Date: 2011-01-16
To: shakedown walk
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: snow

Today I made travel reservations to get to Hiker Hostel/Springer mt! READINESS?   Mental? A OK   Physical? DOUBTFULStarted the day with EE and made a must do list of my home responsibilities before leaving for 6 mos. This is getting more real.Then bought a one way airline ticket to Atlanta GA!   Then updated my excel gear list and repacked my winter start stuff with my latest tweaks.   Dry weight came out at 17.2 lbs. (no food or water, but every thing else down to personal electronics and trail guide page) Pretty good considering every thing is XXL, size 15 etc. A slight increase due to adding more warm clothes for safety. Put together first 4 1/2 days food with 2weeks medications and staples: 10 lbs. So 29 lbs start with a quart of water.Went for a 2hr hike up the ridge behind the house with just dry pack. Was amazed again at how well the Granite Gear Vapor Trail carries! Tried using an oversized stuff sack for my down bag at least twice the size stuff sack compared to what came with the Marmot helium bag. The sleeping bag now is much looser and easier to pack. It fills the whole bottom of the pack, making the part on my hips lighter, more cushioned, moving denser stuff higher.At the top of the ridge a frontal band moved thru with thunder, lightening high wind and sleet. The open views out West are amazing clouds, multiple ranges, salt lake etc. Not sure if I can handle the "green tunnel."My Packa worked great.   When the front moved temp dropped 25 degrees in a few minutes with wind making it hard to stand. Loved being able to pull on the packa without taking off the pack or even stopping!   It was blowing so hard my ears hurt from the noise of the sleet hitting the side of the packa hood! It is terrific that the Packa also covers my front packstraps and pockets holding my electronics.   Only drawback is no way to get into the pack without taking off both the packa and the pack! I did not have gloves and hands got completely numb in the 35 minutes it took to jog home. Could be bad news if hands too numb to work zippers and set up shelter. Next time: put gloves in the packa's pocket so they out when the packa deploys from it's packcover.Need to try tying tent tarp to the bottom outside of pace so I can set it up with packa and back on, if weather too bad to make next shelter.Gear tweaks:Decided to start with Big Agnes Insulated Air Core mattress instead of Themarest Neo-air. Used Big Agnes pad on overnight to Kings Peak, Utah (13,504') last Sept. Camped on a scree pile at 12,500' on rocks from softball to football size.....had to build a rock wall to keep from sliding down the mt. I was actually really comfy on the~3" thick pad! Henry Shires Contrail Tarp-tent also excelled in tough conditions: Gusts 30-50mph all night with no windbreak and no soil to stake. Tent stayed up all night, no tears or worn spots from the jagged rocks under..Could not sleep at all due to wind noise, until plugged in Ipod with relaxing music all night. Will get a new 16 GB Nano, in addition to music and books on tape in my cell phone. Also added wax earplugs. Should be ready for shelter snorers. Also don't want to get complacent about Eastern weather. Last time camping in "mellow" Shenandoah Park, the wind sounded like jet engines on the runway howling thru the tall hardwoods. Will go ahead and try steri-pen. It has been a little flukey to make work sometimes, but I think I can outsmart it after practice. Love the natural taste of the water! Already have 5 months of spare batteries for it. Will carry 2 weeks of chlorine tablets tho just in case. If it doesn't pan out, should be easy to pick up a filter along the trail.