And so it begins . . .

Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is ebullient_one, and I plan to use this lovely space on the interwebs as a record of all my hiking in the Rockies this year. And in any subsequent years. Let's just say that I don't intend to stop hiking any time soon.

You probably have some questions about this blog and/or about me. Great! Let me attempt to answer some of them for you.

What's with the weird blog title?

The title refers to me. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, such as work, a recently diagnosed chronic illness and me being a lazy ass, I found myself at my highest weight ever earlier this year. Since about May, I've been working on getting healthier, building my endurance and watching my weight begin a slow decline. Hence I am fat and scant of breath.

Fat? Yeah, right. Prove it.

Well, last time I checked, I weighed around 207 lbs. Combined with my height of 5'8", that puts me squarely in the obese category on the BMI. The only upside to this, as my doctor pointed out, is that I tend to put fat on all over my body and not just around the mid-section. So . . . hooray, I guess?

So besides hiking, what else are you doing to be healthier?

I'm not calorie counting per se, but I am watching my portion sizes. I've been trying to eat less unhealthy junk like candy and chips, but it's so super hard when you have a sweet tooth. I'm just eating small portions and not, like, two chocolate bars at once. I've also been doing more active things. I hate exercising, but enjoy playing Dance Dance Revolution on my Wii, and I've been trying my hand at yoga as well.

How do you choose your hikes?

I choose based on my own hiking ability. The biggest thing is to not overestimate what I can do - if a hike is too dangerous, or if I don't feel safe, I'll turn around and go try another easier or less strenuous hike. Weather counts for this, too - no hiking in snowstorms, thunderstorms, or any other perilous conditions. Dying in the mountains is the last thing I want to do.

I consider myself a beginner in terms of hiking, and have found that I can do most "easy" rated hikes without too much difficulty. The most strenuous hike I've done was the Enderby Cliffs. It was a fantastic hike, but we were seriously under prepared in terms of how much water we brought and what hiking equipment we used. (I was in running shoes. My poor, aching and supremely sore feet! I also couldn't walk without pain for almost a week afterwards).

I also like pretty scenery, water, wildflowers, glaciers - if it looks cool in a picture, I'll probably try hiking it.

Here are some of the books that I've been using to plan my hikes:
Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies
Where Locals Hike in the Canadian Rockies
Canadian Rockies Trail Guide
Kananaskis Country Trail Guide (but an older version from the 1990s)

Some good internet inspiration and resources:
Hiking with Barry
Family Adventures in the Canadian Rockies
K Country trail reports

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Always make sure you know your route, tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back, and plan accordingly. Make sure you have proper equipment and supplies. Consult any good hiking book for more info.

What equipment do you use?

Since I'm new to the part of hiking where I've actually bought dedicated hiking equipment, I can tell you what I have right now - Scarpa boots and Leki hiking poles. Yes, I have some non-cotton clothing, too, but not a lot of it. I'm saving up so I can splurge on some really good, lightweight hiking wear.

Cool. Who are you and what do you do in real life when you're not traipsing through the wilderness?

I'm a hospice palliative care nurse by day, aspiring novel writer by night. Or vice versa (lousy shift work). I'm in my thirties, I have some cats, and I try to spend a lot of time outside. Unless there's hockey or CFL football on, because I'm either at the game or plunked down in front of my TV.