Done in a Day

Thanks Kevin
Checked out the ULA Relay but at 17oz, is there anything lighter that will put the pack weight on the hips rather than on the shoulders, that is available now.
Checked out the ULA website and it appears they are in hibernation until Dec 2008………..wrong time of the year on your side of the world for that I think
Regards
Andrew (Australia)

Tom, both calcium and magnesium are excreted by the kidneys, and the amounts excreted go up when they are present in excess. They are both also reabsorbed in the kidney when they need to be so that blood levels are kept normal.

Your cramping is not likely due to either of those minerals. However, if you have found something that seems to prevent them for you, I'd be inclined to keep doing it myself. Exercise-associated muscle cramping is not completely understood.

Kevin, my laboratory medicine textbook (Henry, 19th ed 1996..not latest edition) says this about calcium in sweat,

"estimates of the daily calcium excretion in sweat vary widely-from 15 mg to more than 100 mg. The loss can greatly exceed this range during extreme environmental conditions."

John and Kevin,
Thanks for the info. Maybe I'm experiencing the placebo effect, or maybe it's just my individual physiology at work. Either way, I'm enjoying the journey and the little byways it leads me into, like this one, in my quest to optimize my experience. Training, equipment, diet, physiology, and just the pure joy of being on the move in high places all rolled into one.
One more question for Kevin: The narrative and pictures in your article seem to indicate you do a lot up around the Kings Kern Divide and along the Great Western Divide. Me too. So, I'm wondering if your treat your water and, if so, with what and generally where(e.g. down in the Kern Canyon?, Tyndall Creek, etc).

So I don't have access to this article, nor am I planning on getting it, but I was wondering why you would have to bring cooking gear and a 2100 CI pack. The longest day I've ever done was a 20-30 mile ridge traverse in the Wasatch mountains which lasted about 10 hours, or maybe a 12 hour hike in the desert.

Why bring all that gear to sleep a mile in if you could just hike that mile in 15 minutes the following morning?

But I only had a few liters of water, an insulating layer, a rain layer, water purification, and a load of food, which all could have fit in a <1000 CI pack. Something here doesn't seem very lightweight…

I just don't think that that is a very lightweight way of hiking. I'm not saying I dislike that style of hiking, and I have turned hikes that could have been done in a day into overnighters. But think if the situation was reversed – you plan out a loop, you drive to the trailhead put on your 10 pound pack, hike for 10 hours, then that night, sleeping a mile away from your car. You think "Oui! Why did I hike all that way with this stuff – I could have left it at the car!"

How is this different then lightweight car camping, but carrying all your stuff with you everywhere you go?

I don't have anything against this style, I'm just wondering if it is benefiting my pack weight somehow.

hey guys,
the point of carrying a sleep system on a big route is safty in the event you cannot make it back to your car. The route we had planned on doing was 32 miles and we were not sure how far we would make it. I have attempted it several times on a single day push with just a hydartion pack and it always required a long and tiring hike out when I could have saftly spent the night out. But there also comes a point that carrying an SUL sleep system is not going to add a tremendous amount of weight to slow you down that much. Either way to each there own, everyones hiking style can be explained by their past experiences.

I'm w/Chris.

A few years ago on a section hike of the Foothills Trail in SC, we basically did the same thing. Just bedding down in a pretty spot w/ a creek swishing by was worth the weight.

It didn't matter that it was only 45 minutes away from the road. It didn't matter that the mileage gained that night was almost nil. We were OUT THERE, man!

Todd

Chris, I have also done that and had a great time. However, I did not take my sleeping bag, stove, shelter, etc, up to the peaks with me.

This is where I'm confused….

I do however, understand the concept of bringing your gear for safety, although the number one plan for LNT is Plan ahead and prepare/ know your limitations. I think if you have your route planned out well enough, and know your limitations, you will not have to risk safety. Do you guys agree?

Sorry for the delayed response,
was just out hiking/camping and enjoying being out in the mountains of NH. Chris, I like your style!

As Jonathan mentioned safety was a concern for carrying our sleeping gear, in one of our correspondences dedicated to what we would carry, we mutually agreed on gear for navigation and sleeping only, clothing worn while hiking and first aid/footcare items, no stoves, cookware or other non essential camping equipment.

The route we chose also had serious elevation gain and loss so we were not sure exactly where our bodies might decide to possibly give out & how close the nearest road would be. NH is starting to crack down on hiker search & rescue with it’s Negligent Hiker Act which would charge an individual $15,000 for any evacuation where the involved party was considered unprepared/negligent. 2lbs in sleeping gear could have saved us some serious coin in case things went wrong with a route that was pushing us pretty hard physically.

Earlier this year we had a series of 7 SARs within a 3 week window, tragically with one unprepared day hiker losing his life on the third peak we crossed that day, have learned with experience and time to respect our unpredictable mountains and be ready for the worst (with pretty light or minimal gear) even if the forecast tells otherwise.

Other reasons for carrying safety gear with me on a hike is for the training element of it. I consider all hikes training for my future excursions. Winter is approaching here and I'll be forced to carry extra pounds of insulation so carrying extra pounds now will only help build me for what is to come.

Good idea. I'm implementing that starting next hike. Thanks Sam.

I agree with Roger, but would also like to add even if you are in good shape and think you understand your limitations, variables can change to fast on a long route. For instance on my most recent trip I started my 6th and last mtn of the day feeling great and ready to push a finish on the whole route. By the time I reached the base of the other side of the peak I was physically finished for the day. Needless to say considering how I felt when I started the climb, I was very surprised at how quickly I bonked on energy.

But on the other hand if you are confident with your chosen route and escape back to your car is easy, I can understand not wanting to take as much gear.

I generally drink plain water during the day, unless over 5L. At night I take a liter to bed with me to rehydrate during the night. I add a packet of Alacer ElectroMIX (0.017 oz) to replenish electrolytes and motivate me to drink up. (Alacer is the maker of Emer'gen-C.) It has a slight lime flavor, and avoids the weight of sugar common to most dry sports mixes. I haven't had leg cramps since I started using it.

calories: 0; sugar: 0; artificial sweeteners: 0!; potassium: 100mg; calcium 25mg; magnesium 30mg; manganese 0.5mg; chromium 5mcg

If I need to get kids to drink enough water (sometimes a problem) I carry True Lime from http://www.truelemon.com. One packet (0.006 oz) in a liter perks the flavor right up. No artificial sweeteners, just a bit of lactose and maltodextrin.

Both of these are UL: 10 packets of ElectroMIX and 5 of True Lime total only 2 oz.