New England ultralight weekend!

From what I can tell, let me know if I made any mistakes:

#1 Bryce F. <- Norwalk, CT (available to carpool)
#2 Walter C. <- Mass.
#3 Ryan L. <- Keene, NH (ok to carpool)
#4 Steven A. <- Boston, MA
#5 Ben E. <- Boston, MA (needs a ride)
#6 Philip W. <- Boston area
#7 Konrad C. <- Boston (maybe)
#8 Konrad C. Guest <- Boston (maybe)
#9 Clint H <- Maine
#10 Eric J. <- Maine (looking to carpool)
#11 Seth R <- NYC (maybe)
#12 Jim M <- NYC (maybe)

First, Konrad, I work at Hilton's Tent City. Maybe you've been there. It's a great, great job. Only cuben in the store though are granite gear drysacks. I'm pretty psyched to be working with this stuff now. Steven and Konrad, we should go on another trip together in the Whites sometime. Or grab a beer to plan the stuff. Right now I live in Malden, but it's close enough to do some more backpacking.

On the upcoming weekend though, I've got no work Friday and Saturday edit: and Sunday. I am more than happy to pitch in for gas if someone wants to carpool and go for a night or two. Just so long as I'm at North Station by noon Monday. Showering is optional.

I'm actually coming from Keene, NH, not Maine. I would love to carpool, but I can only come down Friday after 6 pm or early Saturday morning. Anybody making that drive from Boston want to meet at a park & ride on the Pike?

Sunset is around 6pm.

I want to arrive before 3pm. That should give me plenty of time to setup camp in the daylight.

Thoughts?

Just wanted to chime in.

I am definitely coming. I'll probably be leaving mid-day on Friday to avoid having to hike in the dark. I can drive 2 people if you can get to the Malden Center T station by noonish – split gas of course.

I'd be up for a big hike on Saturday (15 miles or so) and camping in Sages Ravine, which is really a nice place (if I remember correctly.) Just putting my vote in. I'll bring my hamster wheel if people insist on a shorter hike!

I'm bringing a cuben tarp for Ryan to borrow, but I am also suffering from an excess of other UL shelters at the moment and would be happy to bring more along if people want to try them out. PM me if you're interested – you'll need to bring your own stakes and guyline though. Poles will help too. :-)

Gossamer Gear Cubic Twin (2 person)
Gossamer Gear SpinnShelter (1 person)

Philip Werner

Good deal Philip, look fwd to meeting you and other BPLers.

As for Sage's Ravine… If all or part of us hiked to the ravine on Saturday, how would we arrange getting back to our cars on Sunday? Would we road walk the miles back (*gasp* & ouchy for my feet) or shuttle cars? If it is the later we'd need to make arrangements now so people could meeting in the Forest HQ parking lot Friday.

If it's too much of a PIA to coordinate, and I certainly don't want to alienate other BPL members (my personal goal on this trip is the get to know as many BPLers as possible and pick their brains about gear, haha), we can just rock the 8.5 mi day hike from the Friday night campground, 3mi to the west of Forest HQ.

Oh yeah, I also have am MLD Duomid I can bring along, if anyone wants to try it too.

Out on the Long Trail until Sunday – would have loved to make this trip.

Have fun.

This is great! I live in Boston and have a (small) car and am happy to provide rides for folks in the area. I'm thinking about leaving early Saturday morning so as not to get to the campsite in the dark, doing the day hike, camping Saturday night, and then heading back Sunday morning. Anyone who is interested in the same schedule feel free to PM me.
Bryce, do you have thoughts about what time you would leave for the Saturday hike so we could be sure to be there in time?
-Greg

Hey Greg,

Great to have you along. Knowing other hikers, we'll want to get a relatively early start to the hike on Saturday morning but certainly there is some play time there to accommodate other late arrivals.

