• 1/3 cup powdered milk (enough for 8 oz of milk)
• 2/3 cup granola (could go to a cup here if you want)
• 1/3 cup of dried blueberries (you could go less to make them last)

During Labor Day weekend I had family out from the east coast and they watched me throw sticks for Zack.  He would leap through the air from the bank, plunge into the water and swim vigorously to retrieve the stick.  While doing this I came up with the idea of trying to photograph him from below while jumping through the air.

With help from another stick thrower, I stood in the water and took a couple of shots. Here is what I came up with..

If you look closely you can see the stick flying through the air in front of him.  Here is another shot of him launching off of the bank...

I was hoping to get him from below against the sky but I like the results.  It definitely gives you a feeling of the absolute reckless abondon of my dog Zack. 

What's funny is that he used to be afraid of water when he was about 4 months old!

So I did.  Here is a shot of the TracMe and here's what the TracMe website lists as the unique features of their device:

Shelf or storage life should be up to 10 years.

The picture doesn't really do it justice because the device only weighs 1.6oz according to the user's manual!!  However, if you read the manual there is this important disclaimer: "However, in some situations, you are required by law to carry a satellite PLB. For general activities not requiring a satellite PLB, the TracMe is a much better choice because it is affordable, lightweight, and avoids major problems if inadvertently activated. TracMe is not a satellite PLB."

The most interesting thing I found was this table from their website. All credits go to TracMe Beacons for this information.  

Here's the description from the posting...

This is the Ripsaw MS1, a scratch-built tracked vehicle created by Howe & Howe productions. It's very fast - its 650-horsepower blown 427 CID V8 rockets it from 0-50 in 3.5 seconds and lets it run up to 80 mph. It's also very agile, sporting a suspension with fourteen inches of travel that lets it handle bumpy terrain with aplomb. In fact, the Howe & Howe guys say it's the fastest tracked vehicle anywhere. We can't verify that, but based on the video embedded after the jump, it's clear that the Ripsaw does indeed have some serious giddyup. Lastly, based on the photo above, it can probably be made to look like a Cobra H.I.S.S. tank with a some extra effort, increasing its awesome factor by an order of magnitude. Who do we write the check out to?

For more pictures look here.

Later than night we experimented with some long exposures by the lake.  I got exactly one keeper.  It was this one.  The moon was bright and this was about a 15 minutes exposure just showing the stars streaking across the sky.

We then got up just before 5am and headed out to a location to watch the sunrise.  I got this one with the morning light just near Stanley.

Before heading back to town we spent some time in the meadows capturing some of the flowers.  This time of year can be amazing.  It wasn't as good as I've seen it in the past but you can see the potential in these next two shots.

Here's the other flower shot.

Of course I have lots more photos.  I took about 150 and Steve took about 600.  These were just a few of my favorites.

I expect that Steve will have his pictures up on his website soon.  I'm sure he got some great ones.

Piggy-back daypack

A piggy-back daypack is one that is designed to attach to the back of your regular backpack.  Since I have a couple of Osprey backpacks I picked up their integrated daypack called the Daylite (shown at left). 

It's not the lightest approach but it works very well if your backpack has that feature.  The bonus of this configuration is that it gives you additional pack space (750 ci) as well as a daypack.  The downside is that it weighs over a pound.

I've used mine a number of times and it is very comfortable and packs just about the right amount of stuff.  I usually throw a jacket in there, lunch, small first-aid kit, some fishing gear and a bladder full of water.  That will fill it completely.

Ultra-lite daypack

Another option is to stuff an ultra-lite daypack inside your backpack.  I bought one of these from backpackinglight called the Gossamer Gear G6 Whisper Backpack.  This thing is huge and weighs only 3.7oz!  It has abou 1800 ci of capacity and is fairly comfortable to wear.

What I like about this option is that it doesn't take much space in your backpack when stored and it weighs almost nothing.  What I don't like is that it is too big for my normal backpacks and it makes a crinkly noise when you walk.  The noise comes from the silnylon material (like a tent rainfly).  I find that I fill it about 1/3 of the way on a normal dayhike. 

A hiking fried of mine has another, smaller, ultra-lite daypack that he uses.  It's a Dana Designs pack and is also made of silnylon.  It seems to be better constructed and doesn't make that annoying noise.  However, it also looks heavier.  My guess is that it is just short of a pound.  I searched around the Internet to try and find a link and can't find it.  It looks like Marmot bought Dana Design but didn't hook up the links from the old Dana Designs website!?  Regardless, I did find some other similar options here.

Integrated Fannypack

Another options is to get a more full-featured backpack that has a lid that can be used as a fannypack.  Several of my hiking companions do this and seem to get along just fine.  I've tried it before and found a few problems.  First, the backpacks that offer this feature are generally larger & heavier then those that don't (like 1 lb heavier).  For example, my Osprey Aether 75 (~4500 ci) has the feature but my Osprey Aether 60 (~3700 ci) doesn't.  The space in the fannypack is very limited and not very comfortable if you put too much weight in it.

Summary

Lately, if I'm not hiking in that far I take my Osprey Daylite becase of it's comfort and convenience.  If the hike in is long or otherwise strenuous then I'll take the Gossamer Gear Whisper.  Does anyone else have any recommendations?

