The backpacking thread

[sixstringsteve]

I know there are quite a few of you backpackers out there. Where have you been recently? What gear have you been geeking out on? What trips do you have planned? What's on your bucket list?

 

[sixstringsteve]

My wife and I are starting to get into backpacking and we'd love to have some friends to camp with. We're not into hardcore death marches, or 30-day overnighters. We're starting small until we get a system down where it's easy and convenient to go. We're learning more about ultralighting and we're finding that it's not going to be hard to shed a good 5 lbs from our setup.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Even though I've been camping a ton lately, it's been years since I've been backpacking. My wife and I decided to start small and backpack up to Lake Hardy.

We'd both been backpacking in our younger days, but it was a bit of a re-learning experience to do it again. We have a couple buddies who are into ultralighting, and although we have heavier gear, we decided to try a minimalist approach so we didn't have such a heavy pack. My pack was 18 lbs including 3L of water and all food, and my wife's pack was 20 lbs. It worked out really well since it was a single overnighter, and we had a great time.

We took Schoolhouse Springs to the 1st Hamangog, to East Hamangong, then up around South Thunder, to camp in the meadow below the lake. We went back down the way we came. Next time we'll try going through the Second Hemangog.

I hardly slept all night for fear of mountain lions and bears, but we were not visited by any animals all night. What a beautiful, strenuous, and rewarding hike. That might be the toughest 5 mile climb I've ever done. I'm looking forward to lightening my load even more and enjoying more backpacking trips.

Here's a link to more info about the trail:
http://www.summitpost.org/lake-hardy/163360


Here's a video of our trip:
[video=youtube;_G5e3bL0YJA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G5e3bL0YJA&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[sixstringsteve]

I like our MSR water filter, but I think a UV filter like the Camelbak one would be really nice. The MSR is a bit heavy it seems.

I also need a lighter bag. I LOVE my marmot coloir 0* bag for car camping, I'm never cold in it. But it's 3.7 lbs. I could definitely go with something lighter. I like the weight and reviews of the Zbags 20* that Mesha has, but I need to try it out sometime and see if it'd work for me. It sucks that it has a 6+ week delay time, but I totally understand why.

I'm also looking at this one:
http://www.backcountry.com/western-...ite-super-sleeping-bag-10-degree-down-wes0034

It's nice and light, and it has a hood and zipper, which would be great for me, I like the tightly-fitting bags. I think I could also get away with a quilt-top, but a mummy is definitely my preference, as long as it's small,light, and warm enough for my needs.

 

[clfrnacwby]

I took my 7 year old to Pittsburg Lake this weekend - I wanted to start really small to give him a chance to get acclimated. He did great! Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera; honestly, I only thought we'd get part way up there before the complaining would start and we would have to turn around. I think we'll limit ourselves to shorter trips like that for now.

I, however, am interested in backpacking to Lake Hardy soon so this thread is very timely! I'll be interested to see what others have planned as well!

 

[clfrnacwby]

One question I do have is about water filtering. Would you feel comfortable taking water from places such as Pittsburg and Hardy lakes and drinking it (after filtering/purifying, of course)? Which would you recommend...filtering or purifying (with tablets)?

 

[Kevin B.]

I'm working on my wife, but I haven't quite convinced her that backpacking is a good idea yet.

 

[skiboarder]

One question I do have is about water filtering. Would you feel comfortable taking water from places such as Pittsburg and Hardy lakes and drinking it (after filtering/purifying, of course)? Which would you recommend...filtering or purifying (with tablets)?

if you filter then use the UV purification you could just about drink out of a latrine. Not that I would. I have the msr ceramic filter. It does a fantastic job. I will be getting the UV system soon.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I took my 7 year old to Pittsburg Lake this weekend - I wanted to start really small to give him a chance to get acclimated. He did great! Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera; honestly, I only thought we'd get part way up there before the complaining would start and we would have to turn around. I think we'll limit ourselves to shorter trips like that for now.

Did you guys spend the night, or just hike up and back one day? I'd love to do an overnighter up Pittsburgh lake and another one up Silver Lake.

 

[blznnp]

I would love to get back into backpacking but just like anything else, I never can due to time. I use to go on 50 mile back packing trips when I was younger.

 

[sixstringsteve]

One question I do have is about water filtering. Would you feel comfortable taking water from places such as Pittsburg and Hardy lakes and drinking it (after filtering/purifying, of course)? Which would you recommend...filtering or purifying (with tablets)?

Davy and Jamie did a great overview of water purification at the QTD, it really opened my eyes. We filtered the water from Lake Hardy with our MSR Ceramic and it tasted great. It'll take a few more weeks to see if we got sick from anything, but I'm confident that my filter got any bacteria out. We don't have to worry about aids and viruses as much in these areas. Repeating what I remember from Davy, purifying tablets take from 45-60 min before they completely treat the water. That can be a long time to wait for water.

That being said, I still want a UV filter like a steripen or the camelbak UV bottle (I'm a big Camelbak fanboy even though I know there's other equal or better stuff out there.)

 

[sixstringsteve]

This is a great talk I found:

[video=youtube;FGQTcQhL08A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGQTcQhL08A[/video]

 

[sixstringsteve]

I assume the secret to enjoying and getting good at backpacking is just like everything else: start small, and learn as you go. I'm not ready to do a 50-miler, but the more I do it, the closer to preparedness I'll be. I think I'll need a good 10-20 overnighters before I get a feel for what I need to bring and what I don't.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I'd be game for a Pitsburgh Lake or Silver Lake overnighter this Friday or Saturday night. Who's in?

 

[clfrnacwby]

Did you guys spend the night, or just hike up and back one day? I'd love to do an overnighter up Pittsburgh lake and another one up Silver Lake.

We camped at lower Mineral Basin Friday night and hiked to the lake on Saturday.

 

[clfrnacwby]

I'd be game for a Pitsburgh Lake or Silver Lake overnighter this Friday or Saturday night. Who's in?

I'd love to but have a family reunion @ Bear Lake this weekend so I'm out.

 

[clfrnacwby]

Davy and Jamie did a great overview of water purification at the QTD, it really opened my eyes. We filtered the water from Lake Hardy with our MSR Ceramic and it tasted great. It'll take a few more weeks to see if we got sick from anything, but I'm confident that my filter got any bacteria out. We don't have to worry about aids and viruses as much in these areas. Repeating what I remember from Davy, purifying tablets take from 45-60 min before they completely treat the water. That can be a long time to wait for water.

That being said, I still want a UV filter like a steripen or the camelbak UV bottle (I'm a big Camelbak fanboy even though I know there's other equal or better stuff out there.)

I've purified lots of water when hunting deep in the woods with tablets. Yes, it does take a LONG time. I'm going to look into these UV filters...thanks!

 

[sixstringsteve]

My wife and I have been reading this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Ultralight-Ba...Lightweight/dp/0762763841/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

which has some really great tips to lightening up for free. I used to think I needed to drop $3,000 to get all this uber light gear, but this book has really helped us find a lot of free things we can do to lighten up. Example: a beer-can stove and can is still lighter than a white-gas stove, and does just fine for boiling water.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I'd like to learn how to make my own dehydrated meals too.

 

[skippy]

Davy is the man when it comes to back packing, He is actually in Greenland right now on a 3 week long back packing trip across some glacier......doesnt even sound a little bit fun to me