Hiking in Pima Canyon

I went for a hike in Pima Canyon yesterday morning.  I made it to the trailhead by 630, which was a lot later than I wanted to, but it was still quite nice outside at that time.  My goal was to make it up to Pima Saddle, which is about 5.7 miles from the trailhead, but I turned around after about 4.2 miles because it was getting too hot and I was worried about how much water I would have left by the time I got back to the car.  Overall, the hike took about 6 hours and 10 minutes, and I felt pretty good.  I wore my Vibram Five Finger shoes for about 60% of the hike, and my Chaco Z/2's for the remainder.

As usual, I was pretty bad about taking photographs.  I need to practice slowing down or stopping and taking pictures on a hike, but I'm always intrigued by what's around the next corner, or over the next hill.  I did snap a few photos though, which I'll add to the bottom of this post.  I mainly took pictures of some trees with acorn-looking nuts (I dubbed this the "Canyon Walnut" until I find out what it actually is, mostly because after the initial bitterness went away it tasted like a walnut) because I wanted to figure out exactly what they are as part of my interest in becoming familiar with what plants in the Sonoran Desert are potential foraging food sources.  There were enough of these trees, with enough "Walnuts" on them, that I could've picked 2 lbs of them and still left plenty for other foragers and the wildlife.

All in all, I think it was a successful first workout hike since I got my permit for the Grand Canyon.  I feel good about the distance I hiked and my energy levels throughout, though I'm definitely going to limit my hikes in duration for the remainder of the summer so as to avoid the heat. I'm also going to try to start a little earlier for the same reason, but for the most part I was feeling good for the rest of the day.  For my hike this coming weekend, I'm debating trying to convince a friend to drive me up to the top of Mt. Lemmon and pick me up at a trailhead later that day, or maybe the next day, so I can exercise my "downhill" muscles.  Whatever I do, I'll post an update about how I felt... so until then enjoy the photos from my hike yesterday!  And if anyone knows what the mysterious "Canyon Walnut" actually is, please let me know.

This is the "acorn" that I found.  These trees were all over the place.  Until 

I find out what this is, I'm calling it the "Canyon Walnut."

The "Canyon Walnut" tree.

A very pretty Century Plant in bloom.

A blue bellied lizard hamming it up for me.

I  believe that little guy in the middle of the photo is a Coatimundi.

Finding Community within the Homesteading Movement... Right Under My Nose

I have found more homesteading community right under my nose than I ever would've guessed.  Yesterday at REI turned out to be a day when I met a bunch of people who shared homesteading interests similar to my own.

I started out the day working with Krista, who I knew was interested in homesteading and farming, but after we talked about it for a little while it turned out that our goals line up pretty closely.  I then found out that a gent I work with named David is not only interested in homesteading, but has studied permaculture, rainwater harvesting, sustainability, and many of the other apsects that I have written about.  Finally I ran into Shannan (who is also an awesome motivator for my recent workouts) who told me that she shared this blog with her husband because he has interests that are very similar as well.  I was very pleasantly surprised to find so many people who think along the same lines that I do.

There are several other people I work with who I know are interested in homesteading, sustainability, independence, or something similar who aren't among the people who I mentioned already.  Kristin and Pix are two other girls who have deep connections with this community... Pix even majored in Permaculture in college!

With so many intelligent people that I work with having very similar interests to me, is it any wonder that I love being a part of REI?  This has my mind churning as to whether or not I should start building some community right there within my workplace, and perhaps propose a small group that could meet up once in a while and share ideas, projects, inspiration, maybe even some homegrown produce.  I know I plan on trying to sit down with everyone who has these interests at least individually so I can explore their thoughts and forage for some ideas.

If you are one of the people I mentioned and you are reading this, thanks for the inspiration!  It's awesome to know that there are a lot of other people who have similar ideas... it makes me feel like my goals are less crazy, less fringe.  If anyone is interested in meeting up and talking about this with a cup of coffee or a couple of beers, let me know!  I'll always make time to discuss this kind of thing.

And as for anyone who I didn't mention in my post, where have you found community around ideas you are interested in?  What inspires you when thinking about your goals?  Please, anyone reading leave a comment and share your thoughts!  I write this blog as a way of trying to build community too!

A Quick Blog Update

Blogger recently added a feature with which you can add stand-alone pages to your blog.  I've decided that this is the kind of place that my Land Fund FAQ belonged, as well as my About Me page.  Take a look at them and leave a comment on this post to let me know what you think.

Eventually, I'm going to write a stand-alone page that outlines my philosophy behind The Permie Homestead Blog and the goals of mine that it represents, and there may be some other pages that pop up eventually, so keep an eye out for more pages hanging out up there underneath my banner!

Thanks for checking out my quick update!

Grand Canyon Update!

I got my Grand Canyon permit in the mail yesterday, and I'm excited!  I hike in on November 2nd and hike out on November 7th, which means I'll be driving up anytime between October 30th and November 1st, and driving home on November 8th.  I can't wait!

I was planning on doing a lot of training hikes anyway, but now that my dates are official I'll be kicking it into full gear.  I'll make sure to post thoughts and pictures from my hikes as I train.  For my first training hike, this Saturday I think I'll fill up a decently weighted pack and hike up Pima Canyon to Pima Saddle.  It's 5.7 miles one-way, starting at an elevation of 2960 and going up to 6320.  It should be a good place to start training for the hardest part of any trip to the Grand Canyon... getting out of it!

This is also an interesting time to think about my personal health.  I think I will be in better shape for this Grand Canyon trip than for any of my previous trips.  If I keep on the pace that I have been going, I'll weigh no more than 210 lbs, which would be about 10-12 lbs lighter than I was for my last trip.  However, since I'm riding my bike, running, doing pushups, AND hiking to get in shape for the Grand Canyon, it's possible I'll be even lighter. Maybe I'll even be in such good shape that I'll have already reached my goal of 200 lbs for the year.  Since hiking the Grand Canyon for a week requires a backpack that'll weigh at least 50 lbs, every pound less that I weigh will be that much less impact on my body as I'm hiking.  If I were to lose 20 lbs between now and then, and I carried a 50 lb pack for my trip, it'd be the equivalent of carrying a 30 lb pack today, which is pretty typical for a brief overnight trip, and a weight that I feel like I could carry forever.  I'm excited by the idea that a 50 or even 60 lb pack plus my body weight could eventually be no heavier than my current body weight plus a daypack.  When I am that in shape again, backpacking will be even more amazing than it is now!

Do you have any upcoming trips that you're excited to take?  Have you spent any time in the outdoors recently that you loved?  Share your trip stories in the comments!