The Cocoon sleeping bag liner sold at REI is always too narrow for me, and I keep tearing it to shreds. I got tired of replacing a $60 piece of gear, so I bought my own silk which is a pretty orange and can be used for an emergency attraction device.

Using the orange silk made my own wider silk bag liner. It is open on one side eliminating stress points which caused tearing of the Cocoon brand.

It is a good thing I had sewing class in middle school.

Planing and preparing for my hike on the Four Corners Loop is on schedule for 2020. As we approach 2021 tomorrow, I feel like my planing and packing efforts will continue to fall into place as they always have. Why is this the case? Because my positive thoughts are creating my future. Everything I have always thought about has taken place. I am always thinking about what I have to accomplish, then taking action on my thoughts. So through actions directed by my positive outlook I will be ready for my planned adventure and I am ready to share it with you.


I want to share my experiences, so you feel like you are traveling along with me. For you to experience the FCL, I need to describe the views, smells, winds, sunny days and old clear nights. The darkness of the night sky speckled with stars and the glorious Milky away will be lived under as I will also live under moon shadows cast by the towering sandstone cliffs. People and small towns will be part of my experience as will long durations of time alone watching every rock and blade of grass pass behind me as push forward.


So, for you to be part of the experience, I am about to package more food. Imagine placing 300 grams of food in vacuum bags, imagine the vibrating sounds of a vacuum pump, vibrating hands, as the package shrinks waiting for the “ready” green light. Stop and repeat for 120 pounds of food.


I always thought a factory worker would make a good long distance hiker. I do like repetitive processes.

I am just over three months away from starting the hike tonight I am preparing Buckwheat with Cranberry, Buckwheat with Chia seeds and I took some muesli mix added some syrup and honey to it to make it taste not awful.

​These will be placed on the dehydrator fully dried and then packaged in airtight packages ready for me to munch and nurture myself as I walk along my journey.

Above is the version with cranberries.

Above is the version with Chia seeds.

A large part of the hiking trip is not the physical hiking, but is actually planning and one’s mental preparation. I am four months away from the start of a grand adventure. Not only do I have to prepare more food and continue to dial in my pack, but I also have to be mentally prepared.

I do this by visualizing the route like a world class bobsled team. Then I and share my thoughts with others. Now is not the time to doubt yourself. So here is to the Four Corners Loop, I am creating a route to be enjoyed that will continue to make me smile in a life I have so much to smile for.

I have been busy dehydrating and preparing dried food for my hike. I feel I am getting started a little early but the stuff I am preparing can sit around for a while. I have to prepare approximately 300 pounds of food for the 2350 mile hike.

Below I have 23 resupply boxes ready to load food into each one. Each box will receive anywhere from 8 to 17 pounds of food. I have two sections where I have to walk 140 miles in the image tween re-supplies.

The coffee filters in the picture above are not for coffee but for straining muddy water I’m going to practice prefiltering my water through a coffee filter so I can prolong the duration of my pump.

This is 167 sheets of 11 x 17” paper that comprise my maps for the Four Corners Loop. My maps are based on a 7-1/2 minute USGS scale. Printed in color on waterproof Rite in the Rain paper.

This is a Hyperlight Mountain Gear (HMG) backpack. It weighs 2.5 pounds, and it is quite light for the capacity.

I want a larger capacity backpack because at times I will be packing a lot of water and a lot of food. Currently this brand is my favorite backpack brand but it was hard to choose in the train HMG and a backpack brand made in Utah called Ultralight Adventures (ULA). My problem is nothing ever feels uncomfortable so it is hard to make decisions. So, I went with a backpack that is lighter.

This is a set of maps from Santa Fe New Mexico to to Tijeras, they are printed double-sided on Rite in the Rain waterproof paper

l will have 26 sets of maps similar to this. This is my first test print and they turned out pretty good. I am ready to bring my maps down to the printer. I will also have my Maps on an electronica app called CALTopo which is awesome.

This is just a sample of my Excel spreadsheet with six different tabs. This the food plan tab. I have a tab for stats a tab for gear, a tab for my hiking budget and a tab for a supply addresses right now my hike is very well planned on an Excel spread sheet now I just have to go and hike it.

This is looking down towards Boulder Utah. Part of the forest below me is where I will be hiking up on the Four Corners Loop. In the distance is the Boulder Mail Trail traveling across the white expense. I am very excited for my hike next summer.