Relevant ;)
from Mystic Bliss:
WHAT TO BRING FOR A TREK IN BHUTAN
PERSONAL CLOTHING: Strong normal clothing (according to season). Preferably cotton even for summer, woolen clothing for the evening and winter.
FOR TREKING ONE MUST BRING:
1. Sleeping Bag (down, 0-5 O C)
2. Strong comfortable trekking boots-water resistant for the rainy period (June-August)
3 .Sunscreen
4. Flashlight
5. Rain Coat (especially for rainy period-June-August)
6. Head gear/hat./cap; sun and rain protection
7. Water pills- for extra caution in purifying stream water: (boil water is provided a times during the trek)
8.Aspirin- in case of altitude sickness
9. Lots of socks
10. Warm undergarments
OPTION ITEMS TO BRING:
Sunglasses
Headgear
Folding umbrella (only for wet months-July and August)
One Towel
Pillow Case
Wet-packaged tissue paper
Thursday Whinging
I haven’t been this angry since that asshole I divorced showed up on my doorstep (I wouldn’t let him in) and then he proceeded to tell me that I was the one who did everything wrong in our marriage and that he was the injured party.
About that time I threatened him with a restraining order, detailed in excrutiating detail what he lied about for 4 years, what delusions he harbored and that if he ever showed up at my door again, I would have him put in jail and I would press charges to the extent that I could… and maybe more. (Plus, I know all of his and his fucked up family’s secrets, so he hasn’t been back since. I can’t even tell you how happy I am to be rid of that nest of snakes.)
Good.
But he isn’t the issue right now, someone else (two someone elses are), and I haven’t been this angry with people since then.
Last night, I watched the last installment of Micheal Palin’s Himalaya.
I’ve owned the series for quite a while, but strangely I don’t think I ever finished it. I’m a total sucker for just about anything travel documentary-y and doubly so with anything Michael Palin. Yes, I’m crushing a bit.
He’s pretty well suited for this job. He’s a dear person, funny, likes people, pretty patient and, in short, has made himself generally beloved… or at least he has managed to uphold the facade well.
I’ve followed him around the Sahara, the Himalayas, the 30 degree mark from Pole to Pole and Around the World in 80 Days. And soon, I will see a New Europe.
But what I want to talk about is his segment in Bhutan.
A couple of things struck me about that.
1. The Bhutan-ese national costume looks like a very comfy stripey or plaid cotton bathrobe and leggings. Great, where can I get a few?
2. The hiking there looks FANTASTIC. Great, when can I go? (but the $200/day tourist fee? Hmmm maybe not so much.) Mom would dig hiking with ponies carrying all the gear… but mostly she’d just want to play with the ponies.
The whole country looked beautiful and the people pretty chill.
I think right now I need a little of hiking in a beautiful place in my bathrobe… with or without ponies.
Anyone been to Bhutan? Is it all that *and* a bag of chips?
Solio experiment is over for now. I charged my nano, my bluetooth headset and my Treo exclusively from solar power since last Friday afternoon. I probably could have gone longer if I wasn’t indoor or getting out of work so late every evening. But, even though I wasn’t fully out of power when I ended the experiment, all my batteries had been at or below 50% for several days and that isn’t good for longtime battery health.
I think it was pretty successful actually. If I was on the trail I’d be able to keep my nano topped up and my Treo would last a lot longer since I wouldn’t be using the data radio or the headset much so I could get by much longer, not to mention I’d have actual sunight with my Solio on top of my pack rather than UV filtered and greyed windows to charge it from. (Plus I found PowerHero to manage the on/off aspect automatically when I normally am not using it… ~12-7am each weekday and 1-7am on weekends. I’ll take that into consideration on the next experiment.)
