Date: 2018-10-14
To: Foothills trail
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Foothills Trail shakedown hike.14 October: Table Rock Trailhead to a secret spot.  12 miles15 October.  Secret spot to Toxaway River 17 miles.  16 October Toxaway River to Whitewater Falls junction sign to get water and then back to the first campsite past the Bad Creek parking lot.  I got to practice using my rain gear and setting up my tent in the rain. 19 miles17 October: Back to the Toxaway River.18 October: Back to my secret spot. Bear hunting season started.  I couldn¢t believe how many hunters were out. I¢m glad they aren¢t using dogs this weekend.19 October: Back to Table Rock and then drive home.What I learned Packs: I was still using my ULA Circuit backpack.  It has served me well for 3 years in the Sierra and numerous Foothill Trail training hikes.  Sometimes I don¢t pack it correctly and it gets off balance. When this happens it lists to my left and puts strain on my shoulder.  It also doesn¢t have any air flow around the back. I end up sweating like a pig and the packs starts to stink. In 2017 one day before we were set to step off on our Sierra hike the top flap of the Circuit ripped while I was packing it.  I think the abrasion from the BearVault 500 caused it. Luckily there was an REI an hour away and they had an Osprey Exos in my size. My wife has been using the Exos for 4 years without issue. I enjoyed the pack and it carried 34 pounds (8 days of food, ice ax, microspikes) well.  100 miles into the hike the shoulder strap buckle blew out and I had to fix it with a cable tie (borrowed from a hiking buddy aka Scarlet). This was very disappointing and could have been a real issue. At the end of the hike I took the Exos back to REI for a full refund. During this hike I was thinking of getting another Exos because of the back sweat issue being compounded with the humidity on the AT.Water: The Boy Scouts have installed cisterns in some of the streams to collect water.  It¢s hard to get water using a bottle of bladder. I cut the top off of Sawyer bag for dipping into cistern.  The Sawyer bag makes a good dipping tool (as compared to a cut off bottle) because it holds a lot of water and folds for easy storage. I tried my Sawyer filter with my Platypus Gravity feed dirty bag.  It worked well. Next time I¢m going to try it using a bottle to hold the dirty water. Toilet supplies: I tried out the Boulder Bidet system.  It works great and will save me from taking and packing out so much toilet paper. I put 1 drop of Dr. Bonners soap in it and save some water to my wash hands when I finished cleaning up the nether region.Clothes:  I purchased RailRiders insect shield treated Eco-Mesh pants and Journeyman long sleeve shirt for the hike.  The pants have a full length zipper on each leg to add ventilation. The shirt has mesh along the arms and pits to aid in ventilation.  They dried quickly after I took a dip in the river. My Exoffico underwear didn¢t dry out.Organization.  Either Darwin or Bigfoot suggested packing each days food in its own gallon bag.  This was a great organization tool and time saver. Rain gear.  My umbrella in conjunction with my Patagonia Helium wind jacket (unzipped) and ULA rain kilt worked great.  I kept dry and cool. I didn¢t have my umbrella setup to attach to my backpack for hands-free carry. It¢s no fun going up steep grades with one trekking pole because you have an umbrella in the other hand.Slip hazards. Wet rocks, roots, and bridge boards are always slippery.  I slipped off a plank laying across a creek and got my foot wet.  I slipped again as I was walking down rocky outcrops to get to the Horse Pasture River.  I was busy looking around for snakes and failed notice a slick rock. I slipped and fell flat on my back. Luckily I still had my pack on. I forgot my wet rocks are wet rule and slipped off a rock underneath a bridge and fell into a pool of gross nasty water.  Repairs. Zpacks cuben fiber repair tape fixes holes in water bladders.  I learned this in 2017 when my microspikes poked a hole in the water bottle I kept in my back mesh pocket. I used it this trip to repair my Platypus dirty bag with got several holes from my slip at the river.Water supplement additives.  I use Nuun electrolyte replacement tabs and Amazing Grass tablets.  I seem to have trouble with the Nuun tablets affecting my mental state.  I¢m not sure but it seems like I get a bad attitude after drinking water with Nunn added.Pacing: I promised myself to take it easy and this trip and not try to break any personal PRs (personal speed records).  Sometimes I get too competitive with myself and try to power up the hills and run down the smooth section sections of trail.\Things to practice.Pooping in the rainGetting water without taking my pack off to retrieve my Sawyer filter.Setting up my tent without getting everything else wet. I used my umbrella this trip to cover my pack.  Happy hiking, Silver Streak