1/1/2010 - 1/2/2010 Newton Bald Loop

On New Year's Day Jim Bailey, Robin, and I took off for the Southeastern corner of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park just outside Bryson City, NC to do a 23 mile loop around Newton Bald. The logistics of the trip have it planned for 3 days and we were expecting lows of around 8 degrees F at Newton Bald on Saturday night based on the last forecast checked before we hit the road.

Friday was a short day at 6.3 miles and we got to camp with plenty of light to setup and work on building a fire. We gave up on the fire after about 5 minutes and opted to spend the evening around a stove inside Jim's Hex 3. We huddled around the stove as Jim made us all drinks and we ate dinner. Eventually Robin and I headed over to our Scarp 2 to turn in for the night. I left a thermometer attached to the peak of our shelter and we observed temps around 18 degrees F over night.

Saturday morning we packed up as quickly as possible in an effort to get warm via movement. We broke camp around 10:15 AM and made our way up the mountainside to Newton Bald. This was supposed to be an 8 mile day with camp at Newton Bald. As we made our way up we found several inches of frozen snow/ice and a lot of blow down blocking the trail. We arrived at Newton Bald around 1:00 PM and found a very bad site to spend the night. The ground was covered with probably 4-6 inches of frozen snow/ice. With it being early in the afternoon, the difficulties presented by the site itself, expected temps, and knowledge that the site experiences high winds in Winter we opted to make towards the finish. We agreed that we would look for a stealth site at lower elevations but if we didn't see a suitable one we would push on to the car and head to town for pizza. Having done this loop before, albeit in much better conditions, Robin and I knew there was little chance of finding a stealth site.

We arrived at the car around 5:15 PM completing the loop and a 16.8 mile day. We were all fairly impressed with ourselves considering the trail conditions and the pace we were able to maintain. We quickly loaded up the car and headed towards Cherokee, NC where we started looking up pizza joints on my GPS. Eventually we landed in Franklin, NC and stopped off at a small pizza place. Fortunately for us they were running a BOGO special and we put down a large Hawaiian and large Philly cheese steak. I also rechecked the weather for the night here. Bryson City was expecting temps of 10 F with 20-30 mph winds and up to 40 mph gusts. Wind chill was expected to be 0 F to -10 F. Knowing that Newton Bald is at 5000 ft and what the site looked like we figured it would probably be 0 F or negative temps there with wind chills closer to -15 F to -20 F. With our gear and knowledge we would've survived the night but it would've been pretty uncomfortable. We were all very glad we made the decision to complete the loop rather than camp.


Loop Details: http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-great-smoky-mountain-national-park-hiking-gatlinburg-tennessee-sidwcmdev_056143.html

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uallas/sets/72157623132110824/

11/07/2009 - 11/08/2009 AT Unicoi Gap to Dicks Creek Gap

This weekend I did another section of the Georgia AT with Jim Bailey. We setup a shuttle and hiked from Unicoi Gap to Dicks Creek Gap. I arrived at Dicks Creek Gap to meet Jim about 9:30 AM and found that the parking lot was almost full. I managed to squeeze in but just barely.



On Saturday we made our way from Unicoi Gap to Addis Gap where we camped about a .5 mile off the AT down by the water source. Jim and I met up with a couple from Athens at the site and chatted with them around the fire for a bit until they crawled in to their hammock for the night. Jim provided a dinner of Zattarans red beans and rice as well as sausages which was quite spicy and great for a chilly evening. The drink of the night was Jim's Loco Cocoa and as usual I had some delicious bourbon that we polished off.



On Sunday we broke camp and made our way to Deep Gap Shelter we we enjoyed a breakfast of Cheesy Bacon Grits. We then left Deep Gap and made our way to the exit at Dicks Creek Gap.




Jim and I saw some interesting stuff on this trip. There was still a good bit of fall color visible from a distance but when you're actually walking through the trees you see how barren they really are. The highlight of the trip had to be emerging from the woods at USFS 79 and Tray Gap. There is a large area here where people park to make the short hike up Tray Mountain. Despite the abundant amount of space some ass felt the need to park his Land Rover right on the AT. I was just going to get a photo of it but Jim thought it would be funnier (and very Brian Doble) to pull a Calvin on the guy's front bumper. Going around the vehicle wouldn't have been too big a deal except for the briers on either side of it. We also saw Bamboo in the middle of woods and a hilarious attempt at bear bagging. Be sure to check out all of the photos below.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uallas/sets/72157622761554990/

10/17/2009 - 10/18/2009 AT Hog Pen Gap to Unicoi Gap

I did a short section of the AT with my BPL buddy Jim this weekend. We went in and Hog Pen Gap and came out at Unicoi Gap for a total of 13.8 miles. Saturday we walked 11.6 miles in the cold rain and experienced a little sleet and a little snow. We spent the night in Blue Mountain shelter where we also got a little snow and below freezing temps (I measured 30 but that doesn't factor in wind chill). Dinner consisted of marinated steak tips, mixed veggies, and loaded mashed potatoes. The cocktail of choice for the night was a caramel apple. Breakfast Sunday morning was bacon, cheese, and garlic grits. Needless to say, we at well on this short trip.

