My plan while The Man was hiking the PCT was to go for an overnighter this weekend on the PCT. I planned to hike from San Francisquito Rd. to Sawmill Mountain or so. The Man wasn't due to be there, I just felt like I wanted to revisit the spot where I looked to the west and thought I could see mountains from my home turf that I recognized. That sense of looking home stayed with me and eventually led me to hike from my home to the PCT. I got to walk through those mountains I saw. I hoped to have a chance to go back to that spot and look at those mountains again.
But The Man has been home recovering from his sprained ankle instead of hiking the PCT. He feels quite a bit better lately. I suggested that maybe instead of me going backpacking by myself that maybe the two of us could try to be trail angels for the day. I offered various scenarios like maybe he could hang out at the Casa de Luna while I backpacked out to Sawmill Mountain. Or maybe we could go to Agua Dulce and see if people needed a ride to REI in Northridge and I could drive to Northridge while he hung out with any hiker buddies he might know. He didn't seem eager for any of it so I kept trying to suggest alternate plans.
Today I came home from work and noticed that he had packed his backpacking backpack. I guess he wants to go. I asked if he really thought he could walk on his ankle. He wasn't sure. He might be up for a short walk in the Vasquez Rocks or maybe he just wants to camp behind the ranger station on San Francisquito Road. We'll play it by ear. Maybe we'll just show up in Agua Dulce and nobody will want anything, we'll get his bandana and come right home.
I picked some avocados to give away but they won't be ripe for at least a week or two. I have a couple pairs of decent shoes to give away if anyone needs any. We'll probably pick up some drinks. Hopefully we can be of help, although nowadays it seems like hikers have so much help they can hardly appreciate it anymore.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Comparing ultralight shelters to more traditional ones
The thing with ultralight gear is that it takes more effort sometimes to stay warm and dry. That doesn't make ultralight gear less worthy. Much ultralight gear is not made for people who don't want to think about the external issues involved.
Ultralight tents in particular depend on you adding a few crucial ingredients, including choosing a good camp site where there is limited wind, katabatic air (cold air that sinks), condensation etc, and choosing a good spot in the site where there won't be a puddle of water forming and where trees and bushes can provide some additional warmth, shelter and condensation protection. Very frequently this means that the typical backcountry campsite that most people aspire to, such as a nice lakeshore site or a spot in a meadow, are rejected because these sites will be cold, wet and uncomfortable. Much better will be a mid-slope site protected by trees. Sometimes you have to pass by the nice lake-side site or select a tent site a small walking distance away to be able to attain the kind of warmth, dryness and protection that a more robust and heavy tent will provide. Not a problem to me because the hours I spend at night are unconscious while the hours I spend hiking are enhanced by a small pack.
You can't just throw up a shelter like a Z-Packs hexamid any old place and expect it to work as well as a heavy, double-wall shelter. But with care you can choose a good site, arrange the ground sheet and other items well, and sleep warm, safe and dry. That is the trade-off. Easy warm safe and dry with a lot of weight, or warm safe and dry with a little extra thought and care. So it's only with the thought and care added that ultralight and more traditional shelters can be compared.
Ultralight tents in particular depend on you adding a few crucial ingredients, including choosing a good camp site where there is limited wind, katabatic air (cold air that sinks), condensation etc, and choosing a good spot in the site where there won't be a puddle of water forming and where trees and bushes can provide some additional warmth, shelter and condensation protection. Very frequently this means that the typical backcountry campsite that most people aspire to, such as a nice lakeshore site or a spot in a meadow, are rejected because these sites will be cold, wet and uncomfortable. Much better will be a mid-slope site protected by trees. Sometimes you have to pass by the nice lake-side site or select a tent site a small walking distance away to be able to attain the kind of warmth, dryness and protection that a more robust and heavy tent will provide. Not a problem to me because the hours I spend at night are unconscious while the hours I spend hiking are enhanced by a small pack.
You can't just throw up a shelter like a Z-Packs hexamid any old place and expect it to work as well as a heavy, double-wall shelter. But with care you can choose a good site, arrange the ground sheet and other items well, and sleep warm, safe and dry. That is the trade-off. Easy warm safe and dry with a lot of weight, or warm safe and dry with a little extra thought and care. So it's only with the thought and care added that ultralight and more traditional shelters can be compared.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Show and Tell - Going Light
I have used up all my free space on my various photo hosting web sites, so I posted a topic on Backpacking Light with pictures of my gear from the trip I took on the Sisquoc last weekend. You can see it here.
I don't really know what the weight of my pack was. I know when I left for the PCT last May my pack was a little heavier and weighed in at 12lbs without food. But I had a few other things (like journal and guide books) and a different pack. So my guess is that it's about 10 pounds now before food, and for 3 days I probably had about 4.5 pounds of food.
The key to my light pack is really the tent, which weighs a little more than a pound and uses my trekking poles to set up, the sleeping quilt which weighs only 16 ounces, the pack which is about a pound and my cook kit. After that, the key is never bringing a change of clothes. I walked 3000 miles without a change of clothes, I can certainly walk 45 miles without one. Also, hiking the PCT I really learned I don't need much to be comfortable. I learned how to be kind of a McGuyver about things and not really mind a certain amount of gear-induced discomfort. Hence my do-it-yourself gaiters made of stuff I found on the trail.
I don't really know what the weight of my pack was. I know when I left for the PCT last May my pack was a little heavier and weighed in at 12lbs without food. But I had a few other things (like journal and guide books) and a different pack. So my guess is that it's about 10 pounds now before food, and for 3 days I probably had about 4.5 pounds of food.
The key to my light pack is really the tent, which weighs a little more than a pound and uses my trekking poles to set up, the sleeping quilt which weighs only 16 ounces, the pack which is about a pound and my cook kit. After that, the key is never bringing a change of clothes. I walked 3000 miles without a change of clothes, I can certainly walk 45 miles without one. Also, hiking the PCT I really learned I don't need much to be comfortable. I learned how to be kind of a McGuyver about things and not really mind a certain amount of gear-induced discomfort. Hence my do-it-yourself gaiters made of stuff I found on the trail.
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