LOL ... when we started the AT, Mt Katahdin was day one (it's hard being a SOBO!!)

I know what you mean about the eating. I had plans for day 1 that had seemed perfectly reasonable at the time but turned out to be ridiculously grandiose. (meet with some other hikers for dinner in the picnic area, maybe scrub up in the stream) Turns out I was so exhausted I couldn't even eat more than a few bites of dinner in the tent and collapsed.

For about 2 weeks the hiking was such a shock to my system I just wasn't very hungry. I would eat half my dinner and give the rest to TheBullDoza. I still remember the sorrowful look on his face the first day I ate the whole thing.

6/21/2010 8:04:21 PM

haha yeah. the meal i was looking forward to the most, a hamburger wrap thing, ended up having 3048723471 bottles worth of steak seasoning on it. i almost puked. chris ate all 910 calories of it.

i have a feeling our next excursion will be camping of the family-style type. big tent, cots, 2 burner stove, etc lol. we do want to go kayak camping in the fall sometime though, and i definitely want to backpack again & go back to the AT. anybody done the kayak camping thing? advice?

6/22/2010 8:28:32 AM

i find myself surprised by how many people use pre-packaged "instant" meals, and how often they eat them...in scouts, we were taught to backpack with simpler, cheaper, and more inventive meals

i'm not judging, just noting that some people (not on here, people i know) i would have thought were a bit more imaginative buy those expensive dehydrated meals

i make some darn good trail food with nothing but conscientious shopping and a dehydrator...and avoid massive amounts of sodium

6/22/2010 8:59:04 AM

that whole owning a dehydrator thing is the limiting factor. we don't need dehydrated meals often enough to warrant buying one...


on the other hand, packitgourmet.com sells dehydrated or freeze dried individual ingredients. meats, vegetables, fruits, spices, anything you could possibly think of, then you can make your own stuff.

[Edited on June 22, 2010 at 9:55 AM. Reason : ]

6/22/2010 9:54:18 AM

my dehydrator was $30...i don't know, i think it's paid for itself many times over

also, have you ever had dehydrated kiwis? mmm...taste like jolly ranchers, but better

6/22/2010 9:57:29 AM

Quote :

"we don't need dehydrated meals often enough to warrant buying one... "

One batch of beef jerky validates the purchase of a dehydrator.

And homemade beef jerky is OM NOM FUCKING NOM. Ask elise or zorthage.

6/22/2010 9:59:37 AM

beef jerky is

chris loves it though

6/22/2010 10:07:22 AM

Did some Art Loeb over the weekend and just piddled around for fun. Here are some pics...couldn't resist some sunset and sunrise propeganda








[Edited on July 5, 2010 at 2:15 PM. Reason : ...]

7/5/2010 2:13:52 PM

spent a night at Dolly Sods Wilderness in Monongahela a couple weekends back - gorgeous place with a pretty unique ecology for the location, lots of bogs and alpine meadows

7/5/2010 5:02:13 PM

Couldn't resist...a few of Turtleback Falls and some more Art Loeb

7/5/2010 10:55:38 PM

So i'm thinking about going hiking this weekend. Probably in the Wilson Creek Wilderness area doing one of the Harper Falls trails.

http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/wilson_creek1.htm

Maybe South Harper Falls? Anyone had any experience in this area? I need to find some topo maps online. I've been to the area to swim a lot just not hike.

Also thinking about getting a day pack later today from REI. Any good recommendations? Thinking about the North Face Recon or something similar. Wouldn't mind a laptop pocket for everyday use.

7/30/2010 10:26:32 AM

Shhhhh... Wilson Creek is supposed to be a secret.

It's probably the best place to go in NC IMHO. Actually I proposed to my wife at the bottom of North Harper Falls, and there's a great campsite about 50ft. from the base of the falls there, if you backpack. I've probably backpacked in that area about 10-20 times. Used to camp over off of Craig Creek Road probably 20 times as well.

[Edited on July 30, 2010 at 11:40 AM. Reason : ,]

7/30/2010 11:36:49 AM

I love Wilson creek. I've probably posted this before in this thread, but we usual go down Hunt-fish falls. I've been to the South Harper Creek area a couple times this year, and we're probably going again sometime in the next month.

Be careful, though. If you come in the Harper Creek Falls side and hike the loop east and west down to South Harper Creek Falls, the trails aren't blazed correctly and you could get lost (like we did.) When I get home and have my map in front of me I'll post the trail #s to give you a better idea of what to watch out for.


EDIT:

old map of the area

7/30/2010 11:45:35 AM

Thanks! I think we want to do the South Harper trail.

http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/sharper1.htm

Look about right?

I've got a couple GPS/topo map apps on my iPhone. So I can always resort to those if we get lost.

7/30/2010 11:49:23 AM

Quote :

"Shhhhh... Wilson Creek is supposed to be a secret. It's probably the best place to go in NC IMHO."

agreed, it's usually a great place to get away from alot of people. you rarely see more than a handfull of people on the harpers creek stretch on even the peak days. i went for a 3 day trip last labor day, and i didn't see more than a dozen other people down there the whole weekend, and 6-7 of those people were in one big group camping up stream a bit from us

Sadly that was the last time i've been camping

7/30/2010 11:56:14 AM

http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/harper1.htm

Thinking about doing that day loop option at the bottom. Taking Harper Creek trail #260 to harper falls. Then continuing on to South Harper Falls. Then taking the #277 Raider Camp Trail back.

Wonder how long that would take.

7/30/2010 12:18:22 PM

^ I'm pretty sure that's where you'll need to be careful. I'm pretty sure 277 is not blazed correctly. IIRC it should be blazed orange, but orange will actually take you straight west into the area called Kawana, which is about 100 acres of private land in the middle of Pisgah. The blazes stop right at the edge of the nation forest boundary, with no other possible route to take.

7/30/2010 12:50:47 PM

I have a GPS topo app on my phone that has detailed topo maps with trails. Tells me exactly where i am. Already mapped out the route on it. I'll print out a map too with a compass. Typically pretty easy to navigate around using a topo map and compass.

7/30/2010 1:33:18 PM

I think I've done the 270 down to 266/260 trails, they're great trails, but lots of creek crossings

[Edited on July 30, 2010 at 1:43 PM. Reason : .]

7/30/2010 1:42:54 PM

I'll take lots of pictures. I like creek crossings. I'm just hoping it doesn't rain tomorrow. It probably will. 40% chance. Although you never know with the mountains.

[Edited on July 30, 2010 at 1:45 PM. Reason : s]

7/30/2010 1:45:26 PM

Sorry for double post. Wanted to post the map. Going to take #260 west from the road counterclockwise around the mountain. Hit both Harper Falls and South Harper Falls then back on #277 to the road.



Think that's about a 7-7.5 mile loop. Good 4-5 hours depending on how much we stop and play.

[Edited on July 30, 2010 at 4:15 PM. Reason : s]

7/30/2010 4:15:34 PM

yea, not bad, you'll have to go back and hike 266, that's my favorite part.

7/30/2010 4:19:38 PM

#266 looks really fun. I like how it goes along the ridge and up across the peaks. I promised people waterwalls though so I'll do #266 next time.

-wait woops. that's #265 that goes along the ridge. #266 looks fun. It's not really a loop though is it?

[Edited on July 30, 2010 at 4:33 PM. Reason : s]

7/30/2010 4:21:55 PM

Haha this is what we ended up doing but counterclockwise instead:

http://hikewnc.info/trailheads/pisgah/grandfather/wilsoncreek/guidedhikes/harpercreekfalls.html

Was a tough hike. Lots of creek crossings and losing the trail. Had to cheat and pull out the GPS a couple times.

Quote :

"Continue downstream where you will come out at the creek below the falls once it settles down a bit. This will be your first of 10 crossings on this section of trail (for a total of 12, including the very first one on the Raider Camp trail and the one just upstream from the falls)."

yeah and it had just rained. those were fun.

[Edited on August 2, 2010 at 12:22 PM. Reason : s]

8/2/2010 12:19:10 PM

you can't say i didn't warn you

that's kinda the part i love about it, it's so unused the trails are like bushwhacking in the rainforest. last time i went too there were a lot of downed trees people would use to cross the creeks, it's particularly fun when you have a 30-40lb pack on when backpacking, lol.

