The challenge of dirt time....

I let laziness get in the way this week. Too little sleep the last few days when I had the chance. Too much house and yard work left undone, and now I'm taking a break between the two instead of being out hiking. May head out tonight, and do the first 8-9 miles or so of the hike I wanted to do in the dark, then the second half, where losing the trail becomes a possibility, after the sun comes up. Normally I make sure to get all this stuff done ahead of time, and go a day without sleep to finish it up and still do the weekly family thing before heading out the next morning. I will(and have) mow the grass at night with a headlamp if it means being able to go play in the woods the next day. Just rigged up a chest strap for my work headlamp so I can safely navigate the trails at normal speed, and not have bugs in my face. Don't know if I'll actually do the hike tonight, but I don't have to be at work until 10:30pm tomorrow, and WILL be out somewhere before then, one way or the other.
Time isn't something you have. It's something you make.
 
I havent had enough time lately due to "wacking off to the GoingGear website". I am just glad I didnt have a mouth full of beer when I read that. That was hilarious.
 
KEmSAT-Survival said:
What Rick said.
I tried the overnight thing one November, after coming out the next day I thought: "What a gigantic waste of energy. I just hiked better than three miles, not counting the buttload of energy it took me to hike down the side of the mountain to get water and then back up it. Who the hell does this?"
I go to get away and I want to know that I'm getting away for a sufficient amount of time to recharge myself and help me to actually want to see my family and friends again (yes, as much as I love them, I DO get sick of looking at them and hearing problems). That overnight stuff isn't even enough to get the wheels turning and get me out of "everyday office Joe, here comes another quandry, mode."
Besides, it's easy to say: "Shit on my homework, I'm going camping" Right up until you see a goose egg on that final report and then feel like an ass for wasting $1,000. Some of us have responsibilities that come first. Mine happen to be: a job, a wife and two -- soon to be THREE kids, college coursework (almost there, Lord, almost there. March of next year and I'm done!), and a horse business (buying, selling, riding, showing, etc.) that I'm part of. So I already have an overflowing trough, my hobbies come second.
When I make commitments I don't just throw them down and "treat" myself. I get woods time when I can which has been zilch for over a year now, and negative 3 for hunting for going on three years -- and I love hunting.
Click to expand...

Hey I hear you, but I'm just talking from my own experience. During my masters I made a lot of effort at getting dirt time and I let that slip while working on my PhD. Then there was family and career. It all worked out, but I did wake up from the same thing you are complaining about and realized I clocked a decade of not so meaningful wilderness experiences waiting for the big trip that didn't happen or happened too few times and not enough often.

Again, I don't think that an overnighter here and there does it all, but it is sure better than not doing them. Also you have to treat an overnighter as different in your expectations and activities than you would a longer trip. Honestly, and I live in a career trajectory where you can literally work 24 h x 7 d and still find more work to do, that I can find, but more importantly make the time. Its a matter of being organized, planning and committing your anti-stress time as an important task and not just something you do in your 'spare time'. We all spend a lot of time on the computer and we all waste a lot of time even when we think we are busy. Thats just how it is. Pull out your defrag software and apply it to life I say!
 
My excuse? Anti battoning threads. They suck me in like a black hole.
Ok, that's not totally true. Mostly I'm just lazy. Thanks for making me feel like a poser, K.
Iz
 
kgd said:
Honestly, and I live in a career trajectory where you can literally work 24 h x 7 d and still find more work to do, that I can find, but more importantly make the time. Its a matter of being organized, planning and committing your anti-stress time as an important task and not just something you do in your 'spare time'.
Click to expand...

