Rethinking some gear...

Well this was a fun weekend.

The lightweight gear clinic by Andrew Skurka that I had mentioned in the last post was this past Saturday morning. It was great to have someone go over every backpacking system (i.e. clothing, kitchen, sleep, shelter, etc.), and explain how to use each in the most efficient manner. He also had a lot of ideas on how to simplify your gear, which in turn would make your backpacking experience more enjoyable. The areas where I think I need the most work are: clothing, shoes, and shelter.

My problem, I think, with my clothing system is that I always bring too many clothes. Andrew mentioned in his gear clinic that sometimes people (especially if they are new to backpacking) will pack their fears, or "what ifs," which can add some unnecessary weight (e.g. I’m worried it might rain, I’ll pack a rain jacket. I’m afraid I’ll be too cold when hiking, I’ll pack 2 long sleeve shirts.). I find I do this a lot when packing my clothing. Take the last backpacking trip on the PCT for example. I was going on a 3 day, 2 night (which turned out to be a 2 day, 1 night) trip, and the weather was expected to be sunny with highs in the 80s and lows in the 40s. Here is the clothing that I brought:

• hiking pants
• hiking shorts
• 3 pairs of socks (2 pairs of Wright socks, 1 pair Injinjis)
• First Ascent baselayer pants
• First Ascent baselayer top (with hood)
• Exofficio tank top
• REI long sleeve button down shirt (loose fitting)
• puffy jacket
• Golite wind jacket 
• Outdoor Research sunhat
• Everest hat
• 1 bandana, 1 buff
• gloves (don't make fun of this one, my hands get real cold, real quick)

After writing all this out, it really is a lot of stuff! For three days!! And extra weight! I tried to use everything at least once to justify carrying it, but here are the items that I could have left at home: hiking pants, 1 pair of Injinji socks, Exofficio tank top, puffy jacket (I only wore this for maybe 45 minutes total in 48 hours, but when I wore it, I really felt like I needed it, so I'm not so sure about leaving this at home), Everest hat and gloves. To update my clothing system, I'm thinking of investing in a (cheap - if possible), lightweight, long sleeve shirt that I can wear as a sun shirt, and possibly also as a baselayer. This way I wouldn't have to worry about putting sunscreen on my arms, and I could wear it under a puffy jacket, or wind jacket in place of my (heavier) base layer if the weather turns cooler.

Shoes... currently, I have been hiking in Inov8 trail running shoes. The tread on the bottom is the best of any shoe I've ever owned, however there isn't much cushion or structure to them, which is a concern for long-distance backpacking. My other option for the JMT (if I don't get a new pair of shoes before then... doubtful), is to use my Vasque hiking shoes. These shoes offer more structure, however they don't breath nearly as well (bad if they're going to get wet in a stream or something), and also they are a bit heavier. At Andrew's gear clinic I learned that a pound on your feet equates to about six pounds on your back, so I would really like to keep my shoe weight as low as possible. If I do buy a new pair of hiking shoes, I may look into a new pair of Montrails (I’ve been a fan for awhile now). Either that, or test out a new shoe brand. Suggestions?

Our current shelter system works pretty well, actually. We use a Tarptent double rainbow (2008) that is fairly light (everything included it weighs about 2.5 pounds). My only complaint is that it is not very roomy on the inside... that, and I usually carry the shelter system (Aaron carries most of the food), so of course, I wouldn't be opposed to a lighter weight shelter system. For increased versatility and roomy-ness, we are considering using bivy bags and a tarp. We (really, I) definitely have to do a little more research on this possible new system before we go out and purchase something; re-working our shelter system could get a little pricey!

In other news, I have had a chance to do some fun things lately. I checked out some house wren nest boxes with a Mission Trails friend, and actually got to see (and touch!) a bunch of little bird eggs. Later in the weekend, Aaron and I went to Balboa Park to visit some more museums for free before the end of April. This time we visited the Japanese Friendship Garden, the Museum of Man, and the Natural History Museum. Also, at Balboa Park there are a lot of people who station themselves at various locations and play all different kinds of music, and we found an older man who was playing the piano. Man, could this guy play! And from memory, no less! He was playing mostly older ragtime, blues and jazz songs, which is exactly the type of music that I learned on when I first started playing the piano eons ago. In fact, I saw some of his music on the ground next to him and it had yellowed with age just like mine (actually, "my" music used to be my Dad's/Aunt Dot's/Grandpa's). The songs he was playing and the obvious joy he got from sharing his music reminded me a lot of my Aunt Dot who could really (I mean, really) play the piano. Needless to say, I got a little sad, missed her for a little while, and then hung out in the shade for bit to listen to this man "tickle the ivories."

House wren with a beetle in it's mouth

House wren eggs!

