Camping and Backpacking GEAR thread

It was a good day for me.

I got a Havasupai reservation, but I also received my EE Revelation, EE Hooligan, and a cuben stuff sack making kit from Yama Mountain Gear.

The Revelation looks great and came in about a half ounce under published weight. I got it in Long/Xwide, 850fp, 10D outer, no stripes. It weighs 24.6oz.

The Hooligan is great. It’s a beanie that is insulated with Climashield Apex. There are 3 sizes, so even people with a large head (me) can get one that fits. I opted for a Large with the ear flaps, and it weighs 0.9oz.

I had also been looking around at cuben stuff sacks lately, and I needed to also purchase some guyline and Linelocs to add to my shelter kit for windy conditions. I noticed that Yama had what I needed but that they also had a DIY kit to make your own DCF stuff sacks. Naturally I bought it, and with it I ended up making 4 “flat” stuff sacks and a small gear pocket thing that I reinforced the top/corners on. I plan to attach some loops/hooks to it and make into a gear loft of sorts for my TT Notch. I still even have enough material left to make a few mini sized sacks or one small one.

I probably could have easily found a plan for round bottom sacks, but these were really easy to make once you get a hang of the transfer tape.



The large one is 0.3oz, medium is 0.2oz, and the smalls/stuff pocket are each 0.15oz. They came out great.

 

Love the trailer set up... Lots of awesomeness there

 

You're gonna love that section. It's 48 miles from OV trailhead to Whitney Portal, so plan accordingly. My wife and I did it in 6 days to totally take our time. We had one nero day (4 miles) in the middle after Forester Pass and it was a nice day to rest up. My wife was having pulmonary edema issues after Forester, otherwise we would have done it in 5 days. Could be done in 4 days if you don't stop to camp at Trail Camp on the way down from Whitney, but it makes for a BIG final day with a brutal knee-busting downhill. Take the full 6 days and really enjoy the area. Oh, and camp just above Guitar Lake at the next tarn. Much less crowded and gives you a head-start on summit day.

 

We used Paul with East Side Sierra Shuttle to get us from Whitney Portal back to my truck at Onion Valley. 2 of us cost $135, but he's cheaper than most and he's got clean cars and is full of great stories and history about the area.

http://www.eastsidesierrashuttle.com/

If you schedule a shuttle, make sure that you give yourself plenty of time to get down from Whitney and get that famous burger and fries at the Whitney Portal store. We timed it right for a 3pm pickup and were off the trail by 1pm and had 2 hours to eat, get some souvenirs, wash up a little, and have Paul show up right on time.

 

Forester Pass. JMT 1989.
I camped just below and did the pass the next morning, north bound. (That was where I learned to count my steps and not stop till I had done at least 100 steps.) Anyway, at my camp prior to Forester Pass I saw a cast iron dutch oven.
Fast forward a few days ....
When I was at Rae Lakes the ranger said to come by the next morning, so I stopped by after packing up. She and her boyfriend, from the next ranger section over somewhere, offered me some fresh fruit and when I mentioned the dutch oven he said "Where? Where exactly is it?" Apparently he had a whole cast iron stove and gear he carried into his cabin. I imagine the dutch oven gone the next week.

My camp at the south base of Forester Pass was a moonscape. I did have water with the snow covered lake there.
I buried my food under rocks. Not because i thought it would protect it, but there was no where else to put it.

Ken in NC

 

If you camp 5 miles south of Forester at the treeline, there's great camping. We went NOBO in 2015 and tackled Forester from Bubbs Creek and over the pass to finish at Tyndall Creek. Camping in the trees right next to water, and it was a 14 mile day. Nobo over Forester is a slog but you just put one foot in front of the other.

 

^^
Yeah, apparently ... when I left the trees it was early enough in the day. When I looked at the pass .... it was (LOL) no longer early enough in the day. So I camped.
I had left a work schedule of 6 days a week and I got a long vacation, a month, on short notice, and was actually getting into shape as I hiked. This was before light weight backpacking, before the internet, all information came from books. Thomas Winnett's book Guide to the John Muir Trail mostly. A pup tent, a SVEA 123R stove, synthetic bag, freeze dried food, and I imagine this was before I had a Thermarest. (?) No digital photos, I got what I got and found out at home when I developed them. Each day was taken as it came. No plan, and I did enjoy the whole trip. I was one day short of my scheduled food pickup below Bishop Pass, but I had a really great time on a trip I had wished to do since I was 12.

Ken in NC

 

True adventure in those times. Research was only in print where you could find it, and there weren't the conveniences of GPS, refined gear, snow reports, or any current updates unless you talked with someone who just came off the trail. We sure have it easy now.

 

We thought we were advanced at the time.

Ken in NC

 

I have an inReach Explorer showing up Monday. Super excited to start playing with it. Also, has anyone here done Half Dome with the cables down? We are going to be out there mid march and I really want to do it. I climb and have plenty of gear, seems pretty easy to do with a harness and prusik.

 

The cables actually stay up there year-round, so you'll have those as something to hold onto. They just take the riser pipes out of the holes that elevate the cables to hand-height, and they take the boards down.

 

Does anyone know about insuring travel trailers like Casitas or Scamps? I’m in the researching phase right now and called Allstate and they quoted me $300 a month. I live in Dallas, anyone pay less? /where do you live?

 

We have our Kimberley Kamper on an “agreed upon replacement value” policy with State Farm and I’m paying $43 a month. No mileage restrictions or any of that stuff.

Note: we have two homes, four cars, a boat, and two other utility trailers with them. Combined with excellent driving records I may be getting a bit of a discount.

 

This is great info! Thanks!! I’m excited. Was also thinking of making trying to get another section permit of the JMT from big Pete’s meadows to kearsarge.

 

What are your thoughts on leaving my truck at Whitney and shuttling to be trail head? That way when I get back I can just have my truck right away.

 

Thanks! I think location has a lot to do with it as well. $43 a month is manageable for me. It doesn’t make sense that they want me to spend double for something without an engine than what I’m paying for my truck

 

WOW! That is way too high! We pay $240 for a YEAR! 2018 R-Pod 179, S. Wisconsin.

 

I would have also done that option, as the both times I was at Whitney Portal, there was plenty of parking. If you do that option, I recommend parking at WP in the early afternoon (after some cars have left for the day) and getting shuttled to Onion Valley the day before your hike. You get a free night of camping at OV with your permit. That way, you can break camp and get a nice early start. That first day is a great hike, and you'll want to make the most of it.

 

Here's a slideshow video I made of our trip from Kearsarge to Whitney if you want to get an idea of what you'll see.

https://youtu.be/ZTTslcqRvvQ

 

Yeah, financially that’s just not an option for me. I bet I’m going to see a big difference in price when I move.