The MSR Hubba Tent is one of those pieces of gear.  Last fall one of the guys brought his brand new Hubba Tent along and it received a close inspection from the gang.  Now this year I think 7 of the 12 guys has either a Hubba or a Hubba Hubba (2-man version).

On the bottom left of this picture you can see the Hubba Hubba tent on our recent Hells Canyon trip.  The yellow tent to the right is my Black Diamond Lighthouse tent. Just above the Lighthouse tent you can (just barely) see a Tarp Tent.

I'm not one of the 7 guys that bought this MSR tent but I am curious about this latest rage.  I took a close look on the latest trip and it's not the lightest of the three tents shown but it may be the most practical.  Both the Lighthouse and the Tarp Tent are single wall tents which are very light (Lighthouse is just over 3 lbs with the manufacturer's poles) but under cold conditions can have condensation problems in extremely wet conditions it can even have a little saturation.

The Hubba Hubba is a light tent (about 4lbs 12oz full weight) but has double walls and two vestibules.  That's pretty deluxe for a two man tent.  It's very quick to setup and has excellent ventilation options.  I wouldn't call it spacious but it does have steep walls (like the Lighthouse) which makes it relatively comfortable to sit up in.

This coming season will tell for sure as all these guys get a chance to try the Hubba in a variety of conditions.  I'll report again as soon as I have more notes from the field.

Here's a shot of Tim during our recent trip holding a serving of coffee with the PRESS-BOT in the bottle.

This year when we were approaching that section of the trail we ran into a pack mule train headed the opposite direction (just coming down off of Suicide).

Notice in the picture that the guide is walking in front of his horse.  He saddled back up just after passing us.  He clearly was experienced enough in Hells Canyon to know it would be stupid to ride his horse across Suicide Point.

We spoke briefly with him as he passed and asked what he was up to.  He said he was supplying a group of bear hunters just above Sheep Creek.  Now I can honestly say I know what it means to be loaded for bear.

We had our own definition of loaded for bear which we realized on our last night before heading out to the trail head.  We had a little extra energy after the hike during the day so we headed out to the cars and picked up a mini-keg of beer and hauled it back into the camp site!  Here's my photograph of loaded for bear.

On the first day of hiking after the jet boat dropped us off we ran into two gopher snakes.

Above is the first small one that we found.

This one was a little larger.  Notice that there is a little variation between the patterns on these snakes.  The smaller one has a more regular and distinctive set of blotches down his back.  The larger one has blotches that run together.  This is not an age difference, this is just a variation in the patterns.

I know a fair amount about snakes because I used to catch them when I grew up in Florida.  When I got to college I caught and sold snakes for extra cash and I worked in a pet store that sold snakes.  That knowledge fades now.  I don't have much use for it any more!

Since we saw both of these gopher snakes in the first couple miles of hiking we were sure we were going to be seeing a lot of snakes on the trail.  One of the hikers in our group was pretty disturbed by that prospect.  Most of us just got a little more alert because we knew it was just a matter of time before we ran into a rattlesnake.

I was a little disappointed that we didn't see another snake for two days of hiking.  On the third day we did run into a rattlesnake.  He was a little bigger than the smaller of the two gopher snakes.

Here is shot of the rattlesnake we found complete with vibrating rattler.  Note that this one was not in our hands!  If you are curious about how to tell the difference. The rattlesnake is a fatter snake, it has a very distinctive triangular head.  The rattlesnake also has keeled scales meaning that each scale has a lengthwise ridge on it making the whole snake appear rougher.  You can see the keeled scales in this picture.

I'm not sure whether this is a western diamondback or a timber rattlesnake.  I don't know my western species of rattlesnakes very well.  Maybe one of the readers knows?

We found this one about a foot off of the trail.  I was hiking second in a line of several hikers and as soon as the lead hiker put his foot down next to the snake it started to rattle.  The snake kept moving away from us and then curled up in some leaves which is where I took the photograph. 

One of the guys I hike with has much more experience with Hells Canyon than I do and he said it's possible to see a lot of snakes if you time it right (or wrong depending on your opinion).  He said he sees them most frequently in the areas where the scree fields (loose rocks) cross the trail.  That's exactly where we saw this one.  So be careful and alert. 

Here's a tip if you are hiking in snake country.  If you come upon a log or a rock on the trail.  Always step up on to it and then over, don't step directly over the object.  People get bit when they put their hands or feet in places where they can't see.

Here's a shot of the campsite where I'll be waking up on Sunday morning.  In fact, that's my Black Diamond tent all setup for the rain that is typical during most nights in the canyon this time of year.

From this point, it's a relatively short hike back out to Pittsburgh landing where our cars should still be parked.  If I remember right, the hike is about 4 miles.

Once we make it back to the car we change into clean clothes, have a beer and some chips and celebrate another successful hike in Hells Canyon.  Here is our group from two years ago with me on the left.

Later this week I should have some pictures from this year.  Of course, now that you've taken the trip with me they may be old news.

This is a nice spring hike and I'd recommend it if you are anywhere in the area.  The trick is to catch that time around the end of March or early April when it's warm enough to enjoy, the flowers are starting to bloom yet the rattlesnakes are not out and the ticks are not yet a problem.  I'm sure this area of the canyon can become miserable later in spring or in the summer.  I've heard temps exceed 110.

