wisdom of The Canyon with layers of time, and history beyond memory stored for the observer to see and experience.

One breath at a time, connected, grounded moves me through three dimensions. The river flows with many moods. I look forward to the quenching coolness siting inside the renewing force. If not this season then perhaps another. For now preparation continues, hope lives, dreams guide, and heart and lungs partner for life.

Kj: I feel the cold morning brisk air, I see the sun rising over the horizon, and I smell the crisp clean air filled with wildlife and trees. I hear the birds chirping and wildlife moving around me. I have a nervous yet excitement feeling in my body. The Grand Canyon is coming up quickly and I finally can close my eyes and picture everything that I just talked about. It is an amazing feeling and a great time to be a live and able to take on the journey of the GC again. 

Physically I have been pushing myself in the gym harder than I have in a while. Unfortunately, because of this I did something to my knee while doing squats. Not sure what it is but I am icing and taking it very easy the past couple days. It is starting to feel better but I am not out of the woods yet. I need to get healthy to continue to train my legs to get them ready. Other items that I am doing to get ready are looking into plane tickets, rental cars, and other misc. traveling planning. I have also been writing a list of foods, proteins, hydrations that will be needed on this journey.

I am writing everything down this time as last time I did not and tried to do it last minute. I am also looking on the map for places that might be close that we can stop and see before or after we leave the canyon. The excitement is alive and stronger than ever. My heart and mind are ready for this journey. Now I just need to make sure my body and logistics are set and reads to go.

Pj: Will I be ready? Can I shed some more weight over the next three months? Will winter break soon enough to do some strenuous hiking and biking to amp up endurance and strength? I am full of questions and doubts! GC 2020 is coming into view on the horizon.

Last time we embarked into the Canyon, it was the last weekend in May and the mile decent into the Earth was more than trying it pushed each of us to our limit and some beyond! The arid desert is not to be under estimated. Hikers that I spoke with suggested doubling both food and liquid intake for these conditions. They were absolutely correct!

The South Kaibab trail is the scenic path but it has the added challenge of no water stations, so you have to hike in with all your supplies. As we descended into the canyon beginning about 6am, temps were modest if not cold but by mid afternoon approaching the canyon floor the temps swelled well over the century mark feeling every bit like a convection oven!

We are travel a few weeks earlier in the season this year but will not underestimate the one two punch of Mother Nature and Father Time on this trek! Humility, preparation, self-knowledge and teamwork are the strategies to achieving this endurance feat!

I will have the added joy of hiking with my daughter and the share privilege of guiding several novices into and out of the canyon. Perhaps I will start reading Virgil and Dante to ready these skills.

The late great interpreter of human experience and inventor of worlds and characters had the habit of signing off with the saying, “Excelsior!” roughly translated “ever higher!” It embodies a kind of life philosophy of progress, the work of the superhero…most of the time!

There is a truth in religions and gladiators, and distilled in Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s journey that the road essentially must go down into the Earth, the void, the darkness, the fear, the abyss before a treasure can be found, a battle won, and knowledge acquired then an only then the journey upward into the light, the sky, the stars, the heavens shall proceed. The incarnation, birth, redemption, re-birth all require a descent before the ascent! The GC is no different we go down before we come up! This is not a mountain top meeting with a sky-God, this is a journey into the bowels demanding grit, determination and prudence!

In a world where metallic-birds fall out of the sky and erupt into a fireball consuming transcendent greatness, budding innocence, and worlds, I look to the river of life buried in the earth to wash away the insanity, irrationality and tragedy of events and drink to the possibility of digesting memory into my very cells and DNA to arise anew for the journey of this one-life. Pretium!

Kj: The Grand Canyon hike is getting closer and closer. We are approximately 4 months out from our hike. What is my mindset? What am I concentrating on? Am I ready?

I have been in a very positive mindset and looking forward to this incredible trip. I am excited to experience the Canyon again. I am excited to meet new people on the trail and at Phantom Ranch. I am looking forward to having a beer at the ranch on the floor on the canyon. I am very excited about the stew that is so incredible. I am looking forward to opening my eyes to take in the all the natural beauty on the hike. I cannot wait to see the mules on the trail. I cannot wait to cross the bridge over the rushing Colorado River. 

