[at-l] Re: Base Pack Weight, And mini trip report.

[bcalkins at disaster-relief.net (Bruce Calkins)]

Well, just to "weigh" in and brag a little.  Last Monday night after 9
nights out, (A little car to car stuff in the southern portion of CT with a
former classmate.) and after ditching the tarp in favor of my new Hennessy
Hammock.  I weighed out from the car at, 17 pounds for me and 7 for my dog,
Sam, with 1.5 pounds of water in my pack.

Things I had that I did not need or use, The stakes and ropes for the tarp,
a 4 ounce Gerber saw, the camera attachment for the Palm Organizer and the
ultra-light AM/FM radio.

Things that were heaver than needed, The Therm-a-Rest pad, A 10 liter water
bladder (Then again I only made one trip to Ice Gulch from Tom Leonard
Shelter.(Those who have been there, will remember it.)) and food (1 pound,
plus, extra).

Things I missed, Pot gripper.

Things that might have been to light,  My 28 year old modest quality 1.25
pound fill down bag.  (This worked well for the hot nights, but when we get
"normal" lows here in New England it is not warm enough for me.

My porcupine quill remover-mini-multi-tool doubled this trip as a pot
gripper.  I would not plan on this, but it got me by for the one meal I
cooked over the Zip-Stove.  For my first night in a Hammock I have to say I
slept very well.  Much more testing is indicated to streamline the system,
as so much promise was shown in that first night.  Also I look forward to
sleeping in the rain with this system to see if there are any weaknesses in
the system.  The Sam seemed to like sleeping under the hammock.  I suspect
the mosquitoes were whining around me in the hammock and did not hit him as
hard as they had earlier in the week.  (Project; bug netting for Sam, to use
with tarp and/or hammock.)

I had a good walk into the Tom Leonard Shelter from Lake Buell road.  Easy
Money was there.  A retired man doing a through hike at a young man's
speeds.   We had a good time talking on  a variety of subjects and stayed up
talking well past dark.  In the AM Easy Money managed to leave his reading
glasses behind.  I packed them out hoping to catch him at Route 23.  The
good news was, he missed them before Lake Buell Road and stashed his pack to
go back to get them.  I saved him about 3/4 of a mile of backtracking.
That's about it for that leg.  Returned to the house, deferred chores, 1000
E-mails, and the daily grind.

Black Wolfe