Video: Overnight Hike [Archive]

Raul Perez

04-04-2011, 10:47

Trip Report:

Sorry I was scrambling to get the video up and in your hands asap.

Learned a lot this trip. For one thing my switch to UL status was the best money spent and time researching I’ve done in a long time (with the exception of putting a ring on my lovely fiancé’s hand). I chose a fairly difficult hike in NY knowing that the hike east of the Hudson river is not as intense. So if I could hang with the tough part on the west I know I’m ready to rock the other side.

Well I basically flew up the mountains… lolly gagging took about 6.5 hours to get in a solid 9 miles. That’s with me setting up camera angles, messing around like a tool bag, and taking a nap next to a stream. The next day I wanted to see what kind of shape I really was in and did the 9 miles back (which is more intense as the slopes are much steeper) and I rocked it out in a little over 4 hours. I really didn’t even feel the weight that much and going back since most of my weight was food and it was eaten the night prior well having approx 13lbs on my back was like nothing at all.

Of course mother nature likes to throw curve balls when you’re expecting the heater and then walks over to you in the batting cage and kicks you in the yams… Just as I thought I’ve got it all covered when I got to camp there was 30-40mph gusts that lasted until mid-day the next day. It made it a bit of a challenge to do some things which I will go into later on.

What I learned:

That experience is the mother of all teachers. I am familiar with most of my gear and the most important thing I did this trip was to pay attention to my body. If I was tired I slowed down. If I felt a hot spot I stopped, assessed, mended and then moved on. Doing this made a world of difference in the comfort of my hiking experience. Being young means thinking you’re invincible and pushing through pain. Now in my 30’s I’ve learned that if you take a little time off to re-coupe and take care of yourself you’ll have a much better time!

Bring your medical kit always… because you wont be hurt everyone around you will basically drop like flies. Came across a young couple and the girl was goofing off and banged her knee and it was bleeding (it wasn’t bad but she was crying due to the sight of blood). I just walked past and reached in my med kit and gave them anti-biotic cream and a bandaid because they didn’t have anything!

Don’t be a goon and hike at night in unfamiliar trail if you are not experienced and don’t have the proper equipment with you. SAR came by our site at 4am looking for a lost hiker and woke up the entire shelter. Then they headed SOBO on the AT. 2 hours later they brought back the hiker. Not sure who reported him missing or if he called himself. He owes me 2 hours of sleep.

Gear assessments:

AGG UL rain jacket – this trip was my most valuable gear. I broke the wind and kept me warm during those gusty summits. It does not breathe which I found out in November 2010. Knowing this I paid attention to when It felt clammy in the arms. When that happens you need to take off the jacket and let it air out for like 10-15 minutes.

Salomon XA Pro GTX Shoes – quirky this trip but then again it was tougher trail than Long Island. They lossened up almost every summit. I had to tighten them probably ever couple of miles or so. Annoying to say the least but the weight and the comfort are still very appealing. Also since the rains I did get sunk in a few mud boggs and the GTX worked out perfectly.

Smartwool PHD hiking socks – really nice. They have extra fabric on the sole of the feet which I am attributing to why my feet felt much better after hiking along with the decreased weight. Did almost get a blister due to my big toe rubbing against the other toe but duct tape cured that coming back. No blisters on the heel or bottom of my feet. Thumbs up!

Smartwool micro tee shirt – I was debating on whether to go long sleeve versus my micro tee. I took a gamble and it was a smart move 90% of the trip. It wicks moisture well and kept me relatively warm when I needed it to. However, in the morning the next day with 35*F 40mph gusting wind I think I might have lost a nipple on the trail. If someone finds it please mail it back. I switched to my long sleeve mid weight top until the temps decided to become spring again.

Whoopieslings Continuous Ridge Line – I worked out my quirks with it based on discussions with Smokebait and Opie. Seems to be holding the tension just fine even with 30-40mph gusts… do I even call it gusts when the wind never stopped blowing… it was like the longest gust ever. The soft shackle prussicks are a PITA to get undone with numb fingers due to the gusting cold being tossed on them. I usually use Biners for winter weather but I took a gamble this trip and my fingers paid the price.

WBBB, 3 season yeti, 3 season mamba, 1/8” thinlight pad – took a beating this trip due to the gusts. Many times my heat was sapped but I was still warm enough to be somewhat comfortable. I put the tarp down low but the wind still got underneath. Oh yeah… did you know that when 40mph hits the black bird when you set up it turns into a parachute!!! Yeah things that need to be brought to my attention before I went out! The 1/8” had some condensation issues this trip. More so than I’ve had in the past but I was able to work around it.

BPL Possum Down Gloves – after only approx 40 miles of trail use the thumb area is wearing down considerably. Not happy about that.

Montbell EX light down jacket and UL Down Inner pants – did their job just fine. Though the windy gusts did put them to the test. I wouldn’t go past 30*F with that type of wind with those garments though. Find shelter from the wind if you’re in those conditions.

Cuben Tarp – I’ll give video Tuesday (aka tomorrow night) on the new cuben tarp. The vendor did an amazing job and it held out in the 40mph gusts like a champ with no signs of wear at the stitch points. I had to put the tarp under the CRL because it was SOOO windy I could not even up the tarp ridgeline with the CRL properly. So out of fear of wearing down the tarp I placed it under. Based on the conditions which were similar when I had the SpinnUL I will never go back to spin. I heard ZERO noise in the wind. The spinnUL sounded like a crinkly thunderstorm.

Sanitary wipes – took some advice when I had that chaffing problem and brought some sanitary wipes to give my nether regions a good once over when I got to camp to take away the salt deposits. WOW I’m a convert. An ounce of weight for zero discomfort in long distance miles for me. YMMV but I get thigh chaffe quite easily.

Hawkvittle food – really happy with the food and the spreads I brought. Spreads are not great but definitely worked and had taste. I would go with the bean spread more unless you really like the taste of tuna because it was all tuna taste. I needed to add more water in the spicy chicken as the chicken didn’t fully rehydrate and the water was not fully boiled with the grits (ran out of fuel due to the high winds taking its toll on my cook set). But I enjoyed them a lot.

Mountainfitter Ti Stakes 6" - wow really held out and worked in between rocks on the AT. I did place a rock on each stake but I think they held just fine without the rocks (barely on them to begin with).

Zpacks Zline - Strong line. Held out in the 40mph gusts. durability issue!!!! one line was rubbing against the rock I placed on the stake. It started to frey the line good thing I did a check before I went to bed that line would have snapped. Re-tied the line above the frey. Will have to replace with more Zline and be more careful on rock placement.