Finally, a Gear List!

After much reading, research, forum trolling, questions, answers and shopping, I finally have a gear list that I'm happy with for the June trip. See the Gear List page here on the blog to take a look, and feel free to comment. All the best gear lists are a work in progress!

Our Main Squeeze and Other Stories of Success and Error

In Ohio, sure, it may be 30 today and was snowing yesterday, but 5 days ago it was sunny and 50-something. So we packed up some of our new gear and headed out to start breaking it in. And by breaking it in, yes, I mean figuring out how to use it:

We Drank: The biggest success of the day was the Sawyer Squeeze water filter. Coming in at about 50 bucks and just 7 ounces with all its accessories, this thing is a winner. It has water bags with a screw top, to which the filter attaches. At the other end of the filter is a pull-out nozzle like an athletic water bottle. You gently squeeze the “dirty” water bag and pour clean water directly into your vessel—or even your mouth. Some complain the bags are hard to fill, and at first the new bags were a bit of a challenge, but once we figured out how to get them to fill in the barely running water and they loosened up, it was fast easy. This is a popular set up among backpackers, along with chemical treatments (yuck) and pump filters (ugh). Even Snoopy said the water tasted better then the Brita water at home. Four thumbs up!

We Ate: We have never cooked on a camp stove before. And I always wondered why it’s called a “Pocket Rocket.” Now I know: You light that tiny little sucker up and YES, it does sound like a rocket. Problem was, it did not boil our water at rocket speed. Matter of fact, it took forever and we used almost an entire fuel canister. I assumed this was user error and went straight to my favorite hiking forum (www.whiteblaze.net), gathering a wealth of handy tips. Things to try: Start with warmer water, turn the Rocket all the way up, use a wind screen, don’t bring the water to a full boil, don’t actually “cook” on the stove, and of course, carry more fuel just in case. Regardless, we had cocoa and Ramen, GORP, dried fruit and Oatmeal Cream Pies—it was a perfect hiker meal.

We Slogged: After lunch it was off on a short trek, er, slog. It’s March, in Ohio, and that means mud. We don’t mind mud so it was all good, although once again those trekking poles came in handy. Snoopy cut back to one, which I get, but I like the symmetry of both. The trail was pretty, even without any leaves on the trees.

We Tangled: We thought we better try our hand at bear bagging. This is a good skill to have, especially as a Scout, because raccoons can be an even bigger problem than bears and Scout camp has no shortage of the masked bandits. Really, I already knew paracord wasn’t the best bear bag line, but it’s what we had. It didn’t help that Snoopy pulled it all apart and got tangled in it. We eventually succeeded in hanging the bag, admitting we need more practice, but if that doesn’t work out we’ll just use the line to set a booby trap around the tent because I’m pretty sure Snoopy knows how to get that done…

We’re Packin’: We love our packs. Since we didn’t have our shelter and sleeping gear along for the day hike, we both filled the bottoms of our packs with jeans and other clothes. I was amazed at how easy mine was to carry; it feels really heavy when you pick it up by hand off the ground, but once strapped on (and properly fitted) it felt like nothing. Till next time, see you on the trail!

Cold Mountain is Cool

How lucky were we: a puppy AND a short hike on the AT at Cold Mountain. Last weekend we met my sister a little over half way between Columbus, OH and Va. Beach, VA to pick up an orphaned puppy. So I’m looking at the atlas to see where half way is, and choose Covington, VA… but of course I have to look to see where the AT crosses through Virginia. Low and behold, only about an hour farther east.

Isn’t it great when the opportunity for an adventure just falls in your lap? It’s not like we could go there and NOT hit the trail. I found a better hotel in Lexington anyway (and some damn good pizza). So I jumped onto trusty WhiteBlaze.net and within minutes had a response to “Where is the closest trail head parking near Lexington, VA?” (Thanks, Mobius!)

We left Ohio at 7 a.m. Once reaching Lexington around 2:30 p.m., it’s off on US 60 through Buena Vista, left on Coffeytown Road, and right on Wiggins Spring Rd. Definitely more of a spring than a road, Wiggins is a dirt forest road and farther up was still snow, ice and slush over mud. The Journey handled it fine and once parked, we stretched out legs, adjusted our trekking poles, and we were hiking on the AT!

We didn’t have much time but hiked up to the top of Cold Mountain and enjoyed the 360-degree view of the Virginia mountains from the grassy bald. Snoopy only lost his iPod once, in the snow on the way up. But the top was beautiful, the sun was shining and there was little snow up there. Not so much like, as I found out, when my bro-in-law was hiking there with the guys just a couple weeks earlier!

I am very ready to see and experience more of the AT.