It is 3:10 travel time from Boston to the trailhead and if you hike 2mi / hour (can anyone else check me on the pace here?), if you left your house at 4:30am with your pack fully loaded with water and ready to hit the trail, that would put you at the trailhead at 7:45am. If you hike your 2mi / hour, that would have you rolling into camp at 9:15am. I think that is reasonable to meet up with the rest of the group in the spirit of accommodating everyone…..BUT, then you'd tack on another 8.5 miles for the day hike for a total of 11.5 miles for the day. If that is reasonable for you let us know.

I'm certainly not the boss here, just trying to get everyone together for some fun while accommodating as many people as possible to join in the chill weekend. Does anyone else have any thoughts? I don't want to speak for everyone. Thx.

(Also if you were worried about hiking at night, might you be more comfortable if you meet up with someone else Friday night to hike in the dark? It would certainly make Saturday's mileage easier.)

@Ben I think I've met you before, I may have bought my MH rain pants from you =P

you guys happen to be hiring part-time?

Boston Rides:
Philip Werner – "I'll probably be leaving mid-day on Friday. I can drive 2 people if you can get to the Malden Center T station by noonish."

Greg Pehrson – "I'm thinking about leaving early Saturday morning so as not to get to the campsite in the dark, doing the day hike, camping Saturday night, and then heading back Sunday morning."

Me – I will be bringing my dog along. I can fit 3 others very comfortably. I can fit 4 others if we leave enough room in the back for him (possible depending on how much gear people bring, but I have done this before).
I can leave any time any day Friday or Saturday. I can also drive back any time.

Thoughts:
-I can drive Friday evening, when folks like Ben get out of work, though we or someone, would have to get back to the car to leave before 9am to get Ben back to the North End in time.

@Ben: if you jump on the C line after work you should be at my stop (Summit) in less than 45mins, another option is I could pick you up but that may be a pain since it's a Friday night near the Garden…
-I am fine hiking in the dark for 3mi to get to the campsite. Hopefully the weather report is correct in that it won't rain…

@Greg: if you wanted to meet (or carpool) and hike with us as a group Fri night to the campsite?

@Konrad: let me know if you and the lady friend can go and if you want to carpool.

I think that covers all of us coming from Boston?

my only tent is my Losi 3P, which actually sleeps 4 "skinny" people quite comfortably, or 3 plus my dog… I will be bringing my hammock but can also bring the Losi if people want?

I have my inline-sawyer water filter that can be used as a gravity filter.

I'm also questioning whether I should bother bringing my cook set since I'm going to guess everyone else is already planning to bring theirs…

….I think he's 90% sure of hiking in at night and not coming in Saturday morning.

I'm sorry I'm missing this:-(
Already had a commitment.

This trip has me quite jealous. I was just out in Boston last week and took a drive up to NH on Saturday and was wishing I had more time to squeeze in a backpacking trip. Beautiful time of year out there.

I'd be happy hiking in Friday night, but it would also be nice to coordinate with folks coming in since I don't have a detailed map and haven't been to this place before.

So, folks coming from Boston on Friday evening, what time to you think you'll leave Boston? Any possibility I could join the carpool in Northampton or thereabouts?

I'll be carpooling in with "Seth" who reached out to be via PM. I'll post up an itinerary (as I understand it) this evening or tomorrow so hopefully everyone is on the same page. I'll be PMing people who I understand will be on the trip with my cell phone in case of emergency. If I forgot to give you my cell and want, shoot me a PM. Thx.

Hey Bryce,

I don't know if you picked up another Seth along the way, but I wanted to make sure you guys knew that I can't make this one. Good luck. Weather looks like it's going to be prime for a weekend out.

With the size of the group you're going with, hopefully if the JRB doesn't keep your fingers and toes warm, your new BPL friends will. Who's bringing the intimacy kit?

No problem Seth, the other Seth is from CT and no intimacy kit needed (http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=54728).

In fact if anyone but Konrad and his GF brings one, I'm packing out! :p

(The temps look to be falling at the lower range of my JRB quilt. I'll have some extra insulation along for the ride as I sleep a bit cold.)

