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I recently took the time to spreadsheet all my gear and poo poo, since I'm doing some long distance traverses this summer, and my baseweight (Minus food, but all else) came in at a mere 16lbs/7kg. Add in food and water and it comes up to around 25/28lbs, which isn't too shabby at all for a 7 day trip. Most of it was just judiciously picking up a piece here and a piece there on sale, and the weight fluctuates depending if I'm using my TarpTent DR or a Hammock. Honestly, the biggest savings (and cost) came from switching to a DWR Quilt, but it's so goddamn comfortable that I have zero regrets. Like I asked on Reddit: Why the gently caress do you need two knives and a leatherman. 
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Jan 22, 2014 06:21
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OSU_Matthew posted:I was thinking of ditching my tent in favor of a hammock with a sleeping bag peapod over it for insulation. I'm looking at the Eagles Nest setup with this Wiggy's bag over top the hammock. The downside is that the 20 degree bag is nearly four pounds, but ditching the tent and whatnot should help make up for the weight. For like $60 more you can pick up an Enlightened Equipment Enigma or Revelation quilt which weighs </= 1LB and comes with the option of Down Water-Resistance and a wide variety of colors. Those guys are just brutally overcharging, unless there's some magic to the product that I'm missing.
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Jan 24, 2014 17:58
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cov-hog posted:I've been dreaming about hiking the West Coast Trail since I first saw photos from someone's trip years ago. I'm graduating this summer and my friend is getting married in Vancouver this August, so it seems like this would be the perfect opportunity to make this happen. As long as you can handle the chance of perpetual hurricane rain, don't get caught by the tide somewhere deadly, and are physically fit then it's not that bad. Seriously, 10 year olds do the WTC every year without needing medivac. North Coast Trail / Cape Scott is more brutal in terms of weather, and The Stein is a far longer haul, the WTC is just...really loving wet. When it was a decrepit and remote telegraph route that saw maybe 10 brave souls a year, it was more deserving of the reputation. Mud. Mud everywhere.
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Jan 27, 2014 03:40
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I have a month of vacation time saved up for this summer, and I'm trying to decide between the Stein Divide (which I live beside) or the GR20. Perks of the former is that it would be super cheap, leave me more free time for other explorations in the coast range that I have planned, and I'd have the entire trail to myself solo. Downside is there may be a crazy bushman living on the trail. Perks of the GR20 are that I've never left Canada, it looks breathtakingly awesome, and I'd really like a trip which involves some scrambling. Downsides is the trip would cost nearly $2500, the trail is packed with people, it would use 20/30 vacation days and I don't speak french. Decisions decisions. :/
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Feb 14, 2014 05:34
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After several years of rocking a mini Trangia, I have become sick to death of waiting 10 minutes for water to boil at altitude and finally realized that for trips longer than two days the weight savings are negligible compared to a canister stove. Thus, I'm picking up an Optimus Crux LPG burner, and relegating the Trangia to overseas trips. I'm new to these, can you use them with any old canister or only the Optimus branded ones? Also, a shout out for Enlightened Equipment. I picked up a 0c/30f Enigma and this thing is frickin' amazing! It's like having a feather on top of you it weighs so little (15oz), but you are absurdly toasty. I can even use it as an overbag for my 10* mummy if I know I'm going somewhere colder than usual, though going back to the restriction of a mummy bag after using a quilt like this is suffocating. Since we're sharing lists, here's my spring & summer setup right now: http://lighterpack.com/r/89oflg The only change I'm thinking of making is picking up a TarpTent Moment to replace the hammock, as I am sick of sleeping on the ground with it draped over me whenever I am in the alpine. 
Rime fucked around with this message at 17:20 on May 3, 2014 |
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May 3, 2014 16:34
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The last trip I did I calculated myself as requiring a liter of Methylhydrate to cook breakfast and dinner, so between the weight and the hassle of fueling -> waiting ten minutes for it to boil -> waiting to cool off enough to defuel, I just want a drat canister stove. Trangia can stay in the drawer until I go somewhere ultra long haul where canisters are rare, like the Lycian Way in Turkey. Open fires are almost universally banned in the backcountry in BC between April and October, though it was pretty fun to use the fuel to make it look like I was throwing fireballs when I did a bike trip a few years back. 
