May 2021

From the Jordan River to the Wasatch Mountains, it’s time for the Salt Lake Urban Street Hike (SLUSH). Get your friends together for this 9 mile hike/pub crawl.

Start: 900 S 900 W

End: 2900 S Wasatch Blvd

The SLUSH is as easy as 1, 2, 3. With three brew pub brew hubs along the route.

Buy a pair of Altra Lone Peak trail runner hiking shoes for the SLUSH.

I’ve never been much into expensive gear. A lot of the equipment I started hiking with was from yard sales. Over the years, I have invested a little more money into gear. Sometimes I have to justify to myself why it’s ok to splurge a little bit. I think about a 3-4 night backpacking trip and calculate what it would cost to stay in a hotel for those nights instead. That’s an easy way to justify spending a couple hundred dollars on gear.

Don’t get fooled by the gearheads. There’s no reason you have to go into debt on the most expensive ultralight gear.

Backpack

My evolution of packs has gone something like this:

1. A heavy blue canvas backpack meant to be used for luggage
2. A child’s REI Rising Star backpack I got at a garage sale for my kids for $20. It held more than you would think and was pretty lightweight. But it fit me kind of funny.
3. A High Sierra Classic 2 Series Explorer 55 backpack that my wife got as a gift from her employer.
4. Finally, I recently graduated to the Gossamer Gear Mariposa 60 which helped me realize how rough I actually had it all those years. It fits comfortably and it’s lightweight.

Tent

Tents, for me, have been about the same. Here have been my go to tents over time.

1. A eureka solitaire. An older model of this bivy style tent which I bought at a yard sale for $10. The seller said she didn’t need a one person tent anymore because she got married. This was actually a decent little tent for me on many trips until I lost the poles.
2. A 2 person pup tent. This is a horrible tent that during rain storms shields no water and instead the water comes right through the tent and collects at the bottom of the bathtub floor so your sleeping bag sops up the water and you are miserable. It led to some of the worst nights, for my sister on the Wonderland Trail, and for me/my son on the Teton Crest Trail. It’s a cursed tent and has now been retired to the landfill. When you’re not expecting rain, it’s a great little tent that you can set up with your trekking poles. But what good is a tent if it can’t shield you from the rain? (OK this one is over $20, but you shouldn’t buy it anyway).
3. Finally, I’ve evolved to this one person ALPS Mountaineering Lynx. If you thought I spent months researching tents and finally settled on this one, you’re wrong. I bought two of these in Jackson, WY for my son and I in an act of desperation after the pup tent failure.

Sleeping Bag

I don’t have much interesting to say about sleeping bags. I don’t even know what brand my sleeping bag is. It’s just some super lightweight 30 degree bag that I got at a yard sale for $10. In cold weather, I do supplement with a sleeping bag liner.

Sleeping Pad

For pads, I always used a Therm a Rest Z Pad. I love this pad because it’s non-inflatable so impossible to pop. You can set it up and take it down in a second. The other benefit is that it doubles as a pad you can sit at when you get to camp or when you stop to rest. The drawback is that over time it gets compressed and you have to replace it. Also, once I switched over to the Klymit Static V I realized how much comfier it is to sleep on air. I don’t wake up nearly as frequently now with a tingly arm that fell asleep.

Stove

My stove was only $20 on amazon. It is so lightweight and reliable, I’m not sure I could ever understand why someone would pay more for a stove.

Water Treatment

For water filters, I started with the sawyer mini and thought it was the best product out there. Being lighter weight and cheaper than the sawyer squeeze, I just assumed the mini was superior. I noticed all the PCT hikers used the squeeze and eventually I figured out why. The squeeze is way more efficient at filtering water and will reduce the time you spend filtering by half at least. It’s well worth the extra ten bucks and all the few extra micrograms in weight. Pro tip: also doubles as a great duct tape carrier. Wrap some duct tape around the middle and you will thank yourself later when you have this stash.

Occasionally, I am hiking in areas where filtering is problematic. Sometimes this is because I’m in the desert and there is too much silt in the water source. Other times I’m pushing big miles and I’m too antsy to even take a short break to filter. My solution in these instances has been to use water treatment tabs. Some people don’t like the taste, but you can always add electrolyte flavoring to make it more palatable.

Day Pack

On some of my backpacking trips, I occasionally plan to set a base camp and do some day hiking/exploring. My solution, is either to simply use my mostly empty backpacking pack and throw in some water and snacks. Or to bring this day pack which has served me tremendously on summit hikes like Kings Peak. Or even just day hiking around in the wasatch on the weekends at home. It’s folds up to nearly nothing in its attached pouch.

