Stakes, Poles, Shoes, and a NOT Sweaty Back
I just completed a JMT, 11 day, South to North trip. It was a great trip. No rain. No wind. Easy stream crossings. Only a little snow on the passes. There were a lot of mosquitoes. Nighttime low temps were from 32° to 52°.
I took a MLD SpeedTarp and a MYOG bug bivy for shelter, a Fosters Cone for freezer bag cooking, and a ULA Ohm. All performed quite well. This was my first extended trip with the Ohm, and even starting out with 25#, it was a pleasure to use.
I did have a few problems with other gear. Four Ti Goat Carbon stakes failed in the first two days. I lost the aluminum tips from two the first night, broke the heads on two more the second night, and also pulled the head off of one the following morning. I think it is a QA issue, as this is my second batch, and the first batch is still going strong, with no failures to date. Lesson Learned: Test all gear before heading out, regardless of history or confidence.
My second gear failure was entirely my doing. During a stream crossing I made a “desperation stab” with my Ti Goat AGP, saved my body, and gear, but broke the tip off of the pole. The tip was unrecoverable. Fortunately I had enough of a lower section to keep pole useable. I added four tight wraps of Leukotape to the fractured end and hoped for the best. The pole provided five more days of service, although without a spike it did slip at times. Still, quite amazing to me that fractured CF and a little tape could take the continued abuse.
When I returned home I tried to replace the lower section with that of a spare pole I had bought here at BPL. To my dismay I discovered the spare’s threaded post for the expander had severely rusted over the winter months.
With a lot of work I was able remove the expander, clean up the threads, and get things serviceable again. Lesson Learned: Check those serviceable parts, even if they aren’t supposed to rust. But be cautious with oils – some will destroy the rubber-like expander. (Don’t ask me how I know…)
The third surprise was the fragility of my Inov8 330 shoes. Sierra granite is razor sharp. Fail to lift a foot high enough and you can peel the toe caps right off these shoes.
I spent some time at MTR with some hiker box SeamGrip and Duct Tape to re-furbish the left. The right shoe (on the left in the photos) didn’t shred until after MTR, and gives a good idea of what to expect.
I was also surprised at how quickly the soles where shredded. Look closely at the central gray spine and you will see missing lugs. More dismaying is that virtually all of the “performance” layer is gone. You can see a few scraps still attached, but they contribute nothing to traction. I believe this was the cause of my stream-crossing slip mentioned above. Typically these shoes stick to anything. Wet or dry. Loose or solid. I have found them to have amazing traction. But after 100 miles that reliability was eroded away. Lesson Learned: Be sure the gear can do the miles.
Last, in an earlier Thread I asked if Ultralight packs implied a wet back due to a waterproof fabric in direct contact with ones back. I am a sweat hog, and literally drench my shirt and shorts within minutes of starting a hard climb. Well, I found an easy solution: Mountain Equipment Coop’s Seamless Short-Sleeved Crew (#5012-131). It has a very long body and by leaving the tail of the T outside my shorts in the back the wicking fabric acted as a diverter and an evaporator that kept my short (and my butt) dry. Lesson Learned: Keep looking – there is a solution.
All in all an excellent trip.
