4 Things Beginning Backpackers Should Know About

I mentioned briefly in my last post that my backpacking trip for this past weekend got cancelled. Which is a big bummer because I had a bunch of posts that were contingent on that trip. There was going to be a food for backpacking post, Primitive Fire Part 1: The Bow Drill, and obviously a Trail Review, since that's not happening now I had to make something up on the fly.

That something is going to be 4 Things/Products you should  know about or have for backpacking.

1. REI's return department.
I had no idea this existed until a few years ago, and it's pretty much amazing. Basically because REI has such an amazing return policy they end up having to re-sell a lot of items. Some are not perfect but if you take some time you can almost always find something great. In Seattle's big REI store it's behind the Bicycle area downstairs. Some fun examples of stuff I've got there: REI Half Dome 2 (MSRP $189.00) for $20. The only thing wrong with it is a small hole in the mesh about the size of a pencil eraser. A Marmot 30 degree sleeping bag (MSRP $99-$109) in my favorite color (Chartreuse, not easy to find!) for 17.50, no problems the original buyer didn't like the color!

2. Dr. Bronner's Liquid Soap (4 oz - $4.25 @ REI)
Backpacking it's always good to have things with multiple uses, it saves weight and just generally makes your life easier. Dr. Bronner's is pretty much the ultimate soap. It's good for face, body, shampoo, toothpaste, some people on extended trips use it for laundry detergent. It's pretty much awesome, as well as being pH balanced, sulfate free, organic and biodegradable.

3. Jack Black SPF 25 Lip Balm- Assorted Flavors
(There's a full review of these on my beauty blog The Dead Don't Lie)
I have a thing about my lips. If they are at all chapped at all I will pick at them till I bleed. I have really fair skin and large lips, and they get dried out and burnt pretty easily. For this reason I always carry lip balm that has SPF, if I'm going to be out in the sun, the wind, and alpine areas with less moisture I need help. My favorites are Honey and Shea Butter and Grapefruit and Ginger

4. Swiftwick Socks (Website here)
Have you ever put on a sock, gasped audibly and then exclaimed: "Holy Shit Ballz! This is the greatest sock ever?" No? Well I have, and slipper socks DON'T COUNT. Swiftwick socks are seriously incredible. Chris and I each have a couple of pairs and we love them. I'll do a full review at a later date. But if you do any kind of activity you should get these. They come in varying price, length and thickness. The Vibe line are my favorites, they are the most amazing compression socks ever. EVER.

Backpacking Gear List

I love packing for overnights. They’re less stressful when it comes to packing because you don’t have to agonize over every ounce and cubic centimeter of space. This list is pretty exhaustive, I’ve divided up the list by what each individual should have and then things like sunscreen etc. that only one person needs to carry. That being said I would almost always recommend that for every 2-3 people you have secondaries of these items. There are some items that it’s good to have different people carrying. For instance when Chris and I hike one person carries the water filter and one person carries the first aid kit which has iodine tablets. That way if we lose a pack we have a way to sanitize water. Other things we typically split up are fire-starting equipment and food, which can be a pain on multi-days when we’re both unpacking to put stuff in a bear bag. However, I feel better knowing we won’t have all our eggs in one basket if something were to go wrong.

This list is a good starting point for multiday trips as well, you’ll just need to adjust the amount of food and spare clothes you’ll need. As long as we’re on the subject of clothes, and since I can’t think of a better place to mention this, let’s talk about when you’re sleeping. I have a 30 degree bag, which if you're a girl you know means you're not comfortable after about 38-40 degrees. So for early season hikes, or when I know I'm going to be somewhere that's going to be particularly chilly during the night I have to bring extra clothes to sleep in. For me this is sweats, a long sleeve cotton thermal, slipper socks and a sweater. I can shed a layer if I need to but I don't sleep if I'm cold.

My trip for this weekend got cancelled so I won't have pictures. The next time I'm packing for a trip I'll take some photos. Also as I continue to post gear reviews the items will link to examples.

