So excited we are off! All packed and driving toward Gunnison. I haven’t had much time to really prepare for this trip. Last week while I was working my vendor booth at the little britches national finals in Pueblo I read, I read three books or re-read should say. Ultralight backpacking tips by Mike Clelland, lightweight backpacking by Don Ladigan, and Andrew Skurka’s ultimate backpacking guide. So, I had lots of things I wanted to try out for my Colorado Trail hike, and this week will be a great test run.
I am trying a lot of the recipes in Mike Clelland’s book trying to get each meal as calorie dense as I can, I didn’t have time to make some of the homemade energy stuff, but I did get some of the meals mixed. And I am experimenting with how many oz/meal/person. Mike Clelland quotes 1.4 lbs pp/day for summer and an average person. I packed more for Casey- more like 6-7 for him and tried to do about 4 for me. We’ll see how that works out. I am still heavy on the food that we are packing for the trip. But this is a more concerted effort than usual! I am determined to get my pack down to 10lbs base for the Colorado Trail, so I can make good miles, especially at the end.
We are getting our fishing lisence today do that will take care if my COSAR card as well. Not to mention any fishing I might want/need to do 😉
Other new things I am trying are an alcohol stove ( we can always make fires if we really need to) . And my 1/8 in foam pad that will go under my thermarest neo-air to protect it from puncture and to help keep me warmer during the mid-late Sep high altitude nights on the Colorado Trail. It is also replacing my chair as a sit pad/multipurpose foam mat.
I made a foam pot cozy for my titanium mug ( it is pretty big mug) to hear water in. And the cozy will keep it warm and everything else cleaner too- protecting from soot. Oh ! And how could I forget the most high-tech piece of gear the Andrew Skurka’s Fancy Feast cat food can alcohol stove! And aluminum foil wind screen- yep it ought to be a good test of what all I can do with it ;). Casey also bought me a fry bake pan ( decidedly NOT ultralight) but I am super excited to use it fry fish with, and bake of course ;). It is for sure an ultralight Dutch oven! I have the 8in version and lid. Begging to get broken in. Probably over a fire, but I’ll do some experimenting with the alcohol stove too.
I am going to consider bear hangs again, but I HATE them! Bear canisters are SO much easier! But heavy. I also doubt the true value of a bear hang, and it’s viability in keeping your food safe. So drum roll- we’ll see which way we go.
Ok all for now.