Trans-Texas Expeditions

Tonight, I met up with Scott and Rick at Sportsman's Warehouse in Round Rock. We had a few last minute ideas for more gear and wanted to check out their selection. Unfortunately for us, the place closes at 7:00 PM on weeknights. 7:00 PM! On a weeknight! You gotta be kidding me! Anyways, we hurried in and out as fast as we could. As there wasn't anything I needed, it was no major loss for me, but the experience left a bitter taste in my mouth. We decided to shake it off at the Tilted Kilt nearby.

After that, Rick and I headed to REI for my one last chance to use the 20% off coupon I mentioned earlier. I got Rick's discourse on camping gear and determined that either the gear is too damn expensive or I am too damn cheap. I ended up getting a sleeping pad so that the ground won't be so rough on my delicate and petite frame. I just hope my sleeping bag keeps me warm in the cold New Mexico Mountain nights because as I understand it they lose insulation over time. My current sleeping bag is 8 years old and has been stored in my garage. I'll let you know how it does in the 30 degree weather.

Speaking of weather, longtime readers will notice the new weather bar for Quemado, NM over on the left side of the page. I figured you might want to check in from time to time to see what the weather is like in our neck of the woods. We picked Quemado since it was the closest town that has weather similar to where we are going to be.

Finally, I have some great news. One of my coworkers, Rob, has decided to make the trip to Thompson Mountain with us. Rob was at the Happy Hour last month and was excited about it then. Since I hadn't heard much from him lately, I figured time had diminished his enthusiasm. I guess I was wrong. Like most of us, he is scrambling to get his gear ready before we go, but nonetheless it is going to great having him on board for the long haul.

I spent tonight working on two things that are vital to the upcoming adventure.
1. The topographical map of the Thompson Mountain area. I cannot emphasize how important it is to have a good map and to know how to read it. I have all of the waypoints from the previous trips as well as some that were specially created for this trip. We should have no excuse for getting lost.
2. The geocache for the top of Thompson Mountain. I have decided the theme of this cache needs to be survivalism related. To that end, I have stocked it full of some survival related items. I still need something good for the First To Find. Do you have any ideas for what I should put in there?

Tomorrow night, I'm packing totes with the gear I'll need on the trip. This guy has tons of checklists for camping, so I'll be using his website for inspiration.

On Saturday, Scott, Rick, and I spent the day at Bastrop State Park hiking and searching for geocaches. We had a great time and once again we were able to confirm the 5 rules of navigation by doing things the wrong way. We were able to meet up with Derrick at lunch and he chuckled at our travails. (His final words to Scott and Rick were to keep an eye on me.) I highly recommend the Terrain Association navigation courses. These skills are slowly falling out of favor with our fast-paced modern society, however, they serve as valuable analogs to life lessons that you need to survive in this world. That being said, navigation skills are also they type of thing that if you don't use it, you'll lose it. Once we get back from New Mexico, I hope to be outdoors more often putting these skills to use.

This week will be spent putting together the final preparations for the trip. We have divided up some of the chores and barring any last minute hiccups, we should be on our way Friday morning. I think our group of intrepid adventurers is as prepared as we can be given our lifestyles and career choices. Having a desk job indoors is not that conducive to being a hiker, but the time spent over the past month has give us some good experience and will serve us well once we get to Thompson Mountain.

Since we are in the final stages of the preparation, I'll try to post more often to give you some insight into our adventures. Keep reading and posting your questions in the comments.

I spent a good portion of tonight preparing for next week's trip including the route planning. I have plotted our course to and from New Mexico using Microsoft MapPoint. Take a look if you are interested.

Also, I have it on good authority that Scott's buddy Clay will be flying into Austin from Las Vegas next week and then joining us for the road trip to Thompson Mountain. If that's not dedication, I don't know what is. You may remember Clay was a member of the 2001 expedition where they got close, but unfortunately, never made it to the property. I'm sure he is as excited as all of us to get out there and touch all four corners. This brings the total number of adventurers to 6.

Part of tonight was spent putting together the geocache for the top of Thompson Mountain. Since this is going to be a very difficult find in the middle of nowhere, I think it needs to be extra special. What should go in a cache of this caliber to make it worthwhile? Post your ideas in the comments.

As far as our series of weekly hikes go, this Saturday, Scott and I will be spending the entire day at Bastrop State Park. We plan on meeting up with Terrain Association classes throughout the day (and part of the night) for meals and to say hi. Derrick will be teaching the Intermediate, Advanced, and Night Navigation Courses out there this Saturday. If you have ever had a desire to learn navigation skills, this would be a good day to do it since there is a volume discount for attending multiple classes. I learned a tremendous amount from Derrick last Spring and Summer and I would not be as well prepared for this New Mexico trip without his instruction.

If the weather holds up, then Saturday should be a pretty chilly day. This is good news for us since the New Mexico nights will be cold and we need as much preparation as possible.

I can feel the excitement growing. I am so ready for this trip.

