Needful Things

So I'm getting ready once again to head to the Superstition Wilderness in Arizona. I leave next Sunday for a week of some good desert running. The inevitable packing unpacking repacking cycle is in full swing. Oh yeah. I start out with a pile, load up my pack and then start to edit edit edit. And edit some more.

I ended up with the following needful things:

Counter clockwise from lower left: Sleeping bag, food sack, orange tent, SS bottles, green sleep pad, black camp stove, green misc bag, black water pump, and green clothing bag.

I edited out all this:

It still has some potential editing. For example, the big blue sleeping bag on the left. I have one half that size and weight, but the smaller one is only good to about 45 degrees. The big one is good to 20 degrees. Last year, we got caught in a canyon where an cold temp inversion set in, plummeting the temperature to 19 degrees. Ugh. My water froze over-night. It was the oddest feeling, standing around the campfire and literally feeling the cold air rising up your legs, bit by bit.

I have to think about it. The line between safety and comfort is always a tough one. I don't mind being uncomfortable, but not to the point where safety becomes an issue.

On the other items, two are 'community' gear in a water pump and camp stove. I am the strongest hiker, usually with the lightest load so guess who gets to be the mule. So get behind the mule.

The stainless steel bottles serve four purposes: 1) drinking water on the hike in; 2) they serve as a backup to the camelbak reservoir which can always spring a leak; 3) they serve as backup to the stove, in that you can put the bottle (sans cap) directly in the fire to heat water; 4) since you can heat water, they serve as a back up to the filter pump, in that you can boil to purify your water. I love things that do many things at once. In backpacking, its a huge bonus.

Clothing is a tough call. I always vow to take less, but with temperatures fluctuating last year from 19 to 88 degrees in a single day, any extra space in my pack usually gets taken up by 'one more dry shirt' or 'one thin fleece'.

The Paleo diet I'm on should be a real challenge. I'm still working on it. Stay tuned, more to come soon............