Gear List
Sleeping bag and mat
Water Reservoir or at least 2 one QT bottles,
Multi-tool
Food
Clothes: I always bring 1 more pair of socks and underwear than I need
Mess Kit
small flashlight/headlamp (we also keep one in our tent as a backup)
Backpack cover or large garbage bag

Tent (make sure you have your poles, stakes, etc.) and footprint/tarp
3 kinds of fire (ferro rod, butane torch, lighter, matches in waterproof container, magnesium rod etc.)
50 ft of 300 lb test cord
First aid kit
Compass
Map (if needed)
Water filter and iodine tablets
Stove and fuel
Cooking pans
Toiletries (Small Hand Soap, Small Toothpaste, Toothbrush, Comb, Floss, small Fast-Drying Camp Towel)
Sunscreen/Bugspray
Bear Bag (we just hang an OR Stuff Sack from a tree)
Garbage bag

My dog carries all his own stuff except for his water. This is possible as long as long as your dog is big enough, they really don’t make packs for dogs under 25lbs, here’s a list for your buddy

Dog Gear:
Dog Backpack
Food (don’t forget to put in bear bag at night, even if there aren’t bears it’s good to seal this guy up in case of raccoon etc.)
Treats
Poop bags
Toys
Cloth travel bowl

Sweater (if needed) for when you stop

Therm-a-Rest RidgeRest SOlite Sleeping Pad

I hate inflatable sleeping pads. Unless you are willing to spend a lot of money on them they are cold and uncomfortable. I can’t help but thinking that expensive mats are going to be like expensive sunglasses. I’ll spend the money and promptly lose or scratch the damn things while my cheap ones last forever. I will also admit that despite years of dancing I’m klutzy when I walk. So I’m always worried that I’m going to put a hole in my mat. This fear is multiplied by the fact that my backpack is kind of narrow, because I’m small, so it doesn’t easily fit most mats along with the other gear that I have to stow on the inside so I tend to have to carry them on the outside of my pack.

So here I am stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. If I spend the money to actually buy a comfortable mat I’m going to pop it, and if I don’t I don’t get very good sleep, not to mention being sore and grumpy in the morning which is not exactly a great way to start your second/third/n+1 day of hiking (math jokes are awesome).

The Therm-a-Rest RidgeRest Sleeping pad is a pretty decent compromise. It’s quite durable since it’s a foam mat. I was skeptical about how effective the metallic finish would be at reflecting heat, but it works pretty well and I run cold in general. It’s also pretty light and I can carry it on the outside of my pack without fretting about every stray branch that hits it or every time I set my pack down.

It is not the plushest sleeping pad, I have to sleep on my back or my hips hurt from pressure on my bones. I also have a bit of a sway back, so sleeping on a flat surface on my back all night tends to lead to some lower back pain in the morning, which is usually walked off pretty quickly. It would take a fairly plush mat, either foam or inflatable to counteract that anyway though.

Overall it’s a pretty good product, especially since price-wise it’s very reasonable and I’m pretty happy with it. At some point I might invest in a thicker foam pad, especially for when weight is less of an issue, but for now it’s working just fine.

Specs
Packed size 8x20 inches
LxW 72x20/183x51cm
Thickness.62inches/1.5cm
Weight 14oz/0.4kg

$19.95-$39.95 (depending on size) via REI

Edible and Medicinal Plants Book Review: Part 2 of 3

Title: Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest

Author: Doug Benoiliel

Illustrator: Mark Orsen
Bottom Line: 4.5/5 stars

It’s sort of like all my complaints about Wild Harvest were addressed when this book was written. It’s pretty much awesome. One of my favorite things about this book is that Benoliel is really sort of goofy-nerd self aware, he makes some endearing deprecating comments about his sense of humor here and there and just in general is a very likable writer.









The book itself is fairly light probably only 0.5-1lb, which would make it pretty easy to carry on an overnight unless you were going ultra light. The pages are matte, so you would definitely want to transport in a waterproof bag.

As far as contents, there is a lot about this book that I really like. There’s a nice overview by season, that is further classified by type of plant and/or preparation (berries, seeds, raw greens, greens for cooking etc.), I will say I think this could be improved by having the corresponding page numbers but the book is alphabetical so this is not a huge problem at all.

There’s some interesting nutritional data for wild plants comparing them with grocery store fruits and veggies, based on USDA data, which is pretty cool. One of my biggest issues with Wild Harvest was the technical terms without appendices to illustrate what they meant, this book has that and goes a step further by giving some examples of plants that illustrate the terms. The illustrations themselves, both in the appendices and throughout the book, are really nice looking.

