Kermit II, the Reckoning

I had written a post about replacing Kermit but I'm not sure what happened to it.  One thing is for sure though:  It was lost because of human error.

Ask any robot.  It's always human error.  If the post was lost it's because I forgot to save it or I deleted it or I just imagined the whole thing.

The robots are always right.  If the computer program is wrong it's because a human didn't program it properly.  If your digital alarm clock doesn't sound off in the morning because there was a neighborhood blackout in the middle of the night and you are late for work, it's not the robot inside the clock's fault, it's the drunk asshole who ran his car into the pole supporting the transformer that exploded causing the blackout's fault.  The clock probably even offered you a place in the bottom to put some batteries for just such an occasion, but you didn't put batteries in there.  That's two humans' fault.  The robot was an innocent victim.

The term paper you were typing was lost when the computer crashed.  The computer's fault, right?  Bullshit!  You probably downloaded some virus when you were visiting sites you shouldn't have been visiting. They have people writing viruses just for you.  Those people and you are the guilty parties, not the robots.

Etc.

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I have replaced Kermit.  Kermit was a fine backpack, but there were some small, irritating issues that I just couldn't come to terms with.  The front part of the padded shoulder straps weren't quite long enough in the front, so the straps' webbing ended up digging into the front of my shoulders.  Also, the padded part of the hip straps didn't extend far enough around my belly.  They stopped a few inches short of where they needed to go, then continued on with just webbing and an undersized buckle.  It all clipped into place and everything, but when I cinched down on it the webbing and buckle dug into my gut.

I'm not a fat guy but I'm not skinny, either.  I was skinny as a kid.  Now I probably have an average BMI for a middle aged American...maybe a little under.  As I hiked these straps dug in and I was wondering if it was just something I needed to get used to.  I wanted to get used to them because the rest of the pack was just so great and light.  I interwebbed the pack at this point and, after reading reviews with a more objective eye, I noticed a similar complaint popping up again and again:  that this pack is for skinny people.  Not just "not fat" people, but skinny skinny.  Which makes sense.  The torso length fit just right, but in order to save weight, Osprey doesn't build any adjustability into this pack, the Exos 58, so it either fits or it doesn't fit and that's that.

Enter the ULA Circuit (with adjustability!).

Designed and manufactured by the Ultralight Adventure Equipment company in Logan, Utah, the Circuit is the backpacker's backpack.  Designed with thru hiking in mind, this was the pack I was originally lusting over when I first started contemplating the Colorado Trail, but as ULA is still cottage industry sized, their packs are not sold in stores (or if they are, they aren't any around Denver), so you have to buy it online, try in on once it arrives at your home, then, if it doesn't fit, ship it back for another size.  I didn't know much about packs at the time, but I did know I wanted to try as many on as possible and when I found Kermit and read the overall good reviews on it, I pulled the trigger.

Well, here we are now.  The ULA website does a pretty good job of describing how to pick the right size pack.  The pack has an adjustable hip belt that can be moved up or down depending on where you need it so there is some fudge room.  It's a few ounces lighter than Kermit and, where Kermit has lots of bells and whistles (various pockets, lots of attachment points, zippers, removable brain, etc.) and sacrificed padding on the straps to save weight, the Circuit sacrifices bells and whistles and spends that saved weight on beefing up the padding.  I will miss the mesh, vented frame on Kermit.  It keeps your back from getting sweaty.  The ULA doesn't have that, but then again neither do 97% of backpacks on the market.   Everything is a trade off.

And it is very comfortable so far.  Huge hip belt pads mean I can crank it tight so there is no weight on my shoulders and it sits fine and comfortably.  I set out yesterday with 16 pounds in it (a light load for testing) and planned to hike 12.4 miles and back from the CT trailhead to Strontia Springs dam at the top of Waterton canyon to try it out.  Unfortunately, the canyon is currently closed on weekdays at the 3.1 mile mark, so I turned back there, only getting in 6.2 miles all day.  When I returned to Roscoe, my Jeep, I was still feeling fresh.  I had an uneaten turkey sandwich left which I had planned on eating at the dam, so I ate it like a parking lot weirdo right there in the driver's seat.

The ULA pack, coincidentally, is also green, so naming it was easy:  Kermit II, the Reckoning.  Rolls right off the tongue.