running under the BigSky
Duuuude (ette )! Wow -that looks like an epic trip. Have never been to the Sawtooth’s, but now on my list.
Never too many gear pics
Everything work well? Anything you’d change? Did you guys have a gps or gps phone app?
Mandy I’m certain you’ll come out of this stronger than going in- take that to the bank!
Mike
2023 goal 2023 miles √
2022 goal- 2022 miles √
2021 goal- 2021 miles √
Beautiful and adventurous trip Mandy. Thanks for sharing. Love all the photos and the zig-zag serpentine trail perspective is very cool. Sorry about the crap in your life, but hoping this trip is a great start to the next chapter in your life. It was a great way to start it.
In dog beers, I've only had one.
Like I mentioned somewhere else, it looks like a great trip. Keep moving!! And drink more beer. What is this "first beer in two months" bullshit!?! I don't want to read that again!!
LB2
Refurbished Hip
She was using Earthmate on her phone, I was using Gaia. She had an older Delmore inReach and I had the new Garmin inReach mini. We didn't really need these too much for navigation (just a quick check here or there), but I like people back home being able to track me and sending that "Hey, we're camping here" text every night.
The Tarptent Notch Li is freaking awesome. I still haven't had a chance to use it in inclement weather, but I think it's going to do great. Set up is a breeze. (At least on normal ground...curious to see how it would do on rock or sand.) My friend's MSR had some condensation two nights and the Tarptent was bone dry. It's also super roomy - well, at least for a 1 person tent. My biggest complaint is the interior pockets are kinda small, which is hardly a complaint at all. The ex just ordered one for himself and got the "partial solid" inner and we're going to swap the inners so I can have that one. He wants the 100% mesh and I want just a little more warmth and protection. So I'll report back on the difference.
I am probably the only person on earth who doesn't think the Western Mountaineering Versalite is warm enough, but...I don't think the WM Versalite is warm enough. I'm not sure how that's possible. That thing is LOFTY. Okay, I mean, I don't get me wrong here. It's warmer than my Enlightened Equipment bag. So it was an upgrade. But I'm guessing it was in the low 40s for two nights and around freezing the cold night. I was 100% zipped up and cords pulled tight around the hood on the cold night and while I was warm enough, I wasn't as warm as I expected to be. I was on the brink. Plus I had those chemical handwarmers by my feet. I was using my women's Xlite (so R value = 3.9) for a pad. Everyone says these bags are rated conservatively, so maybe I'm just a cold blooded freak of nature. 10 degrees ain't happening for me in that bag. 20 degrees ain't happening for me in that bag. Ideally I'd like to be cozy around 20-25 degrees (not out of the realm of possibility in the mountains in late summer/early fall). I feel like I already do all the normal suggestions - I eat enough for dinner, I eat a bunch of chocolate before bed, I make sure I'm warm getting into my bag, I wear my beanie. I don't carry Nalgenes, so I don't have that hot water bottle option, but I always carry a few packs of handwarmers. (I have Raynaud's.) So I'm contemplating sending it into WM to add 3oz of overfill. I'm going to take my Xtherm with me to the Porkies next month, so I will see if that makes a difference and do more testing with it there. Fingers crossed I get one cold night.
Other than continually trying new sleeping bags because I am never warm enough, I feel pretty dialed in. Still using and loving my ULA Circuit from 3 years ago. Being cold is really putting a damper on my trying to reduce weight. I guess I just need to accept that I'll never be ultralight due to this. My baseweight was around 14.5 pounds for this trip. Not bad, but man, it sucks carrying 32oz of bag! (Soon to be 35??) The rest of my gear is great and I'm quite happy with it.
And shit, you're only like 6 hours away from the Sawtooths! Go!
Running is dumb.
I am old now and alcohol doesn't agree with me. Even one beer makes me all stuffy and then I can't sleep. I guess I need to do more day drinking?
hmmm... how is the Versalite cut- on the roomy side or the snug side? the cut can often play a role in how warm you sleep
3 more ounces of down certainly isn’t going to hurt, but sucks you have to go that route- WM has EN ratings available, but they state their ratings are even more conservative
the Xtherm will help some, but 3.2 R would normally be plenty for freezing temps
sometimes a little head covering, ie a light beanie, makes a big improvement in warmth, ditto on the feet- maybe a 1oz pair of Apex or down booties
Le professeur de trail
Thanks for sharing. Amazing. And +1 to what Mike said. You will come out stronger.
My favorite day of the week is RUNday
I lost my rama
I'm older than you. You have time to catch up. Thanks for sharing and taking us with you on the adventure. The ups and downs are much better than constant flats in life (not just the physical terrain).
3/17 - NYC Half
4/28 - Big Sur Marathon DNS
6/29 - Forbidden Forest 30 Hour
8/29 - A Race for the Ages - will be given 47 hours
hmmm... how is the Versalite cut- on the roomy side or the snug side? the cut can often play a role in how warm you sleep 3 more ounces of down certainly isn’t going to hurt, but sucks you have to go that route- WM has EN ratings available, but they state their ratings are even more conservative the Xtherm will help some, but 3.2 R would normally be plenty for freezing temps sometimes a little head covering, ie a light beanie, makes a big improvement in warmth, ditto on the feet- maybe a 1oz pair of Apex or down booties
I would say that it is neither roomy nor snug. It feels like a good width for me. I don't like feeling too claustrophobic in my bag. I flop around a lot. I'm 5'-5" and I bought the 5'-6" bag, so no issues there either.