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May 4, 2014 06:16
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I loathe MEC and all it stands for, but the 10% off nights really help fill in the gear gaps. 
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May 7, 2014 04:41
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stealie72 posted:Why do you loathe MEC? What started as a budget friendly place to get quality outdoor gear without daytripping to REI, gear which was made in Vancouver no less, has become a yuppie fashion boutique abusing its co-op status to drive the competition out of business while raising prices. The details are too long to type out on a phone, but they're becoming pretty poo poo in all respects. Sadly, they are the only option in town for climbing gear. 
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May 7, 2014 16:36
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Tarptent Double Rainbow
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May 12, 2014 00:01
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Whelp, got half my TO requests in for the summer. 5 day weekend at San Josef Bay in the sun, 4 days in Athelney Pass, and 8 days solo in the Stein. Still have 11 left for making 3 day weekends (definitely going to Cathedral PP). I really really wish I could get up to Edziza and not die this year, but it's a long haul and I'm not badass enough to walk that barren moonscape solo.😕 Still going to be an awesome summer. 
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May 15, 2014 00:13
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This is how I feel about coastal hammock camping in the shoulder season. So much crap required to not freeze to death.
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May 15, 2014 20:02
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Goddamn shipping Harmony House to Canada costs an arm and a leg. If only in-home freeze drying was as cheap and easy as dehydrating.  Pulled the trigger on a MomentDW though, my backpacking outfit is finally 100% complete. Aside Gear Protip: heat shrink wrap for windows makes a bombproof transparent tarp for hammocks, a fantastic ground sheet for tents, costs $10 and weighs nothing. This is what those Gossamer Gear polycro ground sheets are made from, but they wanted $40 to ship one to Canada. Rime fucked around with this message at 20:28 on May 22, 2014 |
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May 22, 2014 19:54
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Submit the full res of that third photo to a Nat Geo contest or something, that is sick.
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May 23, 2014 04:35
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Jeans can legitimately be deadly in inclement weather. I once did a couple hour long hike through a forest in pouring rain, where the trail was a stream in places, and by the time I got home I was so exhausted and chilled that I passed out and slept for nearly twelve hours. My jeans had acted like wicks, soaking up water kicked up by my feet, and added pounds upon pounds of weight to my legs while also chilling me dangerously. I would never do anything longer than a day hike in Denim. I've long since discovered Prana Zion, and basically live in a pair from March to October.
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May 24, 2014 05:06
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Heners_UK posted:
Since you are linking MEC, I am assuming you are in Canada? I find it's quite frustrating to try and light a stove with a striker, personally, since you are essentially making a ghetto match out of something else. IIRC there's few to no places that allow backcountry campfires in the summer, and if you're going to a front country site just bring a bic or something. Not that learning to use a striker isn't an incredibly valuable survival skill which I would leverage if I was five days from civilization and outside of a park boundary.
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Jun 2, 2014 03:22
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Seam-sealed my TT MomentDW and camped in the backyard last night so that nobody could steal it whilst I was sleeping. This is a really robust little unit, and with both poles it's possibly lighter than my hammock setup! The floor seems quite thin though, so some polycro as a ground sheet will definitely be needed to avoid risk of punctures. If you were both on the small / skinny side you could probably fit a significant other inside with you in a pinch, although it would be very cozy.
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Jun 4, 2014 20:45
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LogisticEarth posted:Every time someone posts a bunch of pictures, I start wondering what camera everyone hikes with. I have a Nikon P60 which I got several years ago, but I'm not totally happy with it as it's had some quality issues. The memory card is now stuck in it and I get occasional lens errors. The main reason I got it was that it was a point and shoot that still had a view finder, and a digital one that actually relayed what was going through the main lens. My wife and I have an SLR but of course it's bulky and heavy, so I'm starting to look for another point and shoot since mine might be on the way out. I hike with a OMD-EM5, but my friend just got a Sony RX100M2 which may be the best P&S I've ever encountered. Tiny, light, F1.8 on the lens, the only downside is a relatively narrow field of view so those sweeping landscapes may be hard to acquire. The thing takes such beautiful pictures without, any fiddling about with settings, that I kind of wish I had one instead of my OMD. Terrifying Effigies posted:
This is the funniest thing ever. 
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Jun 8, 2014 20:20
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Levitate posted:You can also look into quilts, they're usually less $$ than down bags I love my quilt, but it's also the single most expensive piece of gear I own and it's not even the high-end company. The good ones aren't cheaper that equivalent full bags. Granted, CAD<->USD is to blame for a portion of that.
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Jun 10, 2014 19:35
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Jun 10, 2014 20:18
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How the hell does Harmony House not have an equivalent in Canada? I mean, I frickin' love this order I got and it's replaced those sodium-heavy meal packs for the summer, but drat do I wish it hadn't cost me nearly double in shipping and duty. It's not like I can just get a freeze dryer either, the things are like $7000.
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Jun 15, 2014 04:48
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Alcohol stoves loving suck for hikes that are longer than 1-2 days. I had a mini Trangia for years, I tried to like it, I really did. I got sick of it taking 10 minutes to boil a cup of water, 15 at high altitudes. I got sick of having to try and refuel the tiny stove when it was hot and ran dry while cooking. I got sick of carrying a litre of methylhydrate on long trips. I caved and bought an Optimus Crux, a stove which weighs less than half that of the Trangia itself before fuel is counted. For my own question, whats the skinny on boots these days? I'm rocking some La Sportiva Thunder GTX or something, but they're getting pretty aged and after doing The Stein this summer are likely going to be retired mainly due to slipping on rock while scrambling and weighing nearly 2kg between them. I'm planning to through-hike the Janapar and the Lycian Way next year, any suggestions for boots that'll go the distance while not being made of lead and ovens on my feet? I was thinking a low top like the Patagonia Drifter A/C, or something with a mid-top. Rime fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Jun 26, 2014 |
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Jun 26, 2014 17:28
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Full of the piss and vinegar that only a 4 day weekend can create, I wrangled a friend with a car into joining a trip up to Joffre Lakes for an overnight of Mountaineering. Since the weather forecast was for rain until Sunday and then 30+, I figured that plenty of people would go up Saturday, and head back Sunday, leaving the campgrounds free if we went Sunday & Monday. I was correct, and snagged the sick peninsula campsite. Plan was to explore the environs on the day of arrival, and then summit Tszil & Slalok or Taylor the following day. Slalok from the Middle Joffre  The Matier Glacier, with campground visible in lower right behind tree  Couldn't get to the foot of the Matier due to a steep cornice above a gully and my lack of an ice-axe. While the 200' slide wouldn't kill you, you wouldn't be walking out.   Paused for lunch and a breather above camp, at about 5800 feet.  Nice waterfall on the foot of Slalok.  Sick sunset over what I believe to be Cayoosh mountain  Day 2: Flank of Slalok visible on the far upper left, Tszil in the center left, and Taylor on the right. The ridge below Taylor is the route up the col. In places this ridge is less than a foot wide, with a 400' drop on either side.   Tarns at the top of the Tszil-Taylor col. The snow below the center ridge was too crusty to ascend without an axe or spikes, foiling a direct ascent, and so steep that you'd pick up speed fast if you slipped.  I attempted to route around the bottom of Taylor through the boulder field, and then up to the ridge, but it got messy fast (that big one is the size of a house) and I noticed my watch had stopped (buddy had never scrambled before and stayed at the tarns) so I turned back. Foiled for the second time by rotten snow!  Crossing the foot of the Tszil glacier in preparation for...  Glissading! Because the best way to dscend several kilometers of steep glacier is to slide down it on your rear end and hope you don't fall in a crevasse! Sure beats the ridge.  And some alpine goodness on the way down, with the Matier glacier and Mount Joffre in the background.  Got back to camp, packed up, and hiked back out to the car, which made for a total descent of 7000 feet from the top of the col in one push (my sinuses loathe me). While I failed to achieve my summit goals, still a badass weekend and a good shake-down of all my gear in advance of The Stein later in the summer. I can confirm that the Capture Clip Pro (thanks Mr. Despair!) is one of the best pieces of gear I've bought in years, holy crap does it rock. Definitely need new boots, I couldn't figure out why I was slipping so much, and then checked my tread when I got to the car and discovered that even vibram lugs go smooth after enough years.
Rime fucked around with this message at 05:44 on Jul 1, 2014 |
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Jul 1, 2014 05:15
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Thanks! The one at the lake campsite was fine. The one in the unmarked old glade campsite on the way to Tszil looked like a rape shack with no door at all.
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Jul 1, 2014 05:25
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At least it wasn't Giant Hogweed. Touch your face after that stuff and you'll go blind!
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Jul 9, 2014 03:21
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Speleothing posted:Have you ever taken a nap in a hammock? They do tend to force you into non-side positions. I am a side sleeper and sleep in a hammock year round, thanks to carriage bolts I drilled into the roof beams (  don't tell my landlord.) If the hammock is forcing you out of your preferred sleeping position, you are hanging it too tight or at a slight angle towards one end.
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Jul 13, 2014 21:23
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The restrictions around Berg Lake are super bizarre, considering that other BC trails like Joffre Lakes offer a more dangerous endpoint (below a calving glacier!) yet they are currently making the entire trail wheelchair accessible (and knocking down hundreds of old growth fir in the process). 
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Jul 25, 2014 23:31
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Solo through-hiking the Stein Traverse starting on Friday, one hundred km of pristine alpine and watershed over the course of ten days.   Will bring back many pretty pictures. Rime fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Aug 27, 2014 |
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Aug 26, 2014 04:08
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BaseballPCHiker posted:For those of you who are quilt sleepers do you find it necessary to wear a hat all of the time? I always like that about my mummy bags is that I could take my hat off and let my head breath a little. Depends on your shelter arrangements and the climate. My TT Moment or Hammock are both fairly drafty, so when I'm in the alpine I find that both my wool hoody AND a wool cap are necessary to avoid discomfort, otherwise I end up pulling it over my head in the early morning and building up condensation. Rime fucked around with this message at 17:14 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 06:13
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Picnic Princess posted:Your ridgerest looks so perfect, mine is chewed up to poo poo from bushwhacking. That Ridgerest is five years old, no less! Love it, lighter than any air mattress out there and works as an insulating layer in a hammock. This will be my first trip with the Boreas 55 instead of my old Infinity 60 with the articulated hip belt. It's lighter, and has some really nice features, but we'll see how it holds up to this kind of abuse. Edit: I suspect I just waterproofed my tarp hat with a beeswax based leather treatment. I'm going to get eaten.  Edit2: Somehow my final weight came to 40lbs. I suspect most of that is food, but still, that is not as light as I had been aiming for. My base is 16lbs for heavens sake! Rime fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Aug 29, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 17:15
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I am back, I survived the Stein Traverse solo and without a SAR beacon. 4 days of rain, boots failed and eventually split at the seams, 5000ft knifeedge ridgewalks with 4ft visibility and driving hail. Shivering in a soaked tent on the helipad beside a godforsaken alpine lake, everything wet, hypothermic, no hot food as bears are loudly tearing apart trees a few hundred meters away. Weather broke on Wednesday and I proceeded to power-bushwack through 25km of fireweed and alder a day as I walked through multiple forest fire zones, lost my bear spray two days from the trailhead. Made it to Lytton this morning. I do not know how I am alive. Will put up pictures in a few days once I have recovered.
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Sep 6, 2014 08:08
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How long of a trip report is it acceptable to post in here? I have a blow by blow account of my near-death in the Stein last year that a goon requested I post, but I don't want to vomit all over the thread.
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Apr 19, 2015 17:33
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The Story of How I Almost Died: Solo Traversing The Stein. After many months, a $1000 Hard Drive recovery job, and much hand wringing, I am ready to bring you a tale of adventure and tribulation, of damaged equipment and gross ill-preparation. In September 2014 I attempted a trip which had been in preparation for years: a solo through hike of the 100km Stein Traverse. Gear was purchased and tested, the body was prepared, courses on mountaineering had been taken. Most people take 10 days or more to do the trail, I planned on twelve so I could really savour the experience and find myself. I thought I was prepared, I came out in six. Friday: night found me camping on a creepy logging road, blissfully unaware of the true nature of what lay ahead of me. Overconfident, I slept the night away and broke camp the next morning with snacks on the trail instead of breakfast, this would become a trend as the situation deteriorated. By 6am Saturday: I was slogging up a logging road which had been abandoned for nearly fifteen years. VOC had not cleared the brush since 2010, which meant I spent the day forcing my way through soaking wet alder, and soaking myself to the bone. The failing of waterproofing on some items should have been a red alert to abort, as well as my loss of my sole bear bell two hours into the trail. I arrived at Lizzie Lake wet, changed socks and wrung things out while eating lunch, and resolved to make it to the cabin that afternoon as the abandoned forest service camp at Lizzie was one of the creepiest places I have ever been. As I was leaving, I noticed a shredded bag of trash hanging from a tree, with a torn up hiking shoe further up the trail. It had taken 4.5 hours to get this far.  Abandoned Road I arrived at Lizzie Cabin around 1pm, boots and socks soaked and my clothes not much better. Set about drying things on the porch as the sun peeked out between bouts of rain. The cabin had logs dating all the way back to its construction in the 1970's, including such highlights as a visit from Billy Joel and lots of high-tension exchanges between hippies and loggers. Later in the afternoon another hiker, Ian, arrived and we fired up the stove to dry things and keep warm for the night. It was quite cozy, I would gladly return to spend some time in that valley. Sunday: morning arrived cold and wet. We restocked the wood we'd used up and parted ways, him to civilization and myself to the alpine. A light drizzle soon ended, and after an accidental detour on the wrong trail, I was on my way over the first ridge with my goal for the night as Caltha lake. Several hours in, after traversing terrain that was pretty much the inspiration for Skyrim, I arrived at the entrance to Cherry Pip pass below Tabletop Mountain. Due to low cloud visibility was around 5 feet at best, and some joker had been building false cairns all over the place. I lost about forty minutes finding the trail.  Heart Lake As I gained the ridge that would take me to Caltha, I felt the ground shaking vigorously beneath my feet and heard what sounded like the ocean crashing over my head. Looking back, I saw what amounted to the entire backside of Anemone Mountain sliding off and covering an ice field. Boulders the size of trucks. I was reminded of Ian mentioning that when he had been climbing this week, he had seen Long Peak shedding boulders the size of houses regularly, and that all the mountains in the region appeared very rotten. I had considered scrambling up Anemone on my way past, but shied away due to the low cloud. Had it been clear, I very likely would be dead.  Anemone Slide I finished descending Cherry Pip Pass and arrived at Caltha Lake around 4pm. It would likely have been beautiful, had the cloud cover not been twenty feet up and drizzling. Had a hot dinner, buried my food bag under rocks, and passed out before 6pm. Slept like a rock, though it was very very cold due to the winds.   Caltha Lake Camp at Caltha Monday: morning found me again up at dawn, packed, and with a hot meal in my stomach I headed for Tundra Lake. This is where things started to go bad. There is only one way around Tundra, hopping through a boulder field that has become very active. As soon as I reached the lake, I could hear rocks crumbling in the distance, though there was absolutely zero visibility. Tundra Lake sits in a caldera, with mountains on two sides and sheer rock walls 3/4 of the way around, all of which act to trap cloud like a whirlpool. Rain started, heavily, and it took me until 2pm to reach the far end of the lake and what I thought was the campsite down on a forlorn pile of rock. I wanted to continue on to Puppet Lake, since it was early, but the rain was pushing my gear to the limit and I was unaware that BC Parks had moved the campside since my guidebook was written. Tundra camp was, ten years ago, located up on the very sheltered ridge at the end of the lake. Why they moved it down to that pile of rocks is a mystery, but it nearly killed me. In the heavy cloud and rain, I stumbled around the ridge for hours trying to find the trail before admitting defeat and going back to the new campground. Ate a hot meal, set my tent up, and got into my few remaining dry clothes. The wind and rain did not let up, and something awoke me in the darkness when it set off a small rockslide on the hill behind me. Morale was low.  Tundra Lake Tuesday: Morning dawned and the storm was still bad. I attempted to pack up but was soaked in seconds, and so retreated to the tent. I lay there for four hours, wondering if this was how I would end, and really understanding that the $250 price of a single-use emergency beacon was probably less valuable than my life. I studied the map for some time and eventually realized that the campground had been moved, resulting in my confusion the day before. Around 10:30 there was a brief break in the weather, and in five minutes I packed everything and headed out. Found the massive cairn I'd missed in the thick fog on Monday, and was on my way to the ridge. Before gaining the ridge, I crossed the most terrifying boulder field I have ever seen. Everything was fresh, very fresh, raw rock glistening all around me. Above, through breaks in the cloud, I could see enourmous slabs of rock, fractured and waiting to let go and crush me. For the first time in the trip I found myself praying that the cloud would remain thick and heavy, lest the sun thermal shock those cracks and bring the mountain down on top of me. The ridge, I'm sure, would be stunning on a nice day. Instead I was treated to periods of zero visibility and hail, while navigating a knife edge barely wider than a sidewalk with a 5000' sheer drop on either side. Some hours later, I began the 1000m descent to Stein Lake, switchbacking into dense rainforest. Everything was soaked, my clothes, my pack, my boots, all waterproofing had failed. I beat myself through the forest following what looked like fresh boot prints, driving myself with the hope that there would be someone at the lake with a SAR beacon that I could buy from them. Instead I came to a flooded campsite, shadowed and creepy. A bear locker full of abandoned coleman gear, and I found myself well into experiencing Hypothermia. Shaking uncontrollably with my hands going blue, I set my tent up on the helicopter pad and tossed my food bag into a slash pile. It was too wet to cook, and it was a very good thing that I did not. I crawled into a wet bag, put on my single dry pair of socks and long-johns, put on my other wet woolen layers, and tried to warm up. Around 7pm, something broke a tree like a gunshot about twenty feet away. It was then that I realized that I was probably going to die, either of exposure or a bear attack, and my body would not be found for a week when I became overdue. I could do nothing but rest and stare my own mortality in the face, realizing I was a very, very, very stupid boy. I thought of the things I would never see again, and fell into a fitful rest. Had I been using synthetic clothing, rather than 100% wool layers, I would have died during the night as they provide zero insulation when damp. This is the only reason that I am alive to tell this story. Wednesday: Somehow I was alive. The clouds had broken, there was sunshine. Everything was soaking wet still, but I was ALIVE. Did not want to risk hot breakfast after the previous nights visitor, resolved to get out of this godforsaken valley as fast as I could. If the Stein was a test, I'd failed it and it was time to go. Putting on all three pairs of soaked socks, and boots with blown out seams, I tossed my pack on and hit the trail. Lost a glove in a stream about an hour later. By 1pm it was gloriously hot for the first time in four days, and things were drying out. I did 20km in 8 hours, rolled into Logjam Camp in the late afternoon, and set everything out to dry. Had a huuuuge meal to make up for barely eating for two days, and settled down to rest. At 7pm, something broke a tree like a gunshot just outside the camp. Thursday: Awoke to a clear blue sky. Ate breakfast, rolled out of camp by 7am. When clipping my bear spray to my belt, I did not actually put the carabiner on my belt, and did not hear it drop to the soft ground. An hour later, while in the middle of a creepy burned out section filled with alder, I noticed my loss. Tired of singing nonsense, I strung my cooking pots together onto my walking stick, a ghetto bear bell. My goal for the day was the "secret" private cabin at Ponderosa Camp, but unable to find it and it only being 12pm, I pressed on to Lower Crossing instead. This was a mistake. The day was 25km, and I arrived at the camp just after 6pm, utterly destroyed and barely able to move. I spent most of the day on autopilot, and have very little recollection of that stretch of the trail as a result. A push like that, I will never attempt again, my legs were cramping up and seizing whenever I tried to lay down. After dinner, around 7pm as I was settling down, something breaks a tree on the other side of the river and pushes it in. Beyond coincidence now, I conclude that I have been stalked by something which has the ability to operate the multiple cable cars I have crossed since Stein Lake. Oh well, nothing I could do except sleep holding my Mora and a bear banger!  Cottonwood Falls Friday: Hit the trail at 7am. By the time I reached the pictographs, I was delirious and exhausted beyond measure. Standing beneath a cliff and seeing a thousand years of art stretch out to either side of you, in that condition, was a sensation I will never forget and cannot put into words. It moved me to tears.  Petroglyphs 1pm saw me at the trailhead, walking down the road to Lytton and baking in 40* with no shade and little water. A tremendous irony, I thought, if I were to collapse from heat stroke two days after nearly dying of hypothermia. Thankfully a native couple pulled up and gave me a ride into town in the bed of their truck. Wandered around the farmers market, bought some honey, phoned home, and killed time till the greyhound arrived. Rather than twelve days, I'd taken a mere six and a half. The lower valley, from Stein Lake to Lower Crossing, is like nothing I have ever experienced. It was never logged, never had a road driven through. The only modification was a mule trail and several thousand years of habitation by First Nations. There is a sensation of life in that valley, of a sort of interconnection, that I have never felt before when hiking in second growth. Even the burnt out sections felt vibrant. It's almost impossible to explain, and something that needs to be experienced in person. Tl;DR: Inclement Weather Is a Killer Bitch If Your poo poo Isn't Waterproofed, Dumbass. More pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/61645656@N08/sets/72157647280901846/ Rime fucked around with this message at 20:31 on Apr 19, 2015 |
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Apr 19, 2015 20:23
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Look Sir Droids posted:Cool story. Seriously. What would you have done differently if you knew how it would go? - Not worn boots that were four years old and end of life, however comfortable. - Brought waterproof pants. - Scotchguarded my jacket regardless of how much I trusted it. - Not gotten myself soaking wet multiple times through sheer stupidity. - Not done that 11 hour, 25km death march. Should have just camped in the sun at Cottonwood and enjoyed the drat valley. I just got laid off and now have six months free time, and it's too late in the year already to go to Turkey and hike the Lycian Way, so I think I'll do a week+ traverse of the Coast Mountains this August as my major trip. Squamish to Princess Louisa Inlet. This time I'll bring a SAR beacon.
Rime fucked around with this message at 21:13 on Apr 19, 2015 |
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Apr 19, 2015 20:58
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Can you elaborate on what you could have done to stay dry besides the rain pants and scotch guarding? That's it, really. The three times I got totally soaked were from shoving my way through dense brush that was dripping wet, which fully waterproof outerwear would have negated. Did the stuff inside your pack get wet as well while hiking? By the third or fourth day my pack cover had ceased to be waterproof, so it was not good. Thankfully, everything was in internal dry compression sacks. Since I use a down quilt (dry coated, but still), this probably saved my life. Did not eating enough throughout the trip effect your decision making at all? I've found that on the truly strenuous days I can find myself forgetting to eat which can make me foggy headed. Gear wise do you think you would be better off with trail hiking shoes that would dry quicker? I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case, especially towards the end of the days when I had been making a long push towards camp. It's hard to differentiate between hunger, sheer exhaustion, and exposure at that point though. As for footwear, I like my ankle support and full-grain leather on these trips, it was more a problem of the boots being so old that the gore-tex and everything just straight up failed, and the gaiters I brought were one size too small so they didn't do much good. What were the temps like, were you at risk of sweating out even if you had stayed dry? Chilly, quite chilly, I mean I had hypothermia by the time I got to Stein lake. I didn't see the sun for the first four days of the trip. The hike out the valley was magically warm, but there was plentiful water. Hot weather on Stein Ridge is actually something I'd been concerned about before I left, since there's no water sources anywhere up there, but instead I encountered hail and constant rain!
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Apr 20, 2015 05:03
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OSU_Matthew posted:
Well thanks! The camera got condensation inside the lens and body despite being fully weather sealed, and I'm still a beginner when it comes to shooting and Lightroom, so I'm pleased to hear they aren't trash. As for whatever was following me, I have no clue. I suppose it could have been different bears cracking trees looking for grubs, but the same time every night is pretty weird and there was also that rock fall in the dark at Tundra. It wasn't the same animal, because there are four cable crossings between Stein Lake and the Trailhead. I really just don't know. I like to think that I'm not particularly superstitious, but that valley was inhabited by the First Nations for over 3000 years and had a very special significance to them (hence all the petroglyphs). I'm just glad I didn't get eaten. BaseballPCHiker posted:As far as staying dry on multi day hikes when it never lets up I think the best thing to do is to just pack at least 3 complete changes of cloths. That way you can have one that your wearing, one that you are trying to dry out, and one dry safely packed away. Worst case scenario you at least have three days of dry clothes and most wool items should dry out by then. Yeah, bringing more than one pair of pants would have been a better plan. There's a line between ultralight and negligent, and I certainly found it.
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Apr 20, 2015 18:29
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Keldoclock posted:This is a myth. Huh, interesting. I guess my bag and long johns being dry is what saved my rear end then. As for GPS, nope, I had a lovely outdated and waterlogged map. Routefinding was only an issue the one time where they had moved the campsite since the guidebook was written, at a junction of several other trails in the park. Once I'd spent an hour pondering the map and figuring out where the route was, I found the marker immediately. On a related note: I've discovered I have 50,000 aeroplan miles that expire in June and nothing in BC was really grabbing my interest, so I've decided to head to Nagorno-Karabakh in a month and hike the Janapar, and then maybe hike the Lycian Way after that if I have time. I'll try and bring back another awesome story and not step on any landmines or get shot by trigger-happy Azeri border guards.
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Apr 20, 2015 21:59
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I'm pretty sure JMT permits sold out in like 48 hours this year. I know the Rainbow trail went in under a week.
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Apr 21, 2015 03:21
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 This will be the hike of a lifetime.
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Apr 22, 2015 01:47
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OSU_Matthew posted:So... What's the particular attraction to go someplace where there's a legitimate chance of becoming horribly maimed or killed (through no fault of your own)? I mean, there's plenty of amazing places to travel and visit around the world, why someplace with an Life's dangerous everywhere bro.
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Apr 22, 2015 18:43
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Spime Wrangler posted:That's going to be a sick trip. What's your plan for communicating with locals along the way? Mish-mash of Russian & Armenian phrasebooks and my killer pantomime skills. More worried about fitting two months gear into in a 22L un-framed klettersack (Ditching my tent in favor of a tarp, or even a SOL bivvy), what footwear to use (going to Anatolia afterwards, hot, very hot), and the liver damage from two to four weeks of homebrewed caucasian fruit moonshines. Getting over the weird Canadian / NA cultural mindset of assuming that anyone offering you food or shelter is planning to rob and gruesomely murder you is also going to be a struggle. 
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Apr 23, 2015 01:46
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