Date: 2008-08-09
From: Home 

To: Home 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

In Which Mistakes and Set-backs are Analyzed and Solutions Explored...Tuesday, August 12, a turbulent day in Maine, with alternating downpours and brief hints of sun, ominous cloud activity and bright white flatness in the sky. I¢ve thought a lot about the errors in planning and judgement that I made during that last hitch in the Whites. Let¢s enumerate them:1. Failed to organize gear before leaving for NH2. Chose to leave final packing to the morning, just before leaving for the trailhead.3. Did not use a checklist for gear, clothing or food.4. During rainy night in tent, did not corral all gear and place in large black trashbag.5. Failed to check that I had ample Aqua Mira before leaving. (It was close).6. Left rainpants at home, using old theory that nothing keeps you dry in summer rains. 7. Had no meds for belly px in first aide kit.8. Omitted 2 gal. ziplocks in which I usually pack dry clothes and store wet clothes. Let¢s begin, shall we?1. I have learned here that what I do at home before going to the trail, had a big impact on how comfortable I will be. Since I have packed up so many times this year, I erroneously figured that I could forgo the detailed checklists and just go by common sense and memory. I was a little lethargic that day, and had little zest for accuracy in planning, so I threw things into piles and figured that what I needed would be in there, somewhere. TO DO: Plan detailed needs and pack accordingly for every trip.2. I am not much of a morning type, functioning far better in the evening. I was definitely taking a risk by leaving that important a task to a rushed half hour, first thing after waking. TO DO: Get backpack totally packed, with list for last-minutes, before going to bed on eve of trip.3. I mean, how hard can it be to cover meals for three days, sleeping things, clothes and misc., huh? Harder than you think. TO DO: Make and use a checklist at every stage, including a punch list that gets used before embarking for trailhead. ( Boots? Poles? etc.)4. So, there I was, in the tent, knowing it could rain hard that night, already dealing with piles of wet clothes, and I just let the little piles proliferate because I was too lethargic to tend to it. The tent's angle was slightly skewed, due to being set up on the platform, causing some backsplash I otherwise might not have had. Stuff along the edges got drenched. I mean, wring-it-out drenched. I carried pounds of H2O in amongst my pack contents that day, due to that oversight. The pack itself, by sitting under a vestibule but on a soaking wet platform all night, absorbed a lot of rain. TO DO: Carry extra heavy-duty trash bag, (check for holes first) place all pack contents into pack liner, and pack into trash bag, when rain threatens.5. It was only after I was on the trail that I noticed how low the dropper bottles of Aqua Mira were getting. As you will see, issues did occur, but not from running out of the stuff, just from not using it every time.TO DO: Check and replace water treatment drops or tabs upon returning from a trip.6. OK, so I have heard and believed that in the summer, you might as well hike in your shorts, as you¢ll get soaked in the rain whether you wear rainpants or not. However, in NE in August, it gets cool up high, and with wind, carries body heat off pretty quickly. I was getting cold even hiking uphill, with nylon windpants and no other layers on my legs. TO DO: Carry thin tights and regular rainpants after height of summer.7. On my last hike I encountered troubling symptoms, gastric distress, which I have not haad to deal with before. I have a first aide kit with a few OTC meds for symptoms I get occasionally. It would be prudent to include a few meds for unfamiliar woes, as they do sometimes strike.TO DO: Update supply of OTC remedies and keep it current.8. I mean, how silly is it when a person, such as myself, assumes there are plastic bags aplenty in the pack somewhere, and doesn¢t make sure?I needed several 2 gal ziplocks, for dry stuff, for slightly damp stuff, for soaked stuff. As it was, I wrapped a bunch of wet stuff in an old space blanket, and jammed more between the pack liner and the pack itself. TO DO: Bring ¢adequate plus an extra¢ 2 gal ziplock for dry clothes management for each hike. I can see how terribly fussy this must appear to the casual observer, and I would have been among you until experience altered my POV. Just about any old thing works for hiking in good weather, but things really change in the rain and wind, especially multiple days of same. Now on to a little talk about water borne parasites...