8/2/2010 1:19:53 PM

jeebus, 40lbs

my last 5-day trek was only 30lbs and that was with an extra pair of shoes...although, it was only 4L of water since we were backpacking an area where we knew the water sources

8/2/2010 3:53:46 PM

you obviously only pack in the summer

8/3/2010 12:06:38 AM

haha, not really (i prefer winter to summer backpacking, actually)...i just don't ever change clothes

8/3/2010 7:53:06 AM

Yeah i typically just bring 2 pairs of zip off pants. Doubles as pants and shorts. Then maybe like 2 shirts. One to wear and one to pack. Can always do laundry in a creek.

8/3/2010 9:04:16 AM

^this

8/3/2010 10:02:15 AM

i'm merely responding to your shock over 40lbs.

first of all i'm not in NC, so while YOU can hike in 1 outfit typically in the winter, a whole new set of gear & rules is required out here in CO. just because of the added gear required for snow, because of the avalanche danger in the Rockies, my safety gear is another 3lbs. and winter clothing another 3-4lbs. and that doesn't even include snowshoes. granted i can pack with a little less water due to the snow, i typically need a little more fuel. it adds up, trust me, i know. 40lbs. is considerably LIGHT for winter backpacking at higher altitudes.

i'm usually between 25-30lbs in the summer.

8/3/2010 12:32:34 PM

yeah 40lbs is pretty light for heavy winter backpacking. Which i've never done. I want to though. I love snow and I love hiking in the snow even more.

8/3/2010 12:34:46 PM

i'd highly recommend the 10th mountain division hut system if you ever want to do some awesome winter backpacking in CO - http://www.huts.org/ - you can save a little weight (no need for packing a shelter) if you make reservations. almost all of them are 11,000 ft. in elevation, great snowshoeing.

8/3/2010 1:17:55 PM

Quote :

"Was a tough hike. Lots of creek crossings and losing the trail. Had to cheat and pull out the GPS a couple times."

haha, I also tried to warn you

we did 260 to 277 to 260 clockwise and got totally lost trying to find where 277 intersected back with 260. Walked west through Kawana to Forest Road 58 and north on it back to the trailhead. On our next we plan on going counter-clockwise so that we can identify where it's supposed to intersect.

8/3/2010 3:30:24 PM

here's the trail I used to take, usually an up and back, sometimes we'd hike out on 239 and take the road back to the parking area

8/3/2010 3:39:19 PM

Quote :

"totally lost trying to find where 277 intersected back with 260."

haha yeah. even going counter clockwise it was hard to find where 277 was from 260. If you look at the topo map you can see that 277 goes over that knoll/smaller peak at about 2440 feet. We found a trail that went southeast from 260/creek crossing and took it until it met back up with 277. I was checking the GPS and the trail we were using wasn't really a trail that's on the topo map.

8/3/2010 3:47:28 PM

Thoughts on backpacks made by Gregory vs Lowe Alpine vs ALPS?

I've got a Gregory z55 but need more space for my 5 day trip to Alaska, so I'm looking at some 70-80 liter packs. Is it worth an extra $50-100 to get a Gregory Gannett 80 over the other 2 brands?

8/4/2010 1:42:46 PM

gregory is usually very nice...i have the baltoro and it is, by far, the most comfortable pack i've ever used (though only barely better than my mountainsmith)

never used lowe alpine

by "ALPS," i assume you ALPS mountaineering? their stuff is a good value, but don't expect top of the line...it will likely be heavier than the equivalent gregory and the material/hardware won't be as robust

i'd say go for the gregory, and 70L should be more than enough...your best bet, though, is to try them all on, weighted, and see how it feels...personally, i like x-frame better than a single center stay (which, surprisingly, is what the baltoro is), but it really depends on how it fits you

[Edited on August 4, 2010 at 1:51 PM. Reason : .]

8/4/2010 1:50:08 PM

Here's the one I'm looking at:

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/311,2115X_Gregory-Gannett-80-Backpack-Internal-Frame.html

After researching it, I'm a little hesitant. It doesn't appear on Gregory's website and the only info I could find on it said that it was a Palisade 80 without the belt pockets. Just comparing it to the Palisade, it looks like an older model. But with an extra 25% off, the price is right.

