I realized today that I'd never posted this. It's just a spreadsheet with the weight of every item I was carrying when I got off of the Appalachian trail in Massachusetts, after 1500 miles from Georgia.
Sometimes it can be very educational to look at another person's gear list and compare your weights to theirs. Often you'll find that a different set of items is heavy (or even carried), thus comparing can help you realize gear you don't need (and they don't need :P), and what gear it's possible to replace with lighter stuff - if you so desire.
End of AT weights
Note that this is just what I happened to end up with at the end. I had actually stopped trying to keep my pack weight WAY down by this point (note that I was carrying a large steal handled hatchet that I found :P). I'm in no way saying this gear is what you *should* have, or any such thing.
As a side-note, I carried gear that I believed was sufficient for the entire trail, modulo replacement due to wear (including the white mountains and Maine). So the weights of a few items may be surprising for the southern end of the AT, especially to summer ultra-lighters.
In any case, I thought other's might like to see it. Enjoy!
2010-07-30
Swimming a river
Jess and I went on another trip up to Mendocino.
This time, after sleeping in a field Friday night, we drove down to the intersection of 18N25B and 18N25. We decided we should see if we could get to snow mountain - which we'd been eye'ing the last two times we went to mendocino.
We also realized on this trip that we really didn't need much. Both of us recently picked up new backpacks for work and dayhikes.
As you can see, they're not big packs. Jess' is 23L Mine is 25L. These are photos from our actual hike, so that's all our gear right there :P.
I had:
So, we struck out Down a streambed. We tried milkweed on the way. It appears that some types are poisonous and some are not. I just this minute learned that common milkweed (an edible variety) only grows on the east coast. You can tell by the taste though. This seemed semi-edible, but not in large quantities.
Eventually we hit a river/corner of the lake. So, after some repacking in drysacks... we swam across. After wandering around a bit we realized the scrub in that area was not good for bushwhacking (something we were keenly aware of after our last 2 trips to Mendocino).
So, we swam back across, ate some food. While we were eating we heard some sort of party down the river. So we then began working our way downriver, walking on the sides, towards the lake, crossing as needed (I lost track of how many times). The sides were steep and in areas there was quite a lot of wild-rice.
(note, this is actually a picture from our way back, crossing an inlet)
Around a sharp right and then as sharp left there was a large rock in the middle of the river, around this rock were gathered boats. They were playing loud music, people swimming, kids jumping off the rock, etc. We walked out and talked to a couple of people - apparently it's a weekly event.
The river/lake is wider here, maybe a couple hundred meters across. So, after some consideration we picked a path and swam across. Jess got pretty tired dragging her pack. All our gear was in dry-sacks, so the packs floated, but we'd already swam the river several times, so were tired. As you swim the pack slowly fills with water and gets heavier - so you slow down as you go.
After a good break, we struck off up the hill, following more dear-trails. It was tougher going, but not terrible. There wasn't much to sight off of, and both of us were getting tired, it was getting towards evening and we didn't want to be doing this in the dark. We had a decent idea where we were, but not perfect, and we wanted the fastest way back to water (I had 2 liter capacity, jess 3, and we weren't loaded up, so a dry-camp would've been iffy). So... we picked a drainage and started heading down. Eventually we found a nice bit of lake, got some water, ate dinner up on the hill, and crashed... hard.
Just before going to sleep I realized I didn't have my wallet. After some considerable consternation and looking around, I left my wallet, with the zipcar key, on a beach just before we swam the river. I had been wonderfully contented, but now I was a bit more on edge, anxious and double-checking over and over where I might've left it. I figured out eventually that I definitely hadn't had it when I repacked on the far side of the river, and I didn't think I had it on the rock-bar when we ate lunch, before I repacked to go down the river. So that's where it *probably* was.
During the night we kept hearing deer. One in particular was really pissed off about us, I'd intentionally urinated near the ur-sack (soft bear canister), knowing that bears in this area are afraid of people. It seemed the deer came apon this (about 20 feet from us) and was VERY upset that it's planned route onto the point had been cut off. I spent maybe half an hour making annoyed noises.
Next morning we did a bit of scouting and quickly figured out where we were based on the map. We wanted to get back to where I thought the car-keys were. After looking at the lake we realized going down the edge of it wouldn't be easy, and the forests up near the tops of the hills where we were seemed pretty clear. So we struck off down the ridgeline, following the edge of the lake.
This tactic turned out to be VERY successful. We had a couple of dead-ends. It turns out that if you watch where the major deer trails go it tells you a lot about the surrounding geography. Deer don't like to go straight down cliffs (though... what they think of a cliff is a LOT steeper than what most people think of as a cliff). They *do* disappear straight into dense brush though. Keeping these in mind you can look out at the surrounding land and guess based on texture, and where the deertrails are going, which way will be most passable.