Saturday is another nice day of hiking.  We hike for about 3 miles along the canyon before arriving at Kirkwood Ranch.

Below you can see the museum building where you can see artifacts from Hells Canyon history.

We like to hang around the museum for lunch and relaxation before hiking on another mile or two to another nice camp spot along the river.  There is a sweet campground at Kirkwood but it's usually crowded so we continue on.

Today is a particularly fun day because we go through a rugged part of the trail called Suicide Point.  If you look closely in the picture below you can see how the trail is blasted out of the rocks roughly 400 feet above the Snake River.  If you are squimish about heights you might not like this part.  No danger however, the trail is probably 8 feet wide.

The view from the point in either direction is fantastic.  Here is a shot of us near the point looking South up the river where we came from.

Tonight we will be spending the night in a rather exposed area of the river bank.  It's usually pretty windy so we tuck our tents into the brush and create an area to cook that is protected by bushes and rocks. 

Given today is Friday the 13th something is bound to go wrong.  I'm looking forward with great interest to see what it is!

Around 9am PT the jet boat will arrive from Lewiston, ID.  This is a tour boat that delivers mail to several outposts along the river.  We arrange ahead of time to have them pull over by the rocks (see below) and pick us up.

The boat will take us about 18 miles up the river and drop us just upriver from Sheep Creek.  As I understand it, there are rapids just above that point and the tour boats can't continue beyond that point because their insurance doesn't cover it.

Here is shot of us being dropped off up the river.

Notice there are a few tourists on the boat as well. 

From this point along the river we start hiking back North towards Pittsburgh landing.  Here's a good shot of the trail along the river that we will be traversing today.

Today, Wednesday, we will be driving to Pittsburgh Landing just west of Riggins, Idaho.  Here you can see how the road drops into Hells Canyon just before arriving at the landing.

We will be car camping tonight along the Snake River waiting to catch a jet boat up the river in the morning.  One of the guys has graciously prepared a full rack of ribs for each person on the trip with a dry rub and smoker.  The first night will be a deluxe - full car camping gear!

We will catch the boat at about 9am PT unless it shows up nearly two hours early like it did a couple of years ago.  There's nothing like the feeling of rolling out of your tent and seeing the boat coming when you haven't packed up your gear yet! 

If you've poked around on the Hiking Ideas site you have probably seen my pictures from Hells Canyon in years past.  It's a non-traditional hike for me.  Most hikes are in the high country, above 7,000 feet.  The Hells Canyon hike is around 1,200 feet.  That makes it great for early season but it's also different for other reasons.  It's desert country; lot's of cactus and plenty of sagebrush.  It's also a river hike.  The trail is along the Snake River between the Idaho Seven Devil Mountains and the Oregon Wallawas. 

We drive in to a boat landing on Wednesday, spend the night car camping and catch a jet boat on Thursday morning.  It takes us 16-18 miles up the snake river and dumps us off on the side of the river.  We then take 4 days to hike back to the campground where we left the cars.  The hiking is not strenous; each day is only around 3-5 miles.  So we generally spend a lot of time fishing and I like to bring my camera and do some photography.

The weather is usually in the 60s to 70s during the day and 40s during the night.  The days are usually partly cloudy and rain comes at night.  It's very comfortable for this time of year.

This year I'm planning on bring the heavy camera gear and my large (4500ci) pack.  I'm planning to bring a real tripod, a digital SLR and three nice lenses for a total of 6.7 pounds (in the table below all subtotals are in pounds).  Because of the excessive weight of camera gear I (currently) plan to leave the fishing gear in the car.  Of course, I'll bring the fishing gear to the campsite which means it will be a game-time decision but I can't see carrying 30 lbs before I add food and water. 

Here is my cushy, deluxe packlist...

It's called the Chair Walk.  You sit toward the front of the chair with your back straight and upright and your hands behind your head.  Then start walking the chair forward with your feet.  Of course, this assumes your chair is on wheels, if not this exercise is definitely advanced. 

I tried it out and it does isolate the hamstrings so if you stop by my office and see me wheeling around everywhere you'll know why.  Even if it does look a bit strange.  Backpacker Magazine suggests doing this for about 75 feet, then turn around and head back.  Then repeat this 3 times. 

Once you get your hamstrings all fired up here is a good hamstring stretch that my trainer showed me.  Stand upright with your feet together.  Take one foot and move it out to the side so your feet are shoulder width apart.  Now take the same foot and move it back so your toes are roughly equal with the heel of your other foot.  Now turn the foot that is behind so your toes point inwards toward the middle of your straight foot.  Squat down and put your finger tips on the ground in front of your feet.  Keep your finger tips on the ground and raise your rear end up in the air straightening your legs.  If you did this right you will find that the leg with the straight foot will have its hamstring stretched.  Hold that position for 15-20 seconds and then repeat with the other leg.

Mount Si is a popular day hiking location for the locals.  It appeared to have parking for about 100 or more cars and on this rainy, foggy Saturday morning it was still about 1/3 full.  The Seattlites are rarely let rain stop them from outdoor activites (otherwise they wouldn't do much).

The Mount Si trail is about 4 miles long and ascends about 3400 vertical feet.  It has a beautifully maintained trail that switch backs through a dense, lush forest.  The peak pops out into a rocky outcropping at roughly 4150 feet of elevation.  Very low by Idaho standards but there were patches of snow on Mount Si.

According to Steve, there is quite a view from the top.  I'll have to take his word for it because it was so foggy we could only see about 100 yards.  This shot to the right was taken at the summit.

I was really looking forward to doing this day hike because I wanted to test my work out regimine to determine if I'm ready for backpacking season.  Well the verdict is in, there still is no substitute for real hiking.  I woke up the next morning with sore calves and a few other aches and pains.  I'm in good enough shape for the season but I do need to blend in more hiking with the gym workouts.

Photography was a bit tricky on this trip because of the nearly constant drizzle but there were some nice colors in the folliage and I really liked the silouettes in the fog - like in this shot.

The forest was almost spooky.  The trees are so tall and they would disappear into the distance.  The dense ferns at the bottom of the trail slowly turned to clumps of glistening grass at about half way up and then later it became more rocky but dripping water and greenery was everywhere.  It was a great change to the typical dry forest or alpine country I normally hike in Idaho.

If you live in the Seattle area or visit I would recommend doing this hike.  It's great exercise (anytime you climb 1000 feet per mile you know you are getting exercise) and the scenery is amazing.

Fair-Warning phase:

• Run the stairs, 3 times, hitting every step with a 12lb weight in each hand.
• Run the stairs, 2-3 times, hitting every other step on the way up with a 12lb weight in each hand.  Hit every step on the way back down.

Early-Fatigue phase:

• Backwards Lunges - You take a big step backwards and let your knee drop almost all the way to the ground, put your hands out in front of you then rotate your hands 30 degrees to the left and then 30 degrees to the right.  Then push off with your front foot and take another big step backwards and repeat for about 10 steps.  Then turn around and go backwards for 10 steps in the opposite direction.
• Prone Cobra - Lay on your stomach on an exercise mat with your arms along your sides.  Then tighten your back lifting your shoulders, arms and legs off of the mat rotating your thumbs out and then up.  Hold the position for 10-15 seconds, relax and repeat.
• Supine Bridge - Lay with your stomach facing up, your shoulders/head on the exercise ball, your feet on the ground and your knees bent at 90 degrees.  Hold your body straight (upper legs aligned with back) for 20 seconds, relax and repeat.

Primary-Brutality phase:

• Romanian Deadlift - stand straight up and hold a barbell in front of you with your hands in opposite directions (one with palm toward you and one with palm away).  Bend at the waist only (legs straight) and let the weight go to just below your knees, count to one and then return to an upright position.  Be sure to start with a very modest weight, you can hurt yourself with this one.
• Hamstring Curls - There is a special machines for this.  Some have cables and some use free weights, some have you laying on your stomach and others are upright.  I prefer the upright machine that uses free weights.  The exercise involves doing leg curls (bending at the knee) with one leg about 12 times and then doing the other leg.
• FM Standing Lat Pulldown - Use the big cable machine (two independent cables with swinging arms).  Put the cables near the top but out to the sides (2/3 to 3/4 of the way up).  Face the machine and pull the cables down so your elbows come in to your sides.
• FM Standing Row - Use the same cable machine but now adjust it so it is about the height of your knees.  Grab the handle with one hand, balance on the corresponding one foot facing the machine.  Pull the cable in towards you so your elbow goes just behind your back while balancing on that foot.  Do 12 reps, then do 12 with the other hand and foot.  Repeat.
• Incline Bicep Curl - Use one of the benches that adjusts to an upright position.  Adjust it so the back is almost vertical but not quite.  Sit in it with your head back and a dumbell in each hand.  Let the dumbells hang freely at each side.  Now bend your elbows but keep the elbows in the same location.  This is a much more isolating bicep curl than the normal standing curls.  It should take your shoulders out of play so you won't be able to do as much weight.
• Standing Cable Curl - Find a cable machine that you can adjust to the floor and attach the ez bar (the bar with the bends that allow your hands to hold it so that your forearms face in at about 45 degrees).  Do curls but make sure you keep your shoulders back and out of play.
• Seated Calf Raises - Use the free weight machine if possible.  It has a pole to apply weight and a seat with pads that are on the top of your knees.  Do a couple sets of 12.
• Standing Calf Raises - I do these on the stairs.  I put a 14lb ball in one hand and put my other hand on the stair railing.  Then I put the ball of my foot (the one next to the weight) on the edge of the stair and do two calf raises and then move up to the next stair.  I go up the stairs this way until I can't do any more and then move to the opposite railing and work on the other calf.

Game-Over phase:

• Back Extensions - This uses the roman chair as shown in the picture on the right.  Be careful not to put your hands behind your head.  It is better if you just touch your ears with your finger tips so you are not tempted to put pressure on your neck.

If you have any comments about this work out I would love to hear from you.  I've been very happy about the effectiveness so far.

Fair-Warning phase:

• Run the stairs, 3 times, hitting every step with a 12lb weight in each hand.
• Run the stairs, 2-3 times, hitting every other step on the way up with a 12lb weight in each hand.  Hit every step on the way back down.

