Yesterday I got my first shipment of the new mostly cold and rain gear that I bought for both Melissa and me. I really wanted to have decent cold and rain gear for Yellowstone so that no matter what the weather we can get some good hiking in. I basically just looked at Campmor and Sierra Trading post for everything, and went with whichever place I could get the better deal. Generally, I have an easier time finding stuff at Campmor, but sometimes Sierra has some amazing deals. Anyway here's what we got:
Binocs - I wanted a pair of small hiking binocs, because my astro binocs are too big and bulky. I just got the cheapest I could find - a 10x28 pair for $25.
Rain Coat - The single item that started this whole shopping spree. I knew I needed a decent rain coat before Yellowstone - Melissa has the one her Dad gave her from Sheila. I was a bit disappointed to not find anything under $40. I went with the small lightweight version to fit in my bag as opposed to a very nice, heavier, bulkier one I found from Sierra on serious markdown.
Rain Pants - I figured these would be nice if we get caught in the rain, and were only 10 bucks each.
Rain Pack Covers - Again, another $10 a piece that I just thought would make life better in the rain.
Long Underwear - This seemed essential for cold weather, which is a definite possibility in Yellowstone, but also for hiking in the fall/winter in Ohio. As is all of our hiking clothing, made of nylon. Another $10+ each for three pieces - top and bottom for me, and bottom for Melissa (she already had a top - but I just realized I should check if it is nylon!).
T-shirts - I got Melissa two nylon hiking tees- partly for the nylon, partly to have tees to get beat up. I had bought two nylon tees from Campmor ($7 a piece!) a month or so ago.
Long Sleeve Tees - One for each of us.
Fleece Jackets - These were the biggest thing I was unsure about on the list - quite possibly overkill. But I am now thinking that they are going to be very useful in the fall (and quite possibly in Yellowstone) and we will be glad we have them - they really seem quite nice and warm. I guess the question was really whether hoodies wouldn't work just as well, but we really got these for the same reason we got a lot of the other clothing - to be lightweight, nylon, and OK to beat up. Besides they were only $25 each and they look pretty nice - especially the color I got for Melissa.
All the stuff above was from Campmor. The stuff below I should get from Sierra on Monday.
Socks - We wanted to both have 3 pairs of liners/socks before Yellowstone. I needed 2 liners and 2 socks, and Melissa got 3 liners and 1 sock.
Convertible Pants - We wanted to have dedicated hiking pants for the usual reasons - nylon and beat-up-able. The convertibles will be nice too, since they can be either shorts or pants.
That's it! Over $300 :(. Stuff still to think about getting - one more t-shirt for each of us, a water treatment kit for emergencies, a nylon long underwear shirt for Melissa, waterproof gloves... I am sure there is plenty of other shit.
Showing posts with label packs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label packs. Show all posts
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Melissa's Mom's House
This weekend we were back in Wilkes-Barre for Melissa's wedding shower. On Sunday morning, I finally had some time to go on a hike with Tony through their woods. We were gone for around 2 hours, and covered maybe 5 miles.
We started on the path back behind the garage, then went back behind the nursery out to the power lines. We went up the hill to the left, into the woods on the other side, down the hill to the hemlock grove, back to the power lines, up the other side and then to the gas line and home.
The most important thing I learned is where the house is in relation to the power lines - I had it all wrong a few months ago and me and Andreas got quite lost. To get home from the bottom of the power lines you have to make a RIGHT up the hill and take a trail back on the SAME SIDE YOU CAME IN ON (this is assuming you've come down the path from behind the nursery). So I think I have my bearings a lot better now and should not get quite so lost again.
I also got to try out Tony's GPS, which is just a basic Garmin eTrex. The whole first mile or two of the hike, it could not pick up a signal as we were walking through the woods. However, when we got to a clearing and stood still, it managed to find a signal in a couple of minutes. After that, that signal was intermittent depending on the thickness of the canopy - in fields and under some of the canopy, it worked fine, but under the densest canopy it dropped the signal. Because we did not have a signal for so long, and because the batteries were close to dying, I did not get to try out all the features. However, I was impressed when at the end it was able to automatically detect that we were walking towards home, and gave the remaining distance, and even estimated the walking time based on our speed. I quite like the compass (even though you have to be moving) and speed features.