In not long at all we reached the rock again, and swam back across. Here we met some people on a boat, who offered us a ride back down to our rock-bar. Not relishing walking/swimming back up the river (and wanting to get to the keys and see if they were there), we accepted. The family had built their own house near the lake apparently about a year ago. They said that mendocino was much wetter this year, and that the area where we first swam was normally "dry" this time of year (I took this to mean, very low, impassable by boat). This explained why no boats had been up there when we first swam the river - the boats weren't used to going up there due to the normally shallow water.
They got very worried about snags (only a 18" draft apparently on the motorboat, so not TOO worried) after seeing a few, so the dropped us off not far from the bar, and we swam the river one more time - it's only ~70m or so across here though, and only a portion of that deep enough to require swimming. So, in short order, we were back on the rock-bar.
And low and behold, the car keys!!!
Relaxed, contented, and happy, we napped on the bar for a while, then hiked back up to the car :). YAY!
The hike back was AMAZING. On the way down we'd missed a lot of the prettiest parts of the stream. A lot of it was almost like being in the jungle, just beutiful. It was all beautifully lush and full of life.
The rest of the photos are here http://www.flickr.com/photos/smalladventures/sets/72157624494623747/
This time, after sleeping in a field Friday night, we drove down to the intersection of 18N25B and 18N25. We decided we should see if we could get to snow mountain - which we'd been eye'ing the last two times we went to mendocino.
We also realized on this trip that we really didn't need much. Both of us recently picked up new backpacks for work and dayhikes.
As you can see, they're not big packs. Jess' is 23L Mine is 25L. These are photos from our actual hike, so that's all our gear right there :P.
I had:
- basic med kit
- basic emergency/directional gear (knife, sighting compass, headlamp, etc.)
- sleepingbag
- cook-kit: pot, woodstove, bandana, spork, lighter (and alcohol stove, forgot to take it out)
- heavy overshirt
- nylon pant
- clothes on my back (t-shirt, shorts, boxers, giant heavy leather belt)
- bandana
- car-keys/wallet... at least part of the time
- map
So, we struck out Down a streambed. We tried milkweed on the way. It appears that some types are poisonous and some are not. I just this minute learned that common milkweed (an edible variety) only grows on the east coast. You can tell by the taste though. This seemed semi-edible, but not in large quantities.
Eventually we hit a river/corner of the lake. So, after some repacking in drysacks... we swam across. After wandering around a bit we realized the scrub in that area was not good for bushwhacking (something we were keenly aware of after our last 2 trips to Mendocino).
So, we swam back across, ate some food. While we were eating we heard some sort of party down the river. So we then began working our way downriver, walking on the sides, towards the lake, crossing as needed (I lost track of how many times). The sides were steep and in areas there was quite a lot of wild-rice.
(note, this is actually a picture from our way back, crossing an inlet)
Around a sharp right and then as sharp left there was a large rock in the middle of the river, around this rock were gathered boats. They were playing loud music, people swimming, kids jumping off the rock, etc. We walked out and talked to a couple of people - apparently it's a weekly event.
The river/lake is wider here, maybe a couple hundred meters across. So, after some consideration we picked a path and swam across. Jess got pretty tired dragging her pack. All our gear was in dry-sacks, so the packs floated, but we'd already swam the river several times, so were tired. As you swim the pack slowly fills with water and gets heavier - so you slow down as you go.
After a good break, we struck off up the hill, following more dear-trails. It was tougher going, but not terrible. There wasn't much to sight off of, and both of us were getting tired, it was getting towards evening and we didn't want to be doing this in the dark. We had a decent idea where we were, but not perfect, and we wanted the fastest way back to water (I had 2 liter capacity, jess 3, and we weren't loaded up, so a dry-camp would've been iffy). So... we picked a drainage and started heading down. Eventually we found a nice bit of lake, got some water, ate dinner up on the hill, and crashed... hard.
Just before going to sleep I realized I didn't have my wallet. After some considerable consternation and looking around, I left my wallet, with the zipcar key, on a beach just before we swam the river. I had been wonderfully contented, but now I was a bit more on edge, anxious and double-checking over and over where I might've left it. I figured out eventually that I definitely hadn't had it when I repacked on the far side of the river, and I didn't think I had it on the rock-bar when we ate lunch, before I repacked to go down the river. So that's where it *probably* was.
During the night we kept hearing deer. One in particular was really pissed off about us, I'd intentionally urinated near the ur-sack (soft bear canister), knowing that bears in this area are afraid of people. It seemed the deer came apon this (about 20 feet from us) and was VERY upset that it's planned route onto the point had been cut off. I spent maybe half an hour making annoyed noises.
Next morning we did a bit of scouting and quickly figured out where we were based on the map. We wanted to get back to where I thought the car-keys were. After looking at the lake we realized going down the edge of it wouldn't be easy, and the forests up near the tops of the hills where we were seemed pretty clear. So we struck off down the ridgeline, following the edge of the lake.
