I will not be burying any of my old gear either. I slowly retire the gear or repurpose it. I used pieces of my old climbing rope and old kid car seat to make a swing for the grandkids. I have used old tent poles in my garden for pole beans. Old tents become paint-drop cloths. I give old packs to Goodwill. I have a few packs that I am saving for the grandkids- they are just about big enough now to use them. Shoes become garden shoes until so shabby that their last resting place is the garbage, shoelaces used to tie tomato plants to cages. I am now starting to wear a lot of my backpack clothing just around the house. Biggest problem is what to do with three big boxes of technical climbing gear. Carabiners are quite useful, but what to do with cams?

From 1996 to 2003 I was transitioning from technical alpine climbing to rigorous off-trail backpacking. Lately I have needed occasional mental breaks from difficult off-trail, so throw in a few mostly trail routes. And I have taken up fishing because now I really do not want to walk from dawn to dusk, and fishing is a great end of day activity when I am done hiking mid-afternoon. Thoughts of doing long continuous thru-hikes such as the PCT are out of the question now. I am always looking for something new- enjoying coastal backpacking in the winter. May go up to the Cascades this next summer since I have not hiked there in nearly 50 years.

Luckily I am still going strong even though I will be 70 in a few months. The main difference now is that I carry much less weight, due to the wonderful lighter gear available nowadays. Seriously, I would not still be backpacking if I had to carry what I did in the 1970's. Knees and feet seem to be less robust than when younger. Trekking poles have saved the day. Need bifocals to see.

I am anticipating later years, so have organized all my photos and trip reports. I just read through a few from 2002 yesterday. My goodness, I really did that?!?! It inspires me to go out and do more!