Captain’s Log: Star Date 220227.

We’re off again. This time to explore the great unknown. Well, not actually, we’re going to Big Bend, and it’s pretty well explored. But there are some trails we want to walk, and it will be nice to be outside with friends and a group of us are gathering in Terlingua to do that. The first stage will take me to Ozona. From there I hook up with a friend, and we’ll make our way south on Monday with his trailer pulled by his big truck.

I’ve been in training for all the walking, and I even bought a new pair of boots. The training mostly consisted of me walking around town. I can cover a lot of my small town in 2.5 miles and that’s what I tried to do most days, usually in less than an hour. Almost all of our wilderness walks will be about five miles round trip and given that we’ll be taking our time, looking at the scenery, and probably sitting a spell, I’m pretty confident my old legs will hang on. As for the new boots, I’ve worn them almost every day since I bought them, and they feel good, especially with wool socks.

Most of my day today will be taken up with me packing the clothes I’ve laid out and the provisions I’ve stocked. The days will be cold in the morning and getting temperate as the day goes on. So, layering will be the key with light stuff I can carry as the sun comes up. It feels a lot like what I do when I go play winter golf except there’s no golf cart. I just need to remember I’m not Scott racing to the South Pole and this is supposed to be fun. Because even though I was not a very good Boy Scout, I did take to heart that be prepared motto, and I’m keenly aware of all the ways the world can kill you even when you’re having fun.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale