It probably would have worked better if I had had the camera attached to a more sturdy tree that wasn’t moving around in the breeze. My first attempt at using my camera’s time-lapse photography feature. I suspect it would make a good emergency source for people and it obviously serves the horses hacking through the wilderness. The water in this pond looked very clear and clean. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The second was near McGarr Spring where the blazes stopped abruptly. The first was by a stock pond, where the blazes didn’t pick up immediately on the far side of the pond, so I had to circle the pond looking for the faint traces of the trail. There were only two points where this trail was badly blazed. Years ago work-gangs were sent out to keep the trails clear and maintain them. They are not and haven’t been as far as I can tell since we were first here in 2010 – unless you count the fact that someone sprayed red paint on trees at just two of the trail junctions. The official trails are listed as maintained. They are so much better, it prompted me to take this picture. It’s a sad comment on the state of things, that the unofficial trails are better maintained and marked than the official ones looked after by the Forest Service. The unofficial McGarr Spring Trail was very well marked – I can see three orange blazes from here. In the meantime, my poncho will work fine. So I’ve sent them both back and asked for a refund. When the replacement arrived, the first thing I did was hold the jacket up to the light, and lo-and-behold, there was another hole, right in the middle of the back at shoulder level. When it arrived it fitted well, the weight was good (10.41oz), but I noticed a small hole in the front of the jacket, so I requested a replacement. The Frogg Toggs Ultra-Lite2 Rain Suit was a disaster. Well, I can’t sit by a campfire in my hammock, I shouldn’t be eating in my hammock, and just maybe, after a day on the trail, I’m not so keen on sitting on the ground, especially when the ground is frozen. You might wonder why I want a chair when I can sit in my hammock. Why do I want to save weight? Well, I want to be able to bring along a chair which will weigh1lb-ish. Reverting to a larger groundsheet and fitting grommets to it will enable that to be used as an under quilt protector. The jacket can be used as a windcheater which is something I don’t carry at the moment. However, the poncho also doubles as an under quilt protector, and I haven’t got any lightweight rain gear at the moment.Ĭonsidering solutions, a set of Frogg Toggs Ultra-Lite2 ought to fix the rain gear problem and they are relatively inexpensive at under $20 update. So I need to rethink my wet weather strategy, I no longer need a rain poncho that keeps my pack dry. The pack is, to all intents and purposes, waterproof. You can see a list of all my gear for this trip here.
Not bad for a full winter (20☏ load-out). Loaded with food, water, and camera gear, etc. There was lots of learning to be had on this trip.Ĭhecking before I left home, the base weight was 18lbs which puts me in the ultralight backpacking zone, something I would have laughed at when I started backpacking. Working out (and remembering) where everything is packed is another challenge too. In fact, it wasn’t until Day Three that I was happy with the basic set-up.
It is also going to take a lot of ‘dialing in,’ I’m well aware that it will take several trips out before I’m happy with the adjustments and where everything is stored. Of course, that weight saving comes at a cost, ultralight gear is very expensive.
The Zpacks Arc Haul and front pack have the same base capacity, but at 1.76lbs, it is over 3lbs lighter than my Deuter backpack and Ribz front pack (5.03lbs). Keeping to my vow to not add weight to my pack without lessening weight somewhere else to compensate, I’ve invested in a new pack. New Backpack – Zpacks Arc Haul backpack (3lbs lighter than my old pack).