I have an eTrex H - the same basic design with a new high sensitivity receiver - on pre-order from TigerGPS. Tee original release date was supposed to be three weeks ago, but it has been pushed back. Supposedly, it should be in any day now.
We started on the path back behind the garage, then went back behind the nursery out to the power lines. We went up the hill to the left, into the woods on the other side, down the hill to the hemlock grove, back to the power lines, up the other side and then to the gas line and home.
The most important thing I learned is where the house is in relation to the power lines - I had it all wrong a few months ago and me and Andreas got quite lost. To get home from the bottom of the power lines you have to make a RIGHT up the hill and take a trail back on the SAME SIDE YOU CAME IN ON (this is assuming you've come down the path from behind the nursery). So I think I have my bearings a lot better now and should not get quite so lost again.
I also got to try out Tony's GPS, which is just a basic Garmin eTrex. The whole first mile or two of the hike, it could not pick up a signal as we were walking through the woods. However, when we got to a clearing and stood still, it managed to find a signal in a couple of minutes. After that, that signal was intermittent depending on the thickness of the canopy - in fields and under some of the canopy, it worked fine, but under the densest canopy it dropped the signal. Because we did not have a signal for so long, and because the batteries were close to dying, I did not get to try out all the features. However, I was impressed when at the end it was able to automatically detect that we were walking towards home, and gave the remaining distance, and even estimated the walking time based on our speed. I quite like the compass (even though you have to be moving) and speed features.
I have an eTrex H - the same basic design with a new high sensitivity receiver - on pre-order from TigerGPS. Tee original release date was supposed to be three weeks ago, but it has been pushed back. Supposedly, it should be in any day now.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Tinker's Creek SP
Yesterday Melissa and I went hiking at Tinker's Creek State Park and Nature Preserve. That is, the SP and NP are adjacent but two separate areas.
We started in the state park area and basically just did the main loop around the pond (EDIT: actually, not the short loop that just goes around the edge of the main lake, but the longer loop that goes back through the marshes and ponds to the
northeast), including a few detours and spur trails, totalling maybe two miles. The parking area had a porta-john and the admin building was closed up and looked completely disused. The trail was obvious and easy to follow in all but one or two areas, but it was not well kept - fairly overgrown with grass (if I go again I will know to wear long pants) and several of the bridges/boardwalks were in pretty bad disrepair. The worst section was a little stream crossing right before the first natural pond (the main lake at the parking lot is man-made) where there was no obvious path and there was only a few remains of an old wooden bridge. Still, overall it was a nice trail, and not at all what I would call difficult. Very much more secluded than at Nelson-Kennedy last week - after we left the main lake we didn't see anyone else on the trail. The natural ponds had a cool swampy overgrown feeling, and the surfaces were covered in green plants and algae. We saw more wildlife too - lots of frogs and toads; geese, including fledglings, on the main lake; a great blue heron; a snake; and at least a half dozen different other birds. Melissa seemed pretty out of it, so we didn't go back and do all of the rest of the trails. After we got back, we rested for a few minutes and I had lunch in the picnic pavilion while Melissa played on the swingset! The map of the park I downloaded was decent enough, but it is tough with a map like that without more detail. For instance, when we were finishing the trail coming back to the parking lot from the west side, the end of the trail was actually gravel road. But this wasn't marked at all on the map, so I got confused for a while trying to figure out what the map was calling a trail and what was a road. It turns out that those gravel roads are the trails (there are two leading to different trails). It was a moment when it was clear to me just how useful a GPS would be - but I will write more about GPS's later.