I may be able to go. I would like to carpool -Ill be in Cambridge MA. Fri. So if anyone has space I would be happy to go.

I am the "other Seth" and have contacted Bryce to carpool up to MA from my house – which is about an hour and a half from the campground. Look forward to seeing you all there – and I may possibly be picking up another thru-hiker that's in CT for a while, so it may be me and guest but I'll have to wait and see. So glad this trip is finally happening for us BPL NE'ers and it looks like the weather may even cooperate! Cheers to those who pounded out the details and made this trip a reality!

For anyone that may need it – I've got a TarpTent Rainbow that I'd be happy to bring if someone would like to try it out

Just email me at: sethbrew@gmail.com.

And just so that you all know – I'll be bringing the best backpack along so you can give up now and admit defeat. Can your backpack "humiliate your surroundings" 'cause I know mine sure can ! Here is the proof:

Just wanted to say congrats on pulling a group of BPLer's together for an outing.

Know you all are going to have a great time.

Hopefully you can take some photos and post up a trip report.

Think you will find that if you do, it will entice more people to join you the next time around.

Plus, it would be cool to see what your neck of the woods looks like and the UL gear that you have adapted for your region of the country.

Enjoy….you have your own Gathering of Gear Geeks! GGG

-Tony

We'll toast our east coast brethren. Have fun. We will.

Speaking of Gear Geeks, I just discovered there's an iPhone app for Massachusetts State Parks, which includes our area. Oh boy, I get to test a new toy with my phone! Now I can hike in at any point in the night. With my battery-powered nerd-machine, I'm invincible!

I just have to remember to bring my other gear, and food.

So it turns out I will be able to leave Boston on Friday anytime after 3:30pm. Would love to do some carpooling and group hiking in on Friday night. I talked to the ranger and he said the trail in to the campsite was "wide and obvious." Brian my Cambridge brother, I'm at the other end of the red line if you want to catch a ride with me.
I haven't checked the route yet, but I'd imagine driving right through Northampton or close anyway, if you want to carpool Ryan. What time are you available on Friday?
I'd also be happy to ride with Steven A. depending on space and how many folks need rides.

Hey all,

Ok I'm absolutely in for the whole weekend. I changed my post above to reflect that I got Sunday off so I don't have any tricky time constraints. To say the least, I am very excited for this weekend and I owe Bryce a ton of thanks for pulling up my slack and taking some initiative after bailing on my own thread–as well as everyone else, thanks for making this happen.

@Philip- I've sent you a PM about carpooling together. I live pretty close to the Malden T stop and so it'd be very easy for me to meet you there. Also I'd like to try out your duomid, if possible.

@Steven- bought the pants from me or from Tent City? The epic rain pants or not rain pants? I'll stop picking your brain. But we're probably gonna get someone for the holiday season, though it'd be only temporary. If you're interested an app wouldn't hurt at all. Also if I can't get a ride with Philip I'd like to hop in your car with your dog.

@SETH I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GOT YOUR HANDS ON A FLEXTREK 37,000,000,000,000. Incredible. I thought about bragging this weekend but–like we all eventually will–I admit defeat. How do you like the Nitro-Hyper-Flex Enforcement© Construction?

And that iPhone app sounds great. I hope they have it for android, too. Good thing we have our phones, no chance of getting lost then. I hear that when Steve Climber doesn't take his Flextrek, he goes out with just a speedo, an intimacy kit, his iphone, and a compass.

What does everyone think about bringing gear to the trailhead to have a small gearswap? We did it in California earlier this year and it was casual and I got a cool Outsak out of it for just $20 (thanks Jay) and a sweet Alpaca beanie as well (thanks Kat). I know I definitely have some gear I'm willing to swap. Also, good news about that weather, hopefully it's more pleasant than it has been today. Oh and, TWO DAYS!

Ben