Saturday, December 17, 2011

Stove set-up

I am relieved to have decided on my PCT trip stove set-up. I have used so many different stoves over the years, from home made soda can stoves to a Whisperlite white gas stove, that I have a hard time deciding on which way to go. I finally went with the cheapest stove, the easiest to use and a modified cozy cooking method. Instead of putting my food in a freezer bag to cook I'll just use my pot with a cozy on it! Easy-peasy. Here are some photos.
pot (with everything inside) in cozy on scale...

Fancy feast cat food stove!

Pretty simple
One decision down, many, many more to come...

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Training hike

Hi all. I spent three+ hours on the trail today, with a 20# pack. Got to get the parts used to the work. Here is a photo of the cutest (can mushrooms be cute?) teeny, tiny mushrooms I encountered today.
Below is a pack I made a couple of years ago and this is the one I've been using on my hikes. My commercial packs don't feel right so I am going with a home made one, at least for now. This one is made of material that is too light to withstand the rigors of a 5-6 month hike so I sent off for material that is a bit tougher. 70d instead of 30d, if that means anything to anyone but me. Any-hoo, when it arrives I will be working on a new one, with components of all the previous packs I have made or purchased. Kinda like a pack casserole, if you know what I mean.  If I can pull this off I'll feel very proud of myself.