There is a really nice variety of plants and he groups similar items (mostly plants within the same genus) so there aren’t separate entries for different types of blueberry, but he does explain the differences within the entry. He touches on some of the medicinal properties of some plants. Also including historical and Native American usages, which is pretty nifty.There are very clear warnings for plants with inedible or poisonous look-a-likes, which was probably the biggest problem I had with wild harvest.

The only thing that I really missed in this book was photographs of the plants. While the illustration were quite good, I think that photographs are really important especially since the illustrations are black and white. A lot of how I initially locate plants, especially when I’m out walking is by colors, after that I use shape and size to confirm it’s the plant I want but color is how I find it. Even though the descriptions are accurate telling me the flower of a plant is pink is only so helpful.
However so far this is one of the best edible plant books I’ve seen. I have one more book here at home on edible plants (not including mushrooms to review), which is a bit heavier than this book, so unless that book is better, this may well end up being what I purchase for myself.

Deception Pass State Park: Part 2

This post is going to go up a day early since tomorrow promises to be a bit hectic. 

I woke up after dozing off for a bit and thought to myself “Hmmmm there’s no dog in my sleeping bag. Where the hell is Jaxx?” He usually sleeps in my bag when it’s cold, because he’s spoiled and I don’t mind the extra warmth. I woke Chris up to make sure he wasn’t with him. Turned out he’d nosed his way out of Chris’ door. Shit. Shit. Shit.

If you’ve ever had a pet disappear, you know it sucks. It’s especially awful when you’re in an unfamiliar place and your dog has a particular affinity for cars. I ran out of the tent and started whistling from him. Got about 50 yards from camp and this woman came around a building and asked “Did you lose your dog? Is his name Jaxx?” Oh thank god. He had just wandered into a neighboring campsite where people were still up. My dog likes to party. Needless to say we’ll be investing in some small carabiners to seal the tent zippers at night. But everything was fine, although I didn’t sleep much the rest of the night, first because I was totally afraid that I was going to lose Jaxx again, second because by this time the tent was slowly beginning to collapse.

For me the tent wasn’t really a problem. I like small spaces and it wasn’t completely collapsed so I didn’t have tent material on my face. The nice thing about your tent collapsing is that it’s really toasty. It’s a general rule of thumb that the less space inside a shelter and the lower the ceiling the warmer it’s going to be, since warm air travels up. This goes for primitive shelters as well. However, Chris is a lot bigger than me and he had damp tent on his face. Not pleasant. He didn’t want to move to the car, so poor guy ended up rolling up his sleeping mat and using it to prop up the center of the tent. Around this time I finally passed out. 

Ko-Kwal-alwoot

Next day we struck camp pretty quick and went up to the north end of the park (Fidalgo Island) to do some additional hiking. It was warmer and even prettier out. On the way we stopped and took some pictures from the bridge (Above). We started out at Rosario Beach, which WTA had mentioned as a very pretty spot. My favorite part was this gorgeous carved Samish (Native Americans indigenous to the area) statue of Ko-Kwal-Alwoot, also known as The Maiden of Deception Pass, who ended up marrying the family that rules the sea. The carving is beautiful, but really I love the story, you can read it here.

Day two was short, we were both pretty exhausted from the previous day’s hike and the long night. Only hiked about miles total, but it was a beautiful day. The Olympic mountains were out in the west (click on the photo below to see them a bit more clearly). One thing that struck me (on both days), especially being from a coastal region myself, is how clear and empty the water is here. I’m used to surging surf, tons of kelp and sea life. In the area I grew up in California the water and sea life is pretty similar to what you find in Washington marine areas, tide pools and rocks seem to be alive with all manner of sea urchins, crabs, starfish, different types of sea plants. Here it was just empty which, while a little jarring for me, does make for some beautiful water. I could almost pretend I was in the Mediterranean.

Overall definitely go visit Whidbey, but I would recommend going during the week, or off season to avoid lots of groups. Unless you are one of those people who love car camping, because you're very social and inevitably make friends with everybody in neighboring sites. Good for you, you damn alien. 

WTA Link for our second hike here. It's also highlighted in red on the map of the park in Part 1.