Great post Ken, even if done under the influence :D Excuses can become reality for most of us, but I’ve found that you really need to find balance. I’ve sacrificed weekends for my wife/family (visiting the in-laws, doing 5K runs in nearby small towns, helping out with some weekend church events, etc.), and God knows I’ve sacrificed enough time for my work…crisis weekends, field exercises and long deployments and combat tours. I’m now fortunate enough that my current assignment doesn’t require any field time and right now, just minimal traveling. I actually get weekends off and can keep the blackberry at a safe distance. I had to cancel most of my plans this summer as I was supposed to do a six month deployment to A-Stan…fortunately we have several in my pay-grade that haven’t been deployed for the past 4-5 years and are a little higher on the list than I; it’s difficult to plan anything more than a week and that can’t be planned to far out. So, I too could work 24/7 and never complete the number of tasks and work that I have; what I have realized is that you have to force balance in your life or you’ll burn yourself out and have no energy or motivation to even grab your weekend bag.

I don’t get too many opportunities to plan extended trips, at least not until my wife and kids are done with school and there are no pending deployment taskings or major conferences. My best opportunities are some of the extended weekends we get or I just take a Friday off, pick up the dog and my son and head out to a nice state park about 25 minutes up the road. I often joke that my backpacking pack is my “recreational BOB”! Short one or two night trips are what I really have to take advantage off; being organized helps for those short-notice plans and trips. During the spring, I actually prefer them to shake out my summer backpacking kit.

A great motivator none the less Ken! I’ve been so busy, that I though this coming weekend was Memorial Day! My son’s last day of school is Thursday and I was supposed to have Friday off…we made plans and then I find out Memorial Day weekend is next week. Well, I’ll just have to take Friday off and take my son out as I already promised him. The good thing about realizing you need balance in your life is that you find time is a commodity that once you lose it you can never get it back; work on the other hand will always be there when you get back.

My work requires continued education, so academics is always on-going and time consuming; and I always have some professional/social obligations that can't be ignored; house work is a fact of life and could consume a lot of time; family time (outside of being outdoors) is another part of life that can't be ignored; your physical fitness requires time and any other social obligations in your church, community or other similar organizations always require time and commitment...balance is a must. I use to always tell my Soldiers that you need a balanced life to remain healthy and effective at work: keeping balanced Mentally, Physically, Spiritually and Emotionally are all critical to keeping sane and healthy. The spiritual and emotional balance can be accomplished many ways, but these have always been my reasons to get outdoors...that's where I do the majority of "recharging". Dirt time for me is a must for maintaining my personal balance...I often have to fight for time, but it must remain a priority.

Overnighter’s may not be the most desired as I know many of us would like to stretch that out to a week, but they have their place and they beat the desk or couch any day!

ROCK6
 
Last edited:
I am ashamed to admit it's been almost a year since I got any camping in...I've made a few day hikes, but the city life makes it harder to escape to the outdoors LOL back in MO I could literally walk out my door and be fishing or building a campfire in under 5 minutes. But mainly I've just been busy and aint MADE the time to get out...hope to rectify that in the next few months.
 
So I'm making it happen... all stuff in AZ that I've got lined up.

This weekend: Jack's Canyon and Blue Ridge Reservoir (S of Winslow) carcamping with Kid2. Maiden voyage for my new Becker BK2, coincidentally.
Following weekend: Backpacking alone *somewhere* in order to wilderness camp *somewhere* hopefully out of earshot of the holiday lunacy. Maybe along the eastern edge of the Anderson Plateau, SE-ish from Flagstaff.
Weekend after that: Carcamping with a group of drinking buddies. Not sure where, just sure that this time we'll be the lunatics that someone seeking solitude will want to avoid. Mogollon Rim, maybe? Good place for bad behavior.
Two weekends after that: Carcamping with a big family group up around Crown King; some reservoir up there my wife found.

Won't get many house projects done for the next 6 weeks or so. I'm okay with that.
 
One thing I have noticed is as the weather improves more people online start posting trips and hike. Winter outings are just as important and help develop a rounded set of skills. I always cringe when some of my friends plan a camping trip but cancel due to rain. How would anyone learn to start a fire in wet weather if they’re at home watching TV or online?
 
