Backpack 7-2-2010

I met Steve at his house at 3PM Friday and after an hour packing gear, off we went. We drove up Mt. Lemmon (stopping for gas, and of all things stopping at McDonalds!). We parked at Marshall Gulch and hiked about 3 miles, over Marshall Saddle and into the Wilderness of Rocks. We stopped to camp near where we met Lemmon Creek (which did have water) and suffered with mosquitos that night.

In the morning, we arose and hiked to the junction with the Mt. Lemmon trail (another 2.2 miles), then up the trail to the junction with the Sutherland trail, then down to near Shovel Springs. Shovel Springs had good water and we found an excellent campsite nearby.

The next day (Sunday), we retraced out steps up to the Mt. Lemmon Trail, then hiked past Quartzite Spring (good water as always), then out onto Radio Ridge and down the excellent trail to Marshall Saddle, then down Marshall Gulch to where we parked the truck.

Observations

We had superb weather. We had expected afternoon monsoon thunderstorms and were prepared for it, but dry weather blew in. Temperatures dropped to 44 degrees the second night, which was amazingly cool for July. With a light thermal top in the Big Agnes in a bivy I was just barely comfortable. I do sleep cold! I did have some thermal bottoms, but I was too lazy (or not really too cold) so I never put them on. I fretted about whether or not to bring a down bag given I really expected rain, but went ahead, packing it carefully in a trash bag, and determining to take care with it. Given that the weather dried out, this was a superb choice!

The Forest Service must be trying to keep Shovel Springs a secret. It is not mentioned on any trail signs, and there is no sign near the spring itself. It would be easy to walk past and never know it was there. And it is a good spring. The trail past Shovel Springs gets almost no traffic. I don't think Shovel Springs gets many visits these days.

I should always weigh my food bag and if I have more than 1.6 pounds per day, get rid of some stuff. As always, I carried to much food. I guess I just don't want to take the slightest chance of getting hungry. I am learning though, albeit slowly!

My packweight after the trip was 16 pounds 9 ounces (with no water). This includes my 2 pounds and 8 ounces of extra food that I should have left at home. Without that food, I would have had a 14 pound pack! I did eat 3 pounds of food (estimated) and carried 3 liter of water (6 pounds), so my starting weight with full water bottles adds 9 pounds, making my starting weight an estimated 25 pounds, 9 ounces.

This was an experiment hiking with Vibram five fingers. I hiked the first two days (about 10 miles with them). After the descent to Shovel Springs I could feel a "hot spot" on the inside of both arches from a stitch in each shoe, so I changed into running shoes I was carrying as a backup (more weight). The vibrams were in the exit pack I weighed above, so most of the time I was carrying the heavier running shoes. It would have been no trouble hiking the whole time with the Vibrams if the hot spot could be fixed.

Gear List

MLD Exodus Pack
Exped Down Mat 7
Big Agnes Horse Thief Bag.
Mont-Bell pillow
Mountain Hardware Conduit Bivy
Tyvek ground sheet
Ray-way tarp-tent (not needed)
Ursack
Sweetwater filter
Bushbuddy stove and steel pot
Insulated cup
Bowl and Spoon
Vibram KSO's (and running shoes/socks)
Capilene medium bottoms (never used)
Patagonia Houdini shell (never used)
Patagonia R0.5 zip top
Patagonia R2 vest
Two four-sevens flashlights (don't ask)
Sunscreen
Heart Rate Monitor
I forgot my knive (and pills, including Ibuprofen) I carried or wore: 
Wide brim hat
paper thin pants (gramicci)
polyester shorts (patagonia)
thin wicking shirt (patagonia)
maps
one old ski pole
Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's hiking pages / tom@mmto.org