Deception Pass State Park: Part 1

 

Location: Whidbey and Fidalgo Island

Difficulty: Easy to Easy-Medium (couple of short steep sections)
Dogs Allowed: Yes
Mileage: Variable
Fees/Passes: $22 for drive in $12 for bike/hike in sites

Season: Year round, but I recommend off-season

This past weekend Chris and I really wanted to get out of the city. The first camping trip of the year always seems to end up being car camping. Probably because we don’t have our gear assembled yet and are just generally not prepared (as you will see). So this year we went out to Whidbey Island and camped at Deception Pass State Park. We were suppose to go with a goup of hikers we are friends with but the date ended up getting moved to this coming weekend, at which time Chris and I will be in Olympia visiting family. Since both of us were looking forward to the trip we decided to go a week early on our own.

The trip was kind of a mixed bag.

First thing we were in a state park campground. Which means it was noisy and we were jammed up against neighboring campers. Luckily it was still early in the season so it wasn’t completely packed, we only had neighbors on one side and there was some decent brush giving us some privacy, but still it sort of ruins it if you can hear somebody’s radio. There are some bike/hike/kayak in spots that are a little more secluded which I’d like to check out sometime. Especially the boat in ones since they’re on smaller surrounding islands.

When we arrived we decided to set up our tent so we’d have less to do when we got back from our hike. It also gave the marine fog a little extra time to finish burning off. I pulled out the fly, the tent, the..... oh shit. No poles. Chris had forgot to check the bag before he packed it. Luckily we have a Subaru Forester so if things like this come up we can always sleep in the car, but Chris decided he was going to fashion some tent poles out of sticks and some zip ties we had in the car. So what should have taken about 3 minutes took about 45. While it wasn’t the prettiest tent in the world, I have to say, he did a pretty good job.

By this time it was absolutely gorgeous, about 70 degrees and clear as a bell. We hiked around the outside of the southern part of the island (outlined in red above). From West Beach up around the perimeter of Goose Rock. All the trails we hiked on were in very good condition. The trail around West Beach is at least partially paved, and then the rest are well maintained, with only a few spots that were muddy. We saw some very pretty views. Including one stunner with some islands and Mt. Baker all virgin whiteness standing in the distance (yeah that’s totally not a cloud in that picture below, that’s a mountain). The tidal flow that goes through Deception Pass itself is super scary. It’s just boiling surging water. I’d love to kayak around the island sometime, but I’ll definitely not even get close to that area (there will be a picture of this in part 2).

After our hike we went and had a couple beers on the beach (in non-glass containers thank you!). Going through winter in the Northwest always leaves me, and pretty much everyone, wanting to soak up the sun. Also, we forgot to bring board games. When we came back to camp and had camp Indian food (which I will post on at a later date), enjoyed our campfire and went to get some sleep. Or so we thought...

Continued here.

Edible and Medicinal Plants Book Review: Part 1 of 3

Title: Wild Harvest - Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest 

Author: Terry Domico
Bottom Line: 2 stars

Wild Harvest is a pretty slim volume with predominantly common, pretty well known plants (blackberries, miner’s lettuce etc.), as well as a few that many people might not be as familiar with . The book is organized by season, which is kind of a nice feature. It’s light weight so possibly a good choice for multi-day trips if you wanted to carry it while hiking. Also, it has pretty glossy pages so a bit more resilience to water damage. It also includes some pretty nice photographs. Initially this made me think it would be a good option for beginners, but after reading through it a little more closely I’ve changed my mind. I don’t think this book is that good for anybody, here’s why:

Domico uses fairly technical language (bear lobbed, palmately veined leaves etc.) which would be fine if he also provided appendices that illustrated what that means, but there’s not. S/He gives some suggestions as to how to prepare these items, but doesn't touch on medicinal qualities at all. For instance stinging nettle is good to eat but also can be used to treat arthritis. For people who are more familiar with the terminology the content of the book itself is probably already familiar. Holy Crap Balls! Blackberries are edible?! Said no one, ever. In addition I think the drawings are a little mediocre, and the objects drawn next to them for scale (sharpened pencils, scissors, forks etc.) can be a little subjective. I would say if, on the off chance, you’re a beginner with a decent familiarity with botany this might be a good book for you. Otherwise, pretty mediocre, I'd go with something else. I'll get to what later.