The second half of the hike was in the nature preserve area, which starts from a different trailhead a couple miles down the road, with a small parking area. This trail was much more well kept with wider paths and newish boardwalks - again I think we totalled something like two miles (EDIT: The Hiking Ohio book lists this complete hike as 2.75 miles). A couple hundred yards from the trailhead there is a little information post with pamphlets that include some interesting detail about the area and a decent trail map. The trail starts with a deciduous/conifer forest area, but quickly gets to the ponds, marshes, and wetlands that are the main feature of the preserve. The wetlands are really beautiful. Along the path there are several cool small ponds, but there are several places where you can see the exanse of open marsh for half a mile or more - especially at the far southern tip of the trail and the observation deck built just off a small eastern spur trail. It's really a shame that the signs of civilization are so close, however - a railroad track marks one edge of the swamp while on the other side the back of a strip mall is visible. We saw dozens of cool bird species, including a beautiful green heron (see picture) from just about 30 yards. There were also a couple of great blue herons (although we never got closer than a hundred yards or so), geese and wood ducks both with fledglings, an eastern kingbird, a gray catbird, a cardinal, a few red winged blackbirds, and plenty of other smaller birds that I can't identify. I saw one soaring bird from about a quarter of a mile, which kind of looked like a northern harrier, which makes sense because they like swamps, but they are supposed to only be around in the winter - I dunno. We also saw frogs, turtles, fishes, a raccoon, dragon flies, butterflies, and unfortunately plenty of mosquitoes and buzzing bugs. There were several beautiful wildflower species, my favorite being some bright yellow flowers growing from the lily pads (Melissa was getting pretty worn out by this point, so she didn't get me a picture of them). There is a small spur loop trail that goes to a pond that is supposed to be a beaver pond with a lodge (Lonesome Pond), but other than some stripped and gnawed trees, we didn't see any signs of the beavers or the lodge- but then again we don't really know what to look for. With all of the wildlife, I got good use out of my binocs. Overall, this was my favorite trail of the season so far.
This was also our first chance to try out our new packs. They are definitely a little heavy filled with water, but the packs are well designed and do a great job of distributing the weight well. I also brought along my binocs, emergency kit, and a sandwich, and had plenty of room for a sweatshirt or whatever had I needed it. Melissa fit her camera with room for a few extras as well. After the hike we both still had 1/2 - 2/3 of our resevoirs full of water, and neither of us felt that we conserved in any way. This bodes well for longer trips when we will need to carry that much water.
My boots were feeling quite good again. While my feet were definitely getting sore by the end, I could tell they would have been a lot worse without the good boots. The only even slight problem was just a little bit of pinching in my right little toe - but its possible that I was just imagining it since me feet hurt in general. Had we been doing an all-day hike, it would have been about time for an hour or so to sit down, eat lunch, and let our feet air out.
As usual, all of these pictures are Melissa's. I should note, however, that I blew up the green heron picture quite a bit, even though she generally disapproves of such "cheating". I say it's using your equipment to it's full capabilities!
We started in the state park area and basically just did the main loop around the pond (EDIT: actually, not the short loop that just goes around the edge of the main lake, but the longer loop that goes back through the marshes and ponds to the
northeast), including a few detours and spur trails, totalling maybe two miles. The parking area had a porta-john and the admin building was closed up and looked completely disused. The trail was obvious and easy to follow in all but one or two areas, but it was not well kept - fairly overgrown with grass (if I go again I will know to wear long pants) and several of the bridges/boardwalks were in pretty bad disrepair. The worst section was a little stream crossing right before the first natural pond (the main lake at the parking lot is man-made) where there was no obvious path and there was only a few remains of an old wooden bridge. Still, overall it was a nice trail, and not at all what I would call difficult. Very much more secluded than at Nelson-Kennedy last week - after we left the main lake we didn't see anyone else on the trail. The natural ponds had a cool swampy overgrown feeling, and the surfaces were covered in green plants and algae. We saw more wildlife too - lots of frogs and toads; geese, including fledglings, on the main lake; a great blue heron; a snake; and at least a half dozen different other birds. Melissa seemed pretty out of it, so we didn't go back and do all of the rest of the trails. After we got back, we rested for a few minutes and I had lunch in the picnic pavilion while Melissa played on the swingset! The map of the park I downloaded was decent enough, but it is tough with a map like that without more detail. For instance, when we were finishing the trail coming back to the parking lot from the west side, the end of the trail was actually gravel road. But this wasn't marked at all on the map, so I got confused for a while trying to figure out what the map was calling a trail and what was a road. It turns out that those gravel roads are the trails (there are two leading to different trails). It was a moment when it was clear to me just how useful a GPS would be - but I will write more about GPS's later.
The second half of the hike was in the nature preserve area, which starts from a different trailhead a couple miles down the road, with a small parking area. This trail was much more well kept with wider paths and newish boardwalks - again I think we totalled something like two miles (EDIT: The Hiking Ohio book lists this complete hike as 2.75 miles). A couple hundred yards from the trailhead there is a little information post with pamphlets that include some interesting detail about the area and a decent trail map. The trail starts with a deciduous/conifer forest area, but quickly gets to the ponds, marshes, and wetlands that are the main feature of the preserve. The wetlands are really beautiful. Along the path there are several cool small ponds, but there are several places where you can see the exanse of open marsh for half a mile or more - especially at the far southern tip of the trail and the observation deck built just off a small eastern spur trail. It's really a shame that the signs of civilization are so close, however - a railroad track marks one edge of the swamp while on the other side the back of a strip mall is visible. We saw dozens of cool bird species, including a beautiful green heron (see picture) from just about 30 yards. There were also a couple of great blue herons (although we never got closer than a hundred yards or so), geese and wood ducks both with fledglings, an eastern kingbird, a gray catbird, a cardinal, a few red winged blackbirds, and plenty of other smaller birds that I can't identify. I saw one soaring bird from about a quarter of a mile, which kind of looked like a northern harrier, which makes sense because they like swamps, but they are supposed to only be around in the winter - I dunno. We also saw frogs, turtles, fishes, a raccoon, dragon flies, butterflies, and unfortunately plenty of mosquitoes and buzzing bugs. There were several beautiful wildflower species, my favorite being some bright yellow flowers growing from the lily pads (Melissa was getting pretty worn out by this point, so she didn't get me a picture of them). There is a small spur loop trail that goes to a pond that is supposed to be a beaver pond with a lodge (Lonesome Pond), but other than some stripped and gnawed trees, we didn't see any signs of the beavers or the lodge- but then again we don't really know what to look for. With all of the wildlife, I got good use out of my binocs. Overall, this was my favorite trail of the season so far.
This was also our first chance to try out our new packs. They are definitely a little heavy filled with water, but the packs are well designed and do a great job of distributing the weight well. I also brought along my binocs, emergency kit, and a sandwich, and had plenty of room for a sweatshirt or whatever had I needed it. Melissa fit her camera with room for a few extras as well. After the hike we both still had 1/2 - 2/3 of our resevoirs full of water, and neither of us felt that we conserved in any way. This bodes well for longer trips when we will need to carry that much water.
My boots were feeling quite good again. While my feet were definitely getting sore by the end, I could tell they would have been a lot worse without the good boots. The only even slight problem was just a little bit of pinching in my right little toe - but its possible that I was just imagining it since me feet hurt in general. Had we been doing an all-day hike, it would have been about time for an hour or so to sit down, eat lunch, and let our feet air out.
As usual, all of these pictures are Melissa's. I should note, however, that I blew up the green heron picture quite a bit, even though she generally disapproves of such "cheating". I say it's using your equipment to it's full capabilities!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
New Packs
Melissa and I got our new packs today. We both went for Camelbak 100 oz daypacks, hers the designed-for-women Isis, and mine is the Rim Runner. I have used a Camelbak bag a couple times before, and they really are very convenient. We decided that we really couldn't go wrong getting the 100 oz reservoirs over the 70 oz models. They do cost slightly more, but we are definitely going to need to carry that much water at times. I got a really good deal on Melissa's at South Summit. I got a decent deal on mine at Campmor. I also bought a compass that was on sale, because a compass seems like a good thing to have. It clips onto my bag and even has a nifty little temperature sensor.
My first impressions of the packs is quite positive, but I haven't had a chance to use them at all. There looks to be enough space for all the basic hiking kit, a few warm clothes, and a lunch. They seem to have an extraordinary amount of little hoops, clips, clasps, zippers, etc. on the outside of the bag to strap on extra gear or just keep the bag tight - I am really nor sure how much of it is entirely necessary, but we'll see. As we get a chance to test them out, I will make sure to comment on their performance. And I will make sure Melissa gets some pictures of them in use.
My first impressions of the packs is quite positive, but I haven't had a chance to use them at all. There looks to be enough space for all the basic hiking kit, a few warm clothes, and a lunch. They seem to have an extraordinary amount of little hoops, clips, clasps, zippers, etc. on the outside of the bag to strap on extra gear or just keep the bag tight - I am really nor sure how much of it is entirely necessary, but we'll see. As we get a chance to test them out, I will make sure to comment on their performance. And I will make sure Melissa gets some pictures of them in use.
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