Did you end up going?

Don’t know how I missed this. Thanks! Definite potentially weird conditions, but if I can backpack later into the season here, I will!

Definitely will do. Reading some trip reports and a cup of tea sound perfect right now.

Edit: That instance name is hilarious. TIL there are other Linux user/backpackers out there, huh

Got out for a few days. Originally planned for 4 days, but Monday’s weather was nasty and Friday was supposed to get snow and 50 mph winds, so we cut out part of the route and did 3. We got snowed/sleeted on the first night and woke to a completely glazed over tent. Super fun to clean up before packing up.

The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful beside winds picking up as the trip went on. We saw plenty of wildlife. Moose, elk, owls, bats, pika, a salamander. Someone supposedly saw a wolf there recently. Below is a very fresh mtn goat kill we found up on the ridge line.

We didn’t see more than a few people the whole time, but that didn’t keep us from having to put out someone’s still very alive bed of coals at their campsite. They could’ve easily taken the 5 minutes to do it as they were less than 100 feet from water. Extremely annoying.

Good trip otherwise. The fall colors were really starting to pop.

Cool, report. Very well written. I enjoyed this thoroughly. Not sure if you were keeping a journal or just wrote it that way, but it’s narratively effective.

One could be bummed about having to bail due to weather, but you made the right decision in the moment. And it doesn’t sound like a wasted trip at all. You saw some cool stuff, met cool people, got to hang out in/around SLC and got more hiking in where you could.

I know there wasn’t much time, but are there any changes you made to your setup you were happy with or things you would’ve done differently in retrospect?

I definitely need to do some hiking in Idaho. The Sawtooths are there, correct?

The sound is really nice in this one. Headphones recommended!

Also, John Kricfalusi 2.0.

New John Zahorian video: hiking across oregon on the PCT [no music] [2023]

It’s in the Collegiates.

Last week we went out for a few days. I injured my toe a couple days before it so we kept things low key. Managed to get some decent views in either way:

Potentially. You could engineer potatoes to produce more of certain starches and less moisture, so it would fry up crispier than normal.

I’ll probably be up in the high country again in a few days. I can give you an update after that regarding bugs. I will say that every trip I’ve done this summer there have been mosquitoes, but the last one a week ago wasn’t as bad and I assume it’ll continue going that way.

As you know, pretty much all of that route is above treeline. It’s been a weird season for weather and conditions can be unpredictable anyway. We’re currently having stormy weather up in the mountains. Main thing is familiarizing yourself with the route, finding potential bail points, planning days with afternoon storms in mind, etc.

You may be able to get some cell reception up there and check the weather. I like the app with NOAA reports since you can pinpoint your location in the mountains. It’s usually pretty reliable.

I’ll definitely consider it, if I have the time of course. Gear analysis, etc, is definitely fun, but the point in all off this is getting out in woods after all. Seeing others’ pics of cool places they’ve been is far more interesting to me.

That makes sense. My mom has been offering to teach me, so I definitely should.

I eventually want to make an FKT-style quilt for summer, that’s maybe rated 50* with a 30* footbox. Something light that I could stretch slightly lower by layering clothes.

I’ve been cooking in my 20* quilt this summer.

Oops, I meant Granite Gear in this context, although I have referred to Gossamer Gear as GG previously when talking about my solo pack. Granite Gear packs are easy to find cheap.

It’s way cooler that you sewed your own pack. That’s a skill I’ve been meaning to pick up forever.

That is a good deal. I use a GG pack for 2 person trips and they’re hard to beat, especially since you can find them on sale a lot of the time.

That is indeed a Motrail. It’s the lightest 2 person tent I have. Not as much room as the one I normally use (lunar duo), but lighter for sure.

We got rained on a little bit everyday, but lucked out overall. We rushed down from 13,500-ish because clouds were building, but it didn’t start raining till we were back on trail.

Got out again for a few days. Made a loop by connecting trails via a cross-country hike and a tiny bit of class 3. As always, just another excuse to get above 13,000’ and eat candy.

No.