I listen to Pattern Recognition as a bedtime story a lot. It helps my brain to focus on that instead of going at 3 bazilion miles an hour and festering over unpleasant things that will take place the next day at work. In the story, Cayce wears a Buzz Rickson’s MA1 replication jacket. When I first read the story, I Googled the jacket and liked what I saw. Then I eBay’d a knock off of a knock off for super cheap. I now call it my Pattern Recognition jacket and it is a bit of a comfort blankie on days like today.
Good thing the Bay Area is nice and cool or I’d roast.
Backpacking Prep
My backpacking weight worklist…
(it’s a work in progress…)
Stuff
Put all your backpacking stuff together in a tubby or something that you can easily grab the whole thing if you want to just run off on a moment’s notice (well, with a little prep) and not wonder what you did with (insert name of fiddly tiny equipment here).
The other part of this equation is that after getting back from a hike you promptly clean your gear and put it away to be ready for the next time as well…
Depending on how big your tubby is, you can store all your camping stuff (tent, cooking gear (stove, cookwear, shelf stable items-though I tend to avoid storing much more than salt and tea bags in there because I want the stuff I take to be moderately fresh and there’s little chance of ants/bugs invading the storage)) as well as the larger bottles you use to refill the tiny sized containers in your pack.
Things like Dr. Bronner’s castile soap (I get at Trader Joe’s in the monster size for the same price as one of the smaller at REI-although the almond version is heavenly), bandaids, Purell, matches for the waterproof container, bandaids and stuff that you can generally refill the smaller packets of I leave in here as well to keep it all together.
If you use Nikwax or other restoratives you can keep that in here, too.
(I am finding that all the refill stuff as well as the camping stuff starts turning it into a 2 tubby affair though probably best to do 2 and then just grab 1 on the way out the door.)
Sleeping bag, sleeping pad and backpack need to be out and hung up after you wipe them down/wash them.
Food
If you have a dehydrator you can make lots of cool snack foods and ingredients for soups or dinners instead of buying those pre-made dinners. (Just make sure to write the instructions on the ziploc bag of how much water and what order to load everything into the cookpot when you are on the trail.)
Dehydrated mushrooms work fantastically in soups and other foods and dishes (and provide some potassium for your body after hiking all day) though you can get these in the grocery store as well.
I like the instant mashed potato mixes with cheese-you can make a potato cheese soup with mushrooms and chicken boullion or actually make the mashed potatos… I’m generally too impatient. I also like to look for sales on the stuff that is ‘just add water’ (soup mixes, potato mixes, boullion, drink mixes, etc) since they can be a bit pricey.
New foods should be test driven. I just sit out on the porch with the camp stove and test drive. Anything that needs to be gotten from inside the house either needs to be taken into consideration or written off the list as a possibility.
Other items that take a bit longer to rehydrate or require simmering can sometimes be soaked in water ahead of time. Take an empty Nalgene bottle and fill it with a bit of water, then about halfway through the day or at the break before you get to camp (or even right before you set up camp), put in the item (beans, noodles, etc.) and let them soak until you are ready for cooking. Its best to test this before hand to see how long each item needs to soak…if you let it soak too long, it can turn into glop which is gross.
Preparations
Another thing you need to do is get a map of the trail you are hiking (well, if you know the area, this might be optional-but I’d still have it in the pack).
Trails.com has downloadable maps for a yearly fee or there are kiosks to print out special maps if you can find the right one for your area.
Printing out your own maps on an inkjet and waterproof paper is a super geeky thing to do (so you know I love it.) I also tend to create a single page (front and back) of tent instructions, first aid stuff, clever knots, etc.
I’ll post it eventually when I PDF it.
There are loads of other things that you can do to prep for a packing trip, but really, get everything together as you go along and you can just run off for the weekend (my advice is to escape cell range (or fake that you aren’t in cell range) when another department tries to get you do do their work on a weekend…)
So, what are your hiking preps?
I changed my mind, I want this bag for COLD weather
I’m a side sleeper… I need the stretchy.