I do feel a bit nervous just because of the lack of hiking that I have done over the past year. Yosemite was amazing and we had some good hikes, but I was struggling. Unfortunately, with winter upon us I am stuck to the indoor gyms for the moment. I have been working on my legs so much more lately. The stair master has been my friend and worst enemy, but I am on it almost daily. I am determined to be in great shape when we hike and if I have to get that way at a gym so be it. I am concentrating on strength and conditioning training, which is necessary. 

However, I am also starting to pull out my hiking gear to make sure I am ready. I definitely need to get new socks. I am debating on new hiking boots but I am concerned that I will not be able to break them in prior. This year I want to go light. Bring as little as possible but obviously enough to get me through the hike. Over the next month along with training, I will concentrate on getting all my gear together; making sure I have everything I need to accomplish this hike.

Do I feel like I am ready? That is a difficult question; that small quiet voice says “yes, I can do anything I set my mind to.” I can hike GC anytime if I have the right mindset. My body tells me I need to train harder, for longer and continue my consistency. I may not be one hundred percent ready at this point. However, I will be ready! Grand Canyon here we come!

Pj: Happy New Years! And time to flip that switch and get dialed in. I enjoyed the holidays! All the gatherings, rich foods, and sweet desserts! Eggnog and all! And yes gained too much weight! Winters in the Pacific NW are frigid. I tell myself that my mammalian instincts lead me to crave and consume everything from pork to pie, candied yams to cocoa. Yet, as each day passes, the length of daylight begins to ever so slowly increase by few minutes reaching toward the summer solstice of fifteen plus hours of warmth and glorious light! Likewise, my motivation to wake my body from the slumber of winter layers to full activity cycling, kayaking, hiking and enjoying simple pleasure of movement increases!

Last year, I had positive results with Whole30 for four month! I found a groove in the simplicity of only, without exception, eating whole foods! I purchased a couple cookbooks and settled into a routine that worked with over forty pounds of weight loss. In conjunction with change in nutrition, I added in 20-30 minutes of isometrics and stretching to increase core strength and fitness. Gauntlet is down and I am all in. Time is now!

I also plan to re-listen to the audiobook “You can’t hurt me” by David Goggins. Supremely motivational and full of ideas to wake up and make the most of life!

Grand Canyon, I’m on my way!

Kj: Prepping for the Grand Canyon has just become so much more fun. A spot in our group opened up so that my oldest daughter is now able to make the trip with the rest of our family. She has heard me talk about this hike since the day I got back from our first hiking trip into the Grand Canyon. Over the years, she has asked me a ton of questions regarding it and has always been interested. I have always answered her questions but not in a lot of detail thinking that it was farfetched for her to be able to go.

I called my daughter when this spot opened up and I could hear the excitement in her voice. Her eagerness turned nervousness, then back to excitement. I assured her that if her Dad could do it she would be fine. This was followed by a lot more questions: how far is the hike? what do I wear? what hiking shoes do I need? where do we sleep? what to bring for food and drinks? what hiking gear to use? It has been a fun few weeks of answering her many phone calls and questions? She has been away at college and our time together over the past few years has been very limited. She will be home for Christmas and we will be able to get some quality time in planning our GC 2020 trip.

I am looking forward to sharing this experience with her. I am looking forward to her joining me on this journey of preparing for the GC. In addition, I am excited to take her on this journey and make sure she has the best experience possible and not struggle as I did my first time. I truly believe this hike is best experienced with your loved ones. The GC is about making memories with the people you love and meeting new people along the way. Maybe this time on the way up I will be hugging my daughter when we get to the top of the GC. I am the type of hiker that loves to hike alone on many of my hikes. I expressed this in a few of our previous posts. However, the GC to me is an experience that you want to do with loved ones. I am extremely excited that my daughter will be taking this journey with us and now it is on to prepping her so she is ready!

Pj: The winter solstice has arrived. The shortest day of the year, a time of passing through the inflection point of moving away to moving near, from increasing darkness to growing light! The seeds of hope are sown. The destination is on the map and the calendar. Four solid month of preparation time before GC 2020!