Hummingbird at the Japanese Friendship Garden

Koi pond at the Japanese Friendship Garden

... what can I say? I like trees. (This is also at the Japanese Friendship Garden)

Outside the Museum of Man

 A man playing the violin in the middle of Balboa Park

The piano man!

And last, but not least...

Who doesn't like a good water lily picture?


This camera's the best! Check it out: Panasonic zs7

Skurkitus...

Andrew Skurka was in town yesterday to give a lecture on his 4,700 mile Alaska-Yukon Expedition. Aaron and I went to hear him talk (Aaron is a big fan), and I have to say - it was very inspiring! This man has hiked about 30,000 miles since about age 20 to age 30. He's even hiked the PCT... as a section of a giant 6,785 mile Great Western Loop.

His lecture covered the gear that was used, planning and preparing for the Alaska-Yukon Expedition, and some highs and lows of the trip. It goes without saying, that his gear is extremely light weight and everything he brought had a purpose (or two or three). He worked very hard to eliminate redundancies regarding his gear. "Why bring a sleeping bag with a lower temperature rating (that weighs more), when you can just wear all of your clothes to bed, therefore allowing you to take a lighter weight sleeping bag with a higher temperature rating." This makes a lot of sense, and is something I have to really think about when preparing and packing for a trip. In fact, I should have done this for the short trip that Aaron and I just took on the PCT. There were clothes (short sleeved shirt, long pants, puffy jacket, gloves) that I didn't even wear, or hardly wore. I had enough other clothes with me that I could have easily just layered those clothes and been just as comfortable. Carrying less clothing would have made my pack lighter, and maybe then I would have been better able to keep up with our friends... on second thought, maybe not. I do tend to hike slower and take a lot of pictures... Definitely before we hike the JMT, I will need to go through all my gear and make sure that everything is serving a purpose, and that everything will get used on a regular basis. On Saturday, Andrew Skurka will be having a light weight backpacking clinic that we will attend, so hopefully we (really, just me, Aaron's got this part down pretty well) will learn some new and important things.

During his lecture, Andrew said a few times how important planning is for a longer trip, and that he would often spend almost the same amount of time planning for a trip, as he would actually spend on the trail. He showed us a few slides of his Excel spreadsheets that detailed how many miles he would be averaging per day, what terrain he would be traveling across, what gear he would need and when, how much food he would need, etc. Even though he has taken plenty of long backpacking trips, he still explained that planning is a very important component to ensure that a trip functions smoothly. When listening to how he prepares for long trips such as this, I was reminded of some of the plans made by other PCT hikers that I've met or read about over the course of the past year. Some of these hikers start with packs that weigh about 60 pounds(!), and they decide to hike the PCT about two months before starting it (probably, these hikers are just more efficient planners than I am). Personally, I feel a real need to plan, train, and test my gear well in advance - and we're only planning for a 211 mile trip! Maybe the second big trip will be planned a little differently... then again, I'm kind of enjoying thinking about and planning for this trip even though it's well in the future.
 
Andrew also talked a lot about the highs and lows of his trip. A definite high for him was just movement itself ("further, faster, lighter"), as well as being able to see and experience things that most people aren't able to, and probably never will. Also, it was a thrill for him to see how efficiently he could operate outside the "land of soft" (how he referred to all the plush comforts of everyday life - running water, electricity, chairs, beds, constant companionship, refrigerators, etc.). One of the lows I remember him discussing came from a question from a kid in the audience. The kid raised his hand and asked Andrew if he ever felt lonely while out on the trail. He stopped and really considered this (after all, he did spend 20ish days without ever seeing a human) before saying that he doesn't have a problem with being physically isolated from people, but that he truly missed being able to discuss his feelings and experiences (good, bad, and the in between) with another person. Another something he took away from this trip was the feeling of being humbled in the face of big wilderness. More than half of his Alaska-Yukon Expedition was off-trail, and about a third of it was in a location that even the locals consider to be a more wild version of the Alaskan wilderness. He mentioned that while hiking he felt a strong connection to nature and began to regard himself as no longer part of an elevated species compared to other animals, but was simply "just another animal." This is something almost all of us will never experience, not even when hiking on the (beautiful, but man-made) PCT. All of these very unique experiences probably played into his humble and unassuming demeanor, which made me feel like you could ask him even the simplest backpacking questions and he would answer them without making you feel silly. That being said, both Aaron and I are very excited for his light weight backpacking clinic on Saturday - let the backpacking/gear questions begin!

Alaska-Yukon Loop

 Andrew Skurka's website

Weekend Fun

This weekend was action packed!

Aaron and I wanted to do a long backpack trip on the PCT to train for our upcoming JMT trip (and, of course, for fun too). Originally we wanted to do the first 48 miles of the PCT, from Campo to the Laguna Campground. Here's what happened...

