The NEW Post Your Campsite/gear/knife/hiking/anything Outdoorsy Pic Thread!

[OwenM]

Finished everything I planned to in the morning today, and came home. Woke up to a flat pad again last night. It was only ~28F, and was still warm enough in my Pinnacle that I just went back to sleep instead of blowing it back up. Had no desire to try that again tonight with it going into the upper teens, though. My Downmat UL7 already shipped :thumbup:

 

[HikingMano]

Nice :thumbup: (downmat shipping)

 

[OwenM]

Oh, Savage Gulf was pretty nice, too

The trail to Ranger Falls was "blocked", and I never found a way across

 

[HikingMano]

Damnit that place looks so awesome! I'm incredibly envious right now, as I head off to work...

Some really nice shots there, Owen. Love the motion apparent in the water. And where you're having some cocoa, yeah, that's the kinda spot I'd choose too There's a cave in the back of the second to last falls, right? Can you still get back there?

Good stuff!!

 

[OwenM]

It's just an undercut. I was looking at my pics, and they don't really give a picture of the terrain there. The Gulfs are something like 5-800ft deep, and mostly very steep-walled.
The last couple of waterfalls are actually on the plateau above, while the pics before that / cascade are along the bottom of the gorge.

 

[HikingMano]

Ah, I'm misremembering. It looked similar to that one fall with a cave you've visited before, if I'm recalling correctly.

Guess the Gulfs are aptly named. Nice area.

 

[lambertiana]

Awesome place, Owen!

 

[OwenM]

Thanks, John, you would love the Cumberland Plateau! 'Course...who wouldn't?!?


Long story for a short trip, this week...
I set out yesterday to Savage Gulf to do a 25+ mile loop(the other side of Savage Gulf from last week), but road conditions were already iffy, and rapidly getting worse there. Out of 9 other vehicles I saw on the road after getting off scenic route 108, 8 were dumptrucks with snow plows, and the other was the FedEx guy(I hear you, FedEx!).
There was no ranger on duty, and the parking lot was frozen. I was worried that I would be stuck there when I came back on Thursday, and miss work that night. So...I played, intentionally sliding my car on the icy parking lot a couple of times, and left. Fiery Gizzard is where I'd been headed a couple of weeks ago before a pipe burst in my basement, and I went back there for the same reason-close to a major road that's kept clear.
It was getting late for me to make it to the first campsite, and I was tired from driving up there after working night shift, so decided to camp at the CCC campground on the Grundy Day Loop. This is the trail you actually start on when you hike Fiery Gizzard.
I got a call last night that a member of our small church who was in the hospital had taken a bad turn for the worse, then this morning that they were taking him off life support some time today. I became convicted that I should go to see him one last time rather than be playing in the woods, so when I came to the bridge that crosses the creek and puts you off the loop and into the Gizzard, I stood looking across it for a moment, then continued the loop back to the parking lot. Unfortunately he died while I was driving home.

I did get a great night's sleep on my new Exped Downmat UL7, reconfirm that my Marmot Pinnacle is plenty warm(cozy at 9F), and get a few pics from the loop. Most of the pics are what you see at the beginning of the Fiery Gizzard Trail.

From the Savage Gulf Ranger station:

From the Grundy Day Loop TH. I was actually wearing lightweight baselayer bottoms and at the last minute threw on a 100wt fleece hoody that I keep in my car-and I was already wearing a Capilene 3 top instead of Capilene 1. Unheard of for me, but it was wickedly cold, especially with this arctic blast wind thing we got a day of. I even had my lined softshell gloves that I've never been able to wear before and safety glasses to make the wind less painful, plus wore all that and a balaclava hiking out this morning. I warmed up enough that I would have dropped the fleece hoody if I'd been hiking further, but think I could have lived with the light bottoms for awhile, maybe even all day.

The rest of these are passed heading into the Gizzard.

 

[HikingMano]

Sorry to hear you weren't able to make it back in time. I hope his passing was a peaceful one.

However, in the little time you did have out, it looks like you got good playing time in and some very nice shots! Nice score on the Downmat UL7. Bet it was welcome at 9F along with the Pinnacle. I was out and about in Chicago a month ago when it was single digits as well...chilly.

No polar bear plunge jumping from falls?

 

[OwenM]

As far as I know, he was unconscious, and in no pain.

No jumping. Probably not next week, either

Right now, I haven't decided what to do next week. May stay closer to home, since it's going to be even colder, at least in TN. Taking a long "weekend". The lows here are supposed to be 18, 13, 20, and 35 on the nights I'm off. Better than single digits, anyway, and I want to test out this Katabatic thing I got a shipping notice for yesterday
I don't want to die testing it though. It's a 30 degree quilt after all...not sure how far to try pushing it, but 5F sounds a bit too far, IMO.

 

[redsquid2]

Owen, what tent do you have? I am not familiar with it.

I have a SMD Lunar Solo. Maybe heavy by some standards, but I continue to be pleased with SMD's interaction/ communication with me. It is nice that they pick up the phone when I call, or respond to my email within a half an hour.

I have had the Lunar Solo for two seasons now.

