So I tried out my first UL trip. Started out in San Francisco, marched across the GG Bridge and up to Muir Beach on the Coastal Trail. Then I used the Heather Cut-off to the Coastal View Trail and stayed the night at Pantoll before catching a ride home.
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Here's a list of my gear (or most of it):
REI Kilo Flash Women's Reg 18
Big Agnes Air Core (no stuffsack) 21
GG Thinlight 2
MSR Pocket Rocket 3
IsoPro 4oz fuel 8
SteriPen Adventurer 3.6
Nalgene 32 oz bottle 3.5
Smartwool Light Hiker Socks 2.6
Petzl Tikka Headlamp 2.75
Duofold polypropylene pants 6
5×9 SilTarp 8
NorthFace Recon 18
HeatSheets Bivy 4
REI TiWare Mug 2.4
BPL Pillow 0.9
Hat 3
Motorola Razr Phone 3.5
Total 6.89
I modified my old North Face Recon backpack and it worked great. Pretty roomy, so not sure I'll be getting a new pack right away. For a bivy, I used an Adventure Medical Kits HeatSheets that I modified with velcro for easy access. Though I don't think I really needed it since it was so dry and marginally warm.
Also, I took a hint from some a MYOG thread here and added a band of ribbon to the sleeping pad to hold my BPL pillow in place and it worked great. Made a little dimple for that cradled my head nicely. In the future, I think I may add velcro to the tarp so I can slight my windshirt over the "door" and attach the sides to the tarp to get more coverage.
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All in all, I had a really great time and was astonished at how far I was able to get with a light pack (about 15 miles!!) I've never hiked so far in one day, and it taught me….that I need better shoes.
Oh, and I saw a bobcat on the Heather Cut-off Trail, which was just the icing on the cake.
Here's a pic of my tarp (Thanks Ken Thompson):
and the view (shoddy with the camera phone) of San Francisco from the coastal trail:
