Me And My Ellie

Me and Ellie, taking the scenic route through my friend's yard.

    Up to this point Tom and I have  done all our Camino training at Clear Creek Park (see post from 8/25/2015) with our backpacks filled and weighted with random household items, towels, books, shoes, winter clothes.  My memory seemed to suggest that 14 pounds, before  adding water bottles, was the weight of my backpack last time we did the Camino.  So I'd been been practicing with 15 pre-water pounds, just for good measure.
    Yesterday I decided to have a mini-Camino-dress-rehearsal walk around my neighborhood. 

     I gathered every item I intended to pack for our two-month hike, 

...and shoved the whole mess into my backpack

.  Then I hoisted my pack onto my back.  It felt alarmingly heavy.
    So I stepped onto the scale and saw, to my dismay, that my backpack, holding only the barest necessities, was weighing in at 21 pounds, pre-water.
    

    The bare necessities became barer as I removed first-aid supplies,  dictionaries (I'll keep only the Spanish one and carry it in my pocket), a guidebook, an extra hand-sanitizer, clothespins, clothesline, vitamins (I can live

without 'em for two months, I figure), Tums, an extra tube of toothpaste,  a couple extra vaselines, (I vaseline my feet everyday before putting on my socks, my secret for avoiding blisters.  Unfortunately vaseline is hard to find in Spain, you can only get it at a pharmacy where it's very expensive), my wash cloth (I'll use my hands!) and gloves (I'll use my spare socks!).
    I managed to cut back 3 pounds.  So now I was down to 18 pounds, pre-water.  Water weighs about 3 or 4 pounds, so I was up to 22 pounds total, which I know for sturdy young backpackers is practically nada to carry around.  For me it felt like a baby elephant on my back. 
    In truth, it’s always felt like a baby elephant on my back. 
     Now it was just a little bigger baby elephant.
    So I tightened my boots,  grabbed my sticks, and heaved my backpackiderm onto my back.
    Let’s go, Ellie, said I in my mind to my newly christened companion as we took off down the sidewalk, maybe we’ll get a couple of pounds off you yet!