 

[OwenM]

Huh, good timing! It's a Tarptent Notch(with a ZPacks Solo cuben floor in place of the inner w/bugnet that it comes with).
http://www.tarptent.com/notch.html

 

[HikingMano]

A[...]Better than single digits, anyway, and I want to test out this Katabatic thing I got a shipping notice for yesterday
I don't want to die testing it though. It's a 30 degree quilt after all...not sure how far to try pushing it, but 5F sounds a bit too far, IMO.

Nice!

And, yeah, return alive I run warm and could probably do teens if I had some down pants or heavy long johns along with my 30F quilt (with hooded puffy, higher weight wool socks if not down booties), but not single digits.

 

[Galeocerdoshark]

Have had absolutely no time to get outside lately, but I'm glad to see you guys having fun outdoors. Thanks for sharing the pics! There are some great ones in there. I hope to be able to contribute again soon. Take it easy guys, and have fun on your outdoorsy trips.

 

[OwenM]

Bwahahahaha:devilish:
I present to you the first Regular Wide size Katabatic Palisade of 2014, with my new Exped Downmat UL 7 and a First Ascent Microtherm hoody attending:

Has enough loft compared to my Arete that I think I'll be fine in this "30 degree" quilt to 20F easy, and even lower with the down hoody.
Highly impressed...

Oh, and it came in a bit underweight at 576g/20.32oz with 12.2oz of 850 fill water resistant down. The Arete has 8.4oz of 800 fill down, and a good bit of that is wasted on the bottom. It's taken me into the 20s with long baselayers, to freezing well over a dozen times, and even survived into the teens once. I think this quilt is going to be pretty warm

 

[HikingMano]

GS, I look forward to it!

Owen, very very very very nice Congrats man, great upgrades. And loft is nice indeed

So what's the lowest you think you could go, with long baselayers (heavier weight I assume?) and down hoody?

I use wintersilks silk baselayers, so they're definitely light, more to keep the quilt relatively clean than to add warmth. I know if I bring heavier polypro baselayers instead, I can handle teens in the current EE quilt when wearing wool socks and down puffy (currently down jacket with wool buff) in addition. A little bump in warmth in an emergency by adding Houdini and rain gear if dry. Probably not much lower temp though. It's why I'm considering the Sawatch at 15F, which may possibly be warmer than the EE equivalent due to Katabatic's design when all cinched up. Keep the 30F EE for warmer weather, have the 15F Katabatic for shoulder and winter...

Looks like the quilt purchase may be put on hold though. May be changing jobs and moving costs will eat up gear budget :grumpy:

 

[OwenM]

I'm going to take some serious layers this week, or maybe my Arete to pair with it for a safety margin(already played with that, and it should work well). Forecast for the coldest night varies daily between 5 and 10F for the low, and a degree or three warmer the next night, so we shall see!
Now they're talking about a storm coming in south of here with a lot of snow. Hopefully it won't turn north and screw up my plans...or trap me somewhere!

 

[HikingMano]

Yeah, man, for sure: better safe than sorry when trying new stuff. I look forward to you sharing your experience and thoughts after :thumbup:

The weather is absolute crap here :thumbdn:. It's balmy and all, 70F or so today, but CA is now in a drought emergency (not just drought anymore) and it sucks. Everything is dry, no snow in the mountains, air quality in the bay area is horrible, trees are thinking it's spring so my allergies are going off out of season... all crap. Haven't been posting pics lately because it simply hasn't been worth it. I've even heard the local news advising to refrain from prolonged outdoor activities due to the bad air... I try to head for the coast where things are a little better. I'm hoping Feb/March brings us serious rain and snow. In the meantime, trying to do my part with reducing water use...

 

[HikingMano]

Figured I'd post this here as well since I did my HPG Kit Bag contents dump in this thread earlier.

Good the know! I'd love to see some comparison pics when you get a chance. Love my Kit Bag, but there are times when something slimmer would be nice. :thumbup:

I figure for now, some actual-use pics would work vs. me stuffing random stuff in both bags for the sake of direct comparison pics. I'll get around to doing that this weekend if I have time. Anyway, here's the HPG regular kit bag packed up more or less with the stuff shown in this post:

Here is the HPG Runner's Kit bag, shown with Houdini worn over it (nice!) and side profile shot. There is less stuff in the RKB, most notably the Bothy is replaced with a AMK 2-person heatsheet + beeswax tea-light, and the other emergency stuff was streamlined a bit. The knife won't fit, but my ZL headlamp still does. I'll get around to doing a contents dump sometime. But basically, I feel like I'm still able to carry the important things I want in the RKB while keeping it compact. Pretty nice set-up, and probably will be my main "on-person" kit for the foreseeable future.

 

[OwenM]

Are those Buff fingerless gloves?

Off tonight, but not leaving 'til morning. Taking a 4 day "weekend", but had to catch up on some sleep after only getting 2hrs of it Sunday.
I've been testing the quilt, sleeping in the open on my back deck with lightweight layers, light mini socks and a Polartec 200 fleece balaclava. Oh, and an unzipped windshirt so the hood could cover the balaclava(14-18mph wind).
Using the clips to keep the quilt cinched down, it almost felt too warm when I first laid down at 29F, and just right at 22F with 9F wind chill when I woke up 4 hours later.
Taking my ID bivy instead of the Notch this week, so wind won't be a factor, and the bivy has always added to the range of my sleeping bags. I'll have on much warmer layers and socks plus a down hoody, so am feeling pretty confident about pushing this quilt 10-15 degrees lower.