Hiking Soon!

I seem to have packed up 11.6 kg of stuff. I'm carrying extra things that I don't need to make the pack heavier, such as two hammocks and my largest tarp. I also have three liters of water for a hike that is planned to be 4km.

4km Walk And Jacket Failure And Sunday Plans

I did a 4km walk since I last posted. Not much, but it still hurts when I do certain things.

I also discovered that my new jacket appears to have remained in Turkey Creek. I'm pretty sure I lost it after getting hit by the rock. I needed to get stuff out of my pack in the aftermath, and I apparently didn't put it back in. I don't remember losing it, so this is just a guess though based on the fact it was the most likely time for it to have happened. So now I need to replace it already, which sucks.

Sunday, coming up, I want to hit Copper Canyon again. But I have yoga class at 13:00. So I'm suspecting Copper will be an extra-early start and we will try to rush it. I'll pack super-light (hammock and water) to facilitate this.

Turkey Creek Slideshow

Tracklog For Turkey Creek

From 20090828

I went just under 16km yesterday on a six and a half hour trek.

Death By Mountain Nearly Achieved!

While taking the rather direct route straight up the side onto the trail yesterday, I encountered a falling rock. It was about 2' across, and it came down in a direct path to strike just left of my sternum. As steep as the hillside was, it seemed pretty unsurvivable at the time. I got my trekking pole up and it took the brunt of the impact for me. I'm out $200 to buy a new pair of carbon fiber trekking poles, but minimally injured.

I also fell into a water filled rock cut while I was trying to photograph it. I hurt my knee pretty badly in doing so. The water sluiced me down the cut and dumped me over a waterfall into a pool. Waterproof cameras are great for these outdoorsy pictures! It would have been a blast if not for all the limping from the knee.

My hiking companion was totally unprepared. Instead of going on a Friday campout, Saturday backpack in, Sunday backpack out, I did a 16km hike with a heavy pack that I didn't use nor need. I made my destination though, and I took pictures to prove it. As soon as I can find my card reader, I'll get them offloaded and then uploaded.

About To Depart

After adding water, and some yoga instructions, I'm at about 13.48 kg.

Packing

I bought myself a Berkley 23kg hanging scale. It's for fish.

Gregory Z-55 backpack, 1.67 kg.
Leaf bag, 1.70 kg.
Wiggy's 35F sleeping bag, 3.13 kg.
OR bivy sack, 3.68 kg.
5' by 8' silnylon tarp, 3.88 kg.
6 stakes and 100' guyline, 4.05 kg.
Hammock, 4.63 kg.
3 Tasty-Bite, M&Ms, dried cherries, crackers, peanuts, 7.01 kg.
SmartWool long underwear, 7.36 kg.
Water filter, 7.77 kg.
9 LED headlamp, 8.0 kg.
GPS, 8.18 kg.
Rain pants, jacket, gaiters, and hat, 9.21 kg.
Junk bag, 10.21 kg.
2 AA batteries, 10.26 kg.
Digital camera, 10.54 kg.
Socks, underwear, t-shirt, shorts, 11.13 kg.
Sandals, 12.19 kg.
2 Nalgene bottles, 12.41 kg.
Balaclava, 12.44 kg.
Salmon, 12.71 kg.

This doesn't count what I'll wear:
Shorts, underwear, t-shirt, socks, boots, trekking poles, and sunglasses. The hat, GPS, and gaiters listed above might be worn as well. Also, I'll have water in my water bottles.

I also added in some ziplock bags and a spare leaf bag, which take the total weight up by a tad bit more.