Earlier in the week the expected weather was precip free with low 60s during the days and low 40s over night. By Friday my clothing system had changed quite a bit but I decide to see if my 15.5 oz synthetic quilt (good for 35-40 degrees and custom made by Tim Marshall Outdoors of 3.7 oz Climashield Combat and 1.1 dwr ripstop) could handle the below freezing temps with some layering. I slept a bit colder than I like Saturday night (this could have also been a calorie issue since we went to bed around 8 PM and I usually only sleep for 7 or so hours. From what I recall I slept fairly well until about 4 AM which would align with my normal sleep pattern and I woke up starving at that point. I slept inside the shelter and in a Titanium Goat Ptarmigan bivy.

My clothing layers consisted of:

BPL UL Merino Hoody (base)
GoLite Stride short (base)
RAB VapourRise pant (base)
Patagonia Houdini wind shirt
MontBell UL Down Inner jacket
Patagonia R1 balaclava
Teko EcoMerino socks (base)
Smartwool Trekking socks

I went back to sleep after my 4 AM rise and shine call and woke up again around 6:30 or so. At that point I answered Nature's call and retrieved my food bag from the bear cables since I was still starving. I laid in my bivy and waited on the sunrise while I devoured the last half of my dark chocolate bar to calm my stomach pains. It was a good trip despite the freak cold snap and we saw some decent fall colors but there was still a lot of green so I would say it should peak in a couple more weeks.



Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uallas/sets/72157622489402563/

9/12/2009 - 9/15/2009 Le Pemi Cirque

I'm a bit behind on posting this but on Sept 12 I flew in to Boston with my local BPL cohort Jim Bailey. Jim did a fantastic job coordinating a loop of the Pemigewasset Wilderness in New Hampshire with some of his buddies in the NE and invited me along. Jonathan Ryan picked us up at the airport (thanks Jonathan) and we drove straight in to NH making stops for dinner, at the local EMS for fuel canisters, and at a large liquor store for Jim's supplies. Jim is known as the backcountry bartender and it's a well deserved moniker as he made around 100 servings of Loco Cocoa on this trip alone. We spent our first night at Liberty Springs with Jonathan Ryan and Jonathan DeYoung as well as a slew of AMC staff. The morning of the second day we hooked up with Brian Doble and then later with Darryl (another of Jim's buddies). Darryl spent the second night with us and Brian was with us for the rest of the trail. Day 3 we hooked up with Bruno and Paolo Aurelio and they were our ride back to town. Paolo put us up for the night in town and dropped us off at the airport (thanks Paolo). On the way back to Boston we had a delicious dinner (and drinks of course) at the Common Man.

This was a fun trip and my first experience in the NE. The trails up there are very different from what we have in the SE and destroyed one of my shoes. I literally broke the outsole in half on the rocky terrain.



Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uallas/sets/72157622399236068/

9/5/2009 - 9/6/2009 Blood Mountain/Coosa Backcountry Trail Loop

This weekend I did a 21.4 mile loop with Jim Bailey as some prep for our Whites trip coming up next weekend. We will be doing a loop around the Pemigewassett Wilderness in New Hampshire. We met up at the Byron Reece parking area and took the access trail up to Blood Mountain. From there we took the AT south and hooked in to the Duncan Ridge Trail. We took the DRT down to the Coosa Backcountry Trail and followed that loop in its entirety. At the end of the loop we took the DRT back up to the AT and went back out the way we came in. The Coosa features a couple of nice 1000+ ft over 1ish mile climbs if you take it the direction that we did. We covered around 8 or 9 miles yesterday before camping near a nice creek. The next nearest water source was a few more miles away up a ridge and neither of us was equipped for a dry camp.


