Tomorrow we leave for two weeks of backpacking. We had a pack check-in and distribution of crew gear and food on Wednesday.
My pack weighed in at 51 pounds! After going through it two more times and dropping out shirts, socks, trail mix, and exchanging my sleeping pad, its now down to 44. I have a tent, 15 pounds of food, and other crew gear that totals about 25 pounds. Since I also have to carry a camera, medical forms, permits, ... it adds up.
We have a few sub-100 pound scouts going on the trek so they can't carry nearly as much but we have food amounts based on 150 pound people. I don't mind picking up the slack - my pack at Philmont grew to 65 pounds by the end of that trek. This time, it should get lighter, especially after Tuesday's lunch which is the first meal I'm carrying. I expect we'll probably have too much food at meals so I'll be the garbage disposal.
We have the rental van ready - it's white. Dry-erase markers are great fun to write on vans. You can really customize your ride and then it wipes right off. White's a good color for the prairies this time of year too. It's supposed to be 105 in Wall, SD when we drive through tomorrow!

The weather forecast for the Buffalo, Wyoming area is high 90s and 18-25% humidity with a low probability of scattered rain all next week. I hope they're right! We will attempt to summit Cloud Peak on Wednesday and that is forecast to be practically perfect.

So, I'll be back online in 2 weeks.

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