8.5 mile hike: Lewis Trail

I was kind of lazy the last couple of days, so it was time to go outside again today since it would be back above freezing temperatures and a bit more comfortable. I wanted to get a few small things at REI and try out some other meal-replacement bars for eventual potential use on my hike, so I decided to head to Missouri for the hike and run errands afterward.

This is an 8.3 mile loop along the bluffs over the Missouri River and up and down inland in various little ravines and across creek beds that are usually dry. There are a few overlooks just off the trail, so I'm rounding up to 8.5 miles carrying a 20 pound pack. It was 31 degrees when I hit the trail and in the mid-40s when I finished. Perfect for just a couple of light layers, and the pack felt good.

I was kind of dragging today, though, and wasn't totally into hiking today. The trail was frozen and rutty in some places, and there were quite a few trail runners out, but it was still a nice day to be out. I've met interesting people the two previous times I've been on this trail, but today, it was just trail runners who barely said hello and who inexplicably litter their tissues all over the place (probably unintentionally, but still...).

I should have been looking more closely for bald eagles at the overlooks, I guess. When I got back to the parking lot, a photographer with some serious equipment was headed out on the trail, and I assume that's what he was looking for.

Lewis and Clark passed by here during both directions of their journey over 200 years ago. The note for their campsite on the outward journey says that Lewis almost fell off one of these bluffs. I guess that would have shortened his trip significantly!

This is how I feel now--ready to curl up and snooze. My right foot is sore, my achilles tendons are tight, and I'm not going to stay awake long enough to welcome in the new year. I'm about ready for bed, and the 4 Hands Rye IPA in my hand will hasten that along! I'm going to stretch and do a quick session with this magical little foot massager first, though :)

Water: Sawyer Mini + Gravity Filter Mods

Status: 100% in the bag!

Weight: Filter--56 g (wet), Dirty water bag--42 g, NEW water scooper--18 g  8 g, Backflushing tool--36 g, Backup chemical treatment--6 g

Mods: 2 grams of cord/cord locks to make it a gravity system, New ziplock water scooper

Alternatives: I like the filter, but many people use Aqua Mira or other chemical treatment to save a bit of weight. I'm not 100% certain that this is the water scooper I will use, but it worked ok. New water scooper! See below...

In the last post, there was a picture of my planned setup for water treatment. Here's the system in more detail.

From the top, the system consists of a cord loop and cord lock attached to the dirty water bag via two tiny holes I cut near the bottom of the bag. The filter screws onto the dirty bag, and a spout goes to the clean water bottle. 

The loop on the dirty bag is about 4 feet of cord and a mini cord lock (both from ZPacks). It's set up as a loop so I can put it around a branch or small tree. When I pack the bag and filter, this loop also helps hold everything rolled up tightly.

This little loop is the part I really like. There's no way to screw the clean end of the filter to a water bottle, so this little loop of cord keeps them together.

It's long enough so the cord can slip around both the neck of the filter and the neck of the water bottle. I just move the cord lock down toward the bottle when they're attached to hold everything together. The flow rate isn't super fast, so if you don't want to wait, you can still squeeze the dirty water pouch to speed things along. Having it hung like this means that you don't have to bend over or balance everything together to make it all work. Just hang and squeeze!

You can put a few twists in the cord to tighten them together so the cord doesn't slip off the filter. If your cord is short enough, this doesn't matter, but it can help tighten everything together.

This little cord does, of course, put some stress on the bottom spout of the filter, but the thing seems to be really well attached. I'll monitor it to be sure the weight doesn't damage the filter long-term. I can also hang this low so the bottle (and the water weight in the bottle as it fills) is resting on the ground. The cord lock on the dirty bag gives me about 10" of adjustability.

Weight of modifications? 2 grams. Worth it.

Some water sources are really shallow or slow-running, making it difficult to get water into the small opening on the dirty bag. I originally cut off the bottom of a small dirty bag to use as a scoop (above left). Pros: It's stiff, water flowed in easily even when the water source was only about an inch deep. Cons: Another spout makes it harder to roll up the dirty bags with the filter (minor gripe), it takes a little juggling to open the spout while not spilling it out the open end and getting it into the big dirty bag, and I think I can make something lighter.

I shouldn't have trouble with low water sources at the time of my hike due to snow melt and rain, so I've modified a ziplock bag to use as a scoop and pre-filter instead. The pre-filter is just a piece of cloth that will help keep bigger sediment/particles out of the main filter. Most people just use their bandana as a pre-filter, but I'm opting for this little swatch instead. If the water source is flowing well enough that I don't have to use a scoop, I can still use the pre-filter cloth just by holding it over the opening of the dirty bag with the little loop of cord from the main filter.

This ziplock has a little corner cut off for the water to flow out. The mini clip will keep that opening closed when I'm scooping water. It can also help keep the pre-filter in place. Then I just have to hold the ziplock over the dirty bag and undo the clip. If the ziplock wears out, it's dead simple to replace, and it's easier to roll up and store with the filter, too! Weight savings: 10 grams.

Not pictured: Backflushing syringe. The filter comes with a syringe for forcing particles back through the filter to keep it cleaner and keep water going through at a reasonable rate. If you don't do this, the filter can get clogged. The syringe helps keep the filter cleaner and the water flowing. You can see that part here. Some people don't carry it because it's kind of heavy (an ounce!), but it's what keeps the filter healthy. I've seen a couple of people make their own lighter versions, but I'm not sure they will work long-term, so I'm going with carrying the tool for now. [edit: Realized that I can also use the backflushing syringe to irrigate open wounds, so now that I have a second use for it, I'm happier with it in the pack.]

I'll also be carrying a few Katadyn Micropur Purification Tablets for backup water purification in case the filter stops working or in case I have to use some really funky water. They are simple and weigh very little, so they make for a good backup plan. I'll probably take enough for 2 days of water treatment just in case.

Note: "Just In Case" is a phrase you're supposed to look out for when trying to lighten your load. If you have a lot of "Just In Case" items, you're probably packing too much stuff, but in the case of water treatment, which is a pretty important part of hiking, the "Just In Case" is prudent.

Some people experienced problems with Sawyer's earlier bags leaking. The bags have been improved, and I'm pretty gentle with my gear, so I'm not taking a backup dirty bag. I will have two water bottles with me that are compatible with this filter (Smart Water bottles), so if this dirty bag gets destroyed, I'll just use one of those bottles as a dirty bottle. On a different trail with limited water, I'd take another bag, but I don't need the capacity on this trail.

Gear Status Reports

I've decided to add a brief Status Report at the beginning of gear entries. It will look something like this:

Status: 80% In
Weight: 78 grams
Mods: None
Alternatives:

Status will be the percent of certainty that the particular item will be in my bag or on my person when I hit the trail. A few things will get 95-100%. 80%-ish means that I will be taking something from that category along but think that my current version may not make it (my heavy rain jacket is currently in this category. I will take a rain jacket. It will probably be my current one, but to save weight, I may try a different one). Anything less than 50% probably won't make the cut and is probably something I don't need anyway. This rating is mostly to help me make decisions on gear closer to my departure date and to decide where to spend money on lightening the load.

Weight is how much the item weighs. Duh. I'm going with grams for now because it's more precise.

Mods is a list of any modifications I have done or will do to the gear before departure. Sometimes the mods are to solve a problem, sometimes to add or remove a feature, or sometimes to cut weight.

Alternatives is a place for listing possible alternatives or options relevant to that piece of gear. I may also put contingencies here that may change my gear based on weather projections, injuries, etc.

I know all this may seem dumb or overly gear focused to some, but I enjoy planning big projects, so this is just a way for me to document that process.

9.0 mile hike: Silver Lake

Ahh, the holidays. I hadn't been indulging too badly, but I had been sitting on my butt an awful lot. I got back on the scale and...it wasn't good. Not too bad, but going in the wrong direction. Time to get back on the wagon.

I hit up the YMCA yesterday for some time on the rower, stair master, and treadmill. I know some people can just get on one machine and go for a long time, but I am not one of them, so I rotated machines. The stair climber kicked my butt. Legs felt OK, but my cardiovascular conditioning leaves much to be desired. Not unexpected, but not good. I stayed on that thing for just 10 minutes and even then had to take a break in the middle to catch my breath. Borrowing Jeff's iPod helped drown out the other people, so maybe I can make the gym thing work for me. Weights are set up in my home gym in the basement, but I've mostly done bodyweight stuff down there so far. It gets me sore enough for now.

Today I had the whole day free and decided to load up the pack and take it for a walk. 

I did 9 miles (this 4.5 mile trail twice) with 25 pounds on a nature trail and didn't feel too bad until the last mile when I started dragging and my feet started hurting more. I got to try out my new Sawyer Mini water filter along the way, including the adaptations I made to make it gravity fed so I don't always have to squeeze it. Parts of the stream were ice-covered, but there was a convenient area just under a little bridge that had free flowing water so I could use my little dipper thingy to get the water (separate post on water system forthcoming!). I only got about a half a bottle since I mostly just wanted to try out the system, but it worked! Flow rate was slower than I expected, but I just gave it a squeeze to speed up the process.

Every time I go out, I try to learn something or try something to see if it works. Here's what I learned/tried during this trip.

