Emigrant Wilderness SUL Trip – July 13-14

Hey Adam.

I have an extra mosquito head net you can borrow and I just put it in my bag.

You have 1st dibs… I'll be the blond guy with the GG pack.

I agree on the mosquito conditions … they can be a bit harsh in places but there were plenty of spots where the wind and open spaces kept them minimal.

Yeah, you guys figured it out. We are camping at either High Emigrant or Emigrant Meadow Lakes, not Emigrant Lake. Eric, your Hillmap gets it right except I don't think there's any reason to go all the way to Emigrant Pass. We can just follow the outlet creek of High Emigrant Lake to Emigrant Meadow Lake. It's wide open up there so cross-country is no problem, in fact I would bet that there is a use trail that follows that exact path. That will save us a few miles which is how I got to 25 miles total.

Adam, to be honest I am not 100% sure at this point either on the exact number…

Hopefully the wind forecast for Saturday will continue into the evening and will give us some respite from the skeeters. We can camp in a more exposed spot (e.g. on either of the hills west of Emigrant Meadow Lake) if the bugs are bad.

Thanks Kevin!

Adam I have sn extra head net you can use.

If there are 2 extra headnets available now between Kevin and Jack, do either of you mind if I borrow one as well? I seem to have misplaced mine and was planning to buy another one tonight if I still can't find it when I get home.

Looking forward to this trip and hanging out with everyone at Middle Emigrant Lake on Saturday night!

I'll buy myself a headnet tonight with some other stuff I need to pick up. Looks like we'll be having a headnet party. Question, how does one drink Scotch from a headnet?

Question, how does one drink Scotch from a headnet?

Very carefuly.

"Question, how does one drink Scotch from a headnet?"

It just leaks through. You still need to drink out of something.

you know… with all of us getting together like this it would have been cool to do a used gear swap/ sale.

i have tons of crap to get rid of (and then $ for upgrades!)

Not if your buying a bunch of other people's stuff! Haha ;)
-James

I will be the first to admit my gear lists are kind of half ass compared to other folks. I am generally more concerned with the overall weight versus individual items. I do understand that the individual items play a factor in getting the overall weight down, but again, I don't worry too much about weighing each thing.

with that in mind, i put this together yesterday where i believe the scale was working in a lb./oz/tenth of oz

***borah bug bivy/equinox poncho/tarp, stakes in zpack cuben sack… 1.3.4
***z pack sleeping bag 1.0.9
***gossamer gear murmur backpack with cut ridgerest pad 1.0.4
***fishing equipment -rod/collapsible pole,lures 0.13.8
***clothing in bug net–montbell vest, patagonia houdini, socks 0.11.2
***first aid, TP, head lamp, matches, lighter, platy 2L bag, etc 0.11.2
*** base weight minus fishing gear 4.11.1
*** base weight with fishing gear 5.9
***food in ursack 2.10.5
***water 3.4.5

total 10.3 lbs or so

i haven't weighed clothes wearing yet or trekking poles…

michael

I am back in the Bay Area. I will see some of you tonight at Sanora Pass in the late evening. Who needs a ride from the Walnut Creek BART station? Just let me know Thanks, Cell 925 330 0849

Kevin, James, and me (another James) are planning on getting a ride with you. How many extra seats does that leave?
Thanks,
James

I can take 4 with comfort but 5 would test your patience and elbow room on 3-4 hour drive. I would like to pick you guys around 6:00 if OK?

Thanks,
Jay

Hi Jay,
Check your email, Kevin, James and I have been scheming but you have not responded. Could you pm one of us your email if you haven't gotten any?
Tanks,
James

James, I have been on vacation the last week and just got back late last night. Give me a call 925 330 0849.

Thanks Andrew for setting everything up! It was a great SUL trip and I learned a lot about my gear. I am sorry if I was a bit groggy on Sunday on the way out. I picked up a virus or bug on my family vacation and was not at the top of my game. My mojo was not flowing. I will post some pictures in the future. It was nice to meet new and old friends.

Jay

Thanks everyone for a great trip! I created a thread in Post-Trip Reports so we can all share photos and whatnot.

Emigrant Wilderness With Light Packs – Group BPL Trip

Jay, it was good to finally meet you. PS- You don't snore.

I am really bummed I missed this one. I have been battling a cold and I thought I had it beat but on Friday night I was coughing uncontrollably and didn't get a good night sleep. When I woke up to leave on Saturday morning I could tell that I didn't have enough in the tank to hike at elevation without suffering through it. I am sure you all got on fine out me but I am still sorry to have bailed.

What an awesome gathering quality people. I can't think of to many other BPL meet ups where 10+ people showed up to do some serious hiking. I look forward to seeing everyone's pictures. Thanks for setting this up Andrew. I will hopefully be at the next one in good health.

David, we missed you too! It's probably a good thing you rested up if you weren't feeling well, it turned out to be a pretty strenuous hike.

I ended up going on a trip into the Mokelumne Wilderness with a friend instead of the SUL Emigrant trip. I still had the same gear that I was going to bring to the SUL trip and I have to say, it made some of the bushwhacking I had to do much, much easier, not worrying about my pack weight. There was a point when I was on the ridge of Horse Canyon Trail, looking into Summit City Canyon Creek, that across the mountains, off in the distance, I could see Sonora Pass, and I thought of you guys and the good times you were having and my friend and I dropped into the canyon. Mokelumne Wilderness is definitely something else…

michael

I remembered this thread and stirred up some interest on another forum I belong to. Only thing I did not know, was how you counted, if you did, the number of items allowed or aimed for. Can anyone help? Was sunscreen counted, or part of a FAK? TP part too, so forth.
I may see if some of the younger crowd I bp with, want to do another theme trip, this time aimed at minimal items. We've had a retro trip and a minimalists/survival trip where we used tarps or black plastic as shelters and use a campfire to cook over/in. Good time.
Duane

Duane, I don't think anybody strictly counted the number of items they brought on this trip – it was more to explore the idea that it's just as valuable to reduce the complexity of your gear as it is to reduce the weight. When you bring a fewer number of items there's less to keep track of, less to futz with in camp, less to keep you from the wilderness experience. The original idea was inspired by Ryan's SUL mindset series – you can see what he did and didn't count here:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/sul_mindset_part_2.html#.UtTWCnMo4m8

Try it out sometime, you might learn something, I did.

Did your group ever arrive at any # or close?
I've been doing this since the early 70's, but with living in small communities and such, I've had to learn quite a bit on my own. Picked up quite a bit with owning a puter the last 11 years now. Down to under 8 lbs. base weight, shooting for 7 with fishing gear. A weekend trip, maybe under 6 then, almost SUL. Just need a little lighter pack than the Arc Blast for weekend trips.
Yep, I've been cutting back on items for a while now. We have a long thread going at the forum I posted on last night, regarding only 11 items. :) I'll have to see what has happened since last night at 8:30.
Duane