Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm really not discouraged - in fact, almost the opposite. I had been struggling with conflicting priorities for a while now, and I'm actually happy and relieved that I've now figured it out. I've found that, in the overall scheme of things, backpacking just isn't at the top of the list the way it was 10 years ago. Now that I've figured out what I want to do (not what I can do, but what I want to do), I'm really looking forward to that next trip, and plan on taking it in the next two or three weeks.

For a long time, I kept struggling with doing a "worthy" trip versus doing the trip I really wanted to do: just mucking around in the front country for a day and a half, stopping to sit and look down on the canoes in the creek 100 feet below my cliff, and so forth - then driving home to have a nice dinner out with Karol.

I agree that I need more exercise, but it's probably not going to happen - and it's not TV that's the culprit (a couple of hours, a couple of evenings a week, is it.) I'm in a challenging part of my professional career right now and, though it's consuming a little more time, I'm really enjoying it. My wife and I have 3 parents in their late 70's and 80's to keep track of, which is a little more time taken. We also like to go see the kids and grandkids, but there's not a lot of real exercise playing with them. Yes, we do yard chores - but what with tillers, self-propelled mowers,etc., that's not real exercise either. About the best I'm going to be able to manage, realistically, is to increase the walking regime - and I'm not sure how regular that will become.

Golf would seem to offer an opportunity. I do walk when I play alone, but that's not on a regular basis. The guys I normally play with don't want to walk (one has a foot problem that prevents it, the other two just don't want to), so we use carts most of the time. I won't switch partners; these guys are all good friends, and we enjoy each other's company.

Thanks for the suggestions; I'll try to take them when I can. But, again, I'm actually encouraged. The "busted" trip was quite memorable, very beautiful, and it let me do the serious thinking I needed to do to get my priorities sorted out. My only real regret was not getting to spend more time with my buddy; we don't get the chance to get together very often, since he lives in Virginia and I live in Ohio, but he's also very mature and understanding, so it worked out fine.