Beginner Backpacker needing assist: Kenai Fjords, Denali, Rainier, Enchantments

Your dates for Denali are fall time so pack gear for rain and possible snow. Your GF, unless she’s a rare warm sleeper, should have a bag rated at least 10 degrees lower than the lowest expected temp. I am an Alaskan woman backpacker and I carry a 10 degree bag year round, since even in our summer months mountain backpacking can see temps in the low 30’s and I’m a super cold sleeper.

I would not forgo the stove. You’ll really appreciate a hot meal in the evenings, particularly. Take a canister stove. Alcohol stoves are woefully slow up here due to the cooler ambient temps. I had a friend that I used to BP with up here that used one, I use a Pocket Rocket. I’d be eating my rehydrated meal before her water was even boiling.

Hanging should be safe. I’ve never seen a raccoon or a possum in Alaska. I hear they’re here, but they aren’t common.

None of your excursions seem long enough to require a scrubba, and particularly in Alaska at that time of year it’s unlikely the weather will be conducive to drying your clothes. Wash them in between trips.

Agree with Dena on GF’s sleeping bag and ditching the scrubba, and for sure on using a stove as a noob on the trail (no offense intended).  Hot meals in cool climates are nice.  Down the road, if you evolve towards stoveless, no big deal.

I’m assuming you have a lot of coin at your disposal given some of the options you listed.  For you shelter, try to get something used here on Gear Swap.  It’s a virtual guarantee that whatever you start with isn’t what you’ll have a year or two from now….you’ll learn preferences the more you’re on the trail.

Pack:  buy all your other gear, get it together and try to get an idea of how much pack volume you need and go from there.  Lots of good packs out there.  Again, think about getting a used one on Gear Swap.

I personally love using an Ursack where bears are part of the equation and canisters aren’t required.

Before buying anything from BPWD read this forum thread MY ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE EXPERIENCE WITH JOHN STULTZ AND BEARPAW WILDERNESS DESIGNS . And HERE is a list of helpful videos and articles for newbies that I have put together a number of them are on doing it cheap, but here is another that is not on that list Cheap Lightweight Backpacking Gear  . It would be great to see a complete gear list, people can go overboard on the little things and a lot of weight can be saved on not bringing unnecessary and redundant stuff.  For some reason in my newbie help link the Oregon Field Guide Ultralight Hiking video link is down so if you want to watch it(it is worth watching) HERE is another link for you so you can( it starts 8 min 30 sec. into the episode) and welcome to BPL

I hope you’re going to be able to acquire gear and do some short shakedown hikes before the Big Trip.

Not a good idea to learn how to pitch a tent and operate a stove for the first time while committed to 5 nights out and the weather turns to crap.

Use something like geargrams.com or lighterpack.com to get a handle on gear organization and weight.

Thank y’all so much for the info. @eagleriverdee I figured as much about the stove but I just needed that push to pull the trigger. My girlfriend’s sleeping quilt is rated for 0 degrees and mine 20. I sleep incredibly warm so I’m not worried.

I personally don’t want to use an URsack at this point (though I might buy one in the future). I think what I am going to do is just split my food up into 2 or 3 bags and hang them PCT style in a 100 yard radius from our campsite (which part of me is thinking that might just be advertising over a broader area). One thing I see about bears pulling on the string makes me wonder why no one has developed a device/knot that will coil up the excess rope that can later be released whit a trek pole or something.

@mammoman I have been watching the Gear swap rather religiously since I found this site (about a week), however, I haven’t seen anything that fits what I’m looking for yet and as our departure date is a little over a month away, I am getting anxious. I don’t want to be left buying a tent days before when some shipping/bidding issue arises. Plus I want to test it. For now I’m leaning more toward the zpacks because of its lower price point and good reviews. I will probably order one soon unless someone comes out and tells me of something drastically better. And it seems that BPW is definitely out after @annapurna led me down a trail of tears left by the quality and customer service. I had also been thinking of tarptents like the Double rainbow or the stratospire, but some reviews talked about their lack of consistent quality as well. If it were just me going on the trip, I would probably just scoop up whatever I could off the gear list, even if it wasn’t terribly appropriate, and get out there and give it the old college try. But as this is a big step for my girlfriend I want her first couple of experiences to be very comfortable so we can do this more and more. She’s no priss or stranger to the outdoors but she is nervous about it all and I don’t mind spending the extra coin if it makes her feel more secure.

