SUL Rogue River Trail, Summer

[Bri W]

https://lighterpack.com/r/fczg7h

I’m doing the Rogue River Trail (40+ miles) over the course of 4 days in September and 5 days in October. I anticipate the September trip will be very warm, and the October trip will be a bit cooler. This gear list is for the September trip, and possibly the October trip if it’s an unusually warm week and there is a 0% chance of rain. I will be testing out my birthday presents (Nunatak Gear and Zero). Items that are starred don’t have an accurate weight; these will be updated when they arrive or when I have time to weigh them.

Let me know if you have any suggestions. I live in this area and it’s very hot until the beginning of October, so I don’t expect to be super cold, despite being a cold sleeper. I have never done this hike or even sections of it. We will be camping at a few spots that have bear boxes, but the first few days we will not have bear protection.  If you’ve done this hike, did you hang your food at the places where bear boxes weren’t present?

This will be my first SUL trip. In September I’ll be hiking with my fiancé and he brings too much gear, so if my SUL attempt fails, I won’t be in trouble. In October, I’ll likely carry my regular length XTherm, down pants, a fleece, gloves, and a cooling system to make warm drinks. If it’s expected to be <50° at night I’ll bring my winter quilt instead of the half quilt.

Thanks!

Bri

 

 

[Matthew / BPL]

5 ounces of Dr. Bronner’s seems like a lot ;)

 

I’m guessing your forgot a decimal place. I just saved a lot of weight from your pack!

[Bri W]

Oops! Yep! That was from my HST hike. I took a lot of soap for that trip. I think I’ll bring closer to 1 oz. thanks!

[Window walker]

Looks great Bri! Some things I noticed-

1. Only one stake? Or do 6 stakes weigh .25oz?
2. No weight listed for bivy
3. Socks- is the 1.86 oz for both socks or just one?
4. If you use a Nylofume (sp?) bag it will be lighter than an opsack for your odor proofing.
5. I like your spoon =)
6. I don’t think I saw the low temps, but could you get away with using your hiking pants instead of carrying the wind pants for warmth at camp?
7. Your compass could be a carried item
8. How much do all the containers weigh empty for your consumables? (if you’re being picky)
9. Are you sure the water bottle clips are being worn or are they attached to your pack?
10. Carried items- water filter, syringe, etc all in your pockets? =)

Nice looking list! And yeah, I may be a little picky when it comes to the above mentioned things.

[Bri W]

Thanks, Ben!

I fixed the missing weights. The socks are weighed as a pair. I added 6 to the count of the stakes. I’ll stick with the Opsak bag for now because I have two and they’re still going strong. I’d never heard of nylofume bags. I’ll have to check them out when my Opsaks get destroyed. I added my wind pants to the list because it was one of the few items I’d regretted not bringing along on the HST, just for mild warmth when my baselayers were too warm but my pants alone weren’t quite enough. I’ll reconsider it when it gets closer to September and I can see the weather forecast. I’m also worried about skeeters…hopefully they’ll be less intense by then because they’re really bad this summer. I weighed the consumable containers in the past but I’ve since but new liquids in them, so I’ll have to find the weights and add them. Thanks for that reminder! And lastly, regarding the water bottle/clip/filter, on the HST I had it clipped to my pants and my backpack’s waist belt, but it was uncomfortable on the waist belt, so I’m thinking this time (depending on how it feels with the Zero), I might just keep it on my pants the whole time. Though, now that I think about it, my Vargo pack didn’t have daisy chains on the shoulder straps and the Zero will, which might be a better place to put the clipped bottle. I’ll move it to carried for now and see if that’s more comfortable. When I had an Arc Blast I clipped my compass to the daisy chain as well. I’ll likely do that again.

Thanks again for the suggestions! These are great!

[Bri W]

I should also add, depending on the weather, I may leave behind my baselayers and sleep in my hiking clothes. I did that for most of the HST just out of pure laziness to change.

[Rex Sanders]

I’ve rafted that section of the Rogue River several times in the fall. It might be hot and dry at Grants Pass, but when you get near the coast, you might have cool, foggy, damp, overcast weather overnight and in the mornings. Nothing terribly cold, but it’s a big contrast. Camping well above the river under trees is generally warmer, but you probably knew that. I think you’ll be fine with the Nunatak and base layers, depending on how cold you sleep.

If you stay in any of the rafting campsites, expect active, habituated bears, and crowds of possibly rowdy rafters. Most of those sites have electric bear fences for food storage; use them! FYI, we’ve watched bears swim across the river. Bears will be grabbing salmon from the river in September and October, so they might be less interested in human food.

Skeeters weren’t a big problem in the fall. June on the other hand …

I’ve wanted to backpack that trail for years – please post a trip report.

Have fun!

— Rex

[Bri W]

Thanks, Rex!

I saw on the trail map that only the first part of the latter half of the trail has bear canisters, fences, and food hoists. I’m more concerned about the beginning of the trail near Grants Pass. I’m not sure which sites the rafters typically take. Maybe I’ll call the BLM office and ask for advice.

[Bri W]

Just an update…

I’m getting a 0.5 Cuben Yama Mountain Cirriform Shelter for my birthday! Woo hoo! I’d like to bring it along this trip if it is made in time. So I’ll probably either use the shelter with my poncho/tarp but just use the poncho as a ground sheet, or bring along my Cuben bivy and rain gear. I’ll see which option adds up to SUL. Either way would be comfortable, so I’ll just have to calculate the weights.

[Window walker]

Sounds like you have it all figured out! Enjoy having a super light pack and have lots of fun!

[Author]

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