TX>Last Chance Hang>13-15 September>Lone Star Trail Section 1

[rhjanes]

Had a great weekend. It was cool to meet some of the folks I hadn't met. Friday was fun, and the meetless fajitas were about as good as they sound. I consider any weekend that I make it back alive, a success. Good Times!

You made it back alive, but can we say the same for some of your brain cells?

[packdaddy]

Attached are our full tracks for both days from my GPS. I removed my random movements and it came out to 13.5 miles on Saturday. This includes one Out and Back to my Pond camp. If removed it would be very close to 13 miles. Sunday shows 3.5 miles if you used the trail.

[gospidey]

What Caveman said. Good to meet the ones I hadn't met before. Sarge and all who helped cache water - good looking out. Had a great time and am looking forward to this weekend to do it again with Caveman and rhjanes in Arkansas.
Cookie Coooooooooooooooooooooooooooon!

[spaceweaseal]

TQ on top

[sargevining]

Why does that look so-----wrong?

[The Wanna Bs]

Things I learned this trip:
Head learning:

1. Somewhere on the net there is a place that helps you with gear weights, Someone named Nakoma or something like that wrote a good trail guide for the Lone star trail. She also hiked the AT sometime. I know I will want to read about both and can count on RJ Hanes to fill me in on the specifics.
2. There is a good book about hiking around DFW (though I think I may have looked at this book and found it less than impressive).
3. There is a website that helps you figure your weights in planning a trip.
4. Sprouts sells a less expensive dehydrated food that I may want to try.

Experiential learning:
1. I am, after all, brave enough to go to a hike alone (kind of alone). I may still make the AT hike (perhaps will need some work on my knees).

2. A large hunters orange safety vest around your backpack will help you find your campsite in the dark Be sure to have something reflective or you will never find it in the dark.

3. Find a way to make water portage lighter.. I had three 32 oz Gatoraide bottles, a 32 oz Nalgene, a 1 liter Dasani water bottle, a 1 liter Canyon Spring water bottle (similar to a smart water bottle) and 5 16 oz store brand water bottles,

4. Staying well hydrated does not always equal avoidance of heat sickness,

5. No matter how tired and hot you are, don't fall asleep with the tarp pushed back, it will rain before you can get covered. You will get wet.

6. Check your camp site well before leaving including looking up and not leaving 20 ft of Amsteel ridgeline...you will never find it again the next day,

7. No matter what you say to encourage the men to let you hike at your own speed, these gentlemen will not leave you behind....too far,

8. Don't take a big bottle of sunscreen for one person.. you won't ever put it on anyway,

9. A fan hanging from the ridgeline can be a lifesaver,

10. Don't take OLD individually wrapped fresh wipes.. they will no longer be "fresh",

11. GET A LIGHTER PACK!

[sargevining]

Some pics.

Saturday's camp. There's six hammock in this picture:


The near disaster:



Zort arrives:



Packdaddy at the pond on Friday morning:



Coffee all by myself Friday morning:



Silly Camp on Friday morning, before any silliness ensued




Sunrise, Friday morning. The dogs thought I should see it.

[sargevining]

1. Somewhere on the net there is a place that helps you with gear weights, Someone named Nakoma or something like that wrote a good trail guide for the Lone star trail. She also hiked the AT sometime. I know I will want to read about both and can count on RJ Hanes to fill me in on the specifics.

http://www.amazon.com/Lone-Star-Hiki.../dp/0899975046

I can tell you the info given on Deer Season Camping Restrictions is dated.

2. There is a good book about hiking around DFW (though I think I may have looked at this book and found it less than impressive).

Caveman posted it on the Dallas Trails thread my son started.

3. There is a website that helps you figure your weights in planning a trip.

geargrams.com

4. Sprouts sells a less expensive dehydrated food that I may want to try.

Storehouse foods. Found in the Gluten Free aisle. World Market sells some small sausage links that will make them taste a bit better.

Experiential learning:
1. I am, after all, brave enough to go to a hike alone (kind of alone). I may still make the AT hike (perhaps will need some work on my knees).

HYOH

2. A large hunters orange safety vest around your backpack will help you find your campsite in the dark Be sure to have something reflective or you will never find it in the dark.

+1

3. Find a way to make water portage lighter.. I had three 32 oz Gatoraide bottles, a 32 oz Nalgene, a 1 liter Dasani water bottle, a 1 liter Canyon Spring water bottle (similar to a smart water bottle) and 5 16 oz store brand water bottles,

Smartwater bottles are what most folks are using. The nozzle fits into a Sawyer Filter and it can be used in place of the backflush syringe.

4. Staying well hydrated does not always equal avoidance of heat sickness,

Its a function of both heat and humidity. You might look at your clothing and its ability to spread perspiration. That LSHT shirt really seemed to help keep me cooler.

5. No matter how tired and hot you are, don't fall asleep with the tarp pushed back, it will rain before you can get covered. You will get wet.

I would have sworn that your tarp was down, otherwise I'd have woken you up as I ran by to put mine down.

6. Check your camp site well before leaving including looking up and not leaving 20 ft of Amsteel ridgeline...you will never find it again the next day,

and don't step on your car keys, either

7. No matter what you say to encourage the men to let you hike at your own speed, these gentlemen will not leave you behind....too far,

And some will think about heading back to find you---right about the time you show up.

8. Don't take a big bottle of sunscreen for one person.. you won't ever put it on anyway,

Never underestimate the value of a big floppy hat.

9. A fan hanging from the ridgeline can be a lifesaver,

Yep. And I left mine at home.

10. Don't take OLD individually wrapped fresh wipes.. they will no longer be "fresh",

And if you buy some new at the Jiffy Store 10 miles from the trailhead, get a bigger box when its as hot out as it was.

11. GET A LIGHTER PACK!

And pack lighter.

[rhjanes]

Bev, you need an award. Hiked long, hard, only female around.

Yes, that was too much water. I carried 2 of the Smart Water bottles (a liter each), but left one at the Saturday camp. I filled my 1.8 liter hydration bladder before we left on the hike. SO I had almost 3. That would barely have been enough on the route we did. But with Sarge and Packdaddy's water caches, I figured we'd be OK. I had my Sawyer filter with me anyway.

I took a look at the smaller Smart Water bottles that GoSpidey had and bought two of those. I have some cuben sacks that attach to my chest straps, but the large smart water bottles tumble out of them. The smaller ones fit great, yet the Sawyer filter stuff will all work with the smaller bottles. Perfect thanks for the tip GoSpidey.

I sent you a few PM's, but here is the information for you

Gear Grams. http://www.geargrams.com/
Watch his tutorial a few times. Then play with it with maybe 10 items for the main gear list. Then build one or two "trip gear list" and put items into it and out. Caveman showed me this site.

The book on DFW hikes, Caveman posted it. But it is "60 Hikes within 60 Miles of DFW". Author is Joanie Sanchez, published by the American Hiking Society. Mine has some trails left off and some have changed up.

On the Lone Star Hiking Trail, the book is "The Lone Star Hiking Trail" "The Official Guide to the Longest Wilderness Footpath in Texas". You can get it on Amazon, or from the LSHT web site. The author is Karen Borski Somers, trail name "Nocona". SHe thru hiked the AT in 1998 and is on Trail Journals. She has also done like the PCT and a lot of other trail. SOme as section hikes.
Here is her link on trail journals
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=52647

When the second or third flash of lightening was noticed, myself and a few others ran and deployed tarps. Mine then leaked! (My fault...I've stressed and abused it). You have Cuben tarp? Which one?

Look for real small bottles of sunscreen, bug spray and such. Yes they cost more, but the weight is what you focus on.

I learned the trick from Gospidey at the Butt Bake, when I could NOT find my hammock in the dark....in the ghetto. My neighbors son happens to work for NTTA, so I asked him for a few feet off his orange/reflective suit those guys wear! He gave me his old suit and I cut off a strip of it, hole punched it and hang it from the tarp line. Hit it with a light and you could spot it. Snaggleroot and I were camped 50 meters from you Saturday night, but from your rig, we could spot mine (knowing the general direction).

a trick on wet wipes is to "dehydrate them" individually. Then a few drops of water back on them and.........there you go.

SArges tip on the food from Sprouts was "Storehouse Food". I hit my Kroger's tonight for some lunch bars with more calories than Cliff bars and found a decent selection. Some up around 450 calories, good for lunch.
SnaggleRoot had "Pro Bar" food bars for lunch, the one he said looked like bear scat.

I guess the amsteel was what you were looking at back in the parking lot.

I learned to get a light fleece for a TQ. I've taken my 3-season TQ on the 103 degree hang out at Decatur, the butt bake and to the LSHT and didn't need it. The Gear Grams helps like Caveman was saying. Put in all your gear into the gear list. Then, build individual trip gear list and suddenly you say "hey....for THIS ONE trip do I REALLY need item X....for that weight?"

Another thought for you about your gear. Cottage stuff is great, usually ultra-light. shop for sales and watch for "used" sales. Only buy what you already know you need. But there is stiff stuff you need (clothes) that REI has a large selection of. My wife and I use the toll ways to and from work. So I use the REI card for our automatic renewal of the toll tages. Yes, it isn't much, but by the end of the year, it is an extra $10 or 20 back on the REI Dividend program. So now that shirt on clearance is paid for or a few tent stakes, or $10 towards that hat.

[rhjanes]

Bev, also Sunday morning I noticed that you might be using your tree straps and looping them thru the eye on the strap? Then threading into the cince buckles? That works fine, but is very slow. Think about doing that in rain, when you are wet. Two like 1000 pound caribiners means you toss the strap around the tree, CLIP and you are done. Save about 5 minutes in the rain, for $10 or so. Make sure you get biners for the weight. Or dutch clips work the same.