Lessons learned
1. I can get my pullover wind shirt off while walking and without taking the pack off.
2. The ZPacks hip pockets I added to the pack have a reputation for being difficult to close one-handed. I found it's best to hold the bottom of the clip tight against the pocket with my ring finger so it's more or less stable and then use my other fingers to guide the clip to the right place. I think it would be easier if the bottom part of the clip was solidly attached to the pouch, so I may modify it so it is.
3. Payday bars from last summer are tough and stale.
4. My water filter/gravity filter mods work.
5. I had my torso adjustment right the first time (I did a mile with it a bit longer and it wasn't as comfortable).
6. The wind shirt goes a long way toward making chilly temps more comfortable, even with just light layers underneath.
7. I really like the shoulder strap pouches from ZPacks.
8. I'm still questioning my pack choice. It's comfortable but heavy. I'm having trouble pulling the trigger on the ZPacks Arc Blast, but I need to decide soon so I can commit to my current pack and start trimming things off it to lighten it or order a new pack so I can put some miles on it this winter.

----------

When I got home, I tried out a trail smoothie recipe of Carnation Instant Breakfast, dried milk, PB2 (powdered peanut butter) and a cup of water. Dry weight was a little over 3 oz, and it had 18 grams of protein, which is good for me after a hike. I'm aiming for 100 calories per ounce on my trip, and this is a bit shy of that, but it should be close to that mark when I use dried whole milk instead of non-fat. I just poured the water in and shook it up. The PB didn't mix in very easily, but I didn't mind the chunks.

Even better was this post-smoothie drink. Can't get this one on the trail, but it's nice to have at home!

Two Brothers Domaine DuPage French Style Country Ale

Camp Coffee: Trader Joe's Instant

Status: 80% In
Weight: 12 grams each packet
Mods: None
Alternatives: Vinacafe or espresso powder in Carnation Instant Breakfast  (too gritty)

I like my coffee in the morning. I never drank coffee much until we lived in Utah where coffee was "naughty" and where people who liked it really knew about it and could help a coffee newbie like me learn to appreciate it. So now I like a nice Americano when I can get it and do just fine with some locally roasted stuff in my Mr. Coffee the rest of the time. I really don't know whether I will want coffee first thing in the morning on the trail, but I think I will like the ritual of it, so I've been on the hunt for the easiest decent instant coffee I can find.

I do have a French Press for my Jetboil stove, and while it's nice when I have plenty of clean water for clean-up and a good place to dispose of the leftover grounds, I can't see myself messing with it day after day. Plus, if I'm having some good French Press coffee, instant creamer just doesn't cut it.

For my bicycle tours and other travel, I've tried making my own coffee packets out of Starbucks Via with a bit of sugar and instant creamer, but while Via was better than some of the alternatives, it still wasn't satisfying enough, and pre-mixing the creamer and sugar with the coffee left the coffee kind of stale. Plus, it was just kind of a pain in the butt.

A few weeks ago, though, I picked up the Trader Joe's Instant Coffee packets that already have the cream and sugar in them. Cheap. Light. Not bad.

Well, they aren't bad as long as you put only about 6 oz. of water with them. They also aren't bad mixed in with Vanilla Carnation Instant Breakfast, which I plan to use on trail sometimes so I can get at least a few vitamins. Good enough for me for the trail. The only other kind I'm going to try is the
Vinacafe Vietnamese Coffee, which has much better reviews than the TJ's packets in terms of how strong the coffee is, but I haven't ordered any of that kind yet to test it. I'll let you know which one wins the coffee packet wars!

Edit: New alternative! My husband got me a nice burr grinder for Christmas, so the other alternative is grinding my own coffee on the lowest espresso setting to get espresso powder, which I can drink in the Vanilla Carnation Instant Breakfast packets I plan to take. Not ideal in terms of texture, but that would get me my caffeine! Update: This one is a no-go. Taste is ok, but the texture is too gritty for me to really enjoy. I want to enjoy my morning coffee, so this option is out.

I'll also take some tea for warming up in the evenings, but tea selection is less important to me than coffee selection...

Jello legs and abs so sore it hurts to sneeze...

I haven't said as much about my diet/exercise progress because I didn't do such a great job of focusing on that in the past month. However, I'm back in business now that I'm less busy--walking more with the pack, lifting and doing body weight exercises in my basement, eating my veggies. I'm down around 5 lbs. now but there's no more time to waste if I really am going to have a negative pack weight.

Today I did body weight squats, some ab work, calf raises, supermans (lower back), and a few other exercises before work. My legs were all jello-like when I got done. I walked to work and then walked to the grocery store and back. On the way back, the pack was 33 pounds, which is uncomfortable and more than I will carry on the trail, but we were running low on a lot of things, and I threw in a bag of apples at the last minute. The good news is that now I know what that weight feels like and am motivated to get more weight off my body and out of my pack.

We'll see how the legs feel tomorrow and the day after.

The Gym.
I used to really like the gym. In grad school, my apartment complex had free memberships to a nearby gym, and I used it at least 3x per week. With my schedule, I could go in the early afternoon as a mental break between classes and studying. I took a weightlifting class and got strong. It was great. Then the free memberships went away, I moved to a different part of town, my classes and research took up more and more time, and I let my fitness slip. Big time.

I really want to like the gym again, but as I use my current membership less and less, I realize that I just don't like it so much. There are a lot of kids around, including high school kids who think that sitting on a weight bench talking to their friends is a good way to use their gym time, and one too many well-meaning but ultimately annoying people who want to "help" me in the weight room. One guy told me "for sure" I was using one piece of equipment wrong (I wasn't)...not that he used it, but he saw it on TV at the Crossfit Games. Dude. Not the same piece of equipment. Not the same exercise. Not the same muscles worked. Not any of your damn business. Most people do mind their own business, but I'm realizing that I like lifting in my own basement better even if I can't do some things because of limited equipment.

There are two things keeping me from canceling my membership, though. One: It's the only place nearby to swim that doesn't require a long-term contract, I kind of like swimming now after I took some lessons last winter, and it could be decent cross training (though I'm not a very good swimmer, so this benefit isn't as good as it could be). Two: I live in a freakin' flat area, so even if I walk a lot of miles outside, I'm not getting the leg workout I'll need to do well on the trail. I can get to some hills or long sets of stairs on weekends, but I really should just get into the gym and use the incline on the treadmill and the stair climber thingy during the week. So...I'm going to keep the membership for now, but I'm planning on canceling it before I get on the trail and using the money to build myself more equipment in my basement instead.

Gear Selection Philosophy

In hiking circles, the acronym HYOH (Hike Your Own Hike) is used over and over again to remind people that the decisions other people make may or may not be the decisions you make on your hike. HYOH means that you should decide your own distance, pace, and style. HYOH means you should also get to decide your own gear, including its weight and comfort, though certain hiking forums might seem to indicate that unless you buy the latest/greatest/lightest that you're doing it wrong.

Gear for me is about compromises between weight, comfort, and money, and those things are always in tension. I thoroughly enjoy researching my way through that tension and seeing which compromises result (really... since my first long bicycle tour, gear research has been a hobby). On the money side of things, I'm just going out for a few weeks, so I don't want to devote huge sums of money to buying the latest/greatest/lightest gear. If I were doing a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail for something like 6 months, I'd probably spend a little more to get my pack weighing a little less. For this trip, though, I'm shelling out the most money for things I didn't have (like a 1-person tent) and selectively upgrading a few things. On the weight side of things, I like taking advantage of newer materials and technologies that result in UL (Ultralight) gear, and some of the UL stuff is just so damn cool! I'll take some UL things with me, but I'm not willing to spend a bunch of money to save an ounce here and there when I still have a lot of extra body weight to take care of. I'm also aware that I'll carry more than is absolutely necessary because I'm traveling alone and believe in being able to get myself out of most pickles by myself. There's also another hiking saying that the more you know, the less you have to carry. I'm no survivalist, and when I hit the trail, I'll still have some backup gear that other hikers wouldn't carry because they have more knowledge and have made different compromises.

Comfort is the last big factor and the one where HYOH is most relevant. To some extent, backpacking is about deprivation. As an admirer of minimalism, that appeals to me. Backpacking consists largely of 3 things: walking, sleeping, and eating. Minimizing pack weight makes walking more comfortable but may make sleeping and eating less so since you might not carry a cushy sleep set-up (or a pillow) or a stove when you're trying to minimize weight.

I know from my bicycle touring that I am willing to carry a bit more than some people in the name of comfort. I'm sure my husband will attest to the fact that I can get a bit grumpy if I don't have good sleep, so I carry a warmer (slightly heavier) sleeping bag, an air mattress, and a small pillow (I've tried every fake-pillow known to campers--including dirty clothes, a jacket, a blown up water bladder, etc.--and none of them work well for me). I know this is a good set-up for me, and while I could get the weight down by buying new versions of what I have, what I have is good enough. I'm also a bit grumpy when I'm too cold for too long, so I err on the side of warmth and may take an extra layer or so that someone else might not (see rain pants below). I also find great pleasure in eating, so I'm taking my stove. I cannot live on pop-tarts alone.

Anyway...

All this means is that my gear should not be your gear. This blog is no ultimate gear list or best gear list or any other kind of gear list to emulate. There are thousands of other gear lists online, and some of them do purport to be definitive. My gear will keep evolving as the tension among those three big factors shifts. Future trips will probably see less and lighter gear as I keep upgrading things when necessary or when I get good deals. I know some of my stuff is a little on the heavy side, but so am I. The gear won't determine my success or failure on the trail, but it's certainly fun for me to research it!