Camping and Backpacking GEAR thread

Well looks like the down jacket question was irrelevant for now.

Had follow up with the ankle doc and my hiking season is over for the time being. Things were worse than I thought. If i am out more than 30 more days which looks like will definitely be the case it brings hiking the low desert in the heat into the calendar which means a massive delay and finishing in 19 is no longer a realistic goal. I'm pretty gutted right now. My last 8 months was dedicated to planning and training for this adventure. Hell even bought the truck for this. I'll definitely be finishing it in the future but just not now

 

No worries. It's an old trick that really works.

Been there man. Just get on the rehab hard as soon as you can.

Seven years ago I broke my calcaneus falling off a very tall boulder problem. I landed between two pads and new right away I was couch bound for a while. It sucked. I was 37 at the time and climbing harder then I ever had. As soon as I got the OK I rehabbed that ankle hard. I pushed through a ton of pain to make sure it came back as strong as it used to be.

Three weeks in I started to bear weight on it against my doctors advice. By 8 weeks in I was able to walk enough to go hiking. I had cabin fever by this point. I just needed to get out into the high country. For my "hike" I loaded up my pack with all my lightest gear and my fly rod. I "hiked" a 27 mile point to point trail over Paiute Pass, over Puppet Pass and dropped into the back side of Humphreys. I took 5 days to stop and fish. On the 4th day my wife met me at Steelhead Lake and we camped that night together then headed out in the AM.

That last 2 miles to the car I was in incredible pain. I thought for sure I over did it. I made an appointment to see my ortho that week.

As I was getting examined I explained to him what I'd just done. He looked at me and scolded me hard for doing it. After the exam I asked about the healing time for this injury. He told me in 25 years as an ortho he's never seen anyone walk on this injury at 8 weeks much less hike 27 miles in 5 days. He explained the pain wasn't the heel but the achilles. I thanked him and went on my way.

Four months later I returned for my final visit. I had regained 100% range of motion. Again, something very uncommon for this type of injury. Today I have to think about which ankle I broke it's heeled that well. I attribute all of that recovery to rehabbing at as soon as possible and truly believing I'd have my lifestyle back in no time. Keep staying positive and keep moving it as soon as you can.

 

Meant to ask you which route did you do on Whitney? I have been eyeballing the Mountaineers route once I finished the AZT and do some snow climbing here first. Wanted to get some first hand feedback on it.


And thanks @theesotericone gonna start rehab immediately, in fact just reached out to the place where I did my PT after my hip replacements

 

Just bought the Marmot KnifeEdge Gortex Jacket.
I stood in the shower for over a minute last night to test it. Waterproofing held up.
Haven't tested it for breath ability yet.

 

I tested the "Stretchdown DS jacket" at sports basement. It fit great and had great stretch. Really warm too. Felt body temp go up within 1-2 minutes.
I then went to REI and tested the "Super DS down jacket". I actually preferred the stretchdown DS that was at sportbasement. It seemed better built. More expensive though.

 

I did the regular mt whitney route up the 99 switchbacks. but we thankfully had an 2 night overnight permit, so that was nice. We enjoyed the hike up, did some fly fishing at Mirror lake and caught a couple beautiful trout, summited Whitney, then also summited Mt Muir same day. then camped at Consultation lake. Everyone that was doing the day hike was pretty grumpy and were like zombies lol.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I haven't seen either jacket in stores yet so its hard for me to get a good comparison.

 

They still will. I've replaced two. I have emailed them on two occasions, they ask what color and an address, then it appears at my door a week later. Great company

 

I don't think I have a picture of the "super DS down Jacket" but I have some of the "stretchdown DS jacket".
Although the quilting looks the same for both, i didn't feel the Super DS down was as well made even though they are both from Mountain Hardware.
I will post some pics later. I wear a large and a large was a very snug fit. Only wear a t shirt under it. Very "interesting" jacket.

 

Yeah I have no real desire to do that as a day hike even the much shorter mountaineers route. To me it is like Grand Canyon R2R in a day people. You spend so much time hurrying you miss the whole thing. I'd rather slow it down and enjoy it.

