Life Is A Daring Adventure | Healthy Aging Series: S12 E28

I’m 70 for exactly 12 months, and I’ve planned some adventures during this period.

Adventure #1

I’m writing this at Gate 15 at Chicago Midway Airport on a layover to Colorado Springs. I’ll be there a couple of days and then go on to the Wind River Range in Wyoming for a five-day backpacking trip to the Cirque of the Towers.

I’ve done lots of planning for this adventure. That’s the thing about most adventures: lots of planning. This isn’t like Bilbo Baggins. You don’t just wake up one day and have a big adventure thrust upon you. Well, maybe that can happen, but if you wait around for an adventure to “just happen” and you’re seventy, then life is passing you by.

I planned this adventure for 4 months.

I had a workout and fitness plan, knowing that I was going to be doing 25 miles in five days. The loop begins at Big Sandy Trailhead at about 9,100 feet elevation. The trail takes you over Texas Pass at 11,447 feet and Jackass Pass at 10,800 feet.

I did a lot of hiking in the weeks leading up to this trip. Once a week, I would strap on a pack with 40 lbs. of cat litter to mimic the weight.

What complicated the process was the gift of a coronary stent on June 19th. The cardiologist reported that my right coronary artery was 99% blocked. What makes this hard to believe is that a month before, my son and I did a short backpacking trip into the mountains of Northern Colorado.

I know, I’m lucky to be alive.

I made the decision to participate in cardiac rehab, not because my heart needed rehab. Due to a 57.8% ejection fraction, lots of blood work, the results of an echocardiogram, and, I’m guessing, the cardiologist’s experience, I was told that my heart was in good shape.

I heard, “Keep doing all the things you were doing, including hiking, backpacking, and planning adventures.”

So, as part of my adventure planning, I planned on attending and completing cardiac rehab. I attended cardiac rehab because I wanted them to monitor my heart while I was exercising at a vigorous intensity.

During the last two weeks, my heart rate was in the 140s and 150s for 8 to 10 minutes. I did it mostly for peace of mind, and the graduate certificate says that it entitled me to “be moderately fanatical about the benefits of an exercise program.”

Equipment

Living in the wilderness for five days requires lots of gear.

• A BACKPACK
  I tested out two new backpacks and chose the “Space Ranger” from Evolved Equipment Company. It weighs around 2 1/2 lbs.
• A TENT
  I had two options there as well: a trekking-pole tent and a freestanding tent. Because of the potential for strong winds, I chose the freestanding Nemo Osmo 2-person tent.
• A SLEEPING PAD
  I chose the REI Helix Insulated Sleeping Pad.
• A SLEEPING BAG
  I’ve been using the Sierra Designs Cloud 20° bag with dry down over the past couple of years, and it hasn’t let me down.
• ACCESSORIES
  Along with the big four that I just mentioned, I took my trekking poles, water filter and CNOC one-liter water bottle, a one-liter titanium pot, my stove, a bear canister with four freeze-dried suppers, four freeze-dried breakfasts, and stuff to make mini peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chicken salad street tacos, and finally my “bear” energy bars (homemade bars).

  And I had to prepare a first aid kit that I put together specifically for someone who is on a blood thinner, which means lots of clotting material.

• CLOTHING
  One light fleece, one wind shirt, one Enlightened Equipment insulated jacket, one Houdini jacket, a pair of Topo shoes with rock guards in the soles, a sun shirt, convertible pants, extra socks, T-shirts, and underwear.

  Also, a poop scooper that included biodegradable pills to help decompose my poop. It also included dehydrated biodegradable baby wipes. I took a pill minder with all my meds for the trip, and a foldable toothbrush and toothpaste. I’m not sure why I included these items in the list following my poop scooper. Especially, my toothbrush. Yuck.

  I’m not going to bore you with more gear, but I took 10 lbs. of electronics, including my Garmin inReach, a headlamp, my iPhone, two 20K battery banks, my Sony A7c and tripod, my GoPro Hero 13 and a mini tripod, DJI wireless microphones, a Sony 20mm lens, a Tamron 28-to-200-millimeter lens, and three batteries for each camera.During the weeks leading up to my trip, I tested all the equipment and did a practice hike with everything in my pack, which ended up weighing about 42 lbs.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

I know, a cliché.

Try this one: Plan your work, work your plan.

It’s the stuff I learned reading all those self-help books in my 20s.

Honestly, I think planning my adventure was as much fun as the adventure.

By the way, I’ve learned to sew during the past three months, and I made some of the gear I’m taking to the Wind River Range. That’s been fun.

I love the quote I used at the beginning of the blog by Helen Keller: “Life is a daring adventure.”

You have one crack at life. That’s it.

I’m 70, and I’ve had lots and lots of adventures over the past 50 or 60 years. The thing is, I’m planning several during this year that I’m 70: Canyonlands in November, the Red River Gorge in October, and somewhere that’s warm in March.

What adventures are you planning?

Are any of them daring?

They don’t have to be five days in the Wind River Range with 40 lbs. on your back, but they could include a hike through the Parklands of Floyds Fork. They could involve a road trip or cruise.

Plan something.

Plan an adventure to a state park or national park and stay in a lodge.

Go play putt-putt golf. Plan something outside. Plan a picnic. Put your phone on airplane mode. Turn off the TV. Get out of your car.

And begin a new adventure.