MontBell America, Inc. U.L. Super Stretch Hugger #2 Sleeping Bag: 25 Degree Down
[Backcountry.com]
Description:
The MontBell U.L. Super Stretch Hugger #2 25 Degree Down Sleeping Bag provides warmth in sub-freezing temps at an incredibly low 1lb 11oz. Though it weighs less than your 1L bottle of water, this 800-fill down sleeping bag uses stretch stitching to hug your body and eliminate dead air space. Multi-Box baffle construction ensures the Super Stretch Hugger Sleeping Bag has no cold spots, and its bottom eight-inch baffle seals to fit smaller users. This down mummy bag’s warmth to weight ratio make it ideal for three season backpacking or rock climbing trips.
Bottom Line: A three-season sleeping bag that weights less than a full water bottle? It’s called the MontBell Super Stretch Hugger #2.
Technical Features:
Material: 15D Ballistic Airlight nylon
Insulation: 800-Fill down
Shape: Mummy
Draft Collar: Yes
Max User Height: [Regular] 5ft 10in (174.8cm); [Long] 6ft 4in (193.1cm)
Shoulder/knee Circumference: [Regular] 45-59 / 34-45in (113-151 / 86-115cm); [Long] 48-64 / 38-51in (122-163 / 98-130cm)
Stuff Size: [Reg] 6 x 11.9in (12.5 x 30.22cm); [Lng] 6.3 x 12.4in (16 x 31.5cm)
Stuff or Storage sack: Stuff
Degree: 25 (-4C)
Weight: [Reg] 1lb 11oz (764.8g); [Lng] 1lb 13oz (921.5g)
Recommended Use: 3-season backpacking, camping, climbing
Warranty: Lifetime
DUH-NUH-NUH NUH-NUH-NUH-NA!
YOU SAY IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY!
DUH-NUH-NUH NUH-NUH-NUH-NA!
IT’S MY BIRTHDAY, TOO!
(no, really.)
Thank you all for your emails, your text messages, your cards and mix cd’s, phone calls and ecards on my birthday.
It was pretty dang good.
I argued with verve and sass on matters at work, I got free ice cream at BR (and also at El Rancho where the waitress had a sister and an aunt with today as their bdays as well(pobresita.)) and my order at REI came in and I packed up my ultralight backpack with its ultralight gear and it came to maybe 15 pounds without water and food.
Very satisfying day.
=)
AT Haiku
Rhododendron Gap,
Fat Man’s Squeeze and Wilburn Ridge.
My nose was runny.
Buff
OK, this is one of the things I saw in use on the trail and thought it might be on the “to get” list (got one yesterday) but in nosing around REI.com I found this little gem. (put your cup down, you’ll be giggling too much to drink.)
You can see all the videos here…
Sleeping Bag:Big Agnes Pomer Hoit
Here’s the bag I want:
Big Agnes Pomer Hoit Sleeping Bag: 0 Degree Down
Product Description
Weighing in at 2lb 10oz (Reg) with 725-fill down, the Big Agnes Pomer Hoit 0-Degree Down Sleeping Bag is ideal for lightweight alpine climbing and winter camping. By taking out the insulation on the bottom of the bag, which becomes useless when compressed, Big Agnes significantly dropped the weight of this winter bag. A sleeve on the bottom of the Pomer Hoit holds a Big Agnes REM mummy-shaped pad (not included). This system uses every ounce of insulation to keep you toasty at a winter camp and keeps your pad under you no matter how much you move at night. Stuff your jacket into the Pomer Hoit’s integrated pillow sleeve, and get the best night’s sleep you’ve ever had in the outdoors.
