FEENIX,
Thanks for your encouragement. Earlier in my life I trained for competition; XC ski racing in the winter and bicycle racing in the summer. After that I trained to be able to fully enjoy those sports as hobbies. Last year for example I skied at Mammoth Mountain with my daughter and her two boys. It was a great time both on and off the slopes.
So when I backpack hunt I realize I'm drawing on a life of training as well as summer jobs involving physical labor. Some were very demanding like being a professional trail builder on a 9 mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail in 1980 when we were making that trail from scratch, following Forest Service surveying stakes.
"You either wear out or rust out."
Eric B.