Early-fatigue phase:

• Tube walking - put an elastic tube around both ankles and step sideways, stretching the tube.  Never allow the tube to become relaxed.  Take 10-12 steps to one side and then repeat in opposite direction.
• Quadruped Opposite Arm/Leg Raise - Get on hands and knees on a pad.  Raise one arm straight forward along with the opposite leg.  Hold the position for 15-20 seconds.  Repeat with other limbs.  Do this until you hate it and you're ready to move on.
• Prone Iso/Abs - Get on knees and elbows on a floor pad.  Rotate your hands so your thumbs point up.  Now lift your knees so that your body forms a straight line with only your toes and elbows touching the pad.  Hold for 15-20 seconds.  Repeat until you wobble uncontrollably.

Primary-Brutality Phase:

• 1-leg Squat - Stand on a stool, bench or edge of something so one leg dangles off the edge.  It helps to be near a railing or something you can grab when you lose your balance.  Put your hands on your hips and squat on the one leg while you let your free leg drop along-side the stool.  Go down far enough that your knee forms a 90 degree angle but no further.  Do about 12 of these on each leg and then repeat.
• Bosu Balance Squat - Get the half ball (unstable platform) and put it in front of a dual cable machine so the flat side is up.  Swing the arms of the cable machine so the cables are at the lowest point.  Carefully grab each cable handle, walk around the opposite side of the half ball and step onto it.  You want your feet shoulder width apart.  Now do 10-12 squats.  The cables should provide resistance and some stability.  I use 50 lbs but you might want to start with less until you get balance.
• 1-Leg Extension - This is the standard seated leg extension machine.  Do a set of 10-12 on one leg before doing the other leg.  Repeat a second time.
• SB Pushups - You'll like this one.  Take the big stability ball and do pushups with your ankles on the top of the ball and your hands on the ground.  It's like an incline pushup where you have to retain your balance.  Be careful when your arms start to give out - it would be easy to break your nose!  You can make this exercise easier by moving the ball toward your knees.
• FM Split Stance Flyes - Take the cable machine and set the height of the cables about 2/3 of the way up to the top.  Take the cables in each hand with your back to the machine.  Step forward and then bring one foot in front of the other with your knees slightly bent.  Now, straighten your arms in front of your chest bringing your hands together.  Let them go back so your elbows go just past 90 degrees.  Do about 12 of these and repeat with the other foot forward.
• 1-Arm Alternating Shoulder Press - Take two dumbells, one in each hand.  Stand on one leg with the other one bent so the foot is just above the ground and slightly behind.  Now raise the dumbell from your shoulder above your head until your arm is straight.  This should be on the side you are standing on.  Do 12 reps and then swap feet and do it with the other arm.
• 3-Position Scaption/Elevation on SB - Take a stability ball and put it about 4 feet away from a wall.  Then stand with your back to the wall.  Lay on the ball so it is between your gut and hips.  Wedge your feet into the base of the wall to give you stability.  Keep your body straight but not arched.  Let your arms dangle and then bring them up about 30 degrees from the angles of your legs while rotating your thumbs away from your body and then toward the ceiling.  Holding the thumb position towards the ceiling move your arms to point 90 degrees out from your body.  Then move your arms another 45 degrees forward.  Let them dangle and repeat the three positions.  Do a set of 10-12 of these.
• Supine Bridge Tricep Extension - Take two dumbells, one in each hand.  Sit on a stability ball and slide down so that the ball rolls up your back to your shoulders.  Form a position such that your knees are at 90 degrees, feet on the ground, body parallel to the ground and shoulders on the ball.  Your arms should be straight up with the dumbells in each hand.  Now bend just your elbows so the weights go behind your head.  Stop when your elbows hit 90 degrees and go back to straight.  Do two sets of 12 of these.

Game-Over Phase:

• Jack Knife - Sit in a V position on the mat and bend your knees and close the V while holding your arms out to balance.  Do about 10-15 of these twice.
• V-sit with rotation - Sit in the V position on the mat like the previous exercise except this time hold a weighted small ball in your hands and move your arms 45 degrees to each side.  Continue until your abs are on fire.
• Lateral Obliques - Use the roman chair (the contraption where you can do the opposite of sit ups - where your head points down with your legs in the machine and you straighted up your back) except lay on your side.  Make your body straight and put a weight in your downhill hand.  Then crunch your side so your head and shoulders move to a more upright position.  This should isolate the muscles on the side.

My next post will be the other workout plan that covers hamstrings, back, biceps and calves.

Somewhere in the middle of 2006 I had to go out and buy new clothes.  Then around the end of 2006 the new clothes wouldn't fit anymore.  Ouch!  I was faced with acknowledging my continued weight gain by revisiting the store and putting the (old) new clothes in storage. I couldn't do it. I finally got motivated to deal with the problem.

Since January I have been focused on losing weight and gaining strength and I'm happy to say I'm making progress.  I've lost 19 pounds and I'm well on my way to redistributing the remaining weight.  Now, my old new clothes are baggy.  I'm back to being able to wear my old, old clothes!

When I started at the end of December my goal was to lose 20 pounds with a stretch goal of 25 before my first backpack trip of the season (Apr 11th).  I'm confident by the end of this week I'll have met the lesser of the two goals.  That means I'll be back to the weight I was in the picture in the upper right of the Trailcraft page.

Here is how I did it.  The first 8 weeks I ate a balanced diet, cut out the snacks and bad eating habits and got aerobic exercise.  I did not starve myself but I did feel hungry while my body adapted to the new calorie intake. By doing this, I averaged losing roughly 1 1/2 - 2 pounds a week.  I no longer feel hungry but I still watch my portion size closely.

About 4 weeks ago I got serious about strength building again.  I restarted my old workout routine (from 2005).  After roughly a week of doing this I decided to look into hiring a personal trainer at my gym (Gold's gym).  I found a trainer who was also is a backpacker and he put together a program designed specifically for backpacking.

Although it was expensive to hire a trainer, I'm glad I did it.  Mark, my trainer, designed a plan that is far superior to my previous plan.  Every major muscle group gets hit by at least two different exercises so nearly every visit to the gym is both exhausting and leads to progress.  The other advantage to his workouts is that nearly every exercise incorporates balance which builds the stabilizing muscles.  

With my old work out routine it never seemed to matter how hard I worked out, when I got on the trail the stabilizing muscles in the legs and core would be sore.  I'm optimistic that I'll be in better shape this time. 

In my next posts I'll publish the workout routine that Mark set up for me.  If you don't currently have a great work out routine you should try this one.  If you do have a great routine or a lot of fitness experience, I'd love to hear your feedback on what I'm doing.

I usually carry a small bucket full (actually around 5) of these black ant patterns and fish them until the fish have torn them to pieces.

Every once and while I run into a situation where old-trusty, the black ant, doesn't work so then comes the rest of the kit.  Here are a few of my other favorite backcountry patterns:

Subsurface flies:

• Black leech pattern (like a size 8, bead head, black woolly bugger)
• Generic beaded subsurface pattern (like a size 14 beaded hairs ear)
• Minnow pattern (like a size 8, conehead muddler minnow)
• Prince nymph (size 16)

Dry flies:

• I bring a collection of different midge patterns in black, cream, grizzly, brown and dun.  I like very small versions of these (size 18-22).  These are the "match-the-hatch flies"
• Caddis fly (usually size 14-16 elk-hair caddis - these are just downright fun to skate across the surface to attract a hard hit)
• Royal Humpy (usually size 16)

Terrestrials:

• Flying cinnamin ants (size 16-18)
• Hoppers (size 10-12)
• Beattles (size 14)

That's the core stuff but I usually throw in some other miscellaneous stuff for when times get tough and nothing wants to bite (this is rare).

I have a couple of other recommendations if you're just getting into fly fishing in the backcountry:

• Put together a different fly box for the backcountry then you would normally take fishing.  It's nice to not have to deal with reorganizing and searching everytime you get ready to go on a backpacking trip.
• Use the little foam boxes to organize your flies.  They are extremely light, they float and they pack well.
• If you don't already have a backcountry fly box, try one of the Internet discount fly shops.  I highly recommend Blue Fly Cafe, their flies are around $.65 and are excellent quality.  Also, Big Y Fly Co has even slightly lower prices (around $.55) and seems to have consistently good quality as well.
• If in doubt about the size of a fly to buy, get the smaller one.  Most fly fisherman fish with flies that are too large.  There is no relationship between the size fly on your line and the size fish you catch.  I've caught some enormous trout on size 24 flies.

However, the gotcha is that it's not well protected in that light sleeve.  If I really wanted to protect it then I would pack it in the hard case that it came in.  But then it would weigh 19 ounces, be 15" long and 3" in diameter.  That's almost an extra pound and a fair bit more pack space. So what is a backpacker to do?  Go light and fragile or safe and heavy? The choice is yours but here are a couple of ideas.

Usually, I go light with just the sleeve but I give the rod a little extra protection by packing it along the side (on the inside) of my pack with my tent poles around it.  I then make sure there isn't anything hard (like a fuel canister or a pot) right up against it. I've packed a rod like this on probably 15 trips without visible damage to the rod. 

The case that comes with my rod is similar to most factory rod cases.  It is a cordura-wrapped PVC case with individual sleeves on the inside.  It weighs about 1 lb by itself.  A decent alternative to this case for a (7 piece or 9 piece) rod that breaks down small enough to fit inside the pack is to use a cardboard mailing tube.  I have one that weighs just under 4 ounces and it's 21" long and roughly 2 1/8" in diameter.  If I cut it down to 14" to match my rod it should weigh under 3 ounces.

If you have a 4-piece rod things get a bit more complicated.  My 9-foot, 4-piece, 5-weight rod has 27" sections.  That's too big to go inside my pack.  Even though it would nicely fit inside a mailing tube I would be nervous that rain would destroy cardboard of the tube (I've never tried to see how much rain one of these tubes can handle).  Your options are to either risk the rain, try and waterproof it or find some other protection.  A garbage bag would protect it and weighs less than an ounce.  That's probably the best option.

Another option is to get a plastic rod tube like the one offered by Backpacking Light.  I have a picture of it on the right here.  According to the specs, my rod would fit inside their 1 1/2" diameter, 36" long tube which weighs only 3 1/2 ounces.  That's a nice option and I might even be able to make it lighter by trimming it down to 27".