Do your friends take outings in order to develop skills, or to have a good time/get away from it all/relax/get s@#$faced and try to hump squirrels? Winter outings are hard work for squares!
 
BRL said:
Do your friends take outings in order to develop skills, or to have a good time/get away from it all/relax/get s@#$faced and try to hump squirrels?
Click to expand...

Rodents are not welcome in my winter camp. :D

IMG_4391.jpg
 
Woods Walker said:
One thing I have noticed is as the weather improves more people online start posting trips and hike. Winter outings are just as important and help develop a rounded set of skills. I always cringe when some of my friends plan a camping trip but cancel due to rain. How would anyone learn to start a fire in wet weather if they’re at home watching TV or online?
Click to expand...

To me it all depends on what the trip is for. Not every venture I make into the woods is for skill development. Sometimes it is just to unwind and relax, to get out and enjoy a nice day. It's hard to enjoy a nice day when it isn't a nice day.

I've done the winter thing, the rain/thunderstorm thing (and while dangerous and maybe a little silly, I kind of enjoy being in the woods during a thunderstorm. So much energy in the air), and I'll do them again. But I'm not above delaying recreational plans due to the weather.
 
My excuse is more of a reason. I'm working 2 jobs which equals 13.5 hours a day. Monday and Tuesday I bring my son to school so I get up at 6am and don't get home until 11pm. On my day off I have to mow the lawn and take care of things around the house or else it won't get done at all.
My wife is also over 8 months pregnant and I can't just take off, even for an overnight.
Being busy isn't an excuse, it's a way of life unfortunatley.
It'll be this way for me for a very, very long time. But, you gotta do what you gotta do to make ends meet.
What I do when I can though is eat my lunch outside and try to get some whittling in, make some trap components, sharpen my knife, whatever I can do.
I take shorts walks through the woods whenever possible as well.
That's all we can do, get some dirt time however and whenever you can, even if it's just a lunch break stroll, it's better than nothing!
 
I don't have a problem with not having a place to go -- a picture of our property beyond the chain link fence of our back yard proper.

backyardandpropertybeyo.jpg


My problem is that my knees are shot and I can't hike much anymore. So, when I travel our property, I usually use my truck and sometimes my tractor to go a long distance and then walk/hobble as best I can around the area I'm in. I do pretty good but not great.
 
Good thread Ken. Alot of the things you wrote were spot on. I can recognize myself, when you mention the draw of the couch. Guilty as charged.

kgd said:
The second detractor is the 'my little area isn't good enough for dirt time'.
Click to expand...

Yes, ive been guilty of this one too. But the thing is, i cant recharge, if im within earshot of a major road. I simply can not enjoy an overnighter, if im interrupted by dog-walkers and runners. I can not get the mental peace im looking for, if im in a small area close to civilization.

Yes, i know it has nothing to do with the little patch of dirt im sitting on. Its all in my head, but i cant ignore it. Thats the way im wired.

Sure i can enjoy a dayhike, where i make a little fire, baton with my new knife, practice fireskills, eat my homemade lunch outdoor, etc., but it cant compare to true wilderness. And true wilderness is 400-600 clicks away. The further i drive the greater it gets. But it requires time and money. So thats my excuse.


kgd said:
Come on, you can spill in the hands of any gal, she don't have to be Cristy Brinkley....Settle....Settle....Settle.
Click to expand...

I actually had to google her. Yes, i can spill in any girls hands, but ill be fantasizing about Christy :D
 
Its supposed to rain all day tomorrow and Sat but screw it, I'm going camping. I think I'm even going to go camping in Rick's backyard at Wheatley Provincial Park...Mainly because the rain will keep the people away and I can tease him about it later about how I even get out camping in his backyard more than he gets out camping in his backyard :D :D :D
 
See my list above? 1-3 all done, all great. #4 is next weekend... so time to start planning 5-30 now :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top