billmac
2005-07-04, 12:23
Hello, this is my first posting on the web site (or any other for that matter). My name is Bill and I’m a 37-year-old former Boy Scout who hasn’t been hiking in the woods in the last 22 years. That is until this past weekend. I just got done hiking 29 miles on the Pine Mountain Trail in FDR State Park in Southern Georgia. Bottom line: it was a great experience and I’m glad I did and now I’m prepping for my next adventure. I wanted to give a quick after action report and ask a couple of questions in hopes that some of you would answer and/or comment on.
First some background: I’m an active duty Army officer currently stationed at Fort McPherson in Atlanta. I got a bug in my mind about 2 years ago to get back into hiking when a co-worker told me about his plans to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. I pretty much gave up on ever hiking again after sustaining a shoulder injury in college. But, I started visiting this web site and others and began reading up on ultra-light back packing. In particular, I did a 6 month tour in Kuwait and during that time I spent a lot of time studying the tenets of ultra-light and planning my first trek back into the woods, with the ultimate goal of thru hiking the AT at some point in the future. Finally, after all the planning and reading, I assemble my gear and selected Pine Mountain as my “shake down” hike.
My gear: Go Lite Breeze back pack, Katadyn Water purifier, Esbit camp stove, Kelty Teton II tent, and 20 Degree bag. NO BOOTS, I left the boots at home and used my New Balance running shoes. Total weight (including water and food) before I left: approximately 26 pounds.
Now I wanted to get below 20 pounds, but I had no problems handling the extra weight. In fact, I was able to maintain a speed of 1 mile every 20 minutes. Which brings me to my first question: how does this rate of speed compare with yours? Now, I understand and appreciate the tenets of “hike your own hike” so it probably isn’t proper to ask this but I am really curious if I slower/faster than others. To me, this speed worked out great. In fact, my last day on the trail, I did 13 miles in 4 hours and 40 minutes. Using a map, compass, altimeter and watch for navigation, I found that after every 20 minutes, I would look up and find the next mile marker right on target. Most of all I’m pleased that I was able to maintain this speed because I know if I do a thru hike on the AT, I will need to be able to do some 20 mile days and thanks to keeping my pack weight down, I feel confident that I would be able to do that.
I know now that I could even reduce my pack weight even more. Most notably, I could have (should have) left the sleeping bag at home. The weather was hot enough that I never got inside of the thing, I just rolled it up and used it as a pillow at night. I could have easily got by with just a poncho liner. I probably could have left the tent home as well, but I like to spread my gear out once I’m at camp and I used the tent to stretch out. So the bag was the biggest amount of wasted weight.
However, the piece of gear I wished I had with me was a pair of leggings. Like I said, I did all the hiking with just my running shoes, but now I have “God knows what” all over my ankles. I don’t know if its poise ivy or chiggers, but it itches like crazy! Had I had a set of leggings I could have spared myself this. Next question: do you use leggings, if so which do you recommend?
Overall, I was very pleased with the Go Lite Breeze pack. Like I said, I was concerned about an old shoulder injury and was worried that I would get only a mile on the trail and be in so much pain that I would have to turn around. That never happened. Sure, my shoulders were sore, but even after my longest hiking day, but I quickly recovered. I’m I got the Breeze, but I don’t think it will be sufficient for any hikes longer than 4 days. I could have pack one additional days worth of food in there (especially, had I left the sleeping bag at home) but I took no cold weather gear with me, so I think I will need to start shopping for a larger pack for longer duration hikes later in the year so that I can withstand cold weather. Next question: any thought on this?
One technique I wanted to pass along: I was concerned with getting dehydrated while on the trail. I’ve had one to many IV lines stuck in me while in the field, so I was determined to bring a large container with me and continuously drink while walking. I had a large size back pack style Camel Pack that held 2 liters. The Breeze has a large mesh pocket along the back. So I stripped out the blatter and drinking hose from the Camel Pack and put it in the large mesh pocket and then weaved the drinking straw though a loop on the right shoulder harness. It worked great and I was able to drink while on the move.
Like I said, I’m glad that I went out on this hike. One of my goals was to commit myself to “surviving in the wilderness” and letting go to the comforts of home. It was nice to leave the emails and the “Fox News Alerts” behind me and to embrace the idea of being self-reliant. I was by myself and really enjoyed the peace and quiet. It’s been a while since I used my land nav skills and found that they quickly came back to me. I also enjoyed the sense of accomplishment when I finished the long 13-mile hike. I feel very confident that I could go on a longer duration hike. The Pine Mountain Trail is well maintain and has some beautiful views. I think that I’ll go back there in the fall.
