New Beginnings...

January 1 signaled the end of another decade, and with that, the close of chapters as well as new beginnings. While I would have loved to usher in the New Year from a comfy back country seat, as I have in years past, I instead spent time in the front country with loved ones. The past year saw me utterly fail at putting on weight (and muscle) by joining a gym and eating more, purchase a home in Asheville, NC which I don't yet live in, deal with the loss of a good friend, and spend 3 weeks out West running an Outdoor program.

2011 will bring with it my full time relocation to Asheville, a new job (possibly a new career path), Robin's graduation and start as a Physical Therapist, new friends, a greener life, and hopefully more time spent in the Outdoors. There are still plenty of unknowns for this year, which should keep it interesting. As a general rule, people like to make resolutions, or set goals, around this time, but I won't be doing that. I believe that goals should be set when necessary, and refreshed frequently.

This first post signals the launch of my new site, OutdoorsWith.me. I've been wanting to put together a new writing platform and design for the last several months, and it finally came together just prior to the close of 2010. My old blog, Let's Get Outdoors, will remain intact as long as possible since I don't plan to migrate the content. I have a lot of plans for this new platform, so if you want to keep up with me, please point your links and readers to the new site.

Slacker Update

I've been really slacking on blogging lately, but not without good reason. Shortly after the Art Loeb trip in October, Robin and I closed on a cute late 40s bungalow in Asheville, NC. Our weekends since have been spent moving our limited amount of belongings, as well as acquiring new furnishings. We purchased our last few pieces of furniture last weekend, and have moved on to rugs and lighting.

At this point, aside from moving the remainder of our belongings in GA, the house is furnished and livable. The majority of our furniture is antiques but we were forced to supplement with newer items in certain areas (sofa, tv stand). We have a lot of oak, a little rosewood, and some shabby chic pieces. We have also developed a short list of additions and changes for the home itself. We got very lucky in that no major repairs are needed, and the few minor ones aren't completely urgent.


The house is located inside the perimeter of downtown Asheville, and we're literally 1-2 miles from anything. One of our top priorities for location was being close to everything so we could bike as much as possible, rather than relying on cars. As such, Robin and I have both acquired bikes for grocery runs and commuting. The house is a quaint 2 bed/1 bath with an office, added mudroom, and added single carport. There is a poured concrete pad for a shed, which no longer exists, and a moderately sized double-dug garden. We have a great front porch which faces almost due West, and will give us many unforgettable sunsets. The shed will be rebuilt, the front porch repaired (properly), and the carport will eventually become a 2 car garage. The interior is entirely original hardwoods and updated tile. Some of the tile needs additional grout, the hardwoods need refinishing, and the windows, while somewhat modern, need eventual replacement. We also plan to make a few other minor changes, and plan to do all of the work ourselves.

Some photos of the house prior to our purchase and as we've been furnishing it.

On another note, I've been working on planning the 2011 course offerings and budget for the Backpacking Light Wilderness Trekking School. I've also been looking at a site redesign, and moving back to a full hosted site.

With the house coming together, and with me closing in on the School plans, we should be taking a trip soon (hopefully over New Year's). That trip also will include some reviews of new gear, as we'll either be taking my custom HMG Echo II or a custom MLD Speed Mid.

Custom Hyperlight Mountain Gear Echo II Shelter System First Look

Yesterday, my custom Hyperlight Mountain Gear Echo II shelter arrived. HMG primarily makes their gear (shelters and packs) with colorless (white) cuben fiber. I've grown quite fond of color (makes me feel more cheery, especially in foul weather), so I had a custom version made with the tarp and beak in a leaf green.

When I first discovered HMG, and saw the Echo system, it was almost love at first sight. I loved the modularity being offered, but I had initial reservations about the shelter system due to the dimensions of the insert. I was pretty sure the insert would be two small to accommodate two people without feeling cramped. Fortunately, I was incorrect, at least based upon my first pitch and observations.


The Echo II goes up just as easily as any other catenary cut tarp with a bug insert. The quality is superb, and it's probably a bit overbuilt. The leaf green is exactly what I expected, and matches my BackpackingLight Stealth Nano perfectly. Total weight of the system as delivered (includes all lines and 3 stuff sacks) is 30.2 oz. A bit of weight could be saved with smaller guy lines and shock cord, but I won't be in any hurry to modify anything given the already low weight.


I fully expect the Echo II to be my go-to shelter for the majority of my SE duo trips. It fits right in with my Stealth Nano and my custom Mountain Laurel Designs Speedmid. All 3 shelters are of top notch quality. I am in the process of selling off my other shelters, so along with a couple of bivies, these 3 will be my only shelter options for the foreseeable future.

