Week 1 reflection - Planning & Packing Completed

Week 1 - Planning & Packing Complete :)

Romy Soa, 14/05

Total Hours: 24.20hrs

This week was busier than I think both Kailee & I were expecting. As we went through the process of packing, gathering missing items, meeting with people and organising & preparing everything to be packed was a time consuming and slightly stressful task - however we managed successfully and are very excited to start our hike on Tuesday with Libby! Most notably, this week we waterproofed our tent, fixed the pump on our whisperlite, completed our first-aid kit, bought and organized all our food, replanned our entire route, and bought or borrowed anything else that we were missing. 

I started my week splitting my focus between finishing exams and gathering my thoughts to make sure that we weren’t forgetting anything as we were planning. Our first two days, Libby was in town and we took advantage of that to make sure we all collaborated on the most important (socially) and collaborative part of preparing - buying and preparing our food. Our first day (08/05) was spent creating a shopping list, and then going shopping. Our second day went by in a similar fashion, when we drove out to Manchester to pick up any other missing food we couldn’t find at Hannafords. 

We spent that afternoon over in Manchester at Trader Joes/ Whole Foods/ Sierra/ Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS), specifically there to look for (and found):     

    - a fuel canister that fits with Libby's jet boil

    - vegetarian, non-perishable protein supplement (we found fake meat pea protein & shelf-stable tofu!)

    - hiking pants for Libby 

    - water filtration kit

    - first aid basics

Wednesday was a very important day. Unfortunately, that was the day that Libby left, and Kailee and I spent it by testing our stoves (whisperlite & jet boil), and our tent. We were very glad we did both, as we bought a new pump for our whisperlite, got excited about the brand-new jet boil, and set about problem solving for the tent. On Wednesday, we also started talking to Kelley and the Health Centre about our first aid kit, and set up a plan on how to make sure that it was properly packed. This day set up our progress for Thursday & Friday, making sure we got everything that we needed in mind & a clearer timeline for when we were going to get everything done.  

Thursday and Friday were spent picking up all of the missing pieces to our preparation, when we completely replanned our hike, completed our first-aid kit with the approval of the school’s Health Centre, successfully waterproofed our tent, and packed and distributed all of our food. 

All of this was made possible with the help of Lynne, Rosanna, Kelley, Sue & Kailee’s dad Eric. With their support we were able to make sure that we had everything we needed in order for our hike to be successful and safe. Kailee and I spent some time over the weekend gathering our personal belongings (Libby did so on Wednesday before she had to leave), and we will spend Monday going through everything another time to make sure that we’re not missing anything, distributing the rest of the group gear, and actually packing everything into our personal packs. Our plan as of this moment is to set aside a pile of Libby’s things and her share of group gear, and she’ll pack her own pack on Tuesday morning before we leave for our hike at about 12.30. 

We’re all very excited and looking forward to this much-anticipated trip!