Date: 2005-02-27
To: Prep - Day 5
Miles today: 0.0

Today is Sunday - 2nd, and last day at the unofficial "2003 NOBO Thru-hiker Reunion" at Hungry Mother State Park.I'm having a thoroughly enjoyable time with eight folks who invited me into their rented cabin and graciously allowed me to "yogi" their food, tasty "beverages", and listen to/tolerate my SOBO hiking accounts. Who says that NOBOs and SOBOs can't get along? Hungry Mother is a really nice State Park. You should try to visit it one day if you can. They have about 10 different hiking trails that vary in difficulty. Their "hard" trail is up Mollies Ridge - a 3,200 ft high view of the surrounding area. That particular trail is not a "push over" by any stretch of the imagination. Although it starts as a graded trail with switchbacks, it soon turns into a non-graded, rocky and rooty climb up a pretty steep ascent. Maybe not as steep as the climbs between the NOC and Fontana - but still a nice acent.The ULA Fusion backpack that I'm field testing seemed to do pretty well on this trail. My starting weight was around 27 pounds (per Miss Janet's house scale). One thing I noticed is the need to tighten the hip belt pretty securely to keep the pack from riding too low on my hips. Some of that may be due to the Fusion having less padding on it's help belt than the Vapor Trail. I can live with that.The Fusion has quite a bit of straps and attachment buckles/clips - more than the Vapor Trail. A lot of these have to do with the Fusion using a folded sleeping pad in a special carrier between your back and the pack. This innovative idea does work well for me. I'm not sure if all of those speciality straps and attachments are going to be needed "down the road" - but I don't want to even think about messing (removing) them at this time. Everything works fine, as is.The packsack for the Fusion is slightly smaller in circumference than the Vapor Trails. Where my 0-degree down bag would fit (in it's sack) at the bottom of the Vapor Trail; in the Fusion the sleeping bag had to be stood up on one side of the packsack interior. On the other side I placed my similar-size clothing sack. On top of both sacks went my Zoid tent; food sack; and accessory items. Eveything fit within the packsack - although I did have to use part of the extension collar to close the top.I like the convenience of the Fusion's compression straps. There are two compression straps on each side of the pack that lead to a snap/lock buckle strap on each side. This arrangement makes it very easy (and quick) to pack or unpack. You only have to adjust the strap once and then just snap or unsnap the buckle. Some folks have commented that this results in a potential "single point of failure" but I'm not too worried about that. Also, the compression straps on the Fusion in no way block the two, exterior pockets. On the Vapor Trail, the lower compression straps, if pulled tight, squeeze the contents in the exterior pockets and make them inaccessible until you loosen the compression straps.One disappointment, though, about the Fusion. I found that I could not reach my water bottle when it was stored in one of the exterior pockets. I tried and tried to twist my arm around to reach and remove the bottle - could not do so. Maybe there is another way to do so and I just haven't figured it out yet. Otherwise, you will either need to remove the pack or ask another hiker to hand it to you. Or - use a water bladder or buy an optional water bottle holder for the shouldar strap/hip belt.The exterior pockets are made of durable mesh and seem ideal to use for storing a wet tent body in one pocket and tent fly in the other after a rainy night. The packsack material seems pretty durable (but perhaps a bit thinner than the Vapor Trail packsack). ULA, when you purchase your pack, sends a two-page "manual" on how to adjust and use the pack. They do advise folks that there are "trade-offs" with carrying a two-pound, lightweight pack - and that durability is one of them. I accept that. The Fusion will require that you not mistreat it by tossing it on the ground, etc. If I had to guess, I'd say it should do fine for at least half of the AT's distance. After that, I wouldn't be too surprised if it will need some type of fabric repair or replacement. Again, just an un-educated guess on my part.I didn't order any of the ULA accessories. Now I realize I will need some type of water bottle attachment for the shouldar/hip straps. But I can find something at Walmart/wherever to use for that.