Product Features
* Material: WRM water-resistant shell
* Insulation: 725-fill down
* Shape: Mummy
* Draft Collar: Yes
* Max User Height: [Reg] 5ft 10in; [Lng] 6ft 6in
* Shoulder/ Hip/Foot Circumference: [Reg] 67.5/64/NA in; [Lng] 72.5/69/NA in
* Stuff Size: [Reg] 7.75 x 7.5in; [Lng] 7.75 x 8.5in
* Stuff or Storage sack: Stuff
* Weight: [Reg] 2lb 10oz; [Lng] 2lb 14oz
* Warranty: Lifetime
* Degree: 0F, -18C
* Recommended Use: Winter camping and climbing
This is NOT the sleeping bag I’d choose…
but the name rocks the house…
Packing List: AT Gear (the important stuff for 1 week)
Pack: JanSport Juno 73 Pack – yes, its a big pack. They asked us to bring a larger one and really it fit pretty well and carried all my stuff (much to the guide’s chagrin since I abhor a vacuum and must fill empty spaces…) I was probably at 32 pounds with all my and the group gear. Funny story at REI, when we went to go get mom’s pack, we told them of the requirements and he really tried to steer us to a 3000 cu in pack since the 4500 one is really huge. I was hesitant to go smaller, while I did agree with him, 4500 is huge, I didn’t know what kind of bulky group gear our guides would be giving us and I didn’t want to be flouting their requests already. We ended up saying thanks but no thanks to the guy and eventually coming back to find her pack on our own. Its starting to be an issue with REI folks actually. They are very nice and very smart, but they don’t seem to get that some of us have weird requirements (like me and my men’s hiking boot things and our listing for a large pack for this trip) and that sort of bothers me.
Pack Rain Cover: Osprey Raincover XL at MRO, this weighs about 8 oz and squishes down nicely into its carrying case (moreover you can get it BACK into its own case which is downright amazing.) Also, serves double duty as a rain seat that you tighten around yourself while you sit on the ground with the upper part curved around your shoulders. handy when you are under a tarp but still sitting on the ground.
Clothes: (all my clothes lived in a Sea to Summit waterproof bag (8L) to prevent them from getting wet and also served as my pillow at night.)
–>2 shirts (cool max Champion brand from Target on clearance last year) *Necessary* since I sweat and it was warm on the uphills, but cool after you took off your pack. When it was rainy, getting things to dry was a bitch and a half (and the quick dry only made it a bitch to dry off in the sleeping bag with me)
–>Rain Pants that also zipped off to shorts, but walking in these shorts was a clammy affair. I primarily used these over long johns or over my other shorts to keep warm/dry (and the fact that my legs were cold indicated that it was *cold* as I frequently run around in shorts and a wool sweater all year round here in Nor Cali.)
–>Shorts (cool max) I got these at Target and these were FANTASTIC. I need to get a couple more pair since these suckers ROCK.
–>Socks I took 3 pairs of SmartWool (or the REI brand, buy 3 and get 10% off) and swapped socks every day. Some people advocate changing sock mid-day, but I found that if I took of my shoes mid-day that my feet hurt on the afternoon trek. Your mileage may vary. I slept in one pair and alternated the other two. The happyhappyjoyjoy thing about SmartWool is that it does NOT get stinky or gross. Hooray for natural materials!
–>Undies: Ex Officio magic undies-quick dry and anti stinky.
–>Long Undies: I did a combo of SmartWool (top) and Polarmax Tech Pants long undies and while they were both ok, I really should have gotten SmartWool on both ends, the SmartWool was much more comfy. I slept in my long undies at night, both for warmth (though my sleeping bag was double plus good! especially for having been on sale for $69, but I’ll discuss it later…) I was a squicky about my skin on skin since I was pretty gross. It helped me to sleep (mom said this as well after one night that she didn’t sleep in hers.)
–>Rain Jacket: A Marmot shell that I zipped the fleece out of
–>Boots: Merrell men’s Mesa ventilators (because I have yet to find a pair of women’s hiking boots that are wide enough for me… jeebus, girls, how do you walk around on those little popsicle sticks without falling over?) though the one’s I linked to aren’t exactly it, they are ventilators which probably also helped with my feet not getting hot in combo with the SmartWool socks. I can say that I had exactly ZERO problems with my feet (and frankly I thought I would have problems with them since my feet are sort of diva-high-maintenance-Bitchy-McSnipe-esque as far as feet go. Needless to say, I was very happy- the cold I had, well, that’s quite another matter.)