This has been an intense year of death, loss, sadness and grief. It has also been a time of friendship, endurance, steadfastness, and bravery. And by the grace of the divine love that moves the sun and all the stars, this year has brought forth great joy in winning hard fought battles, cherished reunions, and harvests of long sought for achievements bore out of fidelity to one another and values that elevate heart, mind, family and community!

I wonder what this next cycle will bring? I know there will be plenty of surprises. A return to the Grand Canyon is the hallmark of the year to come! I embrace the challenge, and relish the fellowship of the trail, and am leaning in to prepare mind, heart, body and soul for the journey!

Kj: Roadblocks will always come up from time to time. Just when you think, you are at your peak performance for training for an event, something will happen. It could be injury, sickness, or even an unexpected travel for work. After traveling for a week for work and working long hours, it feels like I have not trained in a very, very long time.

My nutrition went out the window from staying in a hotel, so I was constantly eating out. After getting back home, I chose to continue this for a couple of days instead of jumping back into my program. I think I felt derailed, as if the wheels feel off the bus. Today was the first day I was back in the gym. I struggled for a while in there this morning. I did not feel motivated, I was tired, sweating profusely. Fast forward to a few hours after I finished, my stress level went down; I was excited that I went. I felt half way normal, my mind shifted to the incredible time we will have hiking the Grand Canyon. My focus went from feeling depressed and why did I let myself go for almost two weeks, to I am back!

In just that one hour at the gym, focusing on my goals, it completely changed my mindset for the rest of the day. Negativity went away and positive vibes overtook my mind, body, and soul. Because I started focusing on my training a year out from the Grand Canyon, I am positive this has not been the first time or the last time this will happen. It does not matter though, what matters is how you react to it. How you get back up and continue to train, whether you are hiking the GC or running a 5k, or just to be mentally and physically strong.

The biggest reason I train is for mental fitness. Training releves  stress, and it sends positive vibes through me. The next reason is to be physically healthy. I use amazing places like the GC to keep me motivated to continue on my health journey. Bottom line is when you stop being healthy, when you stop training and you find it very difficult to get back into it. Sit down and think about how you felt the last time you left the gym, visualize it! You felt strong, you felt as if you could accomplished a big goal; visualize hiking the GC again, and how you feel hiking, and remember how awesome it feels being fit and ready! Get back on it!

Pj: The time from Thanksgiving to New Years is filled will celebration, travel, cold weather and stress! The retreat of light, the freezing frost, blankets of snow and all the other demands of the darkest weeks of the year tax the psyche. The season of candles, decorations, Yule logs, and twinkling strands of multicolor lights evoke warm memories of closeness.

As sugar, starch, high caloric treats and feasts expand the waist and fight off the existential threat of the dead of winter the solstice approaches. The nadir when life has descended in to the ground and Persephone eats of the pomegranate, the Mother’s gift, and remembers the seeds of life that will rise to harvest once again. Hope found in the dead of night where rivers of tears bare the twinkling light from above to luminate a path for those who have lost parent, child, spouse, and friend. The boy who died lives in our bonds of love which will be birthed in time.

The layers of humanity solidified in sediment whisper to hikers descending and ascending on the Kaibab and Bright Angel trails. The entropy of winter is a wave moving in the wrong direction. Swimming through my drives for thanatos toward Eros, I reach out for the angels of my better nature, a Goggins mirror session, and the solidarity of the brother and sisterhood, the household of fellow hikers to encourage the dying to self, and show-up to put in the sweat equity to become…

Kj: Preparing for the Grand Canyon is necessary in order to have the most enjoyable experience possible. Depending on your needs and wants, people will prepare very differently. Are you hiking S. Kaibab sleeping at Phantom Ranch and then hiking out the next day? Are you doing these same trails but staying at Phantom Ranch longer? On the other hand, maybe you are staying at a campsite and you need to pack for the outdoors stay.

A good friend of mine will start hiking before the sun comes up and go down S Kaibab and up Bright Angel in the same day. He packs very light but brings good nutrition in order to fuel his body to make that journey. I do not recommend this unless you are a highly experienced hiker. Over the past 10 weeks, I have been solid in the gym preparing myself physically for the hike. I have been pushing both my strength training and my cardio training to the limits. It has been very rewarding mentally and physically to push my limits and see myself being able to do more and more each week. I am determined this GC trip to be in the best shape possible to enjoy the hike instead of struggle to survive. I will continue to be consistent with my workout and continue to push the limits to prepare for this journey. Lately I have been struggling with my diet! In the past I have been able to cold turkey everything and go on a healthy eating kick.

