A post for my Gearhead friends!

My friend Pete informed me that this year "bear canisters" are required beyond McGee Pass. I borrowed his "small" one. Damn, I hate to have to haul it in and out of McGee but it will make a nice camp seat! I have seven days worth of food crammed into it:

Six mornings of oatmeal with raisins, brown sugar and powdered milk.

Seven lunches of trail mix, sardines, cheese and crackers.

Six dinners of either; split pea soup, lentil soup, corn chowder or black bean soup with fresh garlic added for enhancement!

Four Lara Bars for an occasional treat.

Ten "Black Tea with Double Bergamot" tea bags.

Here is my "Gear" or "Kit". Mariposa Plus backpack on the left. Folding fiberglass tent poles. "The One" Gossamer Gear tent. REI Goose down sleeping bag. 12 oz of white gas in a small MSR bottle. Seva 123 white gas stove with 6 oz. of gas inside. Aluminum foil "windshield" for stove. Snow Peak titanium pot with lid. Aluminum drinking cup. Rolled up Tyvek rain suit. Two water bottles. NeoAir air mattress. Two "Polycryo" groundsheets. The afore mentioned bear canister with food. Katadyn water filter. Cat hole shovel with emergency duct tape wrap. Toilet paper in zip bag with toothpaste and tooth brush.

Not shown.

Small stuff sack containing Moleskin sketchbook, two Micron pens, colored pencils, tweezers, minature scissors, Neosporin, Moleskin, extra nylon line, four spare "eneloop" AA batteries, large garbage bag for emergency pack cover, ShamWoW towel, small scrubber sponge, small container of Dr. Bronner soap, MicroBites spoon/knife/fork, small Petzl headlamp, foam ear plugs, small box of matches, butane lighter, PacerPole camera adapter. Small squeeze bottle of 30 SPF sunscreen and a small spray bottle of Deet mosquito repellent.

Plus, Crocs for leisure wear!

30 pounds.

Also not shown.

Tilly Hat, IceBreaker body shirt, IceBreaker long sleeve T-shirt, Patagonia "Down Sweater", two pair of nylon Gold Toe socks, one pair of Smart Wool socks, Nike Elite Running Shoes, NorthFace gloves, Wool stocking cap, PacerPoles, Canon PowerShot A2000IS camera, miniature PhotoLogic tripod, Garmin 60CSx with Topo U.S. 24k chip installed.

E-gad! It sure takes a lot to go for a walk now days!! Why I remember back when mom would send me and my brudder off camping with just a blanket and a cast iron skillet!

Road Art

Well, it's art to me!

These marks are on Harold Street indicating the size and location of impending pot-holes.

Meanwhile.

One of those mornings.

Early morning fog starts to lift.

The sun begins to peek underneath.

6:51 AM. The old Augustus West building on the other side of Lee's Chinese.

Downtown Franklin Street getting highlights.

This kind of lighting only happen this time of year.

Bubble Butt instead of Fancy Feast

I'm decided on a stove for my upcoming adventure. This is "Bubble Butt", formerly a Seva 123. It was given to me by my friend Peter. About fifteen years ago it had become involved in a big fire that almost caused it to blow up! The normally concave bottom became convex from the built up pressure! I used a hammer and a smooth piece of wood to gradually hammer and reform the brass "bubble butt" back into a concave shape. Since then I have fired it up several times and it operates just fine.

This is my home made "Fancy Feast" cat food can alcohol stove. I drilled the holes and made the base for it. It works just fine at sea level but I discovered it required almost twice as much fuel to heat water at 6,000 feet in the Yolla Bolly. So, although Bubble Butt is a lot heavier, Bubble Butt is going to the 10,000 foot High Sierra with me.

I recently received an e-mail asking me what the average temperature in Fort Bragg is. I Googled around and found this!

Cool!

Gearing up!

I'm getting ready for my Walk in the Wilderness.

I have my lightweight "The One" single person tent.

I have my lightweight Gossamer Gear Mariposa Plus backpack.

I have my lightweight Patagonia Down Sweater.

But what if it rains?

I have been looking at various rain tops, rain bottoms, gortex, vented, blah blah. All very pricy and then read about Tyvek coveralls on this blog.

What do you think? One step too far?

Little begger

Don't tell anyone but I took my Mother-in-Law to McDonald's yesterday. I bought two Hot Fudge Sundays and then drove us to the end of Ocean View Drive to enjoy our ice cream and the view. Sitting there we noticed something pop up just in front of the vehicle.

It was a squirrel!

Just standing there quietly looking at us.

Alright. Alright!

I sprinkled out the chopped nuts that came with our Sundays.

Boy, he's good!

Living in the Moment.

My ninety-three year old Mother-in-law is staying with us for a while. Today I took her to a park east of town. She said she has never seen such tall trees.

I found a feather laying on the ground and gave it to her. She said it was the most beautiful blue feather she has ever seen.

Arriving home she said that was the best trip she has ever been on.

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Tomorrow is a new day. Could it be history isn't required to enjoy it?