Maroon Bells, CO end of July gear List

I did the loop (most of it) last year at about the same time.

I spent a rest day at Snowmass Lake, and was very happy I had my OR rain mitts and rain pants, as it rained all day.

I used a WM Summerlite bag — it was warm enough even without insulated clothing. I had both LS and SS wool baselayers (Smartwool microweight), never used my long-johns (Capilene 1).

My windshell came in handy when walking through dew soaked brush in the mornings.

I never saw any other ultralight or even lightweight hikers.

I'm heading back to the same area the week after your trip…

I should be there with another BPL member Aug 6-10. I'll be reading comments with interest as this will be just my second major trip.

can't comment on the bpl quilt as I have 0 experience w/ it- you might try a search on it and see what you come up w/- my guess is that almost everyone who owns have some experience w/ pushing it a bit.

I can tell you that w/o any shadow of a doubt a windshirt will come in very handy- this applies to any hike in the Mountain West. it's probably my versatile piece of gear I own- as you mention bug protection, but for hiking in high exposed country it's a great garment for regulating your temp, most have good DWR and I've found that for light precipitation they work great. around camp if the insulating garment needs a little help the windshirt will take care of that. if you decide to give the quilt a go, I've found the windshirt to be very advantageous when added to my insulating layer

so yes I'd say it would be worthwhile taking the wisp :)

Sometimes it is easier to see the gear list when it is in the forum instead of the profile…so here it is: Thanks so far for the feedback!

SLEEPING SHELTER
Henry Shrines TarpTent Squall 2 – 29.5
Easton Aluminum Stakes – 1.5
Western Mountaineering Pod 30 – 17.7
Montbell UL 120 pad – 12.7
Gossamer Gear SitLight Sit Pad – 1.5
Montbell UL pillow – 2.3
Total 65.2oz

PACKING
ULA Ohm – 22.6
Gossamer pack liner – 1.3
Backpacking Light Nano (insulated clothes) – 0.29
Backpacking Light Nano (clothes) – 0.29
OR Hydrolite waterproof (sleeping bag) – 1.1
Watchful Eye Designs O.P sak for food – 0.8
BPL Ursalite Bear Bag system – 2.0
Total 28.38oz

COOKING AND WATER
Hienikin pot – 1.8
Mini Bull Elite #2 – 0.3
BPL titanium wind screen – 0.3
FireLite SUL Titanium Spork – 0.29
Platypus Little Nippler with BPL red squirt top -0.7
Aquamira with Bozeman droppers – 1.0
Platypus 1L with spout cap – 0.8
Platypus 1L with spout cap – 0.8
Total 5.99oz

ESSENTIALS
MSR Ultralight pack towel – 0.7
matches – 0.3
Razor Blade – 0.1
Gossamer Ultralight sports finger tooth brush – 0.05
Gossamer Cralabs mini sunscreen lip balm – 0.2
Purrell in Bozeman dropper – 0.3
Dr. Bronners Soap in Bozeman Dropper – 0.5
Deet in Bozeman dropper – 0.5
Headlamp Petzl E-Lite- 0.95
First aid First Aid Kit – 2.4
Trick, No blow out Candles (four candles) – 0.1
BPL Spark-Lite fire starter- 0.7
Backup light Photon Freedom and clip – 0.4
Whistle ARC emergency whistle with Spectra cord – 0.2
Compass Suunto Gem Micro compass – 0.2
Map Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness – 1.0
Total 8.6oz

CLOTHES CARRIED
Waterproof Mountain Laural Design Event Mitts – 1.1
Insulation BPL Possum Down Gloves – 1.4
Insulation Mountain Hardwear micro doom hat – 0.8
Wind Golite wisp shirt – 3.0
Insulated Bozeman Mountain Works Cocoon 60 Hoody – 10
Insulated Bozeman Mountain Works Cocoon 60 pants – 7.7
Waterproof Drop Stoppers rain jacket – 6.6
Waterproof Golite Reed Pants – 5.0
Sleeping/CampSmartwool hikers – 3.0
Water/Camp Aqua water shoes – 1.0
BPL Bug Net – 0.33
Total 39.9 oz

Total Base Weight 148.1oz / 9 lb 4.1 oz

CLOTHES WORN
light wool Smartwool trail runners Light Gray socks 1.4
light wool Icebreaker SuperFine140 Tech T-Shirt 5.0
Golite Skyrunners 3.8
Under Armour boxer briefs 3.2
Montrail Continetal Divide trail runners 33.6
Dirty Girl Gaiters 1.2

Other Items Carried/Worn
Altimeter HighGear Axis Altimeter Watch 1.9
Trekking Poles Leki Ultalight Ti Argo trekking poles 15.8
Total 65.9

Total Weight Summaries
1. Base weight 148.1 oz / 9lb 4.1 oz
2. Consumables 159 oz / 9lb 15oz
3. Worn and Carried 65.9 oz / 4lb 1.9oz
4. Total pack weight (1)+(2) 307.1 oz /19lb 3.1oz
5. Full Skin Out Weight 373 oz / 23lb 5oz

Jon, a general consensus as to the combo of BPL 60 quilt and 60 hoody + pants is that it should be good down to 40*F. That has been my experience as well. If you are sleeping below 10,000', that probably would work. But keep in mind that you could possibly see temps down to 35*F as well. We're having a fairly warm spell right now, so you might be fine. But the 30*F bag would be nice insurance.

The 4-pass loop sleeps high. Your sleep system doesn't look adequate. If you can finalize gear close enough to the trip and temps are looking warm, you might be able to get away with mid-30s gear. If you can't, plan for mid-20s to avoid the small risk of an sleepless night. There can be surprising lows from cloudless nights in alpine environments – forecasts can be deceptively optimistic because of thermal oddities at higher altitudes.

Hey Brian,

Do you mean that the sleeping system with the pod 30 is not adequate or the BPL 60 quilt. Thanks for the insight.

I would think that the pod 30 should be adequate with hoody/pants. Keep in mind, that there's a good chance for it to end up feeling (and looking) like overkill. The forecasts don't show the surprise lows that I've seen on occasion out here (~one night each on 3 different outings per year). However, like most people, I'd rather be conservative than be caught off guard and end up shivering all night.

We woke up on Aug 1 last year to 1" of ice on our tent. You want a sleep system that will get you to the mid 20's.

Thanks for the help guys, I'm going to go with the pod 30. Any thoughts on ways to cut some weight?

>>Any thoughts on ways to cut some weight?

At a little over 9 lbs base weight — just look at the other backpackers out there with huge and heavy packs, groaning up the passes, and smile to yourself…

Haha very true, good point!