Date: 2010-02-07
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Miles today: 0.0

Well, it's been a while since I have updated my journal and in the last month much of my plans have really been falling into place. I have gotten most of the rest of my gear, went on one more shakedown, a hike, and have finished up the reservations to get to Georgia.For my tent I ended up selling the Hubba; I loved it, but it just didn't work with the dog. I ended up instead going with the Tarptent Double Rainbow. I have heard great things about this tent but I tell ya figuring it out this time of year has been an adventure! With all the snow on the ground I didn't want to seam seal the tent outside so I set it up in one of the shops here at the ranch which was quite an adventure. I found out my poles were too short for the freestanding method which was kind of dissapointing and made it a real pain to set up in the shop. I mixed the sealant according to the directions but I think it may have been too runny still. Basically I am worried about getting my down bag and myself soaked in the first cold pouring rain that falls on the trail during my trip. I'm considering setting the tent up when I go home to Spokane to attempt to seam seal it once again (and at least check the waterproofing), we'll see.As for Kelly, turns out the Ruffwear Approach pack small is too big and the xsmall is too small so I tried the Mountainsmith brand size small and we are both MUCH happier with it. She went on a seven mile hike last weekend with it and we went on an overnight backpacking trip this weekend and she seemed very comfortable with it and the weight load. I didn't notice any rubbing or discomfort so we should be good to go.I mentioned in my last entry about a possible three night trip up in the Pryors. The trip was then changed into two nights due to time constraints from my hiking partner but we headed up this last weekend to the same spot we were at before. We drove up five miles on the four wheel drive road and stopped where the last vehicle had decided the snow was too deep to continue. The snow was plentiful at the beggining of the hike (around 4 inches with drifts up to a foot) but you can imagine what it did after climbing another 3000 feet. Unfortunately I had a mixup of addresses with the gaiters I ordered. They arrived home in Spokane Wednesday so all this snow hiking was gaiterless :S. After several miles of hiking we were in approximately 2 feet of snow and I had let myself get quite dehydrated and my feet felt like they had been walking in a marsh so we decided to set up camp, good thing too. I quickly changed into dry clothes and layed in my sleeping bag for a while to warm up. In the evening we got a few flurries but nothing to really stress about. There was a storm arriving Sunday so we thought maybe it would be a good idea just to head back to low land the next day and camp at a lower elevation (thoughts of driving my pickup down that four wheel drive road five miles in fresh snow gave me nightmares). The temperature at night dropped into the mid teens, I stayed very warm and woke up slightly sweaty (whoops) but the person I was with was shivering for much of the night. I had warned him about keeping snow OUT of the tent and being completely dry before heading to bed but the warnings were ignored and the consequences endured. He didnt want to spend another night out so to my dissapointment (I wanted to try out my tent the next night in the campground. we set his up on the trip) we headed out the next day.Woke up in the morning to nothing other than snow. Not the light flurries we had the night before, this was real stuff. We packed up our things and headed down the mountain where I learned a valuable lesson. Approximately two miles or more out of camp I asked my hiking partner to make sure my tent was still on my pack and when he told me nothing was back there I about had a heart attack! We ended up hiking almost all the way back to where we had camped through heavy snowfall and deep snow until we finally spotted the tent, whoo! What a celebration! I learned to strap my tent on so it won't fall out like that next time.So we continued on our journey down and in a meadow I stopped to adjust something and lo and behold behind us was a band of wild horses! These horses were a bit more shy than the ones we had run into last time but they were still beautiful. The horses just made the day.Albeit this trip was a bit more of a Winter trip than the last and hiking all uphill through the snow was tiring but it was a wonderful trip none the less and my last one before I head out for the big trip Kelly had a great time this weekend. This was the first time she carried full weight in her pack and even with the snow she fared very well (better than us). She had a great time bouncing through the snow drifts and when we went back to find my tent I took her pack off and she went zooming through the snow just having a ball! Possibly her favorite part of the trip besides the snow was sitting by the fire. In the morning before we had a fire started she went and sat by the dead fire from the night before and kept looking at us as to ask "so whos getting the fire started?". Kelly had a great time and having her along always makes things more enjoyable.As for my start date, it has been pushed to March 11th. My mom is flying over with Kelly and I on the ninth and so I will be spending two nights with her before I head out. Flights are reserved, motels are set, now it's just a waiting game