Date: 2007-08-13
From: Gorhem

To: Gorhem
Miles today: 0.0

part 2.....Things I learned: Above all the most important thing is to have a packing system that keeps your gear dry when your hiking. That is the time when it is the most likely to get wet. I have hiked in a lot of prolonged or hard rains. Having dry clothes and sleeping bag to get into after can really save your butt. I have seen a few people roll into the shelter with wet gear. It didn't look to fun. I'll get off the soap box now. Just seeing the french girl with mild hypothermia and a story Jenn and Maieh told me about a man they found in really bad shape, really made me to want to get this point across. My noseeum headnet/stuff sack is really nice. I put anything wet or dirty clothes in them while I'm hiking. It also makes a really nice laundry bag when going to the laundry mat. Warning hammock content. Everyone, including myself, is always saying to use noseeum or other netting for the snake skins on your tarp. It maybe a little lighter than ripstop. But the main reason given is to help the tarp air out throughout the day. It doesn't really help at all. Everytime my tarp goes away wet, it comes out at the end of the day wet. It may make a difference if I got it out of the pack during the day, but I doubt it. Only a small part of the tarp is exposed to air flow. The rest is rolled up in itself, which is waterproof and non-breathable. I think my next ones will be untreated 1.1 ripstop. The noseeum is about 1oz per square yard, so the weight should be about the same. I really need a hydration system. I switched out my nylgene at Andover for a poweraid after it started leaking. I am drinking noticably less. Probibly around 25-30% less. With the hydration, I drink as I go. That gives me a more constant intake of water. I also am carrying more water. Water is starting to get farther away. Before I was only carrying 1 liter at a time. Now I am carrying 2. I am told by the northbounders that the lower states are having the worst drowt in 100 years. Along with a huge heat wave. A lot of people are getting off the trail and waiting it out. Some are carrying 4 liters of water. In places it is 14 miles or so apart. Speaking of water, I think I am going to switch out my water treatment. I have been thinking about this for awhile. I want something almost instant. I am worried about the long term effects of using the clorine treatment I am not using. I know it is really similar to what cities use. I also have to wait 35 minutes to drink my water. I don't want to use iodine, that is horrible for the body. The going thought is that adding viteman C to it cancels out the bad effects and taste, I still have my doubts. And there still is the wait. Filters are heavy and time consuming to use, but they are istant. I just don't want to sit there and pump for 30 minutes. Which leaves something new out in the last year or so. The steri-pen uses ultra-violet light for 45 seconds. It is supposed to remove everything pretty much. I talked to a northbounder using it and he loved it. The instant non-chemical is what I like. It is not supposed to work well on cloudy water. It I am thinki! ng about adding coffee filters to my pack anyways. These will remove most of the sediment before it gets in. Only once over the last month that would have been an issue. Cost wise it is around $80-90. Which is big upfront. But my aquia-mira I'm using now costs about $14 and lasts 2-3 weeks. Overtime it should be the same or cheaper. Plus one battery should last the whole hike. It takes AA's which are the same as my headlamp, pocketmail, and camera so that isn't an issue. I am either going to get it at an outfitters here if they have them, or order it and pic it up in the next town. Coffee making. I was using the jetboil coffee press. I lost one of the piece in andover. It will be $20 to get a new one. I am going to try coffee filters for awhile. My thinking is that I can put the filter ontop of my jetboil cup, then put the lid on. Then pour out the coffee. That should work. The filter should pick up all of the grouds, which the press does not. The only drawback is that the filters generate more trash to carry and are single use, which means I'll have to carry more. But they are really cheap. I think $10 for the rest of my hike. They are really light. So carrying 50 or so would be about the same as the coffee press. I am also in towns more often, so at most 10 used ones per section. Plus I can use them to filter my drinking water. Something I started doing that may or may not matter, but at night I stick my trekking poles in the ground. These is supposed to be alot of porqupines up here. The shelters are even madea little diffeent so they do not chew on the. I have not seen one yet though. They like to chew on anything salty. My handles are make of cork and I sweat a lot. I figure it woud only take once and other animals like to chew on salt. May not make a difference, but it makes me feel better.