well, we made it, our first trial hike together. we started our journey at 3pm on tuesday and put in about 6 miles before setting up camp on the top of a sweet knoll. had some freeze dried mountain house vegetarian lasagna for dinner made over a vienna sausage can alcohol stove. some minor problems getting it lit, the lighter was empty, (mental note always check lighter fluid), and with a back up spark igniter, i couldn't get it close enough to the alcohol to get it ignited. so we had to start some dried grass on fire and then drop it in the can.
the tarp set up went well, although it wasn't the ideal set up. with the forecast saying rain and snow, i figured that the wind would pick up, so i tried to drop one side to the ground to block the wind, but that didn't allow for getting the other side up very high. fortunately it didn't rain or snow because when we woke in the morning, the tarp was about three inches from my face and we had to crawl out from underneath. it was only the second time we set it up, so at least it didn't collapse.
breakfast was oatmeal and granola, along with some hot chocolate. the sun was out, we packed up and headed out. we were feeling pretty good about ourselves and hiked about 4 miles on trail down to a road and did another 10 miles of road walking for a grand total of about 20 miles in 24 hours. we felt pretty accomplished, no blisters, just some sore calves and hip flexers, but the hot tub later that night definitely helped the situation. we just need to link about 149 more days together and we're there.
more will be posted later about the gear, the weight and some pictures.
-jason
ps. stickpic update, after all that excitement, i accidentally left it on the kitchen table and didn't even get to use it on the trip, unbelievable!
the tarp set up went well, although it wasn't the ideal set up. with the forecast saying rain and snow, i figured that the wind would pick up, so i tried to drop one side to the ground to block the wind, but that didn't allow for getting the other side up very high. fortunately it didn't rain or snow because when we woke in the morning, the tarp was about three inches from my face and we had to crawl out from underneath. it was only the second time we set it up, so at least it didn't collapse.
breakfast was oatmeal and granola, along with some hot chocolate. the sun was out, we packed up and headed out. we were feeling pretty good about ourselves and hiked about 4 miles on trail down to a road and did another 10 miles of road walking for a grand total of about 20 miles in 24 hours. we felt pretty accomplished, no blisters, just some sore calves and hip flexers, but the hot tub later that night definitely helped the situation. we just need to link about 149 more days together and we're there.
more will be posted later about the gear, the weight and some pictures.
-jason
ps. stickpic update, after all that excitement, i accidentally left it on the kitchen table and didn't even get to use it on the trip, unbelievable!
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