Winds trip Gear List for late July 2016

Here is some general info for you to look at
Mike Clelland(NOLs instructor and author, his books are very good),he has some great FREE VIDEOS on lightening up be sure to watch(his clothing system,the entire contents of his pack,water treatment and part 1 and 2 on the dinky stuff for ideas),this is a simple SPREAD SHEET for you to download,this is pmags Lightweight Backpacking 101 and The Frugal Backpacker – The $300 Gear Challenge .These are some other articles and videos for you to check out

Backpacking for Cheap: Gear for the Gearless

Backpacking Checklist (Gear List): 3-Season, 3-Day

Lightweight Backpacking 101: An Introductory Manual for Lightening Your Load Today (1st Edition – August 2001)

Cheap Ultralight Gear List

Oregon Field Guide: Ultralight Hiking

Lightweight Testimony: Lighter, Farther, Faster
Jamie Shortt talks about his progression and shows his gear list for each stage, Lightweight Testimony: My Journey into Lightweight Backpacking
CleverHiker Light weight Basics
CleverHiker Trail Skills
Backcountry Fly Fishing with Tenkara: Ultralight Style and Simplicity
Tenkara for Backpackers: State of the Market Report – Part 1

Andrew Skurka has a very good website with trips and gear lists for you to check out, here is a talk he gave at google
Ultimate Hiking Gear & Skills Clinic
His book is worth checking out also
The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide: Tools & Techniques to Hit the Trail
You can get little repackaging containers(like the ones you see in Mike Clelland uses in his videos) many places including your local stores and pharmacy but here are some examples
USPLASTICS
USPLASTICS
Ultralight Designs
GossamerGear
MountainLaurelDesigns
You could make toothpaste dots like Mike C. shows or there are Archtek Toothpaste Tablets so only bring exactly what you need in a snack size bag for any given trip instead of a whole tube and THESE are good for little thing like pills, toothpaste tablets ect. so you are not packing a whole bottle(you can also get them very cheap at most pharmacies) .

The reply post made on 07/05/2015 13:08:49 MDT by “Annapurna” is excellent. All the best reference tools are there. No need to add to that.

My comments will stick to your listed items.

Leaving gear at home is the first place to save weight. Balance the benefits and burdens of your gear choices. Will you use all that you take? Probably not.

Sharing gear is the second place to save weight. You seem to be doing that. Excellent.

Selecting lighter weight gear is the third place to save weight. You seem to be doing that, too. Again, excellent upgrades.

My two cents:

Perhaps your footwear should change. Merrell shoes at 50 ounces? My knee-jerk reaction: find lighter footwear. 50 ounces is too heavy for footwear considering the many low weight alternatives. August 2014, I hiked from Upper Green River Lakes south and east on the Fremont Trail and Highline Trail all the way to Big Sandy Lake in the WINDS wearing Saucony Exodus 5.0 trail running shoes, 20 ounces for the pair. No problems.

30 extra ounces on your feet is equivalent to about 8 pounds extra in your backpack. Switching to lighter footwear is necessary. Maybe look at the Inov-8 Trail Roc 245, or similar? Even Salomon X Ultra Mid GTX Hiking boots weigh only 28 ounces/pair. This is a highly personal choice.

ZEM water shoes may be more sturdy with better footing than Crocs. If you are fishing all day in and out of the water, then you need decent water shoes.

Two types of cord are listed. Do you need both? [550 Cord 100 ft 7.2 AND Amsteel 1/8 Rope – Bear Line 100 ft 10.0]

No ground sheet is listed? Tyvek is good. Polycro is even better.

Ditch the cotton underwear. Never wear cotton. Instead, use 1 pair of ExOfficio Boxer Briefs. 12 bucks at Sierra Trading Post online. Or compression shorts by UnderArmor or Champion at TARGET. Easy to wash/dry.

I have the same Enlightened Equipment quilt, only XWide and XLong. Great warmth and super light. Great choice to swap out the REI Magma and use an EE quilt. I ditched my Marmot Sawtooth 51 ounce sleeping bag for a EE quilt at 28 ounces.

Your list of “planned changes” is a great start.

Look for lighter gear choices all the way around. Keep working at it. Try to get down to 18 pounds from 23. You can be as safe and comfortable at 18 as much as at 23.

Remember, my comments mean nothing unless you’re happy in the WINDS. So hike your own hike and enjoy your time outdoors.

Todd Raish,

I see your point on the boots, I will look into changing those out for trail runners. I have an REI and Campmor near me so I can try some stuff on. Im still unsure about the water shoes. Those ZEMs look interesting, definitely better than crocs, but I don't know well either would do wading. Maybe it would be better to use the trail runners wading and the zems as a camp shoe. I will play around with this since I have time to figure it out.

For the ropes, the 550 cord was for personal use (clothesline or extra guidelines etc) and the bear line is group gear to hoist every ones food up. To you point though I will ditch the 550 for something lighter and cut it down to like 25' or 50'.

For the ground cloth, is this needed do you think? It looked like the MLD Bug shelter had a tub in it, but I have never tarped before, so I assumed that would be adequate.

Good point on the underwear, but I still think I need two pairs. I would go into my thoughts on this, but that would be TMI. Lets just call that a personal choice :)

The Quilt was for both weight and comfort. After doing a week in the Bob in Magma I think Im now claustrophobic lol

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I'll second rOg's suggestion for some sort of puffy jacket. I was in both the Island Lake region and the Cirque of the Towers last August and it definitely get's quite cool of the evenings. Also, not sure how your body handles altitude but definitely don't discount the drastic change coming from the east coast. I'm from OH and gave myself about 12 hours at the trailhead along with the long drive out there to adjust, but still was not enough. I got sick the first day out there and didn't really come around for another 2 days or so due to loss of apatite. Several of the big access points on the eastern side start over 9k feet and go up from there.

Absolutely beautiful part of the world though.

Check out Nancy Pallister's book: "Beyond Trails in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming". Tons and tons of trail and off trail info.

rOg W,

Bug net is a great point and I have read a lot of people suggest this in their trip reports. I actually happen to have a Sea to Submit head net I bought on impulse at EMS a few years ago. It weights only 1oz, so I will add that into my list.

For the bear line I could drop that down to 7/64 Amsteel which is about half the weight of the 1/8, but is still has a rating of 1600lbs. 100' is over cautious, but it will handle any type of bear line setup we may need to do. The reason I like amsteel over 550/paracord is it has 3 to 4 time the strength at about the same weight and no stretch, even when wet.
http://www.samsonrope.com/Pages/Product.aspx?ProductID=872

For the insulation I had planned on the level 3 UA insulated underwear to pulling double duty for sleeping (if needed) and daily wear for the colder times. My logic was that I could uses that with my layer of clothes and rain jacket, to trap the heat in. Thinking about it though I not a fan of the cold so I think I will heed your advice and work that in to my list.

JRMoose,

Funny you mention it, Island Lake is where we think we might be going. That area seems to be the best blend of hiking and fishing opportunities for our group. The altitude is something I am worried about. Currently I'm sitting at 400' above sea level, so I know that's going to be a serious challenge. We were planning to arrive and stay at the Elkhart park trailhead for the first night. Like you we will only have 12 or so hours to acclimate. I think the sickness is going to be unavoidable.

I also stayed at Elkhart Park that first evening. Nice little campground, although there is no water source there. There should be some easily accessible streams nearby but I just opted to bring some water jugs in the car.

The haul out of Elkhart to Photographer's point is just about all uphill, but very moderate and quite easy. I felt fine at Elkhart that evening and also the next morning. Even did a little calisthenics that next morning to see how I felt and didn't notice any issues. It wasn't until I hit Photographer's point that I felt completely drained–headache, slightly nauseous–and it became more pronounced as the evening progressed. I stopped early that evening to take it easy and suck down as much water as I could take. Overall, my biggest issue was the loss of appetite that evening, as I was unable to get my dinner down and left me lacking energy the next day.

It wasn't until the second evening that I could finally get a normal full meal down and felt just about 100% the following morning.

Are you guys driving or flying? If driving you could easily make a stop on the way to get up to some elevation and then get back down for a while before arriving. Next time I go I'm gonna stop and hike medicine bow peak (by Laramie) on the way. I always have problems with elevation.

JRMoose,

I cant I have ever gotten altitude sickness, but my brother did on our first trip to the Bob. It something we will be conscious of. He has a tendency to get leg cramps at altitude.

mtmnmark,

We will be flying. Half of the group is in NJ the other half is in California.

So I thought I would post an update and say thank you to everyone for the comments/suggestions. I have started picking up the new gear: Osprey – Exos 48 – M – (2,929 cu)(40oz) 2015 model Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer Down Jacket – L – (8oz) Outdoor Research Helium II Jacket – XL – (6.8oz) Terramar Helix T-Shirt – Lightweight, UPF 25+, Short Sleeve – L – (5.0oz) Terramar Helix T-Shirt – Lightweight, UPF 25+, Long Sleeve – L – (5.7oz) White Sierra Point Convertible Pants – UPF 30 – L – (10.5oz) Smartwool Merino Running Socks UL Cushion – L – (1.1oz) x 2 Inov 8 Roclite 282 GTX Trail – US 12 – (24.5oz) Shine Line Lime – Green Reflective Cord 2.5mm (3/32") X 50 Ft (2.1oz) Amsteel-blue 7/64 100ft – Bear line, carabiners and pulley (10oz) Ordered, not received: MLD Bug shelter (10oz) Enlightened Equipment – Revelation 10F Long Wide (25.75oz) Addition: Tenkara Sling Lite (7oz) Im hoping to be able to remove the lid from the Osprey (4oz) to help offset this weight, but I wont know until I pack everything. My new base weight should be approx 338.3ozs or 21.14 lbs

Just saw your post and I did the Elkhart Park/ Jean lakes/ Knapsack Col /Titcomb and Island Lake loop a few years ago. I would skip any wading shoes or socks and just wet wade in your hiking shoes if they are some sort of mesh trail runners. I only had trail runners an I was actually able to keep my feet dry most of the time. Not a lot of wading type areas on that route. Any stream that might hold fish was easily casted from shore. Also, with the time of year and the almost guarantee of rain for at least a few of your days, I would bring a shelter that is quick to setup so your group can hang out during the rain if need be. I would go with a 10×10 pyramid or something similar. It gets old laying in your tent by yourself for a few hour rainstorm. I caught over 100 fish that trip. Some areas were very good and some were not worth the stop (Island Lake). I found some large fish in some off the beaten path spots that don't get much pub. If you want more specifics PM me. Ben

#ERROR!

@Ben Wortman, It’s interesting that Island Lake wasn’t worth the stop as looking at it from the map it looks like it would have held something. We plan to use Island Lake as our base camp, because it is a good centralized place to the spots we as a group want to fish or hike. @Mark Mendell, I bought the innov8s because they got good reviews and they have aggressive soles for the water wading I might do. I historically always hiked in Merrell’s , but after reading all the comments here on heavy boots I thought I would take a chance. I will be doing a few hikes in the Fall and Spring time here to try these out and see how I feel about them.