Camping and Backpacking GEAR thread

All good - I'm not trying to stick up for all the crazies in my area.

My second job puts me in downtown quite a bit - it is pretty crazy down there. Just about got puked on (by a well dressed lady who had far too much to drink) last week.

 

Nails are manmade...

Meh. You see the crazies everywhere. They're worse around here because half of them don't have any teeth.

 

This is one of my favorite things to do in Havasupai. Very pretty hike, and the colors in the rock and water where Havasu Creek meets the Colorado are awesome. The outfitters running folks down the Colorado gave me a few beers while I was there!

 

Groupon has some double sized hammocks on sale for $22. Weight limit = 410 lbs. not sure how these will compare to other brands.

 

Looking for a new GPS. Any recommendations? Specifically for hiking and backpacking throughout western WA (olympics, and cascades) this summer... looking for something quality under $200...

 

A friend just asked me about Havasupai the other day so I had this ready to copy and paste, you might find it useful:

It's been a couple years since I'v been, and things change fast down there, so things have probably changed. Here is a map I made for our second trip down there.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zOZ42DHAZIOI.k7RnkA7GjH5M&usp=sharing

So the first water fall you come to is right at the edge of town, this was a good place for some cliff jumping. It was also the least crowded pools / waterfalls both times I went. It's worth spending some time if you want to play in a bigger pool with less folks around.

Next waterfall is Havasu falls. It's big and really cool. The pool at the bottom wasn't huge. Facing the waterfall and across the pool is a side canyon. Totally dry, not terribly exciting, except there is a mine you can explore, which is cool, just watch your step. From the pool at the base of the falls you can walk to the campground by staying in Havasu Creek. I recommend going to the falls or returning from them at least once this way. There was a cool grotto along the creek.

Campground is a big area, no numbered spots or anything, just camp wherever. We camped in the middle, which was nice. The beginning is the most crowded, but the further down you go, you can snag a sweet spot right along havasu creek. The flowing water makes for some good white noise at night so you can't hear other campers.

At the end of the campground is mooney falls, which is the biggest and most impressive of the water falls. The climb down has you going through some carved out holes in the rock along chains and a shitty ladder. This part is AWESOME. The falls are impressive and the hike/scramble down is fun.

At the base of mooney falls, with your back to the falls, along the left (west) canyon wall is a side canyon called Ghost Canyon. It's easy to miss, you'll be tempted to follow the trail along havasu creek which would totally avoid the side canyon. When I went in there, it was just my girlfriend and I. The lighting was awesome and it was very pretty and quite. I told someone else about it though and they said when they went it was crowded and noisy. Either way it's a short side trip and worth checking out.

A couple miles down canyon from mooney falls is beaver falls. Small waterfall, but a fun place to hang out and swim around. Less crowded than havasu and mooney falls. The trail is kind of fun too, just be careful, someone fell and impaled their leg on rebar along the trail when I was there last.

Just down canyon from Beaver Falls is Beaver Canyon. It's on the left as you head down canyon (west side). I've never had a chance to explore this one, but I've heard it's nice. It's dry and I recall their being a bit of a scramble to get into the canyon when I passed by.

If you keep going you will leave the reservation and enter grand canyon national park proper. Where havasu creek flows in to the colorado river is really pretty. The colors in the water and the sandstone, plus the really nice hike there make this my second favorite part of the trip (mooney falls being #1). It's a 16 mile hike roundtrip from the campground. It took me a little more than half a day to hike there and back, plus lots of time hanging out in the grand canyon talking to the folks rafting the colorado. Scored some free beer talking to the outfitters after all the tourists got off the boat and hiked up canyon.

If I was going again I'd probably do something like this:
Day 1 - Sleep in the parking lot and hit the trail at first light. Arrive at the campground mid afternoon and take a nap. Check out Mooney Falls and Ghost Canyon the rest of the day.

Day 2 - Hang out at Beaver falls / maybe hike hike to the colorado river, on the way back hang out at beaver falls for a bit. If the colorado sounds like too much of a hike, just hang out around beaver falls all day.

Day 3 - take it easy, check out havasu falls, the mine, and swim at rock falls (the one closest to town)

Day 4 - Both times I went in Jun/July, so it was HOT. We got up before sunrise to hike out. Keep in mind it's a fairly gradual but steady climb out, until you reach the parking lot. Then it's toughest, you probably don't want to be there in the late afternoon sun.

 

How strenuous is the hike? I usually stop at the pool right behind Beaver Falls to swim and cliff jump.

 

Just get Backcountry Navigator Pro on your smartphone. Why carry 2 devices? It really is a great piece of software for the one-time cost. Download satellite or topo imagery, very compatible with multiple file formats for import/export (GPX, KML, KMZ, etc).

I love my Delorme but I get better battery life on my phone and GPS reception is very accurate.

 

For Havasupi, I have some first timer questions:

-how do you keep all your stuff at your campsite secure while you're out exploring? Or do people generally just not mess with it? I guess with everyone putting in the work to hike in / out that everyone would be respecting each other and on the same page, but you know...

-closest water sources for refills? I drink like a fish, so usually carry a lot of water. Not sure if the water in the falls is safe to filter, or??? Have to get a new filter.

-from my modest wife: "if we're going to camp in hammocks and not have tents, is everyone generally ok with nudity while people change and whatnot?" She's more modest than me, I have no problem changing in front of anyone

 

Thanks, copied and saved!

 

Yeah I've heard good things about it, but doesn't that take up a lot of memory space on your phone? I have Galaxy S6 active, that doesn't allow for an SD card for additional memory... that's my only concern

 

Yeah that is an issue, but not a deal breaker. If you download big map tiles, then phone space will be an issue. If you just download what you need for the one hike you're on, then delete any other map tiles to save space.

I have an S5 and I have a 32gb card so I just have the app run from the SD card and store all of the map files there. It takes up about 4gb of my SD right now, but I have about 6 map packs on there for large areas.

 

I kept my stuff in my tent or hung up each time and no one has taken anything. It seems like everyone else there does the same thing.

There is a fern spring at that campsite that provides drinking water. The last 2 times I was able to just drink right from the spring. This time there was a sign that said to boil your water when I went over the weekend. We filtered water right from the creek to drink and cook. No problems so far.

I changed in my hammock over the weekend. Not has easy to do as a tent but had no problem. or you can just wrap a towel around yourself and change that way also.

 

Oh that's not too bad I guess. I'll have to check it out, and just clear out the ridiculous amount of gopro footage saved to my phone haha
Thanks for the recommendation

 

Oh yeah, get those videos off of your phone and you won't have a problem installing BCN. I use it everywhere I go now.

 

Use a hammock tarp like the larger Hennessy one to cover your hammock, and to block the wind. Also makes a great clothes changing blind, and shade.

 

I have the Hennessy Hyperlite and the Rainfly is pretty small. Maybe Ill look into getting a larger fly.

 

Large, light weight tarps are so useful!

Hammock cover, sun shade, pop up shelter for a rain shower, wind block...
I carry a tarp on day hikes for any of those reasons.

 

Military ponchos are the bee's knees for all the above!

 

Just make sure you pack light, start early and bring enough water to get in if you're hiking. Havasupai was my first desert hike ever (I'm from the Midwest), I had over 50 lbs on my back and I was not conditioned. We hiked in July, and didn't get started until late morning. Temps were around 100F. I was using an early platypus (this was 15 years ago) and it leaked, leaving me with no water about 3 miles in. If I remember right, it's about 10 miles from the parking lot to the campsite. I was so dehydrated that I was a solid cramp for the next 2 days and couldn't hike to the river. It was a hard lesson to learn.