You've heard it all before, I know.

The backpack is packed and setting in the kitchen. Hiking clothes in a canvas tote next to it. Trekking poles ready for action. Maps, notebook, readin' books and camera good to go.

Everything has been thoroughly inspected by Molly and Katie, my two darling feline beasts, who have left a sufficient quantity of fur on things so that I surely can't forget about them while I'm away.

The pack weighs in at 27.5 pounds excluding food and water. Not bad. I was hoping to get it sub-25 but after several ounce-shaving iterations, I don't feel I can do much more. I'll take it. Fully loaded it's sure to total well under 40 lbs., very manageable for these bones.

Only one or two minor details to cover before the mighty Honda Civic lifts off late tomorrow afternoon.

Yep, I'm heading out into the woods once again. To the rough and tumble Andirondack Mountains of upstate New York.

11 days, 10 nights on the 120 mile Northville-Lake Placid Trail.

Peak foliage. Cool days. Crisp nights. Good walking and sleeping weather.

I ain't gonna hurry one damn step the entire way. Nope. There'll be two speeds on this trip: slow and stop.

It might even turn into a real relaxing vacation. Unlike the battering this body endured on the GR 20 Route last June, the N-LP Trail should be considerably gentler.

While Corsica dealt out pain and suffering in large daily quantities (I'm really not complaining as the scenery was incredible), this hike will extract a lesser toll. There's only 10,500 feet of elevation to gain along the way. That's 1/4 of the more than 40,000 feet of elevation gain required by the GR20 over an equal distance.

You do the math.

Yes, a walk in the park by comparison.

Fine by me.

But even though the strain will be less, the scenic wilderness and solitude factors will be high. Dozens of lakes and ponds, streams and rivers. High peaks on all sides. Cozy Adirondack lean-tos for camping and fire-sittin'.

All good.

I'll check in where and when I can, as the trail passes through a couple of towns en route. But maybe, maybe not. We'll see.

Here's wishing you all a couple of nice weeks of good hiking and good hiking weather to boot. Get out and enjoy. You know I will. Take notes and photos and we'll talk when I return the day after Columbus Day.

Until then...

A note on keeping dreams alive:

I first heard of the Northville-Lake Placid Trail on a cold September night at Rattle River shelter in NH. I was just one state and about a month away from finishing my thru-hike of the AT in 1977.

Standing around a campfire that evening I met up with 4 guys from Rochester NY. And as the evening progressed and the fire grew higher we got to talking about "after-the-trail" plans. (There may have been some burning of the herb going on too, customary at the time, but I can't say for sure).

Anyway, we concocted this idea for a expedition up the Northville-Lake Placid Trail, not far from their home. In winter. We would ski its entire length, right to Lake Placid, and just in time for the 1980 Olympics.

Now, how about that for a plan, eh?

Well, it never happened. I lost track of the Rochester boys. The Olympics came and went (albeit with a gold medal for the USA men's ice hockey team!) and so did the plan.

But I never forgot about the N-LP Trail. It's been right there on my hiking "to-do" list" ever since.

And now, 29 years later, I'm actually going to do it. All of it. And fulfill yet another long-held dream.

Life is funny isn't it? That silly things like a rather obscure hike can stick with you for so long. And then sometimes, with a measure of good fortune and by the grace of God, your dream comes true.

Not all of them. But some do, if you never give up hope.

And really, what is life without hope? Without dreams?