Monday, August 20, 2007

Quick hiking note

I had a great weekend! We ended up car camping on Friday nite (we left Boston too late to do any hiking). It was fun though, Batman made a fire and we got to cook with our little camping stove. Saturday we got up had an awful breakfast of rice meal, food was all of my choosing so I can only blame myself. Then we headed over to find the Appalachian Trail in North Adams. We had a quick lunch at a sub shop and were hiking by noon. We hiked up to Mt. Greylock and then back down to a shelter to camp at. It was 7-8 miles total, much of it pretty steep going uphill and I had a 20 pound pack (Batman's was 30 pounds). We were at camp by 5:30, and I was starving. We set up the tent, made dinner and cleaned up, and then another group came to camp at the shelter and we hung out with them. It was a group of 6 college students, they were cool. We were in bed by 10, but it took me forever to get to sleep. First I couldn't get my feet warm (even though the rest of me was sweaty), then I couldn't get comfortable, then the animals all started making noise. I got enough sleep though since we didn't get up super early. Sunday we took the easy path back down to town, so maybe 4 miles total, but no steep hills. We were back at the car by noon, so we went to the Mass MoCA. Really cool. Drove home and took a much needed shower! I slept soooo well last nite! I definitely can't wait to do it again.

I'll get pictures and more details up later this week. I've got to get a few things done, mainly laundry and grocery shopping, but I'll squeeze it in!

And if you are interested:
What I carried (about 20-22 pounds with the water full):
Osprey Atmos 50 pack (it appears that I bought a men's pack, but it fits and is a better color than the woman's, plus it is the same weight and carries the same amt.)
North Face Cat's Meow Sleeping Bag
Tent and poles (Batman had the rain cover - it was his 2 person tent)
2 liters of water in Nalgene bottles
MSR WhisperLight Internationale Stove
11 oz fuel bottle (filled with white gas)
hand crank flashlight
2 sporkish things (spoon on one end, fork with serrated edge on the other)
3 soup cups
pitas and peanut butter (I brought the whole jar)
rice meal (yuck!), raisins, slivered almonds
drinks (tea bags and emergen-c)
3 clif bars
clothes - total of what I wore and carried, 3 pairs of socks, 3 underwears, shorts, pants, tank top, short sleeve top, pullover/jacket thing (thin, nylon), and I wore my tennis shoes
toiletries - roll of tp, deodorant, face wash wipes, lotion, baby powder, q-tips, hand sanitizer, off wipes instead of bug spray
misc. - wallet, chapstick, feminine prodcuts (of course, it is that time of month, what great timing), tissues, hanky, baseball cap

I think that is everything that I carried. Batman had the rest of the tent, food, pots, toothbrushes, his own clothes and stuff, and water/water treatment, and first aid. Maybe more, I'm not sure.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm stoked to get such an encyclopedic account. It means I got to camp vicariously through you without leaving the comforts of my home (I do likes me comforts!). So glad you had a good time.

Jeanette said...

Can't wait to see photos! Have you already started planning the details of your next trip? Sorry that the rice meal was awful.