A Couple of Things...Of Fire Starter and Sleeping Bags.

Where is UPS?  It is a Friday afternoon and I am anxious for UPS to arrive. Why?  I have initiated the ultimate trade/barter and have ended up with a very lightly used Western Mountaineering Versalite  10 degree 900 fill down sleeping bag. 

Why am I so excited?  Well, First, Western Mountaineering bags are regarded as being one of the 2 or three best made sleeping bags in the world.  They are hand made with only the best goose down used as the fill.  The construction from what I have seen from other people that own the bag is awesome and the attention to detail is phenomenal. Secondly, the bag is light.  Secondly, at only 2 pounds, it almost as light as my 32 degree bag and it will compress better allowing for more room in my backpack.  This compressibility and super light weight will allow me to carry the same pack I use in the summer and help keep my winter pack weight at less than 30 lbs with food, water, and additional supplies needed for winter hiking.  Thirdly, I seem to be a bit of a warm sleeper, with a decent pad underneath me and dressed in my down clothing and heavy base layers, I am hoping that due to the conservative rating this bag might just hold me over and keep me warm down in to the low single digits if the weather were to get colder than what I am planning while out hiking.  Not that I want to push it, but it would be nice to be able to survive a colder night and less chilled if I find myself in an emergency situation. The best reason is I was able to negotiate a great trade involving several people to bring my net cost down to about nothing.  This bag retails for about $500.00 and with my net cost, I must say I am very pleased. 

Now, the drawbacks.  Well, the big one is the bag is down.  Care must be taken not to get it wet as it will lose all of its insulating properties.  This means in wet/damp weather, I will have to be careful packing the bag with additional waterproofing material such as a turkey basting bag or additional stuff sack or dry bag to make sure it stays dry in the bag.  Hopefully, between a pack cover, bag liner, sil-nylon stuff sack and a  turkey basting bag, I will not worry about the sleeping bag in the back pack.  I will have to worry a bit about the bag and condensation from my breath and from the bag brushing up against the walls of my tent.  I understand this is not a huge problem due to the water resistant fabric and any moisture that will seep in will generally dry out in an hour or two in the sun....at least that is what I have been told and read on the internet.

The other drawback is that I am scared I will like the bag so much, I will have to begin hunting a new lightweight summer bag as well.  Have no fear, the deal maker is up to the challenge if need be. 

So, I am waiting patiently for the UPS guy to show up today.  Hopefully with the temperatures dropping and winter around the corner, I will get to see if this Western Mountaineering sleeping bag is the "Bee's Knees".

If you would like more information on the Western Mountaineering Sleeping Bags check out their website at www.westernmountaineering.com.  Hopefully I will have a first impressions review shortly.

Fire Starters.

What is in your backpack for emergency firestarting especially if the tinder and wood you are finding is damp.  Can you find dry tinder to start a fire?  I can but it can be time consuming to get this type of fire going.  Imagine, it is cold, wet, the wind is blowing and you are hypothermic.  You need to start a fire quickly.  What do you do?

Well, check out this website.  It shows an extremely light way to carry emergency fire starter using candle wax and makeup remover pads.  Apparently, these should burn for 4 minutes allowing enough time for the kindling to ignite and start a fire.  This could be a life saver for the hiker that is hypothermic and wet!  They are so light, it should be no problem putting 5 or 6 in your first aid/emergency kit.

Check it out!


http://jjmatheshikes.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-like-fire-and-im-always-interested-in.html.


Well, I checked out the UPS tracking site and it shows that my sleeping bag has been delivered and at the front door of the house.  Time to walk over there and check it out.

Till next time, go take a walk in the woods.

Do You Need Maps On The Appalachian Trail?

I found this humorous tidbit on FaceBook today.  I thought it was funny and thought I would share it.

Do you NEED maps for thru-hiking the A.T.?

Survivalist: What idiot would go into the woods for a long time and NOT carry maps? Do you have a good knife? And what weapons do you plan on bringing to down larger prey if you can’t get to a store for 3 weeks?

Facebook complaint immediately to the author demanding changes with my iPhone as soon as I got back on the trail.
...

Tinkerer: Well of course I used maps every step of the way. I’m a little unnerved though. Yesterday my GPS watch readings and my maps were off over 68.38 feet in elevation gains / losses for the day. Look, I’ll show you in my log book.

Realist: You don’t need them. How lost can you get really? Maps are just dead weight to carry 2000+ miles, how smart is that? You do realize the trail is marked the whole way right?

Average Joe or Sarah: I took them, didn’t much use them though.

Updates and an October Hike Part 2.

A Long Day.

North of Damascus VA on the
Appalachian Trail

To continue on with the hike, I awoke early to a quiet camp, well that is not true....10 or so hikers means a cacophony of snoring!  I think the only persons who as a group snore louder must be persons in the employ of Fire or EMS!  Ok, so other than the snoring, it was a peaceful morning. Dawn was just breaking and the soft light of morning was just beginning to creep in between the trees.  I visited the privy and yes the story of the Lorax is still written on the privy wall, and then proceeded to break down my camp. By this time, hikers were stirring and beginning to wake up and move about.  Within an hour, everyone was scurrying around, eating, and packing up for another day of hiking.

We had planned to leave camp and hike to the next shelter for the evening.  However, it appeared as if the shelter was only 6 miles away and we would probably be hiking on and stealth camping along the trail to add a few miles to the day.  Well, we made good time and everyone arrived at the shelter just after noon and we decided to hike on for a few miles and find a camping site later.  So we hiked on.

