Test Hike

Taking advantage of the unseasonably awesome weather two weekends ago,  Lola, Milo and I packed up for a long-ish test hike along Segment 3 of the Colorado Trail to try out our gear and see if our bodies could take the punishment.  We planned to hike 12 miles out, camp for the night, then hike back to the Jeep in the trailhead parking lot.

First day was nice with sunny skies.  Most of the trail was in the trees so we didn't have to really worry about sun protection too much.  The air was cool and we never got overheated.  Lola had some calf cramping by the time we arrived in camp and her backpack was giving her some grief on her shoulders and hips.  She was carrying 19 pounds.  Mine felt better than I'd hoped at 21 pounds, only giving me some soreness in my left shoulder, which is probably more me than the pack since it's only one shoulder.  An average day on the trail will have me humping 24 to 25 pounds next summer. It took us 6 hours with a few short breaks to traverse the 12 miles, giving us an average of just over 2 mph overall.  Lola developed some blisters on her feet by the time we reached camp.  She drained and dressed them there.  We discussed addressing hot spots and blisters as they form on the trail.  Glad we brought some MoleSkin.

We set up camp by a small stream and pitched the clever TarpTent Stratospire 2.  It fit the three of us well enough that night, but the site wasn't perfectly level so our NeoAir XLite sleeping pads kept sliding down toward the bottom corner all night, despite having painted grippy silicon stripes on the floor.  The XLites held their air all night, so no problem with those.

Water in the stream near camp was a slow trickle and quite dirty.  I used a cup to fill up the 2 liter Platypus dirty water bag, then filtered through the Sawyer Mini into our hydration bladders.  Water came through crystal clear.  I should have brought the back flush syringe though,  because dirt slowed the filter's flow rate.  Also, because it was so slow, we wasted a lot of time just sitting there, holding the bag, aiming the filter into our bladders, so I when I got home I rigged up a hands-free gravity filter system that works really well and doesn't require any gear we don't already have.  We will use this in the future. It can filter two liters of tap water in four minutes. 

We ate dinner, heating water uber-efficiently using the MSR Pocket Rocket stove and Snow Peak Titanium pot/cut kit.  Two cups of cold stream water came to a boil at just over two minutes.  That is amazing to me.  We cheated with dinner and ate Mountain House freeze-dried meals.  Lola's chicken teriyaki and rice was delicious.  My lasagna was disgusting and I didn't even finish it, which is unusual because I am a shit-eating savage when it comes to food.  I will be dehydrating most dinners for the real trip next summer.

After dinner we dry-bagged the food, trash, pot/cup kit and spoons and bear-bagged it on a large fir tree about 150 feet away using the PCT method.  The week before I made a DIY rock tossing bag out of old tent footprint material and some paracord which worked well.  The thin, light paracord knotted up on itself since it is so soft and pliable.  An irritation but not a deal breaker.  Thicker, less knot-prone cord will weigh more so I will live with it.  No bears, hobos or aliens found the food during the night so I would consider that an overall success.

As the evening cooled we put on our shiny new Mont-Bell UL jackets.  They kept us really toasty when paired with a thermal layer underneath.  I didn't bring my DIY sandals, which I modified to fit better since my last post, so I didn't get to test those out. 

First night at camp is usually pretty sleepless for me and that night was no exception.  At 195 pounds I might be too large for the XLite as I almost fell off it a few times, but I suppose it's just something I have to get used to.  The larger model is heavier and five inches wider and I don't want to be a space hog. Since my last update I switched out my sleeping bad to a Mont-Bell Super Spiral 800 #3 which is stretchy, warm are really comfortable and significantly lighter at 1# 6 ounces.  I love it.

The next morning I retrieved the bear bag and we made a breakfast of oatmeal and coffee.  We broke camp and got a late start.  The weather was gorgeous again, maybe a teensy bit warmer. Progress was slower on the way back to the trailhead--about 6.5 hours for 12 miles.  We were definitely not as fresh as the day before.  My shoes and socks--Patagonia Drifters and Darn Tough Light Hikers--performed above average, giving me no pain or blisters.  Lola's feet suffered, as well as her hips where her pack dug in and caused some real chafing and soreness.

We saw many mountain bikers but only three or four hikers the entire 24 miles.  Milo, because of his dog zig-zagging, probably went 48 miles.  Damned squirrels! He passed out on the back seat of the Jeep and didn't raise his head until we pulled up into our driveway back in Denver.

Next summer, a few weeks before the big hike, we are going to take a 3 day-2 night practice run in the Lost Creek Wilderness.  At 33 miles I hope this will get us dialed in for the real deal. We don't have all our gear yet, but we are close, and that will give us the opportunity for a proper dress rehearsal.

Me staying on the trail



Milo and Lola sharing a moment

As Lola has been vacillating between hiking the entire CT and just a few segments of it (not to mention what to do with the dog) I think this little test hike solidified for her that she would prefer to do two weeks' maximum of hiking.   I can't imagine that John will want to join in (since it can be close to $2,000 to get geared up for this kind of thing) so I guess that means I'll be hiking solo for large parts of it.  Lola's uncle might be up for a few segments, too, but I think what I'm seeing is that I am on my own for this beast.  It's not a problem.  Barring injury I'm pretty sure I can still pull it off, but there will be some lonely times, that's for sure.  Maybe I can contact a newspaper or online something-or-other and work out some arrangement to write updates of my progress, from unprepared babe in the woods to hardened trail bastard.  That might keep me occupied when not hiking or setting up camp.  Is that kind of thing still done in the computer age?  I'll look into it.

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A few days later, Lola dressed up as the keyboardist for Total Ghost (a local band) for a Halloween party at our friends' house.  Her friend Callie dressed up as the lead singer.  I dressed up as a competitive eater.