–>Gaiters: I got the ones made of the same material that my Mistral pants are made from… good stuff, but I am actually pondering some Outdoor Research ones.
–>Camp Shoes: MRO had Nothinz on sale for half off… I was going to go the cheap flip flop route, but I yielded to peer pressure, and it wasn’t a bad decision. Croc knockoffs would have been just as good… plus mom bought them so even better. ;)
–>Hat: mine looked like a regular baseball cap, but is actually a winter runner’s cap with little earflaps that can fold down for the cold… and I used ‘em, too. Brrr.
–>Knee brace
Tent: this was group gear and they brought it for us… It was an REI Half Dome tent ca. 2004. Very good tent, we were rained on pretty heavily and we stayed dry. Roughly 6 pounds and made of heavier material than the new UL ones they have now.
Boffo! A good one…
Sleeping Bag: Sierra Designs Rosa, on sale as previously mentioned, kept me nicely warm. It has a little feet liner at the bottom that I haven’t seen before that was really nifty as well as the dual zipper that let me stick my feet out even when the rest of the bag was zipped up. As for the ‘narrower through the torso nonsense’, well, I ain’t, to put it very bluntly. I also sleep on my side, so I’m pondering the Big Agnes bag that is built for us side sleepers, though I like the fact that the Rosa is lighter and synthetic (goosedown loses warmth if it gets wet and takes forever to dry). Still making my decision on this one. I would like a smaller bag so that it doesn’t take up a crapload of space in my bag so I can use my UL 45 pack in the future.
Sleeping Pad: Thermarest Z Lite. I have a Thermarest that I used for years and its heavy and a pain to deal with (inflate, un-inflate, etc.). I like the fold up design of this and I can bunch up parts of it to work as a pillow or under my knees when I lie flat (as I can’t really sleep on my side with my current sleeping bag). It also is nice and light, easy to manoeuvre (putting down, picking up). I did beat it up on trees when I walked though since I put it up on the top of my pack (having removed the pack lid with the pocket previously.)
Eat-y things:
–>Spork:I had a red one (which I left at home… duh) so I bought a blue one at MRO. Not bad, but I think I like mom’s Foon.
–>Cup and Bowl: I liked the bowl (its easy to open it up and lick it clean), but the cup wasn’t as fun. I didn’t bring a plate. I might consider bringing this cup or more likely this one that I use all the time anyway even though it weighs a bit more.
–>Camelbak: 2L…worth it.
Personal Patch Kit: Its an Outdoor Research ultralight organizer with little things like nail nippers (for fighting off bears), Tylenol (lots), Sudafed (even more), skin goop, toothbrush, toothpaste, baby wipes (for every other day wipe down) and other little snickety things that would get lost in the wilds of my pack.
I think they tried to talk me out of it, but it was one of the things that I held firm on (instead of using ziploc bags for everything).
Misc Items:
–>Gorilla Tape
–>Bandannas (x2)
–>Trekking Poles: I wasn’t certain how I’d work with these and mom definitely was skeptical. But they saved my butt all week. I balanced myself with them, pushed myself up mountains, took the weight off of my knees (which I will discuss later) and pretty much earned their keep (and I bought cheap-y ones in case the airlines destroyed them in my duffel I checked, so I’m guessing even lighter weight ones would be even better.) Also, if I decide on the other tent I thought was cool, it would use the poles instead of tent poles for double duty.
–>Treo in waterproof case that also had my ID and insurance card (in case of bears… they are deathly afraid of HMO’s, you know) and earphones. I probably could have lived without my Treo on this trip because I was so sick, but otherwise, I think I would have still wanted it with me.
–>Garmin eTrex Vista for fun and to see our altitude, to mark waypoints where we stayed etc. because I am a big geek. I would take this again in a heartbeat.
