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Click here to see my 2015 gear list.

It is a whirlwind of activity now. My hiking partner, The Breeze, flies in tomorrow from Georgia and then we head to Portland 2 days later, ahhh yeahhh. I’ve found I can get 20 burns to boil (16 oz) with my JetBoil stove from a single 100g canister. That seems really good to me. I figured two boils per day, that is about 1.5 weeks worth of fuel. Here you can also see apples and bananas in the dehydrator. Found another failure to add to the list with avocados: raspberries. 🙂

The Undertaker and I did a 26-mile loop near Mt. Hood this past weekend, starting at the Eagle Creek Trailhead. (beautiful images via google here) We camped at Wahtum Lake and hiked out over the Benson Plateau and down the Ruckel Creek Trail (a steep descent, I might add.) Several video tests with my iPhone, done near Tunnel Falls.

It was a great chance to try out most of my gear. I carried 5L of water and 3 days worth of food, just to get used to the weight and the way the pack carries. My homemade cuben-fiber kilt worked great until I lunged over a stream and heard the fabric tear behind me.
User error…I should have had the zipper higher. We tested out a Sawyer Original and the flowrate was fine. I pitched my Duplex tent the best I have yet, with enough space inside above my head and feet that I didn’t feel claustrophobic. It got close to freezing at night, and my sleep system was not perfect. It seemed like every time I shifted to fix a draft I somehow created a new one. I’ve got some ideas that may solve this problem, but it is a concern at the moment.

In the morning, we had to pack up during a rainstorm. It’s crummy to have to do that with so little experience packing this gear, but a great experience to have nonetheless. It’s easy when you know you’ll be back in civilization later in the day. It would be obviously much more stressful if you don’t have a dry haven later in the day to look forward to.

Overall, the trip was a great success with lots of Type 1 and Type 2 fun. 🙂
Stay strong,
The Husk

Well, over the past 3 days, I constructed my quilt. It is 25 ounces of pure magic. Hehe…not really, I’m just glad that this project made it to completion. Again, I’d recommend Joe Brewer’s excellent DIY quilt video if anyone else wants to attempt this.    

This is what 1 lb of down looks like! It took an hour to transfer it all into the fabric, pretty crazy. I made my karo step sides slightly longer than Joe’s (7 vs 6 inches), as he remarked that his were just a little too small, so the down migrated too easily into other areas. Working on a project like this, it’s amazing how much faith you have to have that you’re headed in the right direction and that the final project will be close to the mark. Prior to filling the nylon with down, it is easy to feel a sense of hopelessness, hehe.

Ahhhh yeahhh! I’m very pleased to say that we have acquired two northbound thru-hike permits with an April 15th start date! Mexico, here we come!

Full steam ahead! Ordered my Duplex at the beginning of Zpack’s Black Friday sale and it arrived within days. Have pitched it several times now and slept in it last night through a storm. I wish it was a tiny bit bigger. At my height of 6’3″ plus the therm-a-rest, I’m within an inch of the fabric on both ends and brushed it accidentally throughout the night. :S We’ll see. (Red Beard’s two videos do a great job showing this tent: how it handles a storm, and his post-mortem AT review.)

Ordered 1 lb of 900 fill down from Downlinens.com and 8 yards of Argon 67 fabric from Dutchwaregear.com, so my quilt materials should arrive in the week ahead. (I recommend Joe Brewer’s excellent DIY quilt video if interested.) Also tested out a homemade cuben-fiber rain kilt two days ago on a long road hike. It worked well.

Climbed the old route of Mailbox Peak this week with a 22-lb pack. Much more challenging than Mt. Si., and got caught in the rain just after summit. The Mailbox itself was really cool, adorned with bras & prayer flags and filled with wishes, notes, booze, and other knick-knacks and oddities. The view was outstanding and worth the effort. Also met another Tim who will be thru-hiking next year as well–small world.

More photos here by others of Mailbox Peak.

Ahh yeahh…ordered an Excalibur 9-rack dehydrator and a food saver to vacuum seal the food. Also a well-rated book, Recipes for Adventure. Time to begin seriously testing food options.

Have already dehydrated apples, bananas, peppers, chicken, beef, onions, eggplant, vegetarian chili and strawberries. Word to the wise: Avocados do not dehydrate well. 🙂

I have now summited Mt. Si sixteen times this year with a pack, yay. I used this Spring and Summer as an exploratory period to assess my mad skills, hah!

I have decided to thru-hike the PCT next year, beginning in Campo, CA, around April 22nd. I will update this site with my preparations in the months ahead!

Drove an hour east of Seattle to the closest location where the PCT intersects with I-90. Ran into a couple of thru-hikers: Grasshopper & Brakeman. Weather was great. Saw two large deer standing in the shallows of the lake. Can’t wait to return.