backpacking, canoeing and kayaking... when

Hi Again Chipmonk,

Something that I did find was that for about 6 months I was prone to getting cold easily. Took me by surprise because I've never really felt the cold before. I got caught out about 6 weeks after the op. Summer day turned cold and I was without adequate clothes. Something that wouldn't have been a problem before. Easily solved though by just making sure you can get warm if you need to.

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Originally Posted by Chipmonk I'm thinking while I'm just sitting like a lump and listening to my body, I can plan a late July, early August camping trip. There's this little mountain lake, and you can get reservations for a lakeside camping spot, and from there, I could sit and drink coffee and watch the sun rise over the mountains, and then maybe drink some tea and watch the mist rise off the lake, and then maybe walk to a different spot and maybe watch some folks fish. Then, after a lunch of something like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I could get ambitious and walk on a trail for a quarter mile or a half mile, and then sit on a rock and watch the mountains from a different angle for a while, you know, and see if the snow has melted on that peak over there. And if I look around from my rock perch, maybe I'll see some blooming Elephant's heads or blue bells or paintbrush. Then, I could go back to my tent and take a nap. If I'm feeling really good, I can put my folding kayak together, and paddle around the lake, or paddle for a bit, and just bob on the water and look at the mountains. Can't you feel the wind blowing gently through your hair, and taste the bad instant coffee that I use? It's really not bad because the location makes you forget what good coffee tastes like. Oh, and some hot cocoa while sitting by the fire, that's important, can't forget that. Now that feels much better.

OH My Gosh....Chipmonk...that was Wonderful! I feel much better, too!! We take a trip into northwestern Maine every fall...and camp and canoeing and fishing for a week...and while our escape is a bit different than yours, the concept is the same.
So now I understand...to get through the waiting, and then the recovery, I should reminisce about past Maine trips, and think of all the things I'll do this year, on the Maine trip.
You are a real gem. wish I could join you, this summer, but then that would interfere with the solitude that's part of the whole picture, so never mind. But I will definitely be looking for your reports on the post side, at the end of the summer, as you tell us how your trip went....and I will be thinking of you in September, when I'm up in Maine.

I did it! I went backpacking this weekend--8-ish weeks after my TAH. I have been canoeing for 2 weeks (started with a canoe because I figured I'd be able to get in and out) and have been kayaking for 1 week. Yeeeeeee-haaaaaaaaa!

Um, I mean, "I'm pleased."

I feel like I'm back with the living. I went to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and hiked a couple of miles to a backcountry campground on the shore of Lake Superior. On my way, my knee was a trooper! While tromping along and smelling the pines, I saw about two dozen fading pink Lady Slippers. Fading though they were, they were standing tall! I smooshed about half a million mosquitoes. The lake was gently roaring (makes sense if you've heard it when it WAS roaring). I put up my tent--including all the bending and twisting, and got the fly on before any rain got in. I got to take one of those wonderful naps when you're kind of tired, you're in your tent, it's raining gently on the fly, and it's kind of cool so you drape a down sleeping bag over yourself, and the lake is roaring in the background. After my nap, I walked to the lake and sat on the sand and watched the waves come pounding in.

I've made plans to backpack in Wyoming in later July, on my way to a canoeing trip on the Missouri River in Montana!

I'm soooooooooooo excited!

Chipmonk--who's back in the woods