 

Thanks! I still have one employee discount code left so I may use it to purchase Stretchdown DS jacket then. The other MH jacket i was looking at was the Kor Strata. I believe it was suppose to be stretch material also. but not quite sure.

 

Hip replacements? Plural? Nice man, way to stay active after those. It's pretty rad what doctors can do nowadays.

As far as Whitney goes, I live 45 miles from it. I've been up and down it multiple times. I have never gone the hikers trail. I've also never gone up the Mountaineers Route although I've used it as a descent every time I've done Whitney.

The hiking trail is 11 miles one way from the Portal to the summit. The "climbers" trail(North Fork of Lone Pine Creek Trail) is 3.5 miles from the Portal to the base of Whitney. Then it's another 1000 feet of climbing to the summit. I love climbing so have never felt the need to take the long way. If your fit you can easily car to car the summit via the Mountaineers Route in a day.

The camping it Iceberg Lake it a talus field but it's literally right under Whitney. The two time I have camped I camped lower down at Upper Boyscout Lake. It's about 3/4 of a mile from Upper to the base of Whitney.

If you can make sure to do it mid-week. It's way easier to get a permit that way. Up until 5 years ago the hiking trail and the climbers trail where on two different permit systems. You could almost always get a permit for the climbers trail. Then the Forest Service had this brilliant idea to combine the two into one zone. Idiots. Now it's pretty hard to get a permit for the climbers trail except mid-week. Even that's not a gimme. It's why I only car to car it now.

When you plan the trip shoot me a PM and I'll give you a conditions report. Have you done any technical rock climbing? Both the East Face and the East Buttress are super fun moderate rock climbs.

 

Nothing super technical over a good higher class scramble and a easy climb up a 800 foot chute similar to the last one on the mountaineers route. We've got a good 12600 foot peak up here to get some good prep work with crampons and ice axe. Don't think I'm at the level of climbing the east face/buttress hip flexibility and range of motion is not great on stuff like that.
Wife has expressed some interest in doing some indoor climbing so that might be a good way to expand my skill set

 

Oh yeah had both hips replaced June and July of 2012 at age 35. No labrums left in either hip no cartilage had a cam impingement in both like .3mm joint space clearance 3-4 degrees range of motion. Too much ice hockey the biggest contributor. Rodeo skiing snowboarding and golf didn't help. Trying to take advantage of being active while i can. Never know what the next set will be like

 

@theesotericone

Here is the chute going up to Browns peak, highest peak in my county at 7657. a bit narrower than Whitney but reminds me a bit of the notch when I look at pics of that route. Good upper class 3 scramble no ropes needed as there are tons of good foot and handholds.

The final couple hundred feet are the most vertical and fun

Browns peak is part of the aptly named 4 peaks. It is the one on the left
The view from across the valley from the top of the 4056 foot East End peak

 

Great pics! My hiking friends did this last weekend. Kind of pissed I missed this one.

 

Browns and Picketpost are two of my favorites. Battleship is not bad but it is a long day at 12 miles RT vs 5ish for Browns and Picketpost. I also did battleship with a big group of folks and one of the gals was directionaly challenged so I had to literally stay 15 feet in front of her at all times otherwise she would go off trail and get lost. This caused me to take the easier routes and not do some cool scrambling that was out there which was a disappointment

 

Anyone here have a TarpTent Rainbow? I have a Notch but I think I might want something a little bit larger. Yeah, it's about 12oz heavier than the Notch, but I like the space. I know most people love the Rainbow and I hardly see any for sale, but figured I would ask for opinions.

Also, if anyone wants to trade...lemme know. Mine is a 2017 model with the zippers for the vestibule doors.

 

Heading up to the az high country this weekend to test out the colder weather gear and the limits of my sleeping bag/pad. Lows around freezing overnight. Realised I've got some good upper base layers for sleeping but had no bottom base layer

Used my rei coupon and picked up some smartwool 150 merino wool base. I guess we'll see how they do. Figure if i can't be out hiking i can at least get into the woods

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/9tdzlw/black_friday_deals/

Just passing this information along on Black Friday Ultra Light Backpacking Deals.

Credit goes to the Reddit user for posting this information.