Well my buddy Alex managed to convince me to join him in an overnight camping trip in Algonquin Park this past Thursday. I figured why not, I had no other plans, and it would give me a chance to really test out some of my gear.
After packing up his SUV, putting the dogsled (yes, dogsled) on the roof and getting his two huskies in there too, the running a couple last minute errands, we left Ottawa for Algonquin Park around 10:30AM and were finally on trail at about 2:15PM. It's a good 3ish hour drive and we had to stop at the East Gate to pick up our permits. We walked in for about an hour, found a perfect spot and set up camp, quickly gathering wood for a fire that would last us. Alex's tent has no floor (it's a Mountain Hardwear Kiva) so we had to gather up a bunch of brush, dig out some of the snow inside the tent, lay the brush and cover it with a tarp, then some blankets, our pads and sleeping bags. Alex has some decent experience with winter camping and we were using his gear, so he definitely did the lion's share of the work.
My dinner of 2 packs of Ramen noodles was served up by 5:30PM and consumed by 5:32PM. After that we hung out for a bit, keeping the fire going and collecting more wood from downed trees nearby. By 6:30 it was PITCH black out, and the sky was incredible.We turned in at about 7:30PM. Got comfortable in the tent with the dogs and I finally fell asleep around 10PM. I was plenty warm in my Western Mountaineering Ultralite (Down bag, rated to -7C) with a merino hoodie, capilene tights and my Patagonia Down sweater, and some warm running pants (that I won't be bringing), wool socks, beanie. ONLY issue was that, since it was cold out, and we had 2 dogs and 2 people breathing for about 10 hours, we built up some serious condensation, that my bag was so kind to absorb. Down doesn't do well when it gets wet. It wasn't TOO bad, but I could feel the cold seeping through. Once morning came, we got a fire going quickly, had breakfast, packed up and headed out. We were back at the truck in about 30 - 40 minutes.
Good times!!
It was a little frustrating trying to keep things organized, as I didn't want to have my hands exposed for too long, so I would just grab what I need and throw stuff back wherever.
This trip only made me MORE excited for or hike!!!
Here's a quick Video I made.
Canadian couple driven to live and eat naturally. We're travelling the world taking on challenges that test us physically, mentally and emotionally. Visit www.naturallydriven.ca for more!
Showing posts with label Camping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Camping. Show all posts
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Some Details of Our Resupply Strategy
April 28th. That’s our official start date. It’s on paper, it’s planned and we can’t wait for it to come! The other date is April 14th, our wedding date!
We’ve done SO much planning in the past while. So many details have been clarified and we’re feeling more and more confident going into it.
Our resupply strategy:
Thanks to Abby, we have a resupply strategy that we’re extremely comfortable with. Abby is a close friend of Julia’s family and just so happens to live in California. She’s offered to help us out with some of our resupply boxes. Certain towns that we go into along this trail will consist of nothing more than a gas station, convenience store and a post office. In those circumstances, Abby will mail us a box that we can pick up at the Post Office that will have everything we need for the next stretch. Luckily for us, from Campo to Tehachpai (where we'll get off trail to go to Bakersfield for a few days) there are plenty of good spots to resupply so Abby will only have to send us one box, that we'll prepare here in Ottawa and mail to her, that she will then mail to us on trail in mid May. This may sound complicated, and it is, but it makes complete sense to us now!! I've learned an immense amount from a handful of guys (Dug (Rawhide), Adam (Krudmeister), Paul (Outpost), Tamsin and Chris) who are all vets of this trail. Tamsin and Chris are also both Canadian, so they offered some advice that is specific to us Canadians.
Bounce Box:
A bounce box is simply a box that you continuously mail to yourself along the trail. It is typically used to hold supplies, equipment and specialty foods that you may not find everywhere. There's no sense in carry maps for the ENTIRE trail, so what you do is just split them all up in sections and only take the ones you need with you and send the rest ahead in your bounce box! Same goes for certain articles of clothing that may be needed in colder or warmer temperatures. We'll also use our bounce box in cases where we arrive in a town with a
great resupply store, though the next stop won't be so great. We'll buy enough food for the next stretch and then send some ahead in the bounce box to the next stop.
Certain stops REQUIRE that you send your boxes VIA UPS, others don't have outgoing mail and others charge you an arm and a leg to get your boxes. This all has to be accounted for as well.
Kennedy Meadows is one important stop. It's the last stop before you enter the Sierras and it's where you pick up two important pieces of equipment; a bear canister (ours are Bear Vault BV500) and an ice axe (ours are Camp Corsa Nanotech). You also have a LONG stretch of around 174 miles between there and the next stop of Vermillion Valley Resort. This means you'll need a ton of food, especially since your appetite will go through the roof as you work much harder climbing over serious mountain passes. THIS IS WHERE IT GETS SERIOUS! AND HEAVY!
We’ve done SO much planning in the past while. So many details have been clarified and we’re feeling more and more confident going into it.
Our resupply strategy:
Thanks to Abby, we have a resupply strategy that we’re extremely comfortable with. Abby is a close friend of Julia’s family and just so happens to live in California. She’s offered to help us out with some of our resupply boxes. Certain towns that we go into along this trail will consist of nothing more than a gas station, convenience store and a post office. In those circumstances, Abby will mail us a box that we can pick up at the Post Office that will have everything we need for the next stretch. Luckily for us, from Campo to Tehachpai (where we'll get off trail to go to Bakersfield for a few days) there are plenty of good spots to resupply so Abby will only have to send us one box, that we'll prepare here in Ottawa and mail to her, that she will then mail to us on trail in mid May. This may sound complicated, and it is, but it makes complete sense to us now!! I've learned an immense amount from a handful of guys (Dug (Rawhide), Adam (Krudmeister), Paul (Outpost), Tamsin and Chris) who are all vets of this trail. Tamsin and Chris are also both Canadian, so they offered some advice that is specific to us Canadians.
Bounce Box:
A bounce box is simply a box that you continuously mail to yourself along the trail. It is typically used to hold supplies, equipment and specialty foods that you may not find everywhere. There's no sense in carry maps for the ENTIRE trail, so what you do is just split them all up in sections and only take the ones you need with you and send the rest ahead in your bounce box! Same goes for certain articles of clothing that may be needed in colder or warmer temperatures. We'll also use our bounce box in cases where we arrive in a town with a
great resupply store, though the next stop won't be so great. We'll buy enough food for the next stretch and then send some ahead in the bounce box to the next stop.
Certain stops REQUIRE that you send your boxes VIA UPS, others don't have outgoing mail and others charge you an arm and a leg to get your boxes. This all has to be accounted for as well.
Kennedy Meadows is one important stop. It's the last stop before you enter the Sierras and it's where you pick up two important pieces of equipment; a bear canister (ours are Bear Vault BV500) and an ice axe (ours are Camp Corsa Nanotech). You also have a LONG stretch of around 174 miles between there and the next stop of Vermillion Valley Resort. This means you'll need a ton of food, especially since your appetite will go through the roof as you work much harder climbing over serious mountain passes. THIS IS WHERE IT GETS SERIOUS! AND HEAVY!
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