Lately I feel like I have been eating everything in sight. It does not help that we have a table full of snacks at work that I walk buy constantly. It does not help that we go out to eat three times a week with our team at work. It does not help that when I get home I feel the need to snack more. For some reason I am truly struggling in this department. I need to get my willpower back! I need to focus on my diet; this is where I am currently struggling in my preparation for this journey. Some will ask why is diet so important at this point? As they say diet is 90% of being fit and fueling your body properly, the other 10% is being in the gym. Do not forget this portion of your preparation. It is critical to having a great experience in the GC. Do not wait until the week before, start your healthy eating months prior to ensure a successful trip.

Pj: As the days get shorter and nights colder, the drive for warmth and comfort go way up! The end of year Holiday season is upon us. From Halloween through New Year’s Eve seems to be an eight week stretch of parties, desserts, comfort foods, alcohol beverages. With good reason, as humans we celebrate the over coming of trials and tribulations of the past year, joining together as community to make it through dark times is a vital survival strategy. How to enter the season and move toward the rebirth that the new year promises?! Embrace and celebrate, burning the candle down, light a fire big enough to warm your self, your family, your village, and beyond! Death and Life, in all its color and pain and beauty are this seasons gift!

The fruits of new year are sowed today in the gym, in the work, in the cleaning out and emptying that fall and winter encourages! Have fun, you are alive! And find your organic rhythm that knows what is needed today to have the harvest of tomorrow!

The Grand Canyon could care less if you are prepared or not! The eternal force of nature will not go easy on you if you fail to keep your fire lit! The reality of the elements is stark unforgiving. The game is not just or merciful, not loving or kind-it is real and the shock to the human psyche of meeting reality face to face is to realize what is truly of value, purify your priorities and realign the human narrative with the ground of being!

Kj: Do you remember your first hike? I keep trying to remember when and where my first hike had taken place. Of course, as kids my parents would take us camping and we would go explore the wilderness, we would walk in all different directions to see what was around us. I would say this was how I feel in love with nature. At such a young age, my parents would bring us to the beach, to the woods, to the mountains. Maybe this was just to get five boys out of the house for a weekend. With a family of seven we definitely were not staying at hotels or renting cabins, we were sleeping in tents with sleeping bags. From that early age, I realized the beauty that nature has to offer.

I was taught to leave nature how you found it, pack everything out with you or the old saying “if it doesn’t grow it goes”! As I think back on those days we were being taught so many life lessons that I did not realize at the time. How to start fires, how to navigate in the woods, fishing, setting up a good camp. There is nothing more that I enjoy than sitting around a fire with great people telling stories and enjoying each other. My parents taught me and instilled in me the love and beauty of nature. I feel like it is my duty to do the same for my children. Let us teach the next generation the love for nature.

Most importantly, let us teach them how to respect nature and keep it how it is. We want the future generations to come to be able to walk these same paths as we hike. We want them to camp in all the great places that nature has to offer. It is our duty as parents to teach them the right way to enjoy these beautiful places! I still am blown away and the beauty of the Grand Canyon and to think of all the people for hundreds of year who have walked that it trail that I have. It is truly amazing and we need to make sure that we conserve and keep these areas safe and clean so our kids…kids…kids can enjoy like we do today.. Teach them young and teach them the right way! It is our future!

Pj: Life and death; union and separation; freedom and captivity; meaning and aimlessness are the multifold context I am approaching my next encounter with the Grand Canyon! I am search for life in abundance, willing to trading for a year plus to confront the elements of AZ and the GC! I am willing to leave the comfort of home and embrace the stark dislocation from the familiar to seek after truth on the trail. I hunger for a freedom that is not tame but flows like the river through miles of canyon stirs sentiment and emotions to new destinations. The stagnation and purposelessness of ordinary existence is simplified on the trail. Direction is clear, the richness of experience overflows with meaning of soulful importance!

