Darby Canyon / Fossil Mountain / 4.1 pound pack!

[Mike Clelland]

Trip REPORT!
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I did it! I broke the 5 pound barrier! I'm a member of the big league of Super UL zealots!

My pack weigh was dainty 4 POUNDS, 1.6 OUNCES when I weighed it without food and water!

I was planning just one night out, and it was a little after 7pm when I left the house. I decided to go camping around 6:30 pm, so it was flurry of packing, subtracting, re-packing and re-weighing! My house was a MESS when I ran out the door!

It was a clear evening so I knew it wasn't gunna rain, so I left my tarp behind, and, I knew I was gunna be out early the next morning, so I left the stove behind too (right on for me!).

I hiked in, it was lovely and I saw a ridge up near Fossil Mountain. So I climbed up as it was getting dark. I did one little boulder move above some crumbly stones. Not bad to down climb, but I would need daylight.

I topped out on the ridge, and it was magnificent. Narrow and impressive. It was at about 10,000 feet, and at about 10:15 it was just as things were getting dark enough to need my headlamp. I found one tiny spot on the ridge just big enough to fit my 6 foot body. I laid out may pad, and I put on my warm clothes, laid out my bivy sack – and went to grab my sleeping bag – but – but – – –

Oooops!

In the flurry to pack up, I left my sleeping bag on the floor in middle of my very messy cabin.

I couldn't retreat until the the sun came up. complaining or grumbling wasn't gunna solve anything.

So, I just climbed in my VERY thin bivy sack, put my feet in my GoLite ION and went to sleep. I added "crunches" to my sleep system.

Lesson learned: Your pack is really light without a sleeping bag.

Another lesson: It was a really beautiful night, I was cold a few times, but not too bad.

And, one more lesson: You get up EARLY when you are cold. I down-climbed that little step at about 4:15 in the morning. I was back at my car by 7: AM.

my lovely bivy site:
43° 39' 29.46" N
110°55' 17.30" W

GoogleMaps public map title:
4.1 pound pack!
(link)
http://maps.google.com/maps?t=p&utm_campaign=en&utm_medium=ha&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-bk-gm&utm_term=google%20topographic%20maps

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FOSSIL MOUNTAIN
(a found image with a LOT less snow)

[Greg Mihalik]

Mike –
Thanks for the laugh!
Congrats on surviving. Glad it worked out.

You know, I heard there was a really good checklist …..

[Mike Clelland]

greg wrote:
You know, I heard there was a really good checklist …..

Mike C! replies:
Please – Let's not cloud the issue with facts.

[Joey Prescott]

Haha thanks for the laugh.

goes to show you no matter how much of a hurry your in always double check your gear :P

I havent had to use my emergency bivy/spaceblanket yet and hope I never have to lol.

[CW]

Mike, remind me not to let you pack the gear when we go backpacking together.

[Matt Lutz]

What bag/quilt/etc did you leave behind?

[Mike Clelland]

I left behind the COCOON UL 90 quilt.

It's the same color as a jacket, so when I saw it on the floor, I thought – Oh, I'll be fine without that jacket.

And – I was fine.

I used to climb a lot in the summer in the tetons, and it was normal to just bivy with all your clothes on. It's a good life lesson. THe Bivy sack was a BLACK DIAMOND winter bivy (at, 9.5 ounces) and it worked pretty good.

THe puddles were frozen this morning!

[Glen Van Peski]

Great job!! I've managed to head out missing some stuff, but never a sleeping bag. I did have a sub3 trip planned without a sleeping bag, but haven't done that one yet…

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