More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uallas/sets/72157625213274622/

10/8/2010 - 10/10/2010 Art Loeb Thru-hike

Traversing the entire length of the Art Loeb Trail has been on my list for several years, but the logistics have always been an issue (start and finish are about an hours drive apart). Recently I made a new friend and hiking partner that lives in NC and also wanted to do the Loeb, so we set it up.


Friday morning Robin and I woke up around 5 AM so we could be on the road by 6 in order to make a 9 AM meet at Davidson River Campground, the Southern terminus of the Loeb. One thing led to another, and both parties wound up late. Nevertheless, Robin and Nathan stayed at the campground while Javan and I drove to the Daniel Boone Scout Camp, the Northern terminus, in order to drop off my Subaru. We then drove back to the campground where we rejoined Robin and Nathan and started our trip. Day one took us from Davidson River downstream and across a bridge, through Neil Gap, over Chestnut Knob, and through Cat Gap before settling at Butter Gap for the night. Butter Gap is host to a primitive shelter and water was easily accessible. We arrived fairly early since the day was a short 8.8 miles, but this allowed us time to gather water, setup shelters, and collect firewood for the night. We saw only two other people come through camp Friday, and they were finishing up doing the 30 mile trail over a single day. They expected to finish around 10 PM. At Butter Gap I saw the most trashed site I've yet to see. Not far from the shelter laid an entire tent full of water and containing food debris, clothing, a knife sharpener and who knows what else. I wanted to carry the mess out, but I didn't have disinfectant or rubber cleaning gloves to pick everything up with. Note that Butter Gap is a good 3+ miles from the nearest road. Part of our time around the fire was spent contemplating what happened to the tent owner(s).

Saturday morning we broke camp around 10:45 after a late breakfast, and started our 12.7 mile walk to Ivestor Gap. This was our longest day, and also covered the majority of our almost 2 mile elevation gain. We walked over Chestnut Mountain, through Gloucester Gap, over Pilot Mountain, into Deep Gap (the first of two), through Farlow Gap, crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway, over Silermine Bald, over Black Balsam Knob, over Tennent Mountain and in to Ivestor Gap. Ivestor Gap is a boundary for the Shining Rock Wilderness so signage beyond this point is slim to none. The views in this particular area are incredible. Trees won't grow due to some fires many years ago that damaged the soil. Thanks to the lack of trees, we also had a much chillier and wet (dew) night. Once we arrived in camp I headed down a trail to get water, which was very scarce all day. I should have taken some insulation with me as it got very chilly when the sun went down, and it took me over an hour to get a little over 5 liters of water. The spring I used was a mere trickle, but I was able to divert some of the flow off a rock and in to a dirty bottle using a leaf. The water from the dirty bottle was then poured in to the bag of our gravity filter where it worked it's way in to a clean Platypus. I really wish I had gotten a picture. When I arrived back to camp, Robin had our spot set up, and was ready to start boiling water for dinner. After a hot dinner we turned in for the night. A clear sky allowed for seeing more stars than I can remember, including several of the shooting variety.


Sunday morning we rose to an incredible sunrise. After a hot breakfast and drying out some gear, we broke camp around 9:45. This was our shortest day at 8.5 miles, but posed navigational challenges and several thousand feet of descent. Once leaving Ivestor Gap we crossed over Grassy Cove Top, through Flower Gap, Shining Rock Gap, and Crawford Creek Gap, over Stairs Mountain and through the Narrows to Deep Gap (the second). From Deep Gap we chose to skip the side trek up to Cold Mountain (yes, that Cold Mountain) and make our final descent to the Scout Camp. Both Shining Rock Gap and Deep Gap posed navigational challenges as multiple trails converge in these areas and some are false. We managed to stay on the trail at both with only minor mishaps, despite having no map. The Narrows was somewhat unexpected, and greeted us with some technical terrain as well as a short walk over a narrow spine. Once we hit my Subaru, Robin and I took a quick bandanna bath, and then we headed back to Davidson River. We quickly picked up the second vehicle and headed in to Brevard for post-hike Mexican. This was a great trip and once of the toughest sections of trail I've done, including my WT3 expedition in 2008. One major thing we noticed was the lack of an ultralight or even lightweight mindset amongst everyone we ran across. One group of guys even had more gear for a single day than we had for three, and one of them claimed to lead backpacking immersion courses for Brevard College freshman. In addition to the mentioned navigational challenges, water on this trip was very scarce. Robin and I managed to carry about 20 oz each for the most part, but I would NOT recommend this to others. I have a lot of experience with water management and can get away with things most people cannot.



Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uallas/sets/72157625137011418/

2010/11 Backpacking Light Cocoon Clothing First Look

I just received my 2010/11 Backpacking Light Cocoon hoody and pants in the mail. Also recently released is a new quilt.

Both the hoody and quilt come in "Viridian Green" which is essentially a lime color. The pants come in charcoal which appears more of a steel gray. The lining on the hoody (and I assume on the quilt as well) matches the pants. I'm roughly 5'8 and between 140-145 lbs with a 29" waist and around a 36" chest. I went with a small for the pants since I only plan to wear them over a base layer for camp and sleeping. The pants came in at 6.5 ounces. For the hoody, I opted for a medium so I could layer it over a thin down sweater in colder temps. The combination of the hoody with something like a MontBell UL Down Inner should be roughly as warm as a Nunatak Skaha, with the added benefit of any moisture collecting in the synthetic Cocoon. The hoody came in at 9.6 ounces. Fit is about what I would expect for insulating garments and the finish appears excellent.

Both garments use a Pertex Quantum shell and liner with a proprietary 80 gram synthetic insulation developed by Ryan Jordan. For reference, the new quilt uses the same insulation in a 240 gram derivative. The hoody has a dual-pull draw cord for the hood and a velcro volume adjuster on the back. It also has stretchy material on the cuffs and waist to seal up drafts as well as a very deep chest zip. The cuffs include thumb holes so you can pull them down over your hands for additional hand insulation. The pants have a drawcord waist and the same stretchy material at the cuffs. Neither the hoody or pants have pockets.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uallas/sets/72157624944377511/with/5039722549/

Quality Customer Service

Last night (after business hours, even on the West Coast) I emailed Brooks-Range Mountaineering with some questions. I was pleasantly surprised when I got a quick response answering my questions in detail. What was even more impressive, though, was that my email came from Matt Brooks, the company founder. Not only did Matt answer my questions personally, he offered to help me in any way possible. I haven't ordered anything from Brooks-Range yet, but I plan to do so. Possibly even more so now than I did before I contacted them.

Normally, I wouldn't think of Brooks-Range as a cottage company, but I guess they actually are. Cottage companies are something special in the world of lightweight backpacking. A lot of us (ultralight backpackers) go out of our way to support these small companies, even if their prices aren't competitive with their larger brethren. One of the main reasons I do this personally, is because of the service I get. It's a truly special shopping experience when you deal directly with the company owner or the guy in the trenches making your gear.

Matt Lutz put together a good list of cottage companies on his website and I've linked to it on mine as well (see the Support Cottage Gear image in the right column). If you need high quality backpacking gear, especially of a custom nature, try to support these guys.

Other cottage companies I've personally had great service from:

Gossamer Gear
ULA Equipment (prior to being sold, but Casey is still there)
Mountain Laurel Designs
Titanium Goat
Trail Designs
Antigravity Gear
enLIGHTened equipment
Te-Wa Quilts
BackpackingLight
Bushbuddy
Zpacks
UDAP
TarpTent

Life Altering Trips

If you're not already familiar with the name Andrew Skurka, he's a former National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, and acclaimed lightweight backpacker. Andy has been on what is probably his toughest trip yet for the last 6 or so months, covering 4700 miles of Alaska and the Yukon. His travel has been entirely human powered via foot, ski, and packraft.

I first met Andy in October of 2008 when I attended Backpacking Light's WT3 course. I definitely don't know him on a deeply personal level, but I know as much as you can about a person when you spend 6 days in the Wilderness with them including a walk in full blizzard conditions.

Anyway, I've been keeping up with Andy and his trip via his Twitter feed and his blog postings on the National Geographic Adventure site.

Below are Andy's most recent two tweets (newest first):

Sunny day on placid Kobuk, tonight cowboy camp. Achy arms due to constant paddling. Extremely variable emotions due to finish 140mi away.

The Bittersweet Finish:Just 200 miles & 7 days away from achieving my goal, I'm looking for ways to extend the experience http://ht.ly/2x6jh

The second tweet includes a link to his most recent blog posting as well.

What I see/feel is a slight indication of a fear of reintegrating with society. As per his blog, Andy spent a full 24 days without crossing a single road or seeing another human being. That has to change a person, at least a little bit. This trip may be hard for Andy to top, although I don't doubt his ability to do so. As such, I can fully understand Andy's hesitation to let the trip end, but I'm glad he's chosen to complete it as planned. It's going to be very interesting to see how Andy has changed as well as follow his integration back in to modern society.