EMS alcohol stoves

eastern Mountain sports
Janice 888-463-6367 on vacation
RE: return of Yakima clips
letter rec'd: need credit card account # to apply credit
Credit to REI VISA

Great Cross Sound Race, Backpack

Just for kicks, I woke up at 5:25, 5:30 and 5:35 to assess whether I would go paddle the Cross Sound Race. I didn't fall back asleep, so ate bit of breakfast and drove off about 6:20. Vern had called yesterday and said lets meet at 5:30 at Top Foods--I'd said I couldn't do anything that early. Arrived at Race venue on time. Water was choppy during the race, lifting the ama many times. A much better day for kayaks than for outriggers. I was caught by another OC1 and a kayaker, but had overtaken the latter and was nearly up to the former when a fistful of seaweed tangled in my rudder, almost stopping me. After clearing the rudder, I was back up to speed but both other paddlers had finished the race. Good fun anyway.

On a 1 hour walk yesterday with the Kelty Cloud 4500 with 36lb of camping gear loaded, I found it drove the waistbelt into my gut, made my back and shoulders sweaty and pushed the chest strap, even in its lowest position, almost to my neck. Went to REI in Oly today to check out sale--didn't want to mail order a backpack w/out trying them on. The saleswoman helped fit me--determining that my back was more like a small. Tried the REI Flash 65, but it fit not quite right, with the waist strap running out & the pack pressing on my butt muscles. I then tried on a Deuter ACT Lite 65 + 10 for 30 minutes--much better staying off the buttocks. The Gregory Baltoro 75 was also better at not pressing on my butt muscles, but in 30 minutes, I felt pressure points on the small of my back. Wore the Deuter for another 20 minutes--bought it. I'll test it on a hike soon up/down hills near my house and/or camping.

Update:  the Deuter was a nice pack but it began to wear on my hamstring muscles.  Had to take it back.  I put the Flash 65 on with 20#.  Bought it after wearing it 30 min in the store.  So far, so good for loads up to 30#--haven't walked with much more. 

33.25 lb hurts?

Yes, 33.25 lb hurts when the weight is a thermarest pad and 3.5 gallons of water in my Dana Astralplane pack. Weird how sometimes the pack feels like a painless part of me and other times my worst enemy. It felt as if it were riding on my buttocks, even with the belt cinched tighter and tighter--my legs began to hurt down the back. Is my back too short for this pack?

After 50 minutes up and down hills, I took off the pack and hiked with just a waist pack. It felt great!

Hm. The REI Flash 65 is on sale. I might go for it.

Enchanted valley camp

Three Day camping trip with Lexi to O'Neil Camp and Enchanted Valley.

Day one: 3 hour hike to O'Neil camp, arrival at 7 p.m. Meal of instant brown rice w/Parmesan, basil and olive oil. We set up the tent & found the waterproof coating sticky, gummy, ew.

Day two: 6 hour RT day hike to Ench Valley from O'Neil. Ran out of snacks on the second break>>eating curried lentil soup dry as snack. saw sleeping hammocks. one pair hiking out with less than 40 lb betw them. How did they do that, besides carrying a 2 lb tarp tent. we were SO-O-O tired.

Day three: 3 hour walk back to trailhead. so tired. We NEVER walked this much!

Backpackers' meal plan

Snacks: store bought dried plums, Home dried Granny Smith apples, homemade tofu jerky

Meals: Alpine Aire Pasta Roma (yech), instant brown rice, falafel, quinoa flakes, amaranth, maskal teff, dried onions, dried celery, instant oatmeal. Fresh bread w/spread (first night).

spices: salt sugar, basil,

olive oil, canola oil.

ugly nonstick sauce pan kept slipping off the Giga stove. No more trips for saucepan. fork began to melt when used as a spatula to turn the falafel. awww.

Thought we had too much food. Not true, only had 3.5 lb left after trip of 48 hours. We forgot to weigh the food before hitting the trail. Now we don't know how much food we eat per day.

Garcia Bear can:

614 cu in/10 liters works OK for us scratch cookers. Our plastic bags of rice (instant brown or white), falafel, flour, quinoa seed & flakes, oatmeal, spices and such conform nicely. Add a small bottle of cooking oil & we've got meals for days. Theoretically, if that 10 liters were all carbs, like amaranth it'd weigh ~14.7 lb. If I ate 2 lb per day, I'd survive for 7+ days. But we bring dried apples and raisins which don't compact as well as small grains. Because bread takes up too much space, we usually eat it the first day out. The packaging of freeze dried fud hasn't the flexibility of plastic bags--prob wouldn't get as many days worth of food.

Oh boy. I lost 4-5 lb on the trip. Weren't we drinking enough water?

Rain again 3rd day

Rain. It started Thursday off and on. unpredictable. The clouds, gray and grayer, appear anywhere that blue sky might try to intrude. I should say the cloud, singular. Sometimes the cloud leaks through very small holes, but mostly it just watches. Is this desirable or tolerable?

In the Sierra Nevada, when you see rain clouds, it rains. No guessing. And when they're done they move on leaving blue skies (at night, black starry skies). No screwing around with an irritating presence, such as with the buzzing of mosquitoes.

Where's that domain name?

Where's that domain name?

Bought a domain name from Angelfire on July 2, didn't have domain name for assignment until today July 15, after multiple attempts with "help tickets."

I could not get a response nor find a phone number to call though my hosting package included phone help. Finally checked to see if the transaction showed up on my VISA--it did, TWICE. But a phone number also showed with each transaction. I called and had the matter straightened out. after about 3 hours, our domain name was alive.

For our trouble and time, we were awarded a month of free hosting.

Centered foot braces for kayaks: Retrofit

Tough one!

Do we just add 3" shims to the current fittings? Not so fast, the angle of the hull where the current foot braces mount can change that.