This tactic turned out to be VERY successful. We had a couple of dead-ends. It turns out that if you watch where the major deer trails go it tells you a lot about the surrounding geography. Deer don't like to go straight down cliffs (though... what they think of a cliff is a LOT steeper than what most people think of as a cliff). They *do* disappear straight into dense brush though. Keeping these in mind you can look out at the surrounding land and guess based on texture, and where the deertrails are going, which way will be most passable.
In not long at all we reached the rock again, and swam back across. Here we met some people on a boat, who offered us a ride back down to our rock-bar. Not relishing walking/swimming back up the river (and wanting to get to the keys and see if they were there), we accepted. The family had built their own house near the lake apparently about a year ago. They said that mendocino was much wetter this year, and that the area where we first swam was normally "dry" this time of year (I took this to mean, very low, impassable by boat). This explained why no boats had been up there when we first swam the river - the boats weren't used to going up there due to the normally shallow water.
They got very worried about snags (only a 18" draft apparently on the motorboat, so not TOO worried) after seeing a few, so the dropped us off not far from the bar, and we swam the river one more time - it's only ~70m or so across here though, and only a portion of that deep enough to require swimming. So, in short order, we were back on the rock-bar.
And low and behold, the car keys!!!
Relaxed, contented, and happy, we napped on the bar for a while, then hiked back up to the car :). YAY!
The hike back was AMAZING. On the way down we'd missed a lot of the prettiest parts of the stream. A lot of it was almost like being in the jungle, just beutiful. It was all beautifully lush and full of life.
The rest of the photos are here http://www.flickr.com/photos/smalladventures/sets/72157624494623747/
2010-06-16
review: bushbuddy woodstove
Jess and are huge proponents of simplicity. The simpler something is, the less ways it can break and the more likely it is we can fix it. So, we've always preferred alcohol stoves for everything but the coldest weather, where the BTU/sec of alcohol is frustratingly slow for melting snow.
In the interest of trying to carry less, particularly less consumables, and detaching ourselves from the bonds to society consumables bring; we've done a lot more cooking on simple open fires lately. It turns out it's really quite easy, though it takes some time to build up a good hot fire that you can really cook on. The big downside is that you need to build up a fire-ring, you burn a lot more wood than you need to for the heat, and that ash is going to stick around when you're done violating "leave no trace". None the less, it's entirely viable in many situations where there are very few users, you have time (both for cooking and burial of ash), and/or you're camping in established sites.
Other times it's completely out due to limitations of fire hazards and such.
So, what do you do the rest of the time? Why are we carrying in fuel when there's perfectly good wood in many scenerios? The idea of being completely detaching from society is right there, but we can't because of time and environmental influence, what can we do about this?
Enter wood stoves. If we can burn wood really efficiently and completely we'll only need a few twigs, and the result will only be a tiny bit of ash. In many situations this won't cause anyone problems at all. Additionally, in so doing we don't need to wait to build up this huge mass of hot coals, because we're getting all of the heat out of the wood fast.
After a fair amount of research I picked up a Bushbuddy Ultra. More information can also be found on BacpackingLight. These sites together have give a lot of details, but the long and short of it is a 5.1 ounce stove with a double-wall firebox, an absolutely perfect draft, that won't scorch the ground. I ordered it with the matching titanium pot from backpacking light.
There are many woodstoves out there, and I haven't tried others. That said, the guy who desgined the bushbuddy is a tinkerer. He lives off the grid and spotwelds these by hand with a solar-powered welder and a home-made tip he developed himself. He's been perfecting the design for many years, and it shows. Additionally, the non-scorching feature is pretty rare and hard to find, this isn't something many of the stoves worry about, and those that do mostly don't supply sufficient heat isolation to achieve it.
So, the obvious question now is... how well does it work?
Well... wonderfully! Given a couple of sticks as long as your arm and as big around as my pinky (I have largish hands), along with some good dry grass or similar to get it lit, I can boil a liter of water in about 10 minutes best case. At worst it may take more like 20 minutes to get it all lit and the water to a hard boil. So far we've mostly used dry manzanita and live oak brush. This is some of the best wood you could have. The worst conditions we've used it in is a dewy morning. So we'll have to report back later with more thorough results.
With a stove like this there's no reason not to really cook your food. Even with those 2 sticks much of the wood used is in getting it up to heat, once it's hot getting a rolling boil is very fast. I'm sure that I can simmer on it with more skill, but I'm still working on that :). So far I'm still carrying my alcohol stove (at a cost of some fraction of an ounce). This means I can use the alcohol if I just want food "now" or can't find wood. The alcohol stove fits in the top of the wood stove for storage, and in fact the wood-stove acts like a super-fancy perfectly drafting high-tech windscreen, greatly improving the efficiency of the alcohol stove (sorry, I don't have numbers on that yet).