Finally, I want to say “thank you” to SGT Rock and everyone else on this site. I’ve been visiting this site at least once a week for the past year to get thoughts and ideas for this first trip back into the woods.
First some background: I’m an active duty Army officer currently stationed at Fort McPherson in Atlanta. I got a bug in my mind about 2 years ago to get back into hiking when a co-worker told me about his plans to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. I pretty much gave up on ever hiking again after sustaining a shoulder injury in college. But, I started visiting this web site and others and began reading up on ultra-light back packing. In particular, I did a 6 month tour in Kuwait and during that time I spent a lot of time studying the tenets of ultra-light and planning my first trek back into the woods, with the ultimate goal of thru hiking the AT at some point in the future. Finally, after all the planning and reading, I assemble my gear and selected Pine Mountain as my “shake down” hike.
My gear: Go Lite Breeze back pack, Katadyn Water purifier, Esbit camp stove, Kelty Teton II tent, and 20 Degree bag. NO BOOTS, I left the boots at home and used my New Balance running shoes. Total weight (including water and food) before I left: approximately 26 pounds.
Now I wanted to get below 20 pounds, but I had no problems handling the extra weight. In fact, I was able to maintain a speed of 1 mile every 20 minutes. Which brings me to my first question: how does this rate of speed compare with yours? Now, I understand and appreciate the tenets of “hike your own hike” so it probably isn’t proper to ask this but I am really curious if I slower/faster than others. To me, this speed worked out great. In fact, my last day on the trail, I did 13 miles in 4 hours and 40 minutes. Using a map, compass, altimeter and watch for navigation, I found that after every 20 minutes, I would look up and find the next mile marker right on target. Most of all I’m pleased that I was able to maintain this speed because I know if I do a thru hike on the AT, I will need to be able to do some 20 mile days and thanks to keeping my pack weight down, I feel confident that I would be able to do that.
I know now that I could even reduce my pack weight even more. Most notably, I could have (should have) left the sleeping bag at home. The weather was hot enough that I never got inside of the thing, I just rolled it up and used it as a pillow at night. I could have easily got by with just a poncho liner. I probably could have left the tent home as well, but I like to spread my gear out once I’m at camp and I used the tent to stretch out. So the bag was the biggest amount of wasted weight.
However, the piece of gear I wished I had with me was a pair of leggings. Like I said, I did all the hiking with just my running shoes, but now I have “God knows what” all over my ankles. I don’t know if its poise ivy or chiggers, but it itches like crazy! Had I had a set of leggings I could have spared myself this. Next question: do you use leggings, if so which do you recommend?
Overall, I was very pleased with the Go Lite Breeze pack. Like I said, I was concerned about an old shoulder injury and was worried that I would get only a mile on the trail and be in so much pain that I would have to turn around. That never happened. Sure, my shoulders were sore, but even after my longest hiking day, but I quickly recovered. I’m I got the Breeze, but I don’t think it will be sufficient for any hikes longer than 4 days. I could have pack one additional days worth of food in there (especially, had I left the sleeping bag at home) but I took no cold weather gear with me, so I think I will need to start shopping for a larger pack for longer duration hikes later in the year so that I can withstand cold weather. Next question: any thought on this?
One technique I wanted to pass along: I was concerned with getting dehydrated while on the trail. I’ve had one to many IV lines stuck in me while in the field, so I was determined to bring a large container with me and continuously drink while walking. I had a large size back pack style Camel Pack that held 2 liters. The Breeze has a large mesh pocket along the back. So I stripped out the blatter and drinking hose from the Camel Pack and put it in the large mesh pocket and then weaved the drinking straw though a loop on the right shoulder harness. It worked great and I was able to drink while on the move.
Like I said, I’m glad that I went out on this hike. One of my goals was to commit myself to “surviving in the wilderness” and letting go to the comforts of home. It was nice to leave the emails and the “Fox News Alerts” behind me and to embrace the idea of being self-reliant. I was by myself and really enjoyed the peace and quiet. It’s been a while since I used my land nav skills and found that they quickly came back to me. I also enjoyed the sense of accomplishment when I finished the long 13-mile hike. I feel very confident that I could go on a longer duration hike. The Pine Mountain Trail is well maintain and has some beautiful views. I think that I’ll go back there in the fall.
Finally, I want to say “thank you” to SGT Rock and everyone else on this site. I’ve been visiting this site at least once a week for the past year to get thoughts and ideas for this first trip back into the woods.