Yes, I can never seem to comprehend people who have no issue defacing such beauty. Fantastic pictures otherwise Great job!
Yes, I can never seem to comprehend people who have no issue defacing such beauty. Fantastic pictures otherwise Great job!
I did another Harriman overnighter Feb 5-6 and really enjoyed some interesting conditions after all the recent rain and re-freezing turned the trails into rivers of ice. Anything short of microspikes meant you weren't going far. I encountered some folks struggling mightily with Yaktrax on the Menomine trail just short of Brien Memorial shelter.
I hit the trail late after a leisurely breakfast with a good friend and his son, who is keenly interested into getting into backpacking and hammocking. But this was an easy solo overnighter, so I walked about 7.5 miles at an unhurried pace and still had plenty of daylight to get myself squared away before nightfall. Temps were high 20s during the day, down to 16°F at night but warming up to 23°F by the next morning, accompanied by some light snow and complete overcast. First day was abundant sunshine with a few "mare's tails" clouds in the sky, which often signify a change in the weather, so the snow was not a surprise.
The trails were rivers of ice, and even rocks and trees were ice plastered:
Still testing ground setups and this one worked quite well. I was completely warm:
All the tree branches and bushes were coated with ice, which provided visual sparkle all day long:
And just a little later the setting sun really brought a warm glow to the cold woods:
Next morning I was glad to have deployed the tarp... I was thinking cowboy camping but remembered those mare's tails clouds:
My canister stove worked well to melt some snow for dinner and, more importantly, morning coffee:
I was glad I carried along my little water pre-filter which removes a lot of chunky flotsam from melted snow:
Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton
I love how the sun looks on the ice. Not so thrilled to walk around on it. Nice pictures!
Thanks, and yes I do appreciate the fact that many nice trails are within a short drive. The trail head (Silver Mine Lake) for this hike is about 25 minutes from home, and from there I could hike a network of routes for many days without repeating a single trail.
The air mat is a NeoAir Trekker, 47"x25", over which I put the green CCF pad that you can see in the photo, which was being used at the time as a chaise lounge. It slides in easily between the quilt and the air mat, where the elastic bands on the quilt hold all it in place perfectly. (It looks a little wonky in the second photo because I let the air out of the mat!) I toss and turn a fair bit when I sleep on the ground, but with this system I don't have to readjust anything. There's also a band on the pillow that keeps it in place. I put my pack under the CCF mat in the lower leg area, which raises my legs a few inches and makes a huge difference in comfort.
Yes indeed, that's the tarp Jared made! It's a Trail Bird 9'x7'x5' made without cat cuts from Dutch 0.9 Xenon.
Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton
Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton
There is snow up north of here, but we have had only 6" this year, and it is now about 2" of icy mess. Not a lot of fun to slog around in. The single digit temps the next few days will make it all a giant skating rink.
The local area has been in a drought for almost 2 years.
Cmoulder, fantastic trip report,
I went to Grayson Winter Hang, 7 inches snow on ground, low of 4*, but I was car camping.
Big big difference! You did it up!
Question, photo of your canister stove— did not see the copper flat band you use to feedback heat to your canister to make it heat coffee in frozen cold.
Did I overlook copper attachment? Or that one doesn’t need the priming boost?
Even after seeing it work, I’m scared one of these canisters will explode.
My friends, just this weekend, heated side of their canister with a cigarette lighter, to .make it work
Phantom skeerd.
Yes, I was using the copper strip... looks black in the photo because it was on the shadow side of the pot, but it's there. Fuel was N-butane (vapor temp 31°F) being used at 18°F. I used a Bic lighter to get the thermal feedback going... believe not, this is not dangerous.
Stove_01_detail.jpg
The copper strip method won't hurt anything when used at colder temps for which the method is designed... not even close. I did numerous tests monitoring very closely with thermometers attached directly to the canister and they got nowhere near warm enough to cause any sort of problem. I even ran it with a MiniMo at full power for 1/2 hour, using a canister cozy, *at 75°F ambient* and it did not blow up. It got pretty warm, and I don't recommend this for the faint of heart, but again, you'd never be using the strip at that temperature anyway. There is literally zero chance of overheating at 40°F and below.
But this is a persistent meme with folks who haven't actually used it.
Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton
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