I was wearing a beanie, sleep socks, and my pad was 3.9, sooooo.... I think I'm screwed. Maybe I'll try the booties first.
Sue
05/13/23 Traverse City Trail Festival 25K
08/19/23 Marquette 50 dns 🙄
I always wanted to ask you why you always went to the desert mountains but just figured to each their own. Glad you saw what drives me. BTW--that sure looks like the Alice/Toxaway loop I'm thinking and either Pettit or Alice in the one picture, can't remember which. When I ran that in there last year the only solo peeps were women. Strange. See a lot of solo men in the Winds.
Anyway, sure looks like a great trip, nice write up and pics. Well done.
Take Sudafed with your beer.
Don't obsess so much your pack weight, be comfortable. (jmo)
The Sawtooths can be very busy at times, it's a very short season in there. Glad you had a quality trip. Across the road east of the Sawtooths are another range called the White Clouds. A lot less people and almost as spectacular, just another area to add to the list.
E/A how did you like the trekker poles?
The joy is being single is going backpacking where you want to when you want to...although I have been with the DH 25 years this is what I imagine singlehood to be. So you are lucky although you may not thinks so. What's this bullshit about no beer in 2 months?!? (what LB said) Holy f$$k that has to be a nice sleeping bag!!! You have some nice gear; the cost of living must be pretty low in Wisconsin. My suggestion for sleeping at night was drinking at night....it at least gets you to 3 AM. maybe something harder than beer. Do you understand Warden's response to you? Sounds like a whole different language. Plus 2 on what Warden and Jamie said. Beautiful pictures...I need to go there. A lot of a terrain also looks like that. I am backpacking the Desolation Wilderness this weekend and DH is coming. We shall se how he likes it.
1. Truth, but pickings are slim for backpacking in the Midwest.
2. Beer/alcohol makes me all stuffy. Been going on for years now.
3. Holy f$$k it had better be for the price. I did get it for 15% off though.
4. I would say the cost of living in Madison is medium. Housing is nuts here. But yes, I am lucky to have nice gear. I also have zero debt and zero kids!
5. Drinking keeps me awake because it makes me stuffed up (see #3.)
6. Yes, I did. You have much to learn, young lady.
7. Thank you, Sue.
8. You have the Sierra Nevada - go there instead!
9. Awesome! Post a trip report in this thread!
I always wanted to ask you why you always went to the desert mountains but just figured to each their own. Glad you saw what drives me. BTW--that sure looks like the Alice/Toxaway loop I'm thinking and either Pettit or Alice in the one picture, can't remember which. When I ran that in there last year the only solo peeps were women. Strange. See a lot of solo men in the Winds. Anyway, sure looks like a great trip, nice write up and pics. Well done. Take Sudafed with your beer. Don't obsess so much your pack weight, be comfortable. (jmo) The Sawtooths can be very busy at times, it's a very short season in there. Glad you had a quality trip. Across the road east of the Sawtooths are another range called the White Clouds. A lot less people and almost as spectacular, just another area to add to the list. E/A how did you like the trekker poles?
Oh, I love the mountains. The timing just never worked for us to take a summer vacation due to jobs, kids, etc. So we wound up taking spring/fall vacations. We did go to the Rockies and the Sierra. We just didn't backpack there due to the weather. I see more summer vacations in my future. The Winds are definitely on my list.
We did Petit to Alice to Twin Lakes to Toxaway to Rendezvous to Edna to Imogene to Hell Roaring and out. Damn, that's a lot of lakes.
My friend has done stuff in the White Clouds and said it was awesome. Another time.
I meant to text you! She forgot to get the extra trekking poles from her ex-husband, so I was off the hook from carrying them. LOL. I can see their use for off trail travel, but I really like having my hands free. I never felt I needed them on trail.
Tim
The Tarptent Notch Li is freaking awesome. I still haven't had a chance to use it in inclement weather, but I think it's going to do great. Set up is a breeze. (At least on normal ground...curious to see how it would do on rock or sand.) My friend's MSR had some condensation two nights and the Tarptent was bone dry. It's also super roomy - well, at least for a 1 person tent. My biggest complaint is the interior pockets are kinda small, which is hardly a complaint at all. The ex just ordered one for himself and got the "partial solid" inner and we're going to swap the inners so I can have that one. He wants the 100% mesh and I want just a little more warmth and protection. So I'll report back on the difference. I am probably the only person on earth who doesn't think the Western Mountaineering Versalite is warm enough, but...I don't think the WM Versalite is warm enough. I'm not sure how that's possible. That thing is LOFTY. Okay, I mean, I don't get me wrong here. It's warmer than my Enlightened Equipment bag. So it was an upgrade.
I am probably the only person on earth who doesn't think the Western Mountaineering Versalite is warm enough, but...I don't think the WM Versalite is warm enough. I'm not sure how that's possible. That thing is LOFTY. Okay, I mean, I don't get me wrong here. It's warmer than my Enlightened Equipment bag. So it was an upgrade.
Heard that's a common complaint about the MSR. Condensation is the worst thing!!!
Some people are just cold at night, and sometimes it's medical. Raynaud's doesn't usually cause whole body coldness, but it can. low iron (anemia) and low thyroid (Hypothyroidism) are possible causes to rule out, and easy to check.
I can sleep in 10 degree temps with a 40 degree bag and feel warm. DW needs a heavier bag.
“Paralysis-to-50k” training plan is underway!
Beautiful pics and great report. So great you had such an awesome "nature therapy" session. I hope your heart heals soon and you can feel joy in solitude.
January , 2022 Yankee Springs Winter Challenge 25k