Camping and Backpacking GEAR thread

I live very near to the south entrance of RMNP. If any of you are in the area, hit me up if you have any questions or need anything. Gear, directions, lodging, free rafting and a seasoned fly fishing guide....holla.

 

6' on the dot for me, at that time their regular was 5'10" so that was a no go. 6'4 I believe was the large size back then, even at 6'6" you'll be stretching your insulation out quite a bit I'd think.

 

I'll be heading that way next week. Renting a cabin about 15 minutes north of Estes Park. If it goes well I might be back out for a camping trip. Going to get to try out my new hammock, but not for overnights yet.

 

Awesome. 8-10 lbs. Think the most I got to was 16 lbs in a GG Virga, Hennessy hammock, alcohol stove. Was so nice with a light pack.

 

16 lbs is still good! I think a lot of ultralite packs recommend no more than 25 pounds max load. It's a huge departure from one of my very first semi-long distance trips in Alaska where I must have been carrying more than 65 pounds, ie. extra pair of boots (wtf), a tome of a book I was reading at the time, an old white gas pump stove, etc.

 

Yeah, not as good as 8-10lbs.
But, I know what you mean, when you get above 25-30lbs it does get to be too much.
On a side note. A trip into the ADKs with a buddy of mine. I let him use my Osprey (my big pack) for the trip. I told him, "don't take too much." He packed it. He brought so much shit. I felt bad for him. But he learned.

 

Well, the wifey and I are back from Yosemite after hiking our little section of the JMT. Started in Tuolumne Meadow and hiked through to Agnew Meadow (32 miles) in 4 days instead of 5. She did extremely well considering she was recovering from a knee incident from the previous week while pushing it too hard in spin class. No blisters, and one separated toenail later, we made it out of this amazing experience. Original plan was to exit about 3 miles further down the trail at Red's Meadow, but my wife's toenail was getting bad and we exited on the same shuttle route but slightly earlier. Saved us an extra day of having a big downhill that would have probably separated her nail entirely.

The day after we were off the trail, they closed Tuolumne Meadow for treatment of fleas that tested positive for the Plague. Crazy stuff that we started there just days before and ate breakfast by that campground. Luckily, I don't handle squirrels...

Here's a recap of the over 300 pics I took along the way:

Parked the truck at Mammoth Mountain Inn for the 5 days of the hike

Took a road trip down to Yosemite park. Somewhere along Tioga road

Another Tioga road shot


Down in Yosemite valley on the road trip the day before the hike


On our way back out of Yosemite Valley and back to the hotel to rest for the hike the next day


Another Tioga road shot


Day one, morning one. Starting in Tuolumne Meadow.


Taking a water/rest break in Lyell Canyon


What I came to call "Vaping the JMT"


Lyell Canyon


Camp 1 at the base of the ascent up Donohue Pass

Looking back down Lyell Canyon on our ascent on day 2


Halfway up Donohue Pass, taking a water fill break


One more water stop at another lake. About 500' to go to the top.


Last push up Donohue Pass


At the top of Donohue Pass


Heading down the northeast side of Donohue Pass to camp 2


Camp 2, about 2 miles below Donohue at 10,000'


One of a few water crossings


Island Pass. Beautiful twin lakes at the top.


Taking a break at Island Pass for water and lunch
Coming down off of Island Pass. This is Thousand Island Lake


Showing how clear the water is in Ruby Lake


Emerald Lake


Reached camp 3 at Garnet Lake. Great open sky that was constantly changing in the late afternoon


Sunset over Garnet Lake


Camp 3 at Garnet Lake


Sunrise on Garnet Lake


Wild brook trout caught all morning on Garnet. Only day I got to fish because we were always pushing to get to a good campsite and eat a good dinner. My intention was to supplement my dinner diet with trout, but I got too tired each day to take the time to fish. Glad I took this 4th day to spend some time. 3 nice fish in the first 10 minutes, and couldn't keep them off the hook.


Sun coming up, time to pack up and move on down the trail.


Headed over the pass and on down to Shadow Lake


Waterfalls starting to show up on our way down


More running water down to Shadow Lake


Shadow Lake


Down from Shadow Lake along the San Joaquin river. Getting hot out


San Joaquin valley, leads down to Agnew and Red's Meadow and Devil's Postpile monument


San Joaquin down to a trickle at the bottom. Very hot and dry down here.


Recovery dinner #1 back in Mammoth Lakes village


Recovery dinner #2, 3 hours later!

 

Awesome post! Great pictures, thank you for sharing them.

 

Beat me to it. Beautiful scenery!

 

Lol.
Nature pics nature pics nature pics nature pics---CHEVY C10!!!---nature pics nature pics nature pics

 

Hi guys. My little sister is going to Patagonia this December and will be doing the Torres Del Pain W trek. I am not sure if she will be camping or staying at the refugios, but she mentioned that she will need a sleeping bag. She is about 5ft and maybe 100lbs. So trying to keep her backpack to about 20lbs. anyways, what I was looking for is suggestions on a light weight sleeping bag that has a EN rating to about 0-15 degrees. I believe they say 15 is recommended but If you have a warmer suggestion that would be great. Please include the EN rating and weight in your suggestions. Thank you!! Her birthday is coming up so my siblings and I will be pitching in for a good quality sleeping bag.

 

My Western Mountaineering bag is super lightweight and very warm. Check those out.

 

Make sure she has appropriate ground insulation to go with it. EN ratings account for some level of insulation from the ground, for a woman that small she should buy on the lower temp. scale IMO as she has less fat and body mass to warm her bag up. Women always sleep colder!

 

Yeah, a good pad makes all the difference. So true.

 

This is the backpack I have:

Osprey Atmos AG 65

 

I like the color scheme.

 

Great pack. My large pack is an older Opsrey. The way it is fitted really makes it feel like the weight isn't even there.

 

I will check to see what mat she has.

 

I will look into them. The size of the bags seem really big for her, but the weight and warm look good.