Shake Down Hike - This Friday 4/23/10

Hi Guys & Gals,

Doing a final shake down hike before my 40 mile hike the end of may to dial in most of my gear for the final time. I know not very far but it's the farthest distance I've travelled hiking so I'm taking it in stride.

I may be lucky, imagine me saying this, that it will rain the second day out so I can test out my packa and see how the OES SpinnUL Deluxe handles the weather.

Doing a 2.5 day 16 mile round trip with a buddy of mine on the AT.

lows going down to about 38* so I'm still debating on weather I want to bring my winter yeti or my 3 season yeti. Being a cold sleeper I may go winter if the forecast doesn't change by Thursday.

As always I will have video and pics after my trip.

Hammock On!

Raul
aka Trail Monkey

Raul,
Have you changed anything since your last vid/gearlist? Where are you going on your hike? The AT? Which part?

nothing really changed from my previous gear list:

using the 1/8" thinlight pad for my legs instead of the 1/4" this time

Going aquamira drops this time instead of water filter

New camera Canon Powershot 780i digital elph 12 megapixal camera with a 8GB card.... so better HD video.... just need to pick up a better movie software this week to work with the .MOV movie this camera produces.

Hitting section 12 NY on the AT.... I'm familiar with most of it:

Day 1 - Bear Mountain Inn to William Brien Shelter (8 miles) - never been to WB Shelter yet

Day 2 - William Brien Shelter to West Mountain Shelter (3 miles)

Day 3 - West Mountain Shelter to car (5 miles)

Currently I can go about 8-12 miles a day... but my buddy is relatively new so going 8 miles day one will be a bit tough on him so comming back we will only hike 3 miles to give him some rest time. Besides I'm not in a rush to get out of the woods anyway ;)

Edit:

Oh and NEW Boots... Salomon GTX boots.... been breaking them in the past month on the weekends.

And my current weight training/cardio training is going very well. Took a before and 6 weeks later picture of my self.... WOW huge improvements.

At 157lbs I'm maxing 265lbs squats in set 5.

I can run 2 miles (about 7:30 min miles) and then do 4 40 yard sprints after the run and not beg for death now.

Of course nothing is better training for hiking than hiking itself

Cool, it sounds like you are feeling better, I remember you saying something that you injured yourself, looks good! have fun! and can't wait to see the vid's!

yeah strained my L5 doing power cleans and was hurting for about 1 week. Took about 3 weeks to fully heal. That sucked something aweful.

Paul:
Congrats, I envy you for getting to do it, on the getting out with a buddy. I look forward to the vids and picks. Also, congrats on the exercise program and it working for you.

Take the 3 season Yeti. Plenty of warmth down to 30F, and I've gone even lower.

I may lay in it tonight after my work out and after I put the boy to bed and see how I feel about it.

I've laid in the 3 season in 40* and was good but that was day time. Everything seems colder at night.

During the Shug/Beep/Pizza/Mr. Green SHT weekend trip a couple of weeks ago, we had low temps around 30 degrees F. with "some" wind, 5-10mph, though a bit less where we pitched hammocks.

I was comfortable in a 25 degree WM down sleeping bag, WBBB, 3 season Yeti UQ, and 1/4 inch EVA pad (feet and legs) from JRB. I was wearing hat, long underwear, hiking pants, Patagonia Micropuff vest and socks.

I was ready to put on Montbell synthetic insulated pants and down parka as needed, but didn't need to.

Everybody sleeps a bit differently but I was pleased at how well this worked.

Good luck to ya! Hope you get everything dialed in on this shakedown.Beautiful time of the year to do this.