So, now that I've raved, what are the downsides. Well, the downsides are as obvious as the upsides. Although this is FAR easier than getting an open fire lit, it's still a heck of a lot harder than an alcohol or butane. You need good tinder. Surprisingly, supposedly you do not need very good wood. I've successfully boiled water using twigs from small dead brush, and I've heard you can use worse. The stove is very well built, and very robust under expected forces. That said it MUST be protected in your pack, the outer walls are extremely crushable sideways (not in the way your pot will put force). I expect it to last for many years, but I'm very glad I got the pot to store it in. Another downside you might expect (though not think of), unlike an open fire you're not going to be doing any baking in the coals. The biggest downside is the pricetag of $145. Handcrafted and designed by someone this meticulous it's worth it, but it 'aint cheap.
Jess plans to try her own designs and compare them to the bushbuddy, expect upcoming articles on the results of those experiments :)
In the interest of trying to carry less, particularly less consumables, and detaching ourselves from the bonds to society consumables bring; we've done a lot more cooking on simple open fires lately. It turns out it's really quite easy, though it takes some time to build up a good hot fire that you can really cook on. The big downside is that you need to build up a fire-ring, you burn a lot more wood than you need to for the heat, and that ash is going to stick around when you're done violating "leave no trace". None the less, it's entirely viable in many situations where there are very few users, you have time (both for cooking and burial of ash), and/or you're camping in established sites.
Other times it's completely out due to limitations of fire hazards and such.
So, what do you do the rest of the time? Why are we carrying in fuel when there's perfectly good wood in many scenerios? The idea of being completely detaching from society is right there, but we can't because of time and environmental influence, what can we do about this?
Enter wood stoves. If we can burn wood really efficiently and completely we'll only need a few twigs, and the result will only be a tiny bit of ash. In many situations this won't cause anyone problems at all. Additionally, in so doing we don't need to wait to build up this huge mass of hot coals, because we're getting all of the heat out of the wood fast.
After a fair amount of research I picked up a Bushbuddy Ultra. More information can also be found on BacpackingLight. These sites together have give a lot of details, but the long and short of it is a 5.1 ounce stove with a double-wall firebox, an absolutely perfect draft, that won't scorch the ground. I ordered it with the matching titanium pot from backpacking light.
There are many woodstoves out there, and I haven't tried others. That said, the guy who desgined the bushbuddy is a tinkerer. He lives off the grid and spotwelds these by hand with a solar-powered welder and a home-made tip he developed himself. He's been perfecting the design for many years, and it shows. Additionally, the non-scorching feature is pretty rare and hard to find, this isn't something many of the stoves worry about, and those that do mostly don't supply sufficient heat isolation to achieve it.
So, the obvious question now is... how well does it work?
Well... wonderfully! Given a couple of sticks as long as your arm and as big around as my pinky (I have largish hands), along with some good dry grass or similar to get it lit, I can boil a liter of water in about 10 minutes best case. At worst it may take more like 20 minutes to get it all lit and the water to a hard boil. So far we've mostly used dry manzanita and live oak brush. This is some of the best wood you could have. The worst conditions we've used it in is a dewy morning. So we'll have to report back later with more thorough results.
With a stove like this there's no reason not to really cook your food. Even with those 2 sticks much of the wood used is in getting it up to heat, once it's hot getting a rolling boil is very fast. I'm sure that I can simmer on it with more skill, but I'm still working on that :). So far I'm still carrying my alcohol stove (at a cost of some fraction of an ounce). This means I can use the alcohol if I just want food "now" or can't find wood. The alcohol stove fits in the top of the wood stove for storage, and in fact the wood-stove acts like a super-fancy perfectly drafting high-tech windscreen, greatly improving the efficiency of the alcohol stove (sorry, I don't have numbers on that yet).
So, now that I've raved, what are the downsides. Well, the downsides are as obvious as the upsides. Although this is FAR easier than getting an open fire lit, it's still a heck of a lot harder than an alcohol or butane. You need good tinder. Surprisingly, supposedly you do not need very good wood. I've successfully boiled water using twigs from small dead brush, and I've heard you can use worse. The stove is very well built, and very robust under expected forces. That said it MUST be protected in your pack, the outer walls are extremely crushable sideways (not in the way your pot will put force). I expect it to last for many years, but I'm very glad I got the pot to store it in. Another downside you might expect (though not think of), unlike an open fire you're not going to be doing any baking in the coals. The biggest downside is the pricetag of $145. Handcrafted and designed by someone this meticulous it's worth it, but it 'aint cheap.
Jess plans to try her own designs and compare them to the bushbuddy, expect upcoming articles on the results of those experiments :)
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