Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 22

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Senior Member CB200T's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Bellefontaine, OH
    Hammock
    Wife Made
    Tarp
    Wife Made
    Insulation
    Wife Made
    Suspension
    Whoopie
    Posts
    433

    2 day, 1 night Zaleski Get-Away

    My wife has been an angel and rewarded me with many things for Christmas despite my somewhat mischievous over the past year. After a couple of less than inspiring days at work, I decided I would take advantage of my Thursday and Friday off and head to the woody hills of southern Ohio.

    My plan is to hike all of Zaleski State Forest trail in two days, some 25 miles of hilly terrain. It will be my first trip into the woods by myself, and my 4th backpacking trip ever. First night in the woods with a hammock. Third time setting up my tarp. First time using a spindrift, and second time using a Lynx. I'm unabashedly a little nervous.

    Now, at this point, I haven't actually left yet. That will occur in seven hours' time when I drive over the Hammock Gear's shop to meet Stormcrow and Thorwren and pick up the down pillow they made me out of the blue. That occurs at 0900. After that, it'll be another 30 miles south to the trail head. Aiming to have boots to dirt at 1000.

    So, one last thing, something I'm always curious to know (some of you may find this part boring, so skip ahead if you don't like gear lists.) What's in my pack?

    ULA Circuit, RRw/net, Cloud Burst in snake skins I made tonight, Spindrift, 20 Full lynx, Kelty Cosmic Down sleeping bag, 35L drysack, Mtn Hardware down jacket, Terra Mar thermal wool shirt and liners, hat, liner gloves, AGG rain coat w/ pit zips, cabelas rain pants, REI Merino hiker socks, food stuffs including hawk's vittles lasagna for one, Black Box Pino Grigio (I think), other misc food, Swen Saw, Mora Kniv Mil. 1, Ti Pot, Fosters Pot, Cozy, Spoon, camera, note pad/pen, book, aquamira, Element Ti, Mini Atomic, UCO Micro candle lantern, head light, hiking sticks, toiletries, lighter, fire steel and a whole lot of excitement.

    So, now you all have the preview, the rest is yet to come. I'll put up the rest of the report upon my return. Oh, Base weight is 10.6lbs, Pack weight sans water, but with fuel and food is 21.2lbs.

  2. #2
    New Member CampThunderlips's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Tampa, FL
    Hammock
    ENO Doublenest
    Suspension
    SlackStraps
    Posts
    34
    Images
    2
    Have a great trip, be safe and take lots of pictures!

  3. #3
    Senior Member civetta's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Hoosick Falls, NY
    Hammock
    WB RidgeRunner
    Tarp
    Superfly
    Suspension
    still tweaking
    Posts
    161
    Have fun! ( Wish I could get my pack base weight below 20lb!)
    Post pics!

  4. #4
    Senior Member Callahan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    BC, Canada
    Hammock
    WB / BIAS
    Tarp
    HG Custom 4S
    Insulation
    WB Lynx, HG, MB
    Suspension
    Whoopies/Straps
    Posts
    1,008
    Have a great trip! Sounds like a nice pack weight and gear supply, should be fun and comfortable!

    Cheers

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Rio Rancho, NM
    Hammock
    DIY 11 footers
    Tarp
    Chinook
    Insulation
    AHE and GoLite
    Suspension
    Webbing cinch
    Posts
    297
    Images
    21
    CB, have a grand time!!!!

    You will be snoozing in total bliss I tell ya.....

    I setup my RR and Spindrift the other night just for a quick test hang(also installed a pad for the first time), and my wife kept texting me saying she couldn't sleep because she was afraid I was so comfortable and I was gonna fall asleep outside in 20 degrees, and freeze myself....hahahaha.

    Have fun, take pictures! Was there a camera on your gear list?

  6. #6
    New Member platypus42's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Columbus Ohio
    Hammock
    HH Exped
    Tarp
    HH Hex
    Insulation
    Potomac
    Suspension
    Mostly stock
    Posts
    29
    Man I wish I'd seen your post earlier. I had Thursday and Friday off plus a major case of camping withdrawal.

  7. #7
    Senior Member CB200T's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Bellefontaine, OH
    Hammock
    Wife Made
    Tarp
    Wife Made
    Insulation
    Wife Made
    Suspension
    Whoopie
    Posts
    433
    I had a great trip, just a quick overnighter. Originally, I had intended to hike 12.5 miles to site H, stay the night and complete the rest of the trail the next day. Things didn't quite work out the way I wanted, I did do the 12.5 or so the first day, but bailed early the next day. Things to do at home, and it was pissing with rain.

    A history of the Zaleski region can be found on the Zaleski page of www.backpackohio.com, but the gist of it was that a significant amount of Union iron was mined an smelted to make ammunition during the Civil War. You can see one of the large stone furnaces in the background of this picture I took of my car as I set out. When I hit the trail it was 1135 and 34F. Later start than I wanted, but I stopped by Hammock Gear on the way down to pick up a backpacking pillow. I had the pleasure of meeting Thorwren and Stormcrow as well as a couple of their little ones. I was also lucky enough to meet some of the other employees that work at their shop. Enough can not be said about their kindness and character. It was a true privilege. It was also very difficult to not walk out of there with significantly less money than when I walked in. Thankfully, I came away with only the pillow. I will say, an M50 TQ and Cuben Fiber tarp are going to be purchased prior to this summers' shenanigans.




    Truthfully, I was disappointed at how warm it was. I had bought the spindrift for my ridge runner, and was really looking forward to putting it through its paces. There was still a bit of snow on the ground, and many of the ponds were still ice covered.



    Sadly though we got a warm spell through Ohio this week and by Thursday, it was in the 60s when I left, so that these beautiful icicles were all but gone on the way home. You can see the before and after in the next couple of pictures.







    The terrain in southern Ohio, while probably not as rugged as that of the Smokies, Appalatians etc is still quite hilly. In my opinion the state of the trail's tread made it worse. It was very, very slippery as the ice melted off. There are plenty of natural caves, ledges and other rock features. You have to be very careful if going off trail as much of the time there is no indication of a drop off.











    Some new grown lichen on the trees in the low part of one of the valleys. There was not a lot of water on Wednesday, by Thursday however there was a good bit more.





    I rolled into camp at around 1730, it was dusk at that time. After I set up my hammock and got my pack stowed, the new wood stove came out. Finding fuel was remarkably easy. I only needed a couple of finger-thickness sticks that go down to twigs. I will confess, I did cheat and use a bit of alcohol to get things going, but once it was up and working it went great. I cooked my Hawk Vittles Southwest Lasagna over the open flame. It worked great! It went down with a little experiment. Black Box Pino Grigiot accompanied it. While it was good, I don't expect to pack wine again. Too heavy to justify its existence in my pack. Kit Kat for dessert.







    Bedtime came early, around 2000 actually. Once again I brought a book. I don't know why I keep doing this as I never read before bed while backpacking. It's just weight I don't need. I write in the my trip journal though. Sleep came quickly and easily. One thing I found, and never knew anything about was "hammock song." While it was raining, the drops would hit the hammock lines and sound like a guitar string. The different strings would put out different pitches. I couldn't hear it unless I but my head down on the pillow, but it was audible! Very cool. I was very warm and dry the whole night. The spindrift did exactly what it said it would. I do need to seam seal the tie-outs and along the rings on the ridge line of the tarp. Other than that, no leaks. The next morning, I was up at 0900. I was hoping for an early start but didn't get moving until 1000. I packed up everything except the tarp. It was still raining so I chilled under the tarp and made tea and breakfast. On the trail again at 1035.











    On the hike out it was still raining, and it was hot. My AGG pit zip jacket kept me dry on the outside, but I got drenched on the inside from sweat. Good thing it was warm. In the streams, mist was rising up allowing for some very pretty pictures. I finished up at around 1300. Very fun hike all in all. Looking forward to many more.







    The root ball of this tree actually took out the trail. The trail now goes over top of the root ball that was probably 8 feet in diameter.



    Woodland Camo?



    A couple to finish up.



    Last edited by CB200T; 01-13-2013 at 20:56.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Risk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Beavercreek, OH
    Hammock
    DIY 4x9 1.1 oz ripstop (5.3 oz)
    Tarp
    ZPack Cuben Hex
    Insulation
    DIY TQ, DIY 3/4 UQ
    Suspension
    DG UCRs, Mule Tape
    Posts
    226
    Images
    15
    Beautiful photos of a familiar place! Your setup looks great. Any idea what your pack weight was (about)?
    Rick (Risk) Website: http://www.imrisk.com
    I cook. I sew. I walk. I lead. I hang. I write. I play.
    Author of "A Wildly Successful 200-Mile Hike"
    http://www.amazon.com/Wildly-Success.../dp/B00COCI5HW

  9. #9
    Senior Member CB200T's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Bellefontaine, OH
    Hammock
    Wife Made
    Tarp
    Wife Made
    Insulation
    Wife Made
    Suspension
    Whoopie
    Posts
    433
    Quote Originally Posted by Risk View Post
    Beautiful photos of a familiar place! Your setup looks great. Any idea what your pack weight was (about)?
    Thank you for the kind compliment! The base weight was around 12 pounds, but I found I really didn't need some of what I carried, I was just playing around with a couple of things. Right now I'm sub 10# base. Total weight with food/fuel etc was 25# roughly.

  10. #10
    Senior Member Risk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Beavercreek, OH
    Hammock
    DIY 4x9 1.1 oz ripstop (5.3 oz)
    Tarp
    ZPack Cuben Hex
    Insulation
    DIY TQ, DIY 3/4 UQ
    Suspension
    DG UCRs, Mule Tape
    Posts
    226
    Images
    15
    Quote Originally Posted by CB200T View Post
    Thank you for the kind compliment! The base weight was around 12 pounds, but I found I really didn't need some of what I carried, I was just playing around with a couple of things. Right now I'm sub 10# base. Total weight with food/fuel etc was 25# roughly.
    Excellent! I am working on decreasing my base weight as well. For reading, I have about decided to take my Kindle paperwhite... I do like to read on long winter nights, especially when solo.
    Rick (Risk) Website: http://www.imrisk.com
    I cook. I sew. I walk. I lead. I hang. I write. I play.
    Author of "A Wildly Successful 200-Mile Hike"
    http://www.amazon.com/Wildly-Success.../dp/B00COCI5HW

  • + New Posts
  • Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

    Similar Threads

    1. Zaleski hang
      By edge308 in forum Midwest
      Replies: 0
      Last Post: 04-11-2013, 21:07
    2. Zaleski 2/4-5?
      By CB200T in forum Midwest
      Replies: 3
      Last Post: 03-03-2013, 09:47
    3. Ohio>Zaleski>Feb 11-13
      By CB200T in forum Midwest
      Replies: 16
      Last Post: 02-04-2013, 18:42
    4. Zaleski overnighter
      By HamMike in forum Trip Reports
      Replies: 8
      Last Post: 10-09-2012, 09:44
    5. Zaleski State Park 1 night solo hike
      By Ebola in forum Trip Reports
      Replies: 12
      Last Post: 03-22-2012, 19:58

    Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •