T minus 9.5 hours to lift-off. Ok, not lift-off into the canyon, but lift-off into the car to the airport. We have a bright a bright and early flight tomorrow a.m. and a few of us are carpooling to the airport, so I’m looking at a 4:30 a.m. pick-up tomorrow. Funny thing is everyone in my buddy group seems to think because I normally get up at 4 a.m. (to leave at 5 a.m. for work in San Jose) that I’ll be chipper in the morning. I keep telling them I am*not* a morning person. Noah – who my friend and honoree for this hike – can vouch for that. In college there were many mornings when I told him off because he was way to peppy and talkative before 10 a.m. Thankfully, by 10 I was back to myself and he didn’t hold my earlier grouchy Jodi-self against me.

Tomorrow sounds early, but Saturday’s hike will be even earlier. We depart for the canyon from our hotel at 4:15 a.m. We’re meeting in the lobby at 3:45 a.m. for a gear check. Which means getting up and eating breakfast will be somewhere around the 3 a.m. hour.

Right now, I am packed and pretty much ready to go. All my hike gear, from food to clothes to hiking boots, is crammed into the pack I’ll be using in the canyon and will be on the plane with me as a carry-on. Can’t afford to have that get lost in flight. Then I have another suitcase that is mostly empty that will be my checked bag – holding the rest of my clothing for the weekend and toiletries. On the way hope, it’ll have plenty of space for those boots and gear so I don’t have to lug it all on the plane with me coming back.