Day Hike in the Blue Mountains

[Murph]

My good friend and I decided to go for a hike and check out the wild life in the Virginia Blue Mountains these past Saturday. It was beautiful, but freezing cold.

High 31 - Low 16
Cloudy
Sunrise 7:17 AM - Sunset 4:53 PM

I had packed up my kit, and even went easy on what I wanted to bring. It basically consisted of:
1 MRE
3L Camelback
1 Bottle of Water
Bag of snacks
FAK
Folding Shovel
Hatchet
Folding Saw
Hand Sanitizer / Wet Wipes
Paracord & Buniges
Small tools (Sharpie, knife, compass, etc..)

All in all, it weighted 20lbs packed up.

Needless to say, this stuff saved my bacon out there:


All of this was dead weight I humped up and down the hill side:


The camelback was screwed. I left in in the truck bed on the 1 hour drive out, and the water in the tube froze in that time. I was hoping by midday that it would have thawed out... Nope, it was a fistfull of fail.

I didn't bother to crack open the MRE either, small snacks got me through the day.

The whole thing has got me re-thinking about how much crap is really needed for a day in the field.

[Brit-ZedHunter]

Don't be so quick to dismiss the extra stuff you took.

If something went wrong and a day in the field turned into a day and night in the field you would have been very glad of the extra stuff and probably wished you had a bunch more.

Sounds you had fun and it looks like a nice place to hike

[Squirrley]

When its cold out, always blow your camelbak tube empty!

And while I agree that some things are good to hump around in case of an emergency, a shovel and a hatchet and a saw sound way to heavy for my tastes. It depends on how far you're getting out of civilization too. Lots of places around here it would be pretty much impossible to need to spend a night in the woods, cause they're so close to civilization and popular enough that you always see several people on the trail. You'd have to be out in the middle of a blizzard or something to get yourself into a real emergency situation, or be doing something you shouldn't like bushwhacking across the mountainside.

That said, I always have an emergency space blanket, and a big enough knife or my multitool that has a saw on it to make a shelter, and my firesteel and water purification tabs. And an ACE bandage or three.

[Murph]

That said, I always have an emergency space blanket, and a big enough knife or my multitool that has a saw on it to make a shelter, and my firesteel and water purification tabs. And an ACE bandage or three.

I couldn't agree more. There's a lot of little things that can do big jobs.

[Murph]

Was out this past saturday again.

41 °F - 23 °F
Sunny

Despite keeping the camelback in the cab of the truck till I got there, the tube & bite valve still froze up after an hour or two in the field. Even the tops of the water bottles I brought started to freeze.

I had two dud hand/toe warms, so I was really glad I had extras. I was still pretty cold. My friend fessed up and admitted he's been freezing his ass off too, so I'm glad it wasn't just me. I'm seriously starting to think about buying a pair of those goofy battery powered heating socks.

Again, those Snickers power bars are awesome. We found a make-shift campsite, with a stone fire pit with an old metal grill. All in all another good hike.

[Duckster]

I had a pair of those socks when I sold hotdogs outside a busy bar for 4 years. Each winter seemed to get worse (or I got older). They ran on a single D battery each. I picked up some rechargeables, since I was working three nights a week. The charge lasted about 2.5-3 hours. A fresh non-rech would last about 4 hours. I tell you, they really saved my life (or my feet) that year. I also wore them as a second pair of socks, so I can't tell you if they should be washed. They also only lasted that year, because when I went to test them out the next fall, neither worked.

They were only 20$ off of ebay though, so I'm guessing the quality wasn't up to snuff. And it was annoying swinging that D cell off of my calf as I walked.

[Chef]

Even the tops of the water bottles I brought started to freeze.

I've heard turning them upside down makes the ice form at the bottom and not the top . . . but I'm in Florida so it hasn't really come up. 8) I know some folks like the widemouth Nalgenes 'cause you can chip the ice away more easily.

[Murph]

Was out last Saturday:
30 - 45
Cloudy

I had a folding camp stool... Well stupid thing didn't want to fold back up when I was done, so the thing is in peices in my living room for a little redesign / dremel work.

Otherwise nothing really new to report.