My fully loaded pack for this trip weighed in at 8 lbs 10 oz and included some new toys I was testing out. Most of the new products came from Ron Bell at Mountain Laurel Designs and included a Revelation pack, Grace Duo tarp, and Bug Bivy. Both the pack and tarp are made of an ultralight material known as cuben fiber. I also tried out a pair of Invo8 FlyRoc 310 shoes. I need to test different methods of loading the pack some more but it carried well with the weight I had and has some innovative features. The tarp and bug bivy combo were excellent and are taking a permanent place in my gear closet. The FlyRocs wound up being too small and caused a blister on my right heel. The toe box also became very cramped after we got some miles in and was uncomfortable for me.

Another new piece of gear I took out was a custom synthetic quilt made by Tim Marshall. This was the second custom quilt I've had Tim sew up for me and is made from standard 1.1 oz dwr ripstop with 3.7 oz Climashield Combat insulation. I'm not sure what the overnight temps were but I slept fairly close to the creek and had to vent the quilt a few times due to being too warm. I suspect the quilt will be fine to at least 40 in my usual shorts and thin shirt. It should have no problems getting to 30 or so with a parka and in a bivy.

Jim is known up North as the backcountry bartender and has yet to disappoint living up to his name. We had cocktails made from Crystal Light mixed with Everclear as we sat around our cozy fire.

This was my first trip using a tarp all night and I was very pleased with the ambiance it provided over a tent. I dozed off to sleep watching the fire glow from inside my bug shelter and woke up to the sunrise with the creek rushing behind me. Truly a wonderful experience you can only get from the openness of a tarp.

Gear List: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=t5JvUCZvHeBRtd60l2Gv_0A&output=html
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uallas/sets/72157622273707062/

8/8/2009 - 8/12/2009 AT/Bartram Loop (bailed out)

Robin and I planned a nice 5 day 55 mile loop comprising the AT and Bartram that was set to begin and end outside the NOC in North Carolina. We were expecting storms to move in on day 3 and last for the remainder of the trip so we planned to adjust mileage and cover more ground on the first couple of nice days. We hit the AT around noon on Saturday and covered just over 11 miles before making camp around 6. This small section was made up of a lot of climbing including a short stint of around 1000 feet over 1 mile to reach Cheoah Bald. I have been nursing an overuse injury of my anterior tibialis for the last month or so and thought it was good to go. Unfortunately, I was only good for flat terrain and not the intense climbing we took on. I was experiencing some minor discomfort on Sunday but wanted to try and push on anyway. Robin and I reached the Nantahala Power Company installation on NC Route 1310 around 11:30 and took a short break to snack before a short climb (the only planned climbing for this day). At this point Robin was experiencing moderate pain from a growing heel blister and attempted to alleviate it by adding a third layer of tape and bandage cushion. We started to make the 800 ft ascent to the surge tank but the climbing was painful for both of us so I decided to call the trip off. Our location was very close to the NOC rafter drop off and was the best bailout point for us. We also knew we had another large section of steep climbing coming up on Monday with no good bailouts available if either injury worsened. We made our way back to the rafter drop off and asked one of the NOC staff if we could hitch a ride back to the campus. I didn't get his name but he was happy to oblige and arranged it with the next driver to show up. When we got back to the NOC campus we dropped our gear at the car, booked a room at the Nantahala Inn for the night, and took a 2-person raft down the river. On Monday we drove in to Asheville where we stayed for 2 nights before heading off to our planned cabin stay in Hendersonville. We made the best of our vacation time with some shopping, local food sampling, and simple relaxation.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uallas/sets/72157621914965519/

Menu and Gear Lists: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=t4mqJ655_IfkQBAMkB0G8yg&output=html

What does lightweight food for a 4 night trip look like?

I just finished up prepping our food last night for a 4 night trip starting Aug 8. Robin and I will be doing approximately 55 miles combining sections of the AT and Bartram to form a loop that starts and ends at the NOC in North Carolina. The food for 1 person (sans a couple of bags of apricots) is pictured. This amounts to just over 6 lbs of food and just over 11000 calories. We plan to be out for 4.25 full days so it breaks down to around 2600 calories and 1 lb 7 oz per day with an average caloric density of 115 cal/oz. This is lower than I would like (125+ cal/oz is better) but we like to have some fruit in the mix despite its low cal/oz ratio. I put a fair amount of planning in to our food this time so I have a nice spreadsheet with the breakdown. I've been eating the GORP below for months now both on backpacking trips and as a daily snack during the week. I have to double the amount but I find it quite delicious. We also slightly modified some of the other recipes but mostly just by increasing amounts.

Some of the recipes:

Ham and Cheese Macaroni
Apple Cinnamon Crunch Oatmeal
Maple Cinnamon Toast with Apples
EatingWell GORP

Enjoy!