I trust my family, spouse and children, will move through this context with me to savor the grandeur and wonder of this National treasure! I will endeavor to share, and pass on my devotion for nature and the National Parks in particular! I will strive to protect this place and experiences for generations to come.

Kj: Winter is coming! Yes I said it winter is Coming! Growing up in California then moving to Arizona, I never understood what winter was. To me winter was renting a cabin up north for 3 or 4 days to see this wonderful thing called snow. We had snowball fights, sled, tried to ski or snowboard. I loved drinking coffee or hot chocolate. Winter to me was like going to Disneyland for a weekend. Then you leave it and go back to reality of the desert of Arizona, which was mid 70’s, or the sunny coast of California. I could hike year round in both locations, go for a run, or work out outside.

Not until a year ago when I moved to the Midwest did I truly see a real winter! In addition, I am not going to lie, I put on my winter 20. Not sure if it was from hibernating, eating whatever and whenever because there was nothing else to do. I felt stuck in the house and did noteven want to go to the gym because it was too cold outside. I would sleep in, take longer warm showers, and seemed like eat all the time because I was bored.

I am recognizing that I had this issue last year but winter is coming again. I am trying to find ways to change this year. I do not want to put the weight back on and plus we have Grand Canyon coming around the corner that I need to be in shape for. I am looking at getting the right clothes so I can get outside and hike or at least walk the neighborhoods. I am convinced that I still can get up every morning at 3:30am and go to the gym to better myself. In addition, go to the gym to prep for the Grand Canyon. Once winter ends, the hike of a lifetime will be right around the corner and I need to be ready.

I need to be ready in order to enjoy the hike this year and soak it all in. I cannot wait until after winter to start training again, this will make the GC very difficult to accomplish and will put a hurting on my body and soul. I believe with the right mindset and goals in mind I can continue to train through the winter and be ready. Winter is coming plan for it, embrace it, overcome the winter 20!

Pj: Those that live outside the temperate Mediterranean climate ride the sine wave of light to dark to light. For some that natural rhythm is paired with the rituals of religion and holy seasons. For Christianity the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter move light into a symbol of soulful import!

For Joseph Campbell there is the Hero’s journey that abstracts human myths from around the globe to codify how person and community give purpose and meaning to life. That cycle that Campbell described had several steps including adventures call, refusal, finding a mentor, crossing a threshold, being tested -encountering enemies and allies, finding the innermost, the ordeal, reward, road home, resurrection, return with elixir, and back to ordinary life.

George Lucas used this structure in the Star Wars 4, 5, 6 journey of Luke Skywalker, but most heroes follow a similar path. Campbell suggested, like Jung before him, that there is an archetypal DNA to being a hero. It is the journey of the sun, a solar principle that is woven into the biology of Earth beings! Like rings of a tree, each year there are opportunities to travel from nadir to Zenith – from ordinary to profane wilderness to sacred terrain, to rediscover the birth of light, to nourish Self, give of ourselves to nourish family and community!

Kj: Where is your favorite place to hike? If you could choose anywhere in the world where would it be? There really is not one answer for me on this. I have hiked the California coast and it was truly beautiful, especially making it to the top of the mountain and overlooking the ocean. I get goose bumps picturing it in my head; I remember not really knowing how far the trail was and when I would end up on top of the mountain to overlook the coast. I was new to hiking at the time and did not prepare as much as I do today.

I have hiked all over Arizona, from the Superstition Mountains, Sedona, Flagstaff, Prescott and obviously the Grand Canyon. They all have their unique beauty that comes with each hike. On every hiking experience in AZ, I remember seeing some beauty that I did not expect, could have been a waterfall, the unique flowers, the hills, mountains – something has always grabbed my eye that was just incredible and inspiring about all of the areas I have hiked. 

The one thing that should be the same with all these hikes? The one thing should be your preparation. Recently we hiked Yosemite and I can’t begin to tell you the amount of people going up the 12 mile near vertical trail, with little cover from the sun, that were absolutely not prepared. People with no water, no food to fuel their body, shirts off so they are completely exposed to the sun. One mile up there was an overlook and someone asked me if this was the peek? I informed him that it was not and that he had a long long road to go if he wanted to reach it and I suggested he did not go without the proper equipment. My point is not to knock people for hiking, I love hiking, I love getting new people to hike and realize how incredible it is too hike. No, it is not just walking through hills, there is so much more to it. However, some people need to be educated and do it the right way not only for themselves, but also for the Rangers that might have to rescue them.