We hiked about another 4 miles and I had plans to camp down by a river at a beautiful campsite I had found the last time I had hiked this area.  As luck would have it, it was taken up by a large group of campers so we moved on.  We ended up crossing HWY 58 looking for a shelter but the one we found was rocky and by the road.  Noise and the possibility of drunken local campers coming in to the site for a weekend camp helped make the decision to move on easier.  This began the discussion of cravings for Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, and ice cream.  So, as it was less than 5 miles to Damascus a plan was formed while hiking that we would continue hiking into town.  Long story short, I "bonked" on the trail as I found I had little energy to hike up the last mountain and was passed by my hiking mates.  After a 20 minute break, and some food, I proceeded up and over this mountain and began the 2 mile downhill walk into Damascus.  The problem was it was 2 miles of walking a rocky trail in the dark with only a small headlamp to lead the way.  All in all it was a fun walk in the dark and I  highly recommend night hiking.

I was met in Damascus by my friends...haha they found me at the gas stations sucking down Mt. Dew and ice cream, headed to dinner and then back to the hostel to rest. 
.....I love the trail and am craving a long hike. If I can find the right winter sleeping bag, I will be back in Damascus soon!

So, I will actually finish the next couple of days of the trip in a following post.  As soon as I find the time.

Updates and an October Hike

A Fall Return to the Virginia Mountains.

Self Portrait coming down
Whitetop Mountain

So, it has been a while since I updated the blog.  Sorry about that but come on, I have been busy!  So to de-stress, a couple of friends and I decided to head down to Damascus, VA to do a little hiking in the mountains and then a day of enjoying the small town life in Damascus.

Gear Check!

So we arrived in Damascus last Thursday night, received the keys to our rooms in the hiker hostel, checked out our gear one last time and then headed out to the local eating establishment for a bit of pizza before heading to bed so we would be rested when our shuttle to the trail head arrived Friday morning.

Friday morning arrived cool and sunny as we waited for our shuttle to arrive.  The drive through the mountains to the trail head was beautiful and the van driver (Jeff from MRO Outfitters) was talkative and was narrating the drive with information and history of the area.  The drive was pleasant enough and after about 45 minutes we arrive at Elk Gardens trail head (elevation 4430')  for the Appalachian Trail.



Elk Gardens Trail Head looking North towards
Mt. Rogers.

 The morning was sunny and breezy with a slight chill in the air as well as a bit breezy with 15 mph winds as we entered the forest at Elk Garden.  As we enter the forest, the cares of the world slip away.  It is us and nature...no phones, no cars, not a single luxury...Oh crap....Gilligans's Island syndrome is kicking in.  Ok, so I brought a luxury or two, my Ipod and an extra fleece. 



Hikers hikinig towards Whitetop
Mountain



The morning was spent with a moderate climb up Whitetop Mountain to Buzzard Rock where we intended to stop and eat lunch.  The temperatures during the climb were perfect and a light base layer was all that was needed to keep warm.  However, as I stepped out of the forest and onto the mountain bald, the wind was forceful and the temperatures on the exposed mountain reflected that.  Due to the wind and the temperature we decided to stop for a short break, photos, and to take in the view and then push on back into the forest and find a place for lunch.



Buzzard Rock



Whitetop Mountain

  Whitetop Mountain (Elevation 5080')

  Buzzard Rock on Whitetop Mountain

As we descended on the other side of Whitetop, I moved ahead of my friends to experience the forest as a solo hiker.  The rustle of the wind in the treetops, the birds singing their sweet songs, and the ground animals busily gathering nuts for the winter are music to my soul.  There is something to be said for a solo hike in the woods to rejuvenate the body and soul.  Lunch was taken at a trail head while waiting for my friends to catch up. As I was finishing lunch, several section hikers appear with my friends from the forest no worse for wear....well, except for some severe blister problems developing which made one of my friends switch from hiking shoes to sandals....which she ended up doing over 20 miles in....talk about strong hiking...



Lost Mountain Shelter

 After the lunch break and a good rest, we proceeded to hike to Lost Mountain Shelter, our destination for the evening.  Arrival at the shelter was around 4 pm.  We busily went about our camp chores, refilling and treating water from the spring, hanging bear bags, setting up tents, gathering firewood for a fire, and getting dinner prepped.

While getting set up for the evening, the shelter was a busy place with hikers coming in for a rest and moving on as well as hikers stopping here for the evening.  By the end of the night I think there were 10-12 persons either sleeping in the shelter or in tents pitched close by. 



After dinner conversation at
Lost Mountain Shelter

 Dinner was a pesto noodle dinner, ham jerky and a cup of hot chocolate.  A fire was lit and conversations of hiking, equipment, and other typical hiker conversation ensued well past hiker midnight.  It was a great night at Lost Mountain Shelter but sleep beckoned and I was wanting to try the new tent so off to bed around 10 pm.



LightHeart Solo Tent

 If you have been following the blog you know that I have been experimenting with shelters and I was excited to be able to try out a LightHeart Solo shelter. I must say it was easy and quick to erect and even though there was no rain, it appears to be designed well and should be able to easily repel hard rain.  I guess the rain test will have to wait for another day though.  There was enough room in the tent for me and if needed due to conditions, I can move all my gear inside with me and still have room enough to sleep comfortably. 


All in all it was a most excellent day of hiking in the Virginia Mountains...and the best part, no blisters and no Tylenol was needed for sore muscles at the end of the day....at least for me.....Paws, that was another story as far as blisters.....all I can say is she is definitely a hiker. :)

Oh, total miles for the day, 8 miles, pack weight loaded with food and water was ~ 26 pounds.  The next post will detail our long unplanned 17 mile day.....stay tuned.