What do you know now, that You wish you knew then?

[Roy]

I'll second that.
Maybe you could velcro the baggie in place;  might make it easier to pop it open.  (I get 10%)

[txrounder]

velcro the baggie in place

  ..to the inside of the liner?

[RichardM]

...or just carry a small (8-16 oz) bottle as a backup and forget about the baggies.  :roll:

[SHANEA]

...or just carry a small (8-16 oz) bottle as a backup and forget about the baggies.  :roll:

But your a NASA contractor working on sending men to Pluto.  We all know that government contractors just "can't carry another bottle", no we have to redesign the wheel and invent some new $500,000 toilet seat".  :P  :P  :P

[txrounder]

It still does not "take the place" of a spare water bottle, just a convenience.

[Roy]

velcro the baggie in place

  ..to the inside of the liner?

Yep.

[Casa Grande]

...or just carry a small (8-16 oz) bottle as a backup and forget about the baggies.  :roll:

yes, but this is much much cooler way to do it.... 8)

[Roy]

...or just carry a small (8-16 oz) bottle as a backup and forget about the baggies.  :roll:

But your a NASA contractor working on sending men to Pluto.  We all know that government contractors just "can't carry another bottle", no we have to redesign the wheel and invent some new $500,000 toilet seat".  :P  :P  :P

My brother did cost/price analysis for the trash compacter for the space shuttle;  I think he said it wound up costing app. $1 Million;  in 1980s $$$. :shock:

[Undertaker]

Two questions, where do you keep the ice and good scotch? ok three questions do you really need water with good scotch?  :lol:

[SHANEA]

do you really need water with good scotch?  :lol:

No, I'll have mine neat and if you do have them with you - I will take just 2-3 ice cubes por favor.  Blue Label?    Single Malt por favor, but I'll settle for Dewars.  Don't have Dewars, then Crawfords is "ok" with me too.

[Undertaker]

Thinking more along the lines of Macallan( spelling?) hard to spell when you have been drinking, thinking of bringing some from Feb 2 to 5th. If I manage to break away with my bodyguard buddy.  :lol:

[txrounder]

where do you keep the ice and good scotch?

...you could always load the baggie with Scotch and a good ole "slap on the back" at the end of good hike would release a celebration!!
I can just see the congratulatory slaps now.

[SHANEA]

If I manage to break away with my bodyguard buddy.  :lol:

http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/

[okiehiker]

You may well be able to do more than you think.  

First of all.  I would wager that there is no point in Big Bend National Park that is not within five miles of a road (as the crow flies).  There are some that require a slightly longer hike than that, but none that are really expeditionary.  

You probably have something at this stage in life that many others on this board (and elsewhere) lack.  PATIENCE.  You may not cover as much ground in a certain time as you once did, but you can probably reach all but a very few techinical spots within the park.  

I have always done ridiculously long, ridiculously difficult hikes, starting when my brother and I were in our mid-teens.  But my perspective on things realy changed on a hike in the Galiuro Wilderness in April of 1987.  The leader was a man named Jim Urban, his assistants were two men named Gene Glenn and Sid Hirsh.  Jim was an orthopaedic surgeon from the Denver area, Sid a shoe retailer in Tucson (then age 60) and Gene a dentist from Tavares, Florida (then 57.)  

In the middle of the hike we were camped in Rattlesnake Canyon and Sid and another physician named Ron Rosenberg wanted to take a dayhike to Power's Garden, about a ten mile round trip from camp.  We had backpacked from a campsite on the main ridge about nine miles to camp, and at 4:00 PM set out for Power's Garden.  The trail is remote and rugged.  Sid and Ron set out at a nine minute per mile pace, walking down a rough trail.  

That trip imporved my walking form a lot!  I also continued to do trips with Sid and Gene for many years.  Sid had never been hiking until he was 40.  He was a busy businessman, working 60 hours a week, smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day, 75 pounds overweight and one day realized he was going to die unless something changed.

Sid began walking.  He became the first man to cross the Grand Canyon twice in one day.  In Nov. 2005 Sid finished third in the over-75 division in the Big Sur half-marathon, at the age of 79.  

My friend Gene (now 76) had knee replacement surgery at the end of July and last month did the six day cross-country trip through the Slickrock area with me.  His rehab is slow, but he is progressing.

Don't give up.  Be realistic.  Go with a group that can give you a hand when and if necessary.  My children and their friends are accustomed to knowing that we are doing things none of us could possibly do alone.  

Gene's first rappel was at the age of 72 in the slots on the Mesa de Anguila.  

I cannot do many of the things I could do 20 years ago, but I enjoy the things I do just as much.

[presidio]

You may well be able to do more than you think.  

I cannot do many of the things I could do 20 years ago, but I enjoy the things I do just as much.

Commander Peter Quincy Taggart (Galaxy Quest):
Never give up, never surrender.

Applies to all things in life.