When the Boys began to hike outside of New York’s High Peak Region in ‘99, they experienced a new brand of excitement and trepidation. They were backpacking at minimum altitudes of 1-1/2 times the height of New York’s highest peak (Mt. Marcy: 5200 feet). Traveling by plane and traversing exposed ridgelines created a modicum of anxiety for a few. There was the perennial tension about turning long-weekend trips with the guys into weeklong adventures - a time frame usually reserved for family vacations. Fortunately, the Boy's families were very supportive, and each year they backpacked more challenging and exhilarating trekking adventures outside their homestead horizon.  

New backcountry geographies created new opportunities for personal (backpacking) growth. Some examples included: High Altitude Joe, who learned that carrying three, 5-pound canned hams could be nicely substituted for a six-pack of Black and Tans; Gotta Have a Lighter Pack Larry who acknowledged that burying gear and canned food at the bottom of the Grand Canyon was not environmentally astute, but it sure made for one heck of a difference on a 4000-foot ascent to the South Rim; Satellite Don who developed a fond appreciation for the difference between beginning a trip with blisters on his heels versus no blisters; Whiskey Tottin’ Roger the Rock Grinder who (a) learned a thing or two about the correct manner for applying moleskin to blisters the size of large pancakes to the balls of his feet, (b) with listening to the force (instead of “g”) when traversing gushing streams, and (c) the painful consequence of breaking yet another camera and having to return home to the humiliating barrage of grief from his lovely wife and daughters; RB One Kenobi (Jedi Knight) who received a crash course in hyponatremia while descending into the Grand Canyon in 2001; and, AXE who researched, learned and patented the mechanics for ensuring how to perserve a Stewart’s (brand) paper coffee cup to resist tears, creases and holes during the rigors of 4-days of squishing-pack-packing, unpacking, squishing-pack-packing, unpacking, etc.  

Other examples include of personal growtrh in the backcountry included: The Knee who now understands the physics involved when a Motorola TalkAbout impulsively propels itself from ones pant belt and vanishes (never to be found) into the bowels of the great out-of-doors; DeWallis who routinely mastered the art of threatening to cook a 7-year old pouch of dehydrated lentils and bean curd for dinner as the perfect recipe for never being asked to prepare dinner for the Boys; Vioxx Mike... who finally understood the correlation between his rapid popularity among the Boys at the end of a long day of backpacking, and the benefit of being an MD with the only stash of Vioxx; and, finally, “g” who learned that while ultra-light backpacking is the way to go, if you forget to bring toilet paper, an eating utensil, or batteries for your headlamp... it sort of undermines the whole hiking-camping-enjoyment thing.  

As you can see, the Boys have learned a lot. This is good, because they’re now preparing for their most adventurous hiking assault in their short tenure as an elite backpacking force - a 5-day backpacking trip into Grand Teton National Park (WY).  

At the time of this writing, the Boys have assumed various pre-trip roles: DeWallis has his Travelocity computer alarm triggered to go off when airline ticket prices hit the right mark; High Altitude is researching grizzly bear pepper sprays; The Knee is recovering well since he's had both knees replaced with bionic ones; Gotta Have A Lighter Pack Larry is committed to developing a gear list that excludes canned foods, an iron skillet, and wash sink for shampooing his hair; Whiskey Tottin’ is researching how to write this trip off as a business expense; RB One Kenobi (Jedi Knight) is preparing to close each day of hiking with group raki sessions for after dinner relaxation and healing; and, “g” is combing his catalog of dehydrated, backcountry recipes for community dinners on the trail and gearing up his kitchen for food preparation.  

The trip to the Tetons will be extraordinary. They’ll fly into Jackson Hole on a Tuesday and spend two days playing… err… acclimating to the altitude (6K ft.). On Wednesday, they take the Aerial Tramway from Teton Village (6.3K ft.) and ascend 4K ft. Their departure from the tram leaves them on the Rendezvous Trail (10.4K ft.) and about 3.5 miles from the Middle Fork Campground (night #1).  

On Day 2, the Boys pick up the Teton Crest Trail (north) and hike 7+ miles to an amazing view from Death Canyon Shelf Campground (9K ft.). Day 3 will be, by far, the most taxing because they’ll hike approximately 10 miles to reach South Fork Campground (night 3). Day 4 will be a short hop (5 mi.) to the Cascade Creek Campground.  

 Day 5 will prove to be the most interesting. The hiking itinerary calls for a mostly level, straight shot home to Jenny Lake by way of Cascade Canyon (8 mi.). However, “g” has already proposed that the Jogging LaBella Brothers may take an alternative, 13 mile route home via the Paintbrush Divide loop to Jenny Lake. This would require a 4:30 A.M. departure from the group and plenty of power bars to zoom past Lake Solitude, and a jog up and over the Paintbrush Divide (an ascent of about 1400 ft. in less then 0.5 miles). We'll see.  

Well, there’s so much more to come. The Mileage Calculating Committee for the Boys must acquire pristine data about daily hiking mileage and elevation gains/descents. The dehydrated dinners must be planned, prepared, tested in the field, re-made and then vacuum sealed for the trip. There’s new gear to buy, insurance policies to sign, and a mere 120-gazillion e-mails to respond to as the Boys get ever nearer to… the Tetons.  

Keep your compass pointed to G-WeBconnect for the next update. It’s just around the next bend…