We started 20 miles in at Lake Morena. It was wonderful to be hiking on the PCT! It was a little hot, but thanks to my new sun hat, my head felt nice and cool. Also working to cool us down were two creeks we had to cross - the second one was even knee deep! Both times I made a point to use my new collapsable water bucket to clean the sand off my feet, which worked out better than expected. The best part about it, is that you can even set it down without spilling any water!

Anyway, after hiking under a bridge, crossing the creeks and a valley, we began a gradual climb. Apparently we weren't the only ones to think it was a little hot out, because we soon came across another hiker who was laying in the shade towards the top of a mountain. He wasn't doing too well, so we offered water, powdered Gatorade and a bag of Fritos, which seemed to do the trick.

"PCT" sign under a bridge... you know, in case you forgot what trail you were hiking on... 

 Nice cottonwood trees that kept us cool while down in a hot valley

 Hiking along the PCT

Aaron on the PCT right before we found the hiker in the shade

We ended up spending the night with 5 PCT hikers at Fred Canyon, which included the hiker we helped out earlier in the day. The camp was very nice and quiet, and even had a little stream close by that was very convenient. It was nice to spend some time with PCT hikers to hear about how they prepared for the trip, and what gear they had to have on the trail. I slept pretty well, only waking up once or twice because it was a bit cold.

In the morning, we woke up early and hiked about a mile to Cibbets Flat Campground to meet up with two friends who wanted to hike with us that day. Man oh man, they hike fast! It was a beautiful day for hiking and we even ended up hiking amid pine trees in the afternoon, which helped a lot with the heat.

Nice view from the trail

A horny toad lizard along the trail

 Nice to be in the shade of pine trees...

 Spotted towhee near desert view

 Isn't the PCT pretty?

15 miles later at the Laguna Campground, we made the executive decision to save the 20 mile hike from Campo to Lake Morena (that would complete the first 48 miles of the PCT) for another day. I was working on two blisters on the soles of my feet due to a poor choice of hiking in cotton socks, and Aaron wasn't sure his feet were up for a 20 miler the next day either. Also it was getting late, and we still had to drop our friends off at Cibbets Flat Campground to get their car. The drive back to Cibbets, Lake Morena and then back home was beautiful during sunset, and the alpine glow was spectacular. It was really neat to drive past the 28 miles we had hiked - it took about an hour in a car!

The last two days of the weekend involved hanging out at home, shopping for food so we could make beef stew one night and then (vegan) stir-fry the next. We also had time to take advantage of some free tickets I had to all the museums at Balboa Park. I received these tickets for volunteering at Mission Trails, and they gained us free entry to any museum we wanted to see for the month of April - how fun!

(model) train wreck at the railroad museum

A little something to look forward to...

Woo Hoo!

Aaron has a 4 day weekend coming up, so we are planning a 3 day backpacking/training trip on the PCT, section A. The plan is to leave a car in the Lake Morena campground and hike the 13 miles to Cibbets Campground, where we will spend the night. (The closest point on the map below to Cibbets Campground is Kitchen Creek.) In the morning, some friends may join us for the 15 mile hike to the Laguna Campground. We will have already parked a different car at the Laguna Campground, so we will give them a ride back to their car at Cibbets before setting up camp in Laguna and calling it a night. Bright and early on the third day, we will drive the Laguna Campground car down to Campo and hike the 20 miles from the Southern Terminus back to Lake Morena. And voilà! The first 48 miles of the PCT - done! Only 2,602 miles left to go...

Aaron has been working very hard on getting the food situation figured out, so sometime before we leave for our quick backpack trip I may try to post something on the gear and food we will be taking.

Weeeee!

Updates!

It's been a little while since I've last posted, so here is an update... we've been able to do some fun things lately: hiking, wine tasting in Temecula, a Padres game, the zoo. Also, for my birthday (23rd of last month), my parents got me a new camera that I will take on the JMT and it is much, much better than my old one. It is a Panasonic zs7, and it is fantastic. It is compact and light (0.48 lbs.) and therefore I have been taking it with me everywhere I go, which is making it very easy to document all the fun things we get to do.

Grape vines at a Temecula winery

Hiking out to the three sister's waterfalls

  Aaron taking a picture...

...that turned out beautifully, if I do say so myself...

Another pretty tree

A beautiful sunset in Descanso, where the three sister's falls is located

Padres game! We won!

What's that? You can't see the players on the field? Oh... hold on a second... how's this?

The zoom on this little camera is phenomenal!

Also, a quick something on the JMT. I was reminded by a Mission Trails friend that the first day to reserve permits to summit Half Dome in August is April 1st. I was wrong. The first day to reserve permits to summit Half Dome in August is May 1st, 7am! Be there, or be square!