April 15. 4 days to go. Daydreams and dress rehersals

OK. So I know I said in my last post that I was getting excited, but now things are getting pretty ridiculous. I think about getting started on the hike pretty much all day long, and have to really work to focus on anything else. I've had just a couple key thesis-related tasks (re-submitting one chapter for publication and getting the next out to coauthors for their comments) to do before I start the hike, and it has been a serious challenge to not spend all day long just sifting through other peoples' trail journals and other information, ostensibly to ensure I'm as prepared as possible for the coming journey, but really just because getting out and starting to walk is all I can think about doing (I've added some links over there on the right for some of the past and current year blogs and other things I've been enjoying). I've managed enough real work time to get those couple pre-hike things checked off my list, and now it should be smooth sailing to the trail head!

I've also been passing the time with some really lovely hikes around W. Marin County. These have been less about physical training than just about getting out and enjoying nature (though I have been wearing my pack and making sure my whole load-carrying system is working out). W. Marin is such a great place to go hiking, with a huge diversity of habitats to visit. Wet coastal forest, steep hillside meadows, small streams and their densely-vegetated banks winding to small lagoons behind windswept beaches, serpentine soil manzanita thickets looking like some miniature ancient forest out of Tolkien with lichen growing on deep red trunks. All these and more are within a half hour drive of each other, and what's even better, since all the land is publicly owned and home to a great trail network, you can actually link together all these habitats in a single day, almost without seeing a road. Despite all the humans living nearby and coming out to enjoy this open space, there are still plenty of places to go with no one around. Just pick a place on the map and go for it! Here's some photos from these hikes.