Gain more than 22 pounds in five seconds!

Shakespeare used to be my hiking buddy.

As I've mentioned, I used to train for backpacking trips by stuffing my red, leather-bound copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare into my pack (along with other assorted crap).

When the bard's life work began to look a little dog-eared, I swapped it for water. Lots and lots of water.

Water, if you haven't noticed, is really heavy. So on Friday, I crammed 10 liters of water (about 22 pounds) into my backpack along with my sleeping bag, a bear canister, a trail lunch and my regular first aid kit/headlamp/knicknacks.

The destination: six miles of the Sunset Trail in Grant Grove of Kings Canyon National Park, with 1.5 miles of the North Grove loop thrown in for giggles. The trail was nice -- downhill at the beginning, leading to a waterfall rolling down rock plateaus. Then, uphill on a dusty old road with lovely glimpses of Sequoia Lake through the trees.

I believe training with a heavy pack is wise -- sort of jogs the body's memory. Like riding a bicycle. Or, strapping a few bicycles and small children onto your body and walking uphill.

I do employ a mental trick when I put on the heavy pack.

When I moved to California about four years ago, I came directly from Texas. Three things happened. I no longer had a constant supply of mouth-watering chicken fried steaks. I began regular work outs. And, I eventually stopped drinking alcohol. As it turns out, you lose weight when you do that stuff. I dropped about 30 pounds.

So when I strap on 30-40 pounds of backpack, I give myself the pep talk that I once carried that weight around all the time.

I'll admit. It doesn't make the pack feel any lighter.