South Pass-Old Faithful.

[Ryan Faulkner]

Hey, next summer my father and I are going to try and do a section of The Continental Divide Trail, starting at the southern terminus of the wind river mountain Range (South Pass, WY) ending at old faithful Gyeser in Yellowstone NP.

The total mileage according to my map software is 263 miles, and I hope to complete it in 10 days.
As of right now, we are planning on doing it Alpine style (without resupply)

My gearlist DRAFT is in my forum profile

I have never hiked in the rockies, or in grizzly country, so any advice for hiking in Wyoming, or dealing with bears would be greatly apprectiated

[ROBERT TANGEN]

– You list “GG light trek 3 trekking poles 125 cm.” How do you carry the third pole, in your teeth? (Just joking.)
– I own the Cuben version of the Oware cat tarp, and found it so difficult to enter and exit that I rigged my two poles to stand without the aid of the tarp (leaning the poles outward, holding the outward lean with 2 cords per pole and keeping the poles from falling over with a “clothes line” running between the tops of the poles.) Then I rig the tarp to the poles, but since the poles stay up by themselves, I can flip up a corner of the tarp, or the whole side of the tarp, for super easy entry and exit.

[Ryan Faulkner]

hey Robert,

-the GG lightrek 3 poles are actually a new and improved pole gossamer gear just reccently started offering.. not 3 trekking poles :P. first there were the lighttreks, then lighttrek plus, now lighttrek 3's.
If you havent seen them yett, you should check them out on gossamergears web site, they are lighter than the lighttrek plus, but are stiffer and stronger also.. amazing.

-interesting idea about the tarp also, but I have been using the oware cat tarp for a while without problems. Anyway, when, I dont have any fear of rain, I usually do not set up my tarp, and just bivy it.

the thing about the Cat tarp I do not like, is that there is only one pitching option, but the only flat tarps I have, are poncho-tarps, and I dont want to take the extra weight of the hood when I am bringing seperate raingear. I think for any thru- hikes I do in the future, I may buy something like an integral designs flat sil-tarp, so I dont have to set up the A-frame for months on end, but for this trip, I think I will be glad to have the catenary cut, because I may have to break camp abovve tree-line.

[Chris Jackson]

Ryan, your gearlist looks excellent. How's the breathability of the Montbell stretch windpants? Is it sufficient for highly aerobic activities such as fastpacking and XC skiing? Montbell claims excellent breathability, but their tech-specs mention that the stretch material contains polyurethane, which usually enhances waterproofness and inhibits breathability.

[Steve .]

Water treatment?
Needle & Gütermann thread for repairing shoulder straps?
Cat hole digger?
Bear bag sack – probably part of your consumables.

[Ryan Faulkner]

Chris, I only have good things to say about the montbell stretch windpants.. I wore them for over half the time last summer when backpacking in the sierras, and I never was uncomfortable because of moisture buildup. theay are very breathable and robust, I would definatly recomen them for backpacking, either as a pant worn all the time, or a windshell/ town day pant for those of us in running shorts :) they are as breathable as any softshell pant out there.

[Ryan Faulkner]

Steve,
I usually use micropur MP1 or aquamira chlorine dioxide TABLETS, I supose the wrapper they come in should be listed in my gearlists weight, because it is not consumable, but the weight would be <.1oz

and I am not really worried about any pack strap failure in my golite Jam, it is fairly robust, but I do have a needle in thread in my first aid kit if something goes awry. But I doubt It will be for my pack :)

use my trekking pole tip or stick to dig catholes in soft ground.. and if it is too hard of ground, I usually dont bother, I would have problems even if I did have a shovel, and animals do it all the time :P I just make sure it is a distance from the trails and sreams.

and I usually just string up my large stuff sacks with my food at the end of the day when there is no longer anything stuffed in them. so they can be multi use.. why have a seperate bear bag, when I will have a bunch of empty stuff sacks left unused under my tarp.

[D G]

"why have a seperate bear bag, when I will have a bunch of empty stuff sacks left unused under my tarp."

Hi Ryan,

Nice to see you back on the forums. Sounds like you have a fun trip planned.

I bear bag my food and have often thought about using my existing large stuffsacks for hanging food. I generally have two large stuffsacks that are suitable, the one for my sleeping bag and the other for my clothing. But I'm pretty careful, maybe overly so about trying not to get food smells on my sleep clothing or sleeping bag. I think about having a bag full of food and then in the morning stuffing my sleeping bag in the same bag and possibly transfering food smells to it so I just avoid the issue and use a separate bag. I made up a bear baggin kit similar to the one sold on this site and the total weight is about 2 oz (stuffsack, cord, carabiner, and large OP sack). My stuffsack is a large silnylon one, so I could even save weight if I used a cuben one. So the weight penalty for using a dedicated bag would be 0.3 oz or so if you used a cuben stuffsack.

Cheers

[John S.]

The first thing that strikes me is, the daily mileage seems unrealistic. Maybe I'm jealous?…nah ; P

Only taking non-waterproof matches for a firestarter seems a bad idea. I realize you have a hiking partner.

How are you gonna do your maps? That weight for a 260+ mile trip seems low.

Have fun!

[Ryan Faulkner]

hmm, thanks Daniel, that is some thing I had not considered. Thanks for the advice.

I currently have 3 BPL stuff sacks med. on my gearlist, one for my sleeping bag, one for my clothing, and the other for food, I did not plan for all my food to fit in it at the begining of the trip, and just to put the rest of the food in a stuff sack when I broke out my sleeping gear at night…

but, I like your idea, especially for grizzly country, I think I will replace one of my BPL stuff sacks for a larger bag to fit all of my food, and I do have some large OP sacks that I will use. in sil nylon, it probably will not weigh that much. and wil be less of a pain to organize my food at night

thanks again

[Steve .]

I usually just string up my large stuff sacks with my food at the end of the day when there is no longer anything stuffed in them

Ryan, I thought about going this rout but I am too paranoid of bears and food smells around my clothing/sleeping bag. My last trip of the season a group of coyotes visited where my food bag was hung so they are interested in food smells too.

What I carry is a heavy plastic shopping bag from Wild Oats (.5 oz and free). It keeps all my food together in my backpack and doubles as a bear bag. It does rip up after a while.

[P. P.]

Ryan, you said, "why have a seperate bear bag, when I will have a bunch of empty stuff sacks left unused under my tarp."
As Daniel pointed out, food smells can (and will) transfer. I was taught early on that food has no place inside a tent……ever, let alone risk getting food smells on your sleeping bag! :-O
Don't take my word for it, (though I am old and pretty wise) but please look into it further for your own safety.

[Ryan Faulkner]

Jhon,

I dont really have much of a problem hiking over 25 miles a day, I am concerned about my Dad though, he dosent get the same level of excercise that I do, but even still, We averaged 22 miles a day in the sierras last summer without any problems, quite lazily even, with just an hour more hiking a day we wont have a problem meeting our goal. this is time we had during our sierra trek, just did not use it. so I am really not concerned with the mileage.

I have a mini bic lighter in my first aid kit in case of emergency… never have I used it

when we call about permits and such, we will ask about getting forest service maps, also, we will have maps printed on waterproof paper from my DeLorme map software with waypoints on my dads GPS. (garmin fortrex)

[Ryan Faulkner]

steve and P.P.,

thanks for your wisdom.. see the post above in response to Daniel, I am replacing one of the stuff sacks on my list for another with more volume, for use as my bear bag, also, I have some large OP sacks that I will use.

[P. P.]

Ryan, good news! Now I'll be able to sleep better.
BTW, as I recall, Yellowstone backcountry sites have the poles for bear bagging but you have to provide your own rope. Better add it to your list. ;-)

[Ryan Faulkner]

I think I decided on one of the outdoor research helium quick sacks, I have some of their helium ditty bags, and have been very pleased with the fabrics strength.
I will decide which volume when I get an idea of how much food I will be bringing.

and I do have some Dyneema rope listed under cooking and hydration for bear bagging

[P. P.]

Sorry, I missed the rope. Good job on your list. Your dad must be in better shape than I am. I haven't done over 20 miles a day in probably 20 years. :-)

[Ryan Faulkner]

hi everyone.
havent been on the forums for a while. for no particular reason other than being busy with other things…

update on this trip….
tickets have been bought. most of my gear has been decided on. i am starting in the first few days of august. hope to cover the 270 miles in 10-13 days. no resupply is still the plan. i am planning on posting a full trip report on this site.

hope everyone has been well

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