I got it last night and seam sealed all the seams then read the instructions again. It said to do the seams on the outside so I had to do the other side as well. It needs to dry for 6 hours. I'll take some pictures of it when I'm backpacking this weekend but here is the promotional picture for it. It is this color and has the optional beak. It seems to be big enough for me and my gear. I usually like the 2 person tents/tarps so there is room for my gear and room to move around when I'm getting ready to sleep.
I'll have to weigh it when it is dry. It started out at 5.4oz but will most certainly weigh more with seam sealer on both sides of the seams. Hopefully not much more than 6oz. But still, that is almost 1 1/2 pounds less than my Big Agnes Ultralight tent (Fly Creek 2) which didn't seem that bad when I carried it. Just a pound here and a pound there added up to my vertebrate between L4 and L5 getting inflamed.
I put two hooks above my bath tub and then I hang the tent (the main section with the bug screen) and fly (rain cover) separately. My sleeping bag was only a little damp so I laid it on my bed. My bedroom looks like a backpacking swap meet or the garage sale at REI.
I had just finished a five mile day hike with running shoes, but I thought I should give the boots another chance. I should have packed the running shoes. The 1.6 pounds would have been worth it.
I put on my backpack, probably 27-28 pounds. I had gone overboard on the food with elaborate meals and lots of snacks. I put moleskin on my left heel and started hiking. I hiked about 30 minutes and could feel some pain on my left heel. The moleskin wasn't big enough so I put a Band-aid Advanced Healing Blister band-aid on the new hot spot. Within another 30 minutes, the blister band-aid was torn lose with the moleskin. I put on more special blister band-aids and moleskin. Needless to say, I developed another blister on my left heel and a new blister on the sole of my right food right by the toes. I will spare you the details but those blisters were on my mind 75% of the time. I filled up my Camelbak and had a liter of Gatorade after sterilizing my water with my Steripen. It kind of felt like the "Emperor's Sterilizer" hoping it was actually killing germs with the blue light. I got the water at the second stream since I still had some in my Camelbak and it had a better flow of water than the first stream. It was about 2-3 miles into the trail. I realized that I would have never found water if I had hiked to the trailhead when I was hiking Segment 2. Good decision to turn around on my last trip.
I kept hiking, went up a good size hill to over 8000 feet and a decline that lasted about 2 miles. I passed by Buffalo Creek Campground and Meadow Group Campground on my way down to Buffalo Creek. I had hiked about 8 miles in 6 hours. My feet were killing me and now when I try to find a nice place by the creek to have a nice warm dinner, it starts sprinkling. I decide to walk a little longer and figure it will be a non-cooked meal. Then it stopped raining and I was still near the creek. I started cooking and it started sprinkling again. I used my umbrella (thanks, Ray Jardine for the advice) to cover my stove and myself. Only spilled a little bit of the ramen on myself. I had more planned for the meal but decided this was enough. I had eaten about 1/3 of the food I had planned for the day. Oops!
I hiked another mile and it started sprinkling some more. I figured I better stop here. I threw my gear from inside my backpack under the umbrella so that I could get to my backpack, sleeping bag and sleeping pad. I set up the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 that I had bought for my new summer of backpacking. It was almost a pound less than my Eureka Zeus 2 and was a double wall. I don't know if it was worth the investment. Seemed about the same. I had some snacks and hung all my smelly food in my bear bag made from my tent bag and a rope. With the gun club, a few miles away, shooting guns until almost 7pm that night, I doubted there would be any bears around. I sat on a rock and listened to a bunch of teenagers who had set up camp on the next ridge until it started raining harder. I was ok with the reality that I hadn't brought my iPad. I read the pages I had photocopied from the Colorado Trail Guide Book and the maps. Wonderful book.
It rained for about an hour or two that night but not very hard. I was on the top of a small ridge so the water ran away from the tent. It quieted down the teenagers and I was actually able to sleep on this Nemo Astro Insulated sleeping pad. Another Backpacker magazine editors choice. Good decision even though it weighs a lot more than a thin closed cell foam pad.
In the morning, I cooked some oatmeal, threw in some of my gorp and had some Starbucks Via coffee. It was my first time to try it. I hadn't put in enough dry milk and stevia but it was still great. The fly (rain cover) was totally wet on top. I tried to dry it on a big rock near my tent since the sun was shining on it. Didn't work. Now I remember Ray Jardine saying to have a waterproof bag for your tent because many times you would have to pack it wet while on multi-day trips. I hadn't remembered. I turned on my Spot again so that I would have record of the trip on Spot Adventures. I didn't send an update but I knew the family could track me online.
I hiked the final 3.3 miles, took a while because it was uphill and my blisters were killing me. I had completed Segment 3 one day before scheduled. I pretty much knew I would hike all the way back to my car today. I had a wet tent and sore feet. I hiked back down to Buffalo Creek, had lunch and sat there with my boots and socks off for about 30-40 minutes. I used up the last of the moleskin and only had one more band-aid. I would never look at my feet again and push through 7-8 miles by sheer will and insanity.
I hiked up to mile 6 and then mile 6 to mile 4 (remember I'm walking back) was uphill the entire way. I wrote somewhere else is was 90-something percent uphill. It was actually 100% (I don't know why I lied). I had to find a weird looking tree about 500 feet in front of me and decide to walk to it. Then I would rest. Then I'd find another tree with two trunks and walk to it so I could rest some more. I did this over and over for 2 miles, but it only took me about an hour. Even with all that resting. I walked all the way back till about 7:15pm, 15.6 miles that day. I changed into my running shoes at the car but I couldn't push in the clutch without intense pain. I got home and took a long bath, deciding to dry and put away all my stuff today (which I did).
Things I learned on this trip:
Boots - the heck with them. I think I'll take them back to Dick's Sporting Goods Store and get some Gore-Tex running shoes (Backpacker Magazine Editor's Choice, of course)
Food - I brought the 'right amount' of food last trip and about 3 times as much as I was supposed to this trip, even finishing a day early. I found when you are dead tired, you don't want to eat. Bring LESS FOOD. Bring more Gatorade (sugar-free this time).
Water - Steripen was a success, especially with the anti-bacterial wipes for the lip of the Nalgene. I might get a collapsable water container instead of a Nalgene, to save weight.
Trekking poles - I forgot to mention them. They salvaged the trip. They are wonderful. I bought Black Diamond Distance Z-Poles. 12 oz, and SO amazing! Worth the weight by saving my knees, helping me keep my balance and even helped me climb. They even helped me set a pace.
Spot Connect is a winner. The trick is NOT to turn on and off my cell phone. Leave it in airplane mode and the phone lasted the entire trip.
I like hiking even though I can hardly walk when I'm done. I think running shoes will be the key. That is what I used to backpack in (except for winter camping). I don't know why I ever tried boots.
I like pepperoni and summer sausage, that will be a repeat.
I might take a weekend off and work on accounting for USCS after going to a movie with a friend on Friday night. Then off to backpack Segment 4 (round trip). I'll keep everyone posted.