–>Journal small spiral binder (4×5) for notes + pen
–>Camera: My old Sony waterproof 2megapixel one so I wouldn’t worry about killing my good one on the trail.
–>More ziploc bags for trash, daily snacks, messy things, stuff that went in the bear bag at night, etc.
–>LED headlamp: A Energizer one which I didn’t use much as I observed the hiker midnight rule (a.k.a. going to bed when the sun went down… about 8 pm or 9 pm. Giggling from other tents went on long after… it really was one big slumber party. ;)
Food:
Now, I don’t know that I can fairly assess my food situation for this week. I caught a cold and was stuffed up and MISERABLE (not to mention other issues that some of us girlies have to deal with directly) so I really didn’t eat much this whole week. (Nor did I want to…)
No, really.
In fact, everyone was going out of their way to make sure I actually put food in my mouth and ate it. To be perfectly honest, I could go for a while and not worry about missing a meal. They should have worried if I didn’t drink water (which I managed to clear out my Camelbak just about every day even though it was nice a cool out side, no problem with water at all.)
It hurt to eat stuff since my throat was raw, my taste buds were not functioning (well, no nose, no taste) and the one or two times I even remotely felt hungry was when we were walking and it went away after about 3 minutes. It wasn’t a big deal.
Here’s what I actually took (more than other folks because of my persnickety stomach)
Contrast that list with what I actually ate that week:
No breakfast, but then again I never eat breakfast (though I didn’t even want coffee… weird. Most likely I just wanted to stay in my sleeping bag a little longer rather than get up to get hot water…) The rest of the trip was lots of water, but I didn’t notice not eating much at all. I think everyone else was more concerned about the food situation than I was.
Frankly, it was just another chore.
What I didn’t take (that I would need to take on a solo trip):
JetBoil: We used a group feedbag situation that involved the guides having the stoves. That sometimes meant that I had to eat earlier than I wanted and didn’t have hot water when it would have been nice to have (later at night before I went to bed to warm up a bit.) I have an insulate-y sleeve that I should have brought for my Nalgene bottle so I could have kept some water at temperature.
Tent: Outdoor Research NightHaven Shelter with footprint. I like the fact it is 2 pounds and you use your trekking poles.
More Gorilla tape and the other little things like a lighter,water filter, a tarp and light rope that the guides took.
All in all, most things were good… but marshmallows and hot chocolate would probably be on the list somewhere as well.
AT:THU
6/14
Woke to less rain this morning.
No discernible breakfast, not even tea. Hadn’t even had a jones for coffee at this point. I packed up the tent and re-loaded my pack as fast as I could and set off with Almanac and a few others to go help filter water at Thomas Knob shelter as well as use the privy (Bears do it in the woods. Fredlet is not a bear.)
Otter was in the shelter with his wonderful dog Mac, who thumped his tail at us a couple of times to say “Hi! Hi! Hi! I need to stay here by my sick human.” I’m surprised mom showed serious restraint not going over to commune with the puppy since I know she was having puppy withdrawal (as I was have the same without a cat to play with). Anyway, Otter wasn’t feeling well, so we tried to be quiet, but you know after a while that 12 chicas are going to be noisy while filtering water. Ah well, we got out of there fairly quickly.
Tooter’s camelbak had failed (remember, that is a generic term, I don’t know what brand she had) so we gave her two teeny little bottles washed out after containing food things. Mom would have given her the 3L we had, but there was a chance that I had a sip from it and neither she nor we wanted to chance the cootie transfer.
Typically if someone is cranky or out of sorts, it is because they are somewhat dehydrated. “Bite and suck!” lets them know to drink. The thing is Tooter is one who drinks something on the order of 5-6L of water a day and this tiny amount was really affecting her. We just kept an eye on her and things worked out ok.
It was somewhat level for the first hour or so, but then we got into some serious climbing. It wasn’t shaping up to be as long as the day before, but the grubby factor was starting to wear on me a bit.