@annapurna also thank you for all those links and videos, they are terrific and I’m trying get through them all in the next couple days.

@bobmny10562 thanks for the links. I plan on probably testing everything I can multiple times here. Luckily all of our trips have breaks in between them and the first two, in Alaska are very mild (one is a kayak trip led by a guide, with little actual backpacking, who, from my understanding, is going to cook for us and the other is a two day-one night hike followed by 2 days of car camping with only our backpacking gear). So I’m hoping we get the kinks out up there before our more serious hikes at Mt Rainier and the Enchantments.

@mammoman I am still working on a full gear list. I have weighed most of the clothes we will be wearing and will post soon. I am looking for a mid/insulating layer for both of us. If anyone has any suggestions on where I should start looking that would be fantastic. I live in Houston so the art of dressing warm is pretty foreign to me. I know for our other water containers we will be using a couple of gatorade bottles. We still need to get/put together a first aid kit. We will be taking maps and  a compass as I know how to use them.  @eagleriverdee What do you suggest for hands/gloves/mittens? I’m not sure but I’m going to try to have food around 22-24oz a day pp. Does that sound right? And as there is plenty of water everywhere we are going we probably wont have more than a quart in our packs at a time. If anyone has any personal recipes or first aid kits they would like to share I would love to hear them.

Thanks again!

Matt

Wow, some serious shoulder season dates for Rainier and the Enchantments. Doing an extended Northern Loop in late September expect rain and snow. A few years ago I did the Wonderland in Mid-September and had rain and snow. The Enchantments in October will also likely include rain and snow. I have been snowed on in the Enchantments in August. You might luck out with the weather, but I wouldn’t count on it. I would take the longer Snow Lake approach to the Enchantments that time of year. If the weather looks sketchy, I would consider camping at the far end of Snow Lake and taking day trips to the basin as weather permits. For a shelter, that late in the season, I would leave my Zpacks Hexamid Twin at home and take my cuben MLD DuoMid, as a solo shelter, to ride out any storms and have room to comfortably wait out really bad rain. I hang my food. Bears on Rainier and the Enchantments are a low concerns, mice are not.

Wow, some serious shoulder season dates for Rainier and the Enchantments. Doing an extended Northern Loop in late September expect rain and snow. A few years ago I did the Wonderland in Mid-September and had rain and snow. The Enchantments in October will also likely include rain and snow. I have been snowed on in the Enchantments in August. You might luck out with the weather, but I wouldn’t count on it. I would take the longer Snow Lake approach to the Enchantments that time of year. If the weather looks sketchy, I would consider camping at the far end of Snow Lake and taking day trips to the basin as weather permits. For a shelter, that late in the season, I would leave my Zpacks Hexamid Twin at home and take my cuben MLD DuoMid, as a solo shelter, to ride out any storms and have room to comfortably wait out really bad rain. I hang my food. Bears on Rainier and the Enchantments are a low concern, mice are not.

For your first aid kit and the little things you will need to carry watch Mike Clelland’s FREE VIDEOS  (they are in my newbie link also)all his videos are worth watching(Mike is a NOLS instructor and  author) but his videos on the on THE DINKY STUFF PART 1 AND 2 are what you are looking for and you will see videos on the entire content of his pack and his clothing systems for 3 season wear, also in that newbie link are layering systems for different conditions by different authors including Andrew Skurka( his blog and videos are also very good).

Just for a reference, I am a 5′ tall 110lb woman and I did the Enchantments(it was August and not October) and my pack weight for everything including consumables(food, fuel ect. for 3 days) but not my liter of water was 12lbs 4oz.

OK, no one’s mentioned the Timberland boots yet. Those sound heavy. How attached are you to boots? I guess if it did happen to snow a lot that could be good, but otherwise they seem like a liability.

Shelter — search for one of those Tall Guy shelter threads. Or start another. (and what Link said about BPWD) Both HMG and Zpacks are great cottage brands. Personally the Triplex appeals to me. I was wishing I had a Duplex instead of a pyramid for my Wonderland trip.