Trekking Poles

Like stoves, I never understood the allure of pricey trekking poles. I’ve hiked with people who have spent over $100 on lightweight trekking poles. For me, I have always opted for the cheap $20 set at amazon or recreation outlet. The first thing I do, is toss the baskets and caps, knowing they will just come off and get littered in the woods. On the Teton Crest Trail, a porcupine enjoyed the salty hand grips of our poles and we woke to them completely chewed through. I was glad in this instance to only have been out $20.

February 18, 2017

September 22-24, 2017

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup:

Step 1. soup base
Cooked and dehydrated beans (whatever you have…I used lentils on this trip)
Vegetables (see amazon link)
Dehydrated soy protein nuggets (I find these at a local asian market)

I soak a mixture of the above in a ziploc for about an hour in my backpack before camp. This helps speed up cook time when I get to camp. The exact water amount doesn’t really matter since you are making soup, extra water is fine. The soy nuggets should soak up a lot of water. Experiment with ratios till you find something that works. I just stick the ziploc in a side pocket in my pack.

At camp, boil the mixture adding a little water if you need to. Bring the mixture to a boil. Turn your stove off and let the mixture sit in the hot water for 10 minutes or so. You can sample it now and see how the texture is. If the veggies, beans, or soy nuggets are still chewy…let it soak a little longer. The amount of time that you cold soaked and how reconstituted the mixture has become may impact this soak time. If you’re in a hurry to eat, a little bit of chewiness is fine because you will bring it back to a boil one more time in the next step.

Step 2. Noodles
1/2 pack of chili ramen noodles
1 pack of chili ramen seasoning

Now bring the mixture back to a boil…add a little more cold water first if you need to. Also add half a pack of noodles from a chili ramen pack and an entire seasoning packet from the chili ramen pack. I find an entire pack of noodles makes it too noodly. So one ramen pack will serve you two nights, but you will need to rob the ramen seasoning packs at home and just toss the noodles when you are packing. Bring this to a boil and whenever the noodles reach the right texture, turn the heat off.

Step 3. Garnish
Tortilla
Fresh Jalapeno (or serrano)
Hard cheese
Hot sauce

Now add a tortilla ripped into bite size scraps. Also add fresh diced jalapeno and some hard cheese that you packed in. Top it off with some hot sauce packets (I used tabasco packets on this trip). Stir and enjoy

This is my go-to meal because I like the spice and it has a good mixture of protein and plenty of carbs (also the sodium in the ramen seasoning restores some electrolytes)…the cheese adds a little fat and you could even add a little vegetable oil too.

August 2021

Here is a link to the KMZ file for this hike

August 2021

Here is a link to the KMZ file for this hike

This is a wind river classic hike! Spent the night at the trailer parked at my property near Daniel, WY the night before. I spent Friday and Monday in town working remotely out of the Pinedale Library and giving CDT hikers rides when I could. Friday I rented a bear canister from the Great Outdoor Shop in Pinedale. Lots of smoke from massive California wildfires filled the valley right now, but it faded to just a haze at higher elevations.

Saturday Day 1

This is just a quick weekend overnighter for me. I started from the Elkhart Trailhead near Pinedale. Elevation rises quickly towards photographer’s point. The scenery on this hike improves exponentially throughout. Just past the Mary’s lake junction, a hiker warns me of a bear spotting. It’s a good reminder to stay alert and I pass on the warning to others that I pass. I pass Barbara Lake which is my Mom’s name so I take a quick picture for her. The trail is a little busy this weekend. This is prime hiking season in the winds with perfect temps and no mosquitoes. I cruise past Hobbs lake and as I near Seneca lake I’m starting to feel some exhaustion. I encounter a family with a young child and I’m impressed that they have hiked in this far. As I climb the pass and near Island Lake the scenery is getting more beautiful. I briefly overlap the CDT Highline trail. This is also the approach for Gannett and those hikers are obvious with their helmets typically strapped to their packs.

Dropping down into Island Lake I’m in awe of the mountain range in the backdrop. Island lake is a little busy but it’s a big lake and I’m able to find a corner for myself under some trees. I throw my pack down and take a dip. I wade through the water and find my way to an island which I explore barefoot. I spend maybe an hour or so relaxing, wading through the water and filtering on the shore. I generally like to pack in the miles when I hike solo but it’s nice to take some time to enjoy the peacefulness of this lake.

I leave my camp here and day hike into Titcomb basin. The stretch of trail between island lake and titcomb is unforgettable. Impressive mountains, abundant water, golden hour lighting, and wildflowers galore. It’s truly one of the most impressive places I have been. Every corner I turn and every hill I top leads to new jaw dropping sights. I meet a hiker and I make a comment about how incredible this place is. She responds in agreement saying, “It’s not too shabby.”

I finish my day hike into Titcomb and return to my camp at Island Lake as it’s getting dark. I’ve packed in a lot of miles today, but the miles without the pack made it easier to do big miles. The next morning I wake up and break camp. I retrace my steps and descend back to the trailhead. A perfect weekend for this quick trip!