23 jul: i walk with my pack (6.2)

We (Cuddy, Sam & I) left Su (the Subaru) to walk Lennoxton Road in light rain. Of course the dogs loved it, & gave me in a lime green poncho, funny looks. But happy dogs are laughing creatures & they soon ignored me, except to bump my legs to say thanks for the walk. 

As they sniffed piles of farmy excrement, roadkill & other interesting longs I jostled about with a bouncy & heavy pack & a hood that sat skewiff on my melon. 

Sam stared down a too large 'too but as it ran & he set to follow, he just as happily wheeled around to rejoin our little pack. The rain set in, but the hills nearby topped with shredded gray cloud distracted me from my pack & early walk settling in reluctance. 

As the pack, containing everything I would carry on my Camino, jostled about I realised that in my haste I had not balanced the pack load. 

At about the1.5k mark I set it down & applied some thought to how best arrange the baggies, & retensioned some of the straps. Back underway, it felt quite a bit better, but still seemed to be sitting high (pushing my head forward), & it waggled side to side as I walked. 

Not impatient, I just focussed on stepping out. I reached over to locate my Camelback's tube & realised I needed to arrange it better for easier access. After a few slurps & tucking the tube through a loop on my right shoulder, I felt more set & happy. 

After a longish low hill I noticed the dogs were less energetic, not easily distracted & settling into their walks. This is an indicator for me, that we are moving into the middle of the walk. I felt better as the joints had warmed up, the rain was easing, & the scenery began to draw me in. 

We reached my mental turn around point. On this first pack walk I was wanted to keep it only a little strenuous & planned to be home & get the fire going not too late. About halfway back to the car I stopped to snap a fading rainbow to our east. My son Joe called just as I repacked & began hittingy cruising speed. This worked out to be handy. I'd realised earlier that the top takeoff for the straps was too high & planned to shorten the torso length. While I was on the phone, I realised the adjustment was simpler than I rememnered. It was just a Velcro attachment, & I quickly adjusted it using one hand while talking on the phone. 

Back underway, as soon as I tensioned the hip belt I knew the pack was well adjusted. The hip belt sat snug without clamping & the shoulder straps took more weight & the wobble was gone. I felt immediately better & mused how I had walked the Milford Track with a wrongly fitted pack. 

Back at the car, I almost sadly unloaded my pack. I was just feelingy way into the walk, with all my Camino stuff & wanted to keep going. But the robot like movement of the dogs indicated we'd had enough. 

Overall we did 6.2k in about 1.5hrs, a little slow but between the rain, pack adjustments & my playing it cautious early on, I felt we were on target as, at this time I am contemplating a 12k/day starting pace for the Camino. So based on today's result we could walk 12k under a pack in 3hrs. That's a pretty cruisey way to get going on the Camino.   

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