Tricky was sweep today, so I chatted on and off with her (on when the climb was uphill and off when mom kept her standard pace on the level or the downhill and I channeled Speed Racer.)
I felt a tiny hunger twitch about mid-morning, but it was curious rather than insistent and went away before lunch. Frankly, when I did eat it made me kinda queasy and lethargic, so I wasn’t terribly upset.
Deep Gap and Elk garden passed in a blur. I do have pictures, but not nearly as many as I normally take owing to the fact that I was desperately trying to reinforce that Tricky and Almanac’s decision to let me stay with the group wasn’t a mistake or resent the bejeezus out of me for slowing them down.
In fact, I did end up hiking pretty clippily on the level/moderate rolling hills/downhill sections. I was even alone for about an hour at one point.
Occasionally, I would catch a glimpse of the Wanderer/Flame/Hollywood bunching only to lose sight of them around a curve.
It was QUIET.
I really liked it, though often I would steadily grow paranoid about channeling Chicken John and losing the trail. For the most part, the trail is easily discernible, clear and obvious, but I did lose the trail once with Almanac (going across rocks on Wilburn Ridge where a tree obscured the blaze from me and Almanac was behind me and caught it.)
I did manage to keep to the trail on my hour or two solo jaunts. My paranoia meter spiking then resetting to zero after seeing the next blaze in the distance. I think I’d be ok on my own, but I’d probably need someone to talk to once in a while.
Mom said the same thing about her solo forays when she would walk ahead, stop for a break, then resume when she could hear me and Almanac coming up from behind on the trail.
The weather was still very good; cool and low humidity. I drank an entire 2L camelbak a day and sweat it all out as well. It made for cold rest stops when I took off my pack (my back would get really cold with the quick dry shirts I had on and if I put on my jacket I would just get all over soggy.) So I tended to put my bandanna (both still pee free*) over my back or sit (or even stand) with my pack still on.
I think I was more irritated and tired if I took my pack off rather than when I did like everyone who flopped down on the ground sans pack. Really, breaks were kind of unnecessary for me on the longer scale that everyone else wanted. I liked taking a short breather after a hill or a set of steps (the things that really kicked my ass were when I had big steps up) then continuing. Lunch was in irritant (none of that pesky food for me, thanks ever so…). Taking off shoes made my feet hurt and anything longer than 5 minutes made me antsy and stiff. I as a study in contrariness-but nothing unusual there. I never have liked what works for other people.
As we made it to Elk Garden we ended up at the top of a hill surveying the wild animals (OK…cows) and a road.
Roads close to the trail kinda freaked me out. You’d be walking along in that lovely little silent and insulated trail (with very little sound-even the birds and other forest-y type animals were quiet) and the roar of a V6 comes to you as a car drives past that you can’t see. Tres disconcerting.
About halfway through lunch, a troop of boy scouts (well, we assumed they were boy scouts) were deathmarched through our picnic area at the top of the hill.
When their pack leader said hi to Tricky, she asked about their trip and it turned out they were planning to stay on Whitetop Mountain tonight (just like us)… actually, just in the clearing just below Whitetop Mountain (just like us).
“Race ya!” I think Hollywood said.
Tricky looked startled, but didn’t really say much else. After lunch though she switched to lead position from sweep so that if we needed to find an alternate site, she could use her knowledge of the trail to pick out a good spot.
Hollywood’s boots had given up the ghost at this point and during lunch (while Touque made freakin’ phone calls on her Canadian cell phone – while the American ones had NO SIGNAL. We suck!) we wrapped Hollywood’s feet in bags the strapped her Tevas on to keep her socks dry since it looked like it was going to rain. I loaned her my Mistral gaiters and the looked like spats on her feet. I have called them ’spats’ ever since.
We finished up lunch and walked down the hill, crossed the road, (past the boys-yeah, we could totally take ‘em.) and back into the deep forest.
