Our minds and bodies are instruments of essentially unlimited capability. With dedication, we can transform our understanding of the world, transform the functional capability of our bodies, and achieve amazing things. This website is dedicated to my life journey in two areas: taking on the challenge of completing amazing wilderness backpacking trips to connect with the natural world, and pursuing the capability to complete amazing feats of strength and agility through ninja warrior competition training.
Ultralight backpacking - amazing opportunity is out there
I have been backpacking and hiking for over 35 years in a great variety of places and conditions. Starting out, I carried over 60 pounds at times. I got into ultralight backpacking in the late 1990s and have been obsessed with it ever since. My dream is to thru-hike the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) and to build a portfolio of experience around that type of hiking. Starting this website is part of working towards that dream before it gets too late. While I am not a thru-hiker (yet), here are a few examples of more exotic trips I have taken:
backpacking with a high temp of -15F at the Lake Superior shore
kayaking around Isle Royale and backpacking its entirety
hut hiking to Mount Everest in Nepal and summiting Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya
backpacking with my toddler son into the Oregon wilderness (he loved it)
To be an ultralight backpacker requires a research oriented mindset, a willingness to experiment, a decision to reinterpret ones fears, and most of all the dedication to make the decision to just get out there and do it! An ultralight backpacking gear system is really an integrated approach to the entire endeavor of getting out there with just what you need. With years of experimenting and acquiring different pieces of the lightest gear, I have managed as low as a 7-8 pound baseweight (the weight of all my gear except for food, water, fuel, and what I wear). The feeling of freedom this brings buoys the spirit. It literally can make you want to run with joy along the trail. Even in winter, getting out there with 12 pounds plus some food and water is an exhilarating experience.
Ninja Warrior competitions - performing amazing feats is possible
More recently, around 2015, I began training for Ninja Warrior competitions. This has been part of a transformational journey for me in physical capability. At first I could barely do two pull-ups, I found it hard to stand on one foot for very long at all, and I couldn't hang by one hand at all. Over time with stretching, strength training, and technique I can now successfully complete ninja obstacles I never imagined I could do, like traversing a peg board or a 13 foot lache from a swinging bar. We all can do truly amazing things when we work for it. For me, ninja warrior training has been one way to see huge improvements in my performance capability while boosting my health and well-being at the same time. In this process I have lost nearly 30 pounds, changed my diet to be much more organic, made an effort to balance macros for building and maintaining muscle, changed my eating habits to follow a daily intermittent fasting lifestyle, and incorporated a great variety of calisthenics and related exercises into my average day. I started this process in my late 40s and early 50s and I have never been in better shape. In the process I have:
qualified for Worlds in the National Ninja League 3X
placed 3rd in the Southeast regional competition for my age group
been a tester on the American Ninja Warrior course
been able to complete over 30 consecutive pull-ups and 100 consecutive push-ups
I did have a setback in 2021 with a blown L5S1 disc in my back that required surgery. As part of the diagnosis I also learned that my back is significantly arthritic. Even before the injury, without having been in such good shape I would likely have been suffering daily back pain. Now, after surgery and months of recovery, I am working to get back to completely pain free active ninja training.
Doing amazing things IS possible. What it takes to get there is consistent incremental effort. One decision at a time. One step at a time. One new insight at a time.
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