I cannot stress enough that you must have enough water, I always bring more than I think is enough, and food to fuel your body is key. Even if it is a short hike, you should still be prepared. I am the person that if I make it on the Show I survived, it is going to be because I was prepared. I always bring a first aid kit, lighter, knife, extra pair of socks, and a small jacket. Yes my pack is a bit heavier than most but I refuse to be unprepared if something where to happen in the mountains. Be prepared, stay alive, and the more you are prepared the more you can just enjoy yourself! Preparation is key!

Pj: The seasons are changing in the northwest earlier that expected. Reports of snow storms not far away have awakened me to the need to shift tactics for winter training. Sure there are a few more weeks to enjoy the multi-colored autumnal leaves as the sway and drift to the earth to be swept along by the howling chilled nighttime winds. There are a few more low land hikes before the rains give way to ice and snow as temperature drop and remain through the dark season.

However, I know that unlike the mammalian instinct to store energy, fatten-up and the sleep the cold away, I have goals that will not wait for the thaws of another season. I want to hike a mile into the Earth, touch one of the living water arteries, sleep under the Taurus starlit sky and ascend the mile to the surface in a two day quest!

I must throw off my Ursa instinct and cling to the wisdom that foresight brings and temper this organic machine to endure and even thrive descending and ascending the stairway to an exotic land full of archetypal energies, to test, discover, and apply the heat of the alchemist to purify what mental I have for vitality rises in the life of soul!

Kj: Yosemite National Park was truly an amazing trip. The beauty surpassed what my memories had in my mind. Yosemite was also was a great revelation on what I need to do to prepare for the Grand Canyon. It has me questioning my socks and shoes, whether it is better to wear shorts or pants. In addition, many other questions regarding my gear that I need to bring with me on hikes to make them enjoyable. I tried my thicker wool socks on our first hike and I felt like my feet were too hot. I tried my thinner regular work out socks on another hike and felt like I was getting blisters. Just when I thought I found what worked for me, then it did not.

Hiking is like life it is always evolving, constantly changing and you need to change with it. Something that had worked on previous hikes could have been due to the conditions on that hike, maybe it was flatter terrain, maybe the weather was cooler, maybe it was sandy, or rockier. When hiking make sure you do your research on what the terrain is, what the weather will be. Then do your research on the better gear for that area or climate. You may not want to wear the same socks in the summer as the winter. This might be an extreme case and seam obvious to most, but for new hikers it might not be as obvious. Remember due your research prior to hitting the trail to make it an enjoyable time.

Pj: Wake-up call received! Re-upped Whole30 nutrition plan to assist with thinning down prior to hike. I did a four month stretch at the beginning of the year with solid progress made. I lost momentum moving into late May, through the summer, and hiking Yosemite provided a good test of readiness! And found myself wanting…wanting to drop weight, increase endurance, and strength! Whole30 consists primarily of protein and vegetables. No processed sugar, no bread, no beans or legumes. No alcohol. Previously this has been a system fairly easy to embrace and stick with.

I have also resumed working out 5-days per week with plenty of isometrics and stretching. I am grateful to have professional coaches and trainers in the family! My brother lends his expertise to my efforts which has helps with balanced progressive and more consistent motivation.

Work-Life balance! Never easy but having the Grand Canyon has me poised and focused as the season is changing, getting colder daily. We had first freeze and snowfall recently, leaves are turning color! It would be easy to engage my mammalian brain put on weight and hunkerdown for winter! My Central-Executive is working to create a plan for success, and stay motivated to carry it out! My goal is to use the new Year as a further spring board rather than a reset.

Another family completed the Half-Ironman 70.3 miles total, swimming, biking, and running! It was inspiring and motivation to track him through the race! I would like to do another triathlon and the Half-Iron is high on my list! Grand Canyon first! Consistency, fosters change over time! Phantom Ranch, looking forward to stew & brew!