And I'll also be taking a SLR camera and lenses so I will need a little extra space than normal.

8/4/2010 2:10:50 PM

do you have an REI near you? i would very strongly suggest stopping in and getting fitted, even if you don't buy from them (though of course i love REI and, as cheap as i usually am, will happily pay MSRP there for the extra service and take-it-back-at-any-time-even-10-years-from-now return policy)

i'm speaking from experience that while buying a pack without a fitting MIGHT work for you, it more likely will not...or, rather, that you'll find one that fits better through trying them on

i would highly recommend trying out the baltoro...it's an "award winner" (with a 4.5/5 rating out of 89 reviews) for a reason

[Edited on August 4, 2010 at 2:20 PM. Reason : get a 20% coupon and it's the same price as the one you linked to]

8/4/2010 2:18:50 PM

Where are you going in Alaska Rush?

8/4/2010 2:25:16 PM

Definitely recommend Gregory. I bought the pack in my original post for this thread and love it so far.

8/4/2010 2:30:24 PM

Yeah, ideally I would like to get fitted and see how it feels, but REI doesnt carry that pack so I figured I can just try it out and return it if it doesnt work out. Where is this 20% off coupon? Even with that, that only brings the Baltoro down to $230 (+ tax) vs the $170 I would pay through STP.

Flying into Anchorage and looking at Chugach National Park. Still gotta map out which trails we'll take.

8/4/2010 2:42:59 PM

as much as I love Gregory, an 80L pack is unnecessary and you will want to kill yourself for buying a backpack that weighs 6lbs. by itself.

i'd recommend the Osprey Aether 70:
http://www.rei.com/product/795622

it includes a feature that allows you to use the top as a lumbar pack, perfect size for your SLR & a lens or two to go on a day hike without your whole pack (and only 5lbs.)

[Edited on August 4, 2010 at 2:58 PM. Reason : .]

8/4/2010 2:51:31 PM

^i have an older version of the Osprey Aether. Love it.

8/4/2010 3:35:53 PM

^^ where do you get 25% off the $230?

anyway, the 20% coupon is available to REI members and it's something you can use whenever they release it (you don't need a piece of paper or anything) on any full-price item...i think we're about due for one, come to think of it...

^ i agree about the size...i tried on a 90L and while space SEEMS like a great idea, it's really not (as noted by several others, if nothing else it encourages you to pack more than you can comfortably carry)

i realize some people love their ospreys, but i found it to be absolutely useless...one giant pocket? really? just one? the men's osprey is nothing like the women's (my fiancée has the women's aether) and i thought i'd like it based on hers...WRONG...i like pockets to store my stuff

another recommendation: look for a pack that has both a size zipper (for the main compartment) and a lower zipper for the "sleeping bag" compartment on the bottom...i was a huge fan of external frames, but they've gone the way of the dinosaur...now i look for external-frame comforts in internal frame form

8/4/2010 3:39:24 PM

STP has tons of coupons floating around. They are always running a 25% off entire purchase for new customers.

8/4/2010 3:45:00 PM

ah, well, if that's what you want to do, go for it...i'd still strongly suggest trying it out before committing to it (at least by trying on the palisade, since that's the "same" thing)...just speaking from experience, buying without trying doesn't work out very well

8/4/2010 3:47:06 PM

Quote :

"i realize some people love their ospreys, but i found it to be absolutely useless...one giant pocket? really? just one? the men's osprey is nothing like the women's (my fiancée has the women's aether) and i thought i'd like it based on hers...WRONG...i like pockets to store my stuff"

That is a good point. Doesn't really have much other than the top. It was the most comfortable pack i tried on though and i'd take comfort over a couple less pockets any day.

Just picked up one of these for a daypack/office laptop bag:

http://www.mountainhardwear.com/Enterprise%E2%84%A2/OU3825,default,pd.html

Enjoying it alot so far. Worked great on my last day hike.

8/4/2010 3:49:27 PM

^ oh, don't get me wrong...it was just as comfortable as any other, and i suspect the ventilation is probably better than any other comparable pack...i took it home and got so frustrated trying to pack it that i just took it back the next day and got the baltoro

8/4/2010 3:56:09 PM