The boy scouts passed Almanac and myself about halfway up the climb to camp in the afternoon portion and we looked at each other with a bit of trepidation since we didn’t know if they were going to take our camping spot.
Funnily enough, they kept the same pace all the way uphill and didn’t look the worse for wear. But mom told me later that while she was in one of her solo jaunts she rounded a bend and came up on them during a rest break. When they saw her, they sat up from their previous hang-dog slumped over posture to sitting upright looking like they just were casually resting from a stroll int he woods.
They did end up making camp just a little farther north of their original location…and looked a little bit squished in that spot.
It was very nice of them to do so.
Last chance at a trash can for a while – and this one curiously looked like a teeny tiny hatch from “Lost” that we unceremoniously dumped our ziplocs o’ refuse, then started the uphill climb to Whitetop Mountain.
So much for keeping up with the group. The first part of the day was nice; I was generally *right there* with the group but back to peanut-ing nontheless.
Almanac, despite the sneakiness on my part for adding my GPS to my load, would ask (when I would ask to gain perspective on our ETA) what the GPS said. It was very useful. I did tell Almanac that with me, realistic estimates was better. If you tell me its just a little bit more and you keep saying that for 2 hours, I will be cranky. If you tell me it is difficult and will take more than an hour, I set my expectations and just deal. Happily, she kept to that.
I was actually surprised at how quickly we got to the camping spot despite the fact that the altitude or whatever seemed to really be affecting me. Still no whining on my part though. I kept my sense of humor (no sarcasm-which can descend pretty quickly into a rant) and was still enjoying myself. Obviously, not having a cold would have been better, but I still loved being out on the trail.
Campsite off of Whitetop Mountain
It did rain on us while we put up our tents this evening. I was already sweaty/wet from the solid uphill we had all afternoon, so by the time I got my shell on after pulling the tent out and putting my pack under it for a measure of dryness, was cold and clammy. Mom and I put up the tent and did camp things til they were done, then we both decided to get inside the tent and got inside our bags to warm up. It took a little while for me to get warm. I changed into warmer things in stages as they dried (or more realistically, when I was ready to move.)
I ended up in my rain pants, long undies (hooray for SmartWool!) a drier shirt, two pairs of socks, the hood up on my Marmot jacket and my hat with the little ear flaps pulled down for warmth. I may have even put on my gloves.
I felt a little better at least.
Everyone was crowded under a tarp we put up to cover the cooking area, so I sat around the edges against a tree while it poured down rain. I did get a bit wet, but I had an idea. I went and got my pack cover and put it over my shoulders and then sat on the bottom part then hooked the strap around my waist…an Osprey Turtle. For sitting on the wet ground and leaning against a tree. Kept me dry at least and held in place reasonably well.
We ate – or rather, everyone else ate and I drank a cup of soup and had 7 M&M’s (I counted).
I was feeling especially craptacular and the really cold weather didn’t help much. I didn’t want anything in particular except a shower. I was probably rancid at this, however, happily *I* couldn’t smell me.
Everyone else was dreaming of cheeseburgers or Starbucks, but I still wasn’t hungry. Hot water and a scrub brush, thankyouverymuch.
We had pitched the tent on a downhill slope… it was the best we could do for the site… but it was a noticeable one and it kept us skootching back up onto our sleeping pad all night.
I tend to wake up to roll over or re-position (some nights I just woke up due to the screaming of my muscles) but this night was the worst night for sleeping of the whole week. It was cold, it rained incessantly (though we did stay dry) and I kept having to haul my ass back up to the top of the tent. I thought it might be helpful for draining the sinuses a bit, but it did nothing and made sleep impossible.
A few people moved their tents to the meadow up the hill, and while I thought that sounded like a good idea in theory, I don’t know that you could have prised me from my sleeping bag for anything. Mom said “screw that” as well and we stayed put. The rain didn’t bother us too much (or the drippings from the trees) but the flat of the meadow might have been nice.
Skootch.
Skootch.
Skootch.
