This is a bit delayed, but here's a trip report from the Gorge from about a week ago. I went with my brother.. he's 17 and learning all kinds of new stuff. First trip to the Gorge for him. The text below was an email to a good friend.. Mr. Tiles on this board. Decided since I went to all the trouble to type it once, I'd copy and paste it here for everyone else to enjoy.
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I tell you what, the Gorge is a butt kicker when it's this hot! Yes, it's already way too hot. My head & neck is burnt to a crisp, and all it took was Rock Jock and down Pinchin. That sun is brutal because there's zero shade on those two trails. Whooped chief's butt too [my 3 yr old black lab - he does everything with me]. He'd find a bit of shade from a bush and just plop down and would hike no further until he rested some & got watered up. I'm about to say the Gorge is like biking the South Mountains loop. It's very cool to do, and everyone should do it once or twice to see what it's all about. but, do it too often and it starts to get really painful and worn out. I've been to the gorge 3 times this year so far, and I'm ready for a new trail. gorge hikes = lots of work! But the views are great, can't deny that.
[Our route for the weekend was Rock Jock, down Pinchin, LGT, up Conley back to car]. We camped at mile 8.14. not sure which site it was, but it's the one on the LGT 2 sites south from the root stairs. This site seems to always have fire wood piled up there ready to go. I found out why. It's all standing dead wood! I spent 45 minutes trying to find the perfect 2 trees that were not gonna fall over on me and close enough together. Ended up settling for 1 live one and a large diameter solid dead one. They were still too far apart, but I made it work. I had to use the nano 7's tree straps to make the tarp tie outs reach the trees! Jeremy and I used my Bahco Laplander folding saw to cut down 2 widow makers that looked quite unstable. It was very windy, and the wind kept up until after we turned in for the night. The wind made it quite difficult to set up the hammock. There were a few times I was wishing I was tenting, but it worked out in the end. Setting up my Alps Mountaineering 2 man tent in those conditions would have been much faster/easier. We made a fire, but a small one in a wind-modified fire pit so it wouldn't get out of control. The ticks were totally out of control. I've already pulled 3 off myself, 5 off Chief, and Jeremy had at least 4 that i know of. Bugs were bad too unless the fire was smoking in our faces.
The WL Snipe hammock is the total shiz! Very comfortable and no chance of my feet falling out. Was so much more comfortably than my Nano 7 [I'm 5ft 10 or 11 inches]. I could turn sideways in the night to get a new position once my legs starting hurting from being straight. Could move around and not worry about loosing my foot pad or sleeping bag out the side or anything irritating like that. [Sleeping bag for top insulation, Phoenix 20* UQ.] I used a large piece of reflectix as my sitting pad and my foot pad. It worked well - my feet were never cold in the hammock, which is a first for me. They always get cold in the night. Didn't sleep too well, but woke up actually feeling rested. I was very comfortable this morning and did not want to get up at all. We turned in about 9:30 last night, and got up about 9 this morning.
The sawyer squeeze water filter works well, but I think I like the katadyn pump filter i used before a bit better. The SS filter is way, way lighter tho, so I'll probably stick with it. it does require getting your hands wet.. you have to dunk the bags in the river to fill them up. This would be a huge problem for me in the winter when it's really cold if I didn't already have a fire going yet because my hands get cold very quickly and take forever to warm up. I suppose using a cup or something to fill the bags might minimize contact with the cold arse mtn water, but you'd still get wet. So, the SS filter for warmer camping, and the katadyn for really cold trips is probably the way to go if you're into filtering.
Still trying to get used to the ULA Circuit pack. Not really diggin it so far. The design, quality, and construction are really awesome, but 8 Gorge miles leaves my hips bruised and back sore. Next day out just 3 miles to the car was very uncomfortable. A multiday trip would not be fun. I even had my reflectix foot pad flat against my back in hopes of reinforcing the pack and supporting it more. Didn't seem to help much. This morning when I put the pack on the hike out, I was wishing I had my 15 year old clapped out Jansport pack with me. Yes, it's a lot heavier, but I can hike all day with it and not be sore or have any hot spots. Not sure what to do on the pack situation.
The Emberlit ti stove & backcountry.com ti pot performed great.. I'm starting to get better at a consistent fuel feed and getting a good strong burn from it. Obviously the more fuel, the hotter it burns, so I find myself putting small pieces of sticks into the top around my pot, as well as from the fuel port below.
Trip pics can been seen here! (FB album)
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Originally Posted by dragon360
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