What I've seen most other backpackers do is to get a simple PVC tube (no fancy cordura or anthing) with plugs on each side.  I tried going this route once in the past for my 4-piece rod but you don't save much on weight.  I have a 31" PVC that is 2 1/2" in diameter and it weighs 13.5 ounces.  Needless to say, I was disappointed by this and it only went on one trip.  

Another creative idea that I have tried is to buy a golf club tube. Some higher end golf bags use these tubes to keep golf clubs from bumping into each other.  You can buy these individually at golf stores for less than $1 and they are very light.  The downside is that they are only 1 1/4" inches in diameter which means they are too small for all the pieces of most rods.  On the positive side, they are strong, 30" long and weigh about 2 ounces!  A friend of mine uses one for his 7-piece rod.  He cut a slit down the side, stuffed the rod inside and uses rubber bands to hold it together.  That works great for an inside-the-pack solution. 

If you've got a clever solution to this problem that I didn't list here then please make a comment below.  Many backpackers will be appreciative!

Roughly five years ago I read the (very popular) Bill Bryson book titled "A Walk in the Woods".  This is another book that I would recommend but for completely different reasons.  Bill Bryson is an amazing writer with a gift to make the simplest activities in life absolutely hilarious.  I just about split my sides when Bill talked about shopping for a backpack and discovered that, although backpacks are designed for outdoor wilderness travel, they are not waterproof. 

Bill Bryson's book is highly entertaining but Jeff Alt's book is a more realistic, down to earth and enlightening story about attempting this amazing journey of 2,160 miles through thirteen states.  In fact, there is quite a contrast between these books because Bill has the literary advantage over Jeff (there are places in Jeff's book where the sentence structure will cause the reader to stumble) but Jeff has the content to make a full story.  A Walk in the Woods trails off (pin intended) as Bill decides not to complete the thru hike and instead section hikes part of the northern end of the trail.  Jeff's book ends triumphantly as he hikes the last few miles with his family and gets his picture taken on the top of Mount Katahdin, Maine, 147 days after he started.

The title of Jeff's book comes from the Sunshine Home where his brother with Cerebral palsy resides.  Jeff dedicated his hike to raising money for the Sunshine Home and ended up spawning an annual fund raising hike titled Walk with Sunshine.

I was amazed that Jeff hiked the entire distance with a 50+ pound backpack.  There is no doubt that he was in excellent physical shape by the end of the trip when he was regularly doing 20+ miles a day.  For the vast majority of backpackers I know, doing a 20 mile day with a 50 pound backpack is almost inconceivable let alone doing it day after day for months.

In fact Jeff wrote about hiking 16 miles on the first day while wearing the insoles of his boots on the wrong feet (later this led to his trail name of "Wrongfoot").  This started him out with blisters all over his feet but he continued logging many miles each day even through this pain.  After reading what he endured in just the first few days of his hike I had no doubt that he could withstand the punishment that a five-month hike could dish out.  I'm sure I would be part of the 90% of thru-hiking attempts that don't make it past the first 500 miles.

There are many more stories throughout Jeff's book about his adventures and the other thru hikers he met.  It's an engaging story and I'm thankful to Jeff for sending it to me.  Now that I've read it, I feel like I've made the trip. 

The general rule when selecting a fly rod is to find one that feels light in the hand and has a smooth and consistent action (how it bends and reacts to the fly casting motion).  You can get fly rods of different flexibility to match your own pace of casting.  A tip-flex rod is a faster casting motion and can carry a heavier fly more distance.  A mid-flex rod is a slower and more relaxed casting motion. 

Another factor to consider is the length of rod and the number of pieces.  Most fly fisherman generally prefer less pieces because the assumption is that the action in the rod will be more consistent if the construction of the rod is not interrupted by connectors.  My personal experience is that the number of pieces means less than the overall quality of construction.  I have a 9-piece, 9-foot rod that responds very well even though it is interrupted every foot by a ferrule (a connection point).

A backpacker has to seriously consider the packability of a rod.  If you go with a standard 2-piece or even a 4-piece rod it's not going to fit inside your pack.  That means you will need some kind of rod case that is strapped on the back or side of your pack (like the image to the left) that will protect the rod from damage.  Most rod cases are made from PVC and add a noticeable amount to the weight of your pack.  In addition to the weight, you have to deal with the rod case catching every low hanging branch along the trail.

One of my fishing/backpacking buddies always carries a 4-piece fly rod on our trips. He does it by toting it in his hand for the entire hiking trip.  I've never heard him complain but it looks like a hastle to me.

The bottom line is that I recommend a rod that breaks down into at least 5 or 6 pieces.  Preferably 7 pieces.  One of my personal favorites is the Orvis Frequent Flyer.  It's a well constructed 7-piece rod that packs easily inside the backpack (about 17" packed).  My favorite all around version of this rod is the 905-7, that's a 5-weight, 7-piece, 9-foot rood that has a tip flex. 

The reason I like this rod is that is heavy enough to cast a fly a fair distance out into a mountain lake.  The combination of the 5 wt and the tip flex is about all you need to send a (more heavy) subsurface fly (like a leech pattern) far enough out to get the deep water.

If you are not familiar with the weight system of fly rods let me briefly explain.  For inland trout fishing you generally use a rod between a 3 and 6 weight.  The lighter weight (e.g. 3 weight) throws a thiner fly line a shorter distance.  The heavier rod (e.g. 6 weight) can throw a heavier line a further distance.  If you are fishing a small stream for small fish you may want a 3-weight rod so you can finesse the fly into a small area.  If you are fishing a lake you probably want heavier rod.  A 5-weight rod is a happy medium that can fish most situations.

I carry a 6-weight when I'm around large bodies of water (like the Snake river) and there are opportunites to catch bigger or more aggressive fish, like bass.  I carry a 3-weight when I'm doing backcountry stream fishing (this is rare).  Usually, I carry a 5 weight.

Now that I have talked up the Orvis travel rod I'll tell you that I don't actually own a 5-weight version.  I have a 6-weight and a 3-weight Orvis rod.  My 5-weight is a 9-piece rod from LL Bean.

The LL Bean rod is highly packable (only 13" long when packed) but I don't like the construction as well as the Orvis rod.  This may just be a personal preference but something about it doesn't feel right when I'm casting.

I've been traveling a lot so it has been difficult.  Regardless, I'm rededicating myself to regular blog entries and I'm giving you the freedom to harrass me if I start slacking again!

About 2 years ago I decided to wander from my standard fly fishing kit and try a braided leader with a bimini tippet because it sounded like it would be a little lower maintenance then the standard leader/tippet combination.  To summarize my experience I would say that I'm not going back anytime soon.

If you're not very familiar with fly fishing let me give you a little context.  You typically setup your fly reel with several types of line attached to each other.  Each of these types of line serves a slightly different purpose.  You start with line backing then attach that to standard fly line (the wide colorful line) which is in turn attached to a leader (which tapers down to a narrow stealthy line).  The leader is attached to tippet (very narrow line) which you tie to your fly.  The leader and tippet are nearly transparent and help make the fly look like it's not attached to anything.  Unlike the leader and tippet, the fly line is thicker and has enough mass that you can throw it out into the water with the traditional fly casting motion.  The tippet is the most disposable part of the line which you cut everytime you attach a new fly.

There are several problems with the standard fly line setup.  One is that the leader and tippet tends to get curled up after staying on the reel for a while.  So when you first bring it out and cast it out onto the water it looks like a slinky.  You can address this fairly well by pulling the leader through a pinched piece of rubber called a line straightener.  This works fairly well but it's a pain and who really wants to carry a line straightener anyway?

Another problem is that when you use up your tippet you have to trim off the end of the leader (where it is tied to the tippet) before tying on a new tippet.  This means your leader is getting ever shorter as you continue to swap flies while you fish.

Here's the beauty of the braided leader and bimini tippet.  The braided leader doesn't hold a memory of the curls on the real.  It always lays flat.  In addition, the leader attaches to the bimini tippet with a loop so you can detach it without cutting it off.  Also, the bimini tippets are already cut to size.  It's the perfect lazy fisherman's gear.

If I go out for a day of fishing in the car I don't really mind fussing with the normal gear but when I'm backpacking it just seems like every moment is more precious.  Because of that I don't mind spending a little more on the little things.

If you're an occasional fly fisherman or you like to fly fish when backpacking I definitely recommend you take a look at this setup.  It's very low maintenance.

If you are going to fly fish you need some kind of little pack to carry all the little items you'll need with you.  There are probably as many different kinds of fly packs as there are fisherman.  When I'm backpacking I'm a minimalist but I still need to carry enough items that it is a problem to try and stuff them into my pants pockets while I'm fishing.  I searched on a number of websites and in stores for something that would work but is still ultralite and finally gave up.  What I ended up doing is having a place on the Internet make me a custom fanny pack made from silnylon fabric.

Here's a picture of my ultralite fanny pack next to a fly reel to show scale. It has a waist strap, a zipper and that's it.  I stuff it with three small fly boxes, and the miscellaneous tools of the trade.  The fanny pack by itself weighs 1.5 ounces.  The Moonbow Company made it for me and they would probably make another if you contact them.

Here are a few of the items I carry. This shows two of my three small fly boxes and floatant, a special nippers, sinkers and some tippet.  I also carry a hemostat, extra leaders and sometimes I carry a line straightener (removes the curls that get into the leader from being on the reel).

The nipper you see here was a recent addition to the kit.  Orvis calls it a magnifier snips because it has a small magnifying glass that extends over the end to help you thread flies or cut line. It also has a fly threader that you can use with the magnifying glass to thread those miserably small flies.  If you look closely at the image on the right you can see the fly is on the threader which has been extended from it's normal hidden location.  Beware, that threader is a weapon.  The first time I extended that rascal, it stabbed righ into my thumb.  On the back end of the device is a little needle that Orvis calls a hook-eye reamer (I love these names).  It's used to clear the hook eye of any obstructions prior to tying it onto the tippet. 

If you throw all this stuff together inside the fanny pack it weighs just under 6 ounces.  Of course you still need the fly rod and reel, but that's pretty good for a very functional kit.

The jury is still out until I try one of her recipