I think I have all the shoes I need now

I just received what I believe will be the first pair of expensive New Balance shoes I will ever like. They are the MT 100s.

They are designed for ultramarathon races. They are relatively flat (very low heel), relatively not cushioned, and very light. There's no insole inside. There is no foam in the upper. No foam on the tongue or anywhere else that I can tell. They do not feel stiff. Even the top part, the fabric, is not stiff, which is good because they are fairly narrow. I hope that won't problem. The fabric seems stretchy and it's not like my feet feel scrunched. It feels like a slipper.

It's a stinky shoe, though. I have them sitting outside to air out the chemical smell. Smells sort of like bandaids. If you touch them and then put your hand near your face, you can't get the smell off of you. You can even taste it. It's pretty awful.

I'm looking forward to hiking in them. I think I will like them.

So now, with my barefoot Feelmax Osmas, the cheap New Balance flat shoes I bought at the thrift store for jogging, these new New Balance shoes I bought for trail running and hiking and all the other shoes I own, I think I have all the shoes I need for a while. No more shoe shopping.

Ultralight backpacking - why

Of the people I know who go ultralight, they do it expressly so that they can do the following things:

1. go farther in less time
2. get to places they never could get to before
3. play with gear, be gram weenies, invent new things, play with new technologies
4. have the flexibility to add extra mileage, change the route, do some exploring
5. do more with less

The last one is sort of hard to explain, but it has to do with the "stuff" you want to bring with you.

Many of us ultralight backpackers have learned by leaving "stuff" home that it isn't about the stuff you bring at all. The less stuff you need, the closer you are to the nature you came out to experience. The less your trip is focused on stuff, the sharper the experience feels. It's about your skill, about feeling at home in the wilderness, about shedding not just the weight but the insecurities. When you reach the point where you're no longer packing your insecurities, you experience a special kind of freedom that has to be experienced to be understood.

I like going ultralight so I can bring luxuries, too. I brought a cup last time. I can hear you laughing. But since I don't need a cup, I don't usually bring one. Having a cup this time brought me great joy while I lingered over a hot cup of coffee. I also brought an extra pair of shoes. I'm choosy about my luxuries. They have to enhance the experience, not take away from it.

I like hiking and I like my hiking to be comfortable. The lighter my gear is the more comfortable my hiking is. It feels exactly the same as dayhiking when I go out for a weekend. I can't imagine a more comfort-driven system than that. Warm, safe, dry and it feels like dayhiking. That's what comfort is all about. It's not about being a beast of burden laboring under a heavy, uncomfortable load. It's about luxury where it matters and having fun the whole time you are out there. With only two days a week to enjoy ourselves in our work-driven lives, you have to maximize the fun. The fun really does go up when the weight goes down.

Getting back to life after the PCT

It's hard coming back from such an adventure as hiking the PCT. Real life is on the trail. This other life is just waiting time until you can get back. The sooner you accept this, the better.

I actually got me a job, but a part-time job. Seems better that way, but I blew it. I should have asked for less days per week instead of less hours per day. I still have to try to cram backpacking trips into a two-day weekend.

And two-day backpacking trips are what I'm doing now. As many as I can.

Fortunately I talked about my hike enough to make The Man want to try it. He's leaving in about a week. It's my turn to ship the packages and be the support person. I'm going to go down to Campo and hike with him the first two days. If I can do it, I'll try to meet him on the trail on weekends if he's near somewhere I can get to. If not, then I'll just do another two-day backpack trip or set up a lemonade stand for thru-hikers.

I've been trying to get involved in things. Music, classes, stuff like that. I decided I liked being able to walk 30 miles in a day so I've been dabbling in trail running and might try an ultramarathon someday.

You have to get involved, stay active, do the things you enjoy. Keep living life to the fullest.