Due to the weather in Austin, preparation hikes were a bust for this weekend. That's OK. I spent the time taking care of some personal business so I would not have to worry about it while I am on vacation.

We are getting very close to the day of the trip. The buzz has definitely picked up and more people are talking about Thompson Mountain. Of course, the more the merrier, so let us know if you are interested in going. Here is the confirmed guest list so far.

Jason
Scott
Rick
Steven
Steven's son

I know there are still a few of you on the fence and you just need a little more encouragement to get out there with us. Let us know if you have any as of yet unanswered questions about the trip to Thompson Mountain and we will get them answered for you. Post your questions in the comments section and we'll take it from there.

As part of our preparations, Scott and I hiked the McKinney Falls Homestead Trail today. Although it was not near as technical as last week's hike, it was a vital part of preparing for Thompson Mountain. The Homestead Trail is a nice, easy hike especially geared towards families. It was great to get into nature and be somewhat secluded. Most cities can't claim to have such a great park so close to downtown. The scenery was pretty good, but I'll bet it will be even better when there is some green on the trees and the bluebonnets are in bloom. Scott wants to do some mountain biking with his wife out there after our trip.

Another aspect of today's hike was the weather. Today was a relatively hot day in Austin for Spring; around 87 degrees where we were. Since the part of New Mexico we are going to is partial desert, we need to get a good hike in the hot weather out of the way. I was sweating like a pig, but I think that just proves how much I need to be out there hiking.

Next week, we will probably hit Pedernales Falls State Park so we can meet up with Derrick's Terrain Association Survival Class and say hi. Can you think of any trails out there we should tackle? Post them in the comments and check back next week to see how we did.

This Friday evening, Scott, Rick, and I are meeting to begin the detailed planning for the trip at the end of the month. We will be working on the route to New Mexico and back, as well as the full schedule of events once we get to Thompson Mountain. Rick has even volunteered to take "The Beast" with us, so I'll take some pictures and post them here during the next update.

One of the items we need to cover is the necessary equipment list. Those of you who know us know we are not backpackers or thru hikers; we are car campers and day hikers. Most of the gear we have is designed to be hauled in via vehicle and not on our backs. I'm quite sure that together we have more than we need of everything, but there are some things unique to a trip like this since we will have at least one night of camping on Thompson Mountain. I posted a list of necessities earlier, but we will be searching the web for other camping, hiking, backpacking, and survival gear lists that might contain some nugget of information we need to make this trip go off without a hitch. Some of our equipment may require upgrades. Thank goodness for the REI coupon and dividend recently sent our way.

If you have ever taken a trip like this and have a piece of equipment you can't leave home without, then post a reply in the comments. This is going to be an awesome trip.

We are only about 4 weeks away from the big trip and preparations have begun. Scott and I have both recognized that once we get to Thompson Mountain, we are going to be doing some serious hiking in serious altitude. In order to get prepared for the trip, we have started a daily regimen of exercise including some technical hikes each weekend leading up to the trip.

Today, we hiked Panther Canyon in New Braunfels. It was a pretty good hike, but unfortunately, we never saw any panthers. Maybe next time. I imagine that the scenery is better when the trees have leaves on them and the flowers are in bloom. I'll probably go back with my wife later this Spring and bring along a picnic for Landa Park. Scott had the good idea of preparing for contours of New Mexico by walking in the creekbed and alongside the main trail rather than directly on it. Traversing this sort of rocky terrain is exactly what we need to prepare our legs and feet for Thompson Mountain.

Next week, we have to up the ante and hike for a longer duration and in more strenuous circumstances. We will be using Austin Explorer and Texas Hiking to do research. Scott thinks he is ready for the Good Water Trail along Lake Georgetown. Having hiked it once in October, I'm not so sure. Can you recommend any hikes in the Austin area that fit the bill? Of course, you are more than welcome to join us on the hike and the trip to Thompson Mountain. Post your replies in the comments and we'll see where we go next weekend.

I think today's post will be important with lots of great info... if I do say so myself.

As you know, this is not our first trip to Thompson Mountain, NM. There have been 2 previous expeditions that were fully documented in photojournalist style. For the first time anywhere, I am proud to present the pictures from both the July 2001 and the September 2004 trips. You can see vistas of the area surrounding Thompson Mountain as well as the scenery along both our ascent and descent. The pictures truly don't do the place justice as there is so much more to see on the hike to the property in mountainous terrain.

Speaking of hiking, Scott has been working with his National Geographic TOPO! software and has made more maps of the area. He was even kind enough to save them as PDFs for easy printing as well as creating different sizes. You can check out the maps here, here, and here. We will be creating more specialized maps for the trip, so let us know what you want to see.

Finally, I got my REI Membership Dividend today. It was a whopping $11.96, but it did also come with a 20% off one item coupon. As an outdoors type of guy with almost every type of camping equipment I need, I don't know what to get. Do you have any tips for what I should use it on? I have already had someone recommend a new backpack or a headlamp. Post your ideas in the comments section.