So, Wonderland. You need to have your rain game down. Umbrella, Packa, Zpacks poncho? Try at least one of them. (I have new, yet-untested poncho). The couple I saw sporting “chrome dome” type umbrellas on the Wonderland seemed pretty pleased. I managed OK in my beloved DriDucks and a trash bag skirt. Pro-tip: speaking of laundry — don’t do it in the bathroom sink at Sunrise if the weather’s anything but blue-bird clear

Also I did alt-routing so I’ve done the non-Wonderland half of the northern loop. There is–or at least was—a tricky river crossing across the branch of the White that comes down between Fire Creek and James Lake. Flow might be different that time of year, but play it safe and get there early in the day.

Enchantments – I’m jealous. Haven’t been yet, but the animals I hear most about are the goats.  Know about them? They want the salt in your pee.

The goats definitely want your pee and you have to be careful where you pee, I carried a pee device so that I could pee out in the open on rock which is how they would like you to do it, I remembering peeing one morning on a rock walked about 2 feet when I heard something behind me and there was a momma and baby goat heading straight to where I had just peed, be sure you know the rules and again I highly recommend your girlfriend get a pee device and practice with it before leaving!

. Enchantment Permit Area Rules and Regulations

• Do not urinate on vegetation or soils. Use gaps between boulders, crevices in rocks, large flat rocks, sandy bare areas, or the toilets provided. Urine attracts goats and leads to pawing and chewing of plants and soil and may lead to abnormal aggressive animal behavior.

Not having read all the details, but shooting from the hip:

I saw Manfred made his Caldera Cone alcohol set up work fine in the Brooks Range (and also last month in the Aleutians), so alcohol set-ups can work, but they need a killer windscreen.  A BRS-300T for $13 and a butane canister from Walmart or REI in Anchorage and it’s much easier.

Check on the schedule of the park bus in Denali NP (always subject to first snow, but they’ll have estimates).  Without the park bus, it’s much harder to get to and from your hike.  If you are within the NP itself, you’ll need to have an approved food canister or rent on from them.  Which means your pack has to be able to contain it or lash it on the outside.

Take the Salomon trail shoes with good socks and another pair of socks dedicated as sleep wear.  And maybe 3-ounce flip-flops or Crocs for camp.  Skip the Timberland boots.  Waterproof boots means your sweat stays inside and when you cross a deeper stream, they fill and never empty.

I almost never bring hiking poles, but off-trail in Alaska I do.  Even if they are a $19.99 pair from Walmart.  There are so many stream crossing to do, I can keep my feet dryer on the small ones and keep myself more upright on the big ones.

The best thing you can do for your girlfriend is to get her out on several weekend trips between now and the big trip.  Be prepared for terrible weather in the Cascades.

Backcountry in Denali requires a bear canister and not an Ursack. As far as the canisters go you can rent them, but I wouldn’t take a chance this close to your departure, I’d purchase one. The green DNP buses start early and you can catch one to your destination within the park and departure times are listed at each camp site, visitors center, etc. They had a rule about camping a minimum of two miles away from the road way so visitors can get the wilderness experience.  They do not want to see a blaze orange tent from the roadway lol. The tour tan buses or green ones will pick you up if you flag one down upon your return. When I hiked I hiked in my ASOLO hiking boots, but now I hike in my Solomon trail runners. I’ve used alcohol stoves, canister stoves and esbit fuel tablets, but wind will be a consideration when using any of these. I tend to use alcohol, but that is my preference. Canister stoves are reliable and are usually a go to for a lot of people. Trekking poles are used quite frequently by me except on the flats. The area I liked was the Savage River Trail, beautiful and goes on and on lol. We got to see many sheep up close on that trail. Polychrome is a nice area too. Pack your rain gear for sure. A liner inside your backpack will help keeping things dryer. I sleep cold, so my sleeping bag is a 0 degree bag. I’d also carry bear spray. I just finished a hike in Alaska where I live and counted 68 piles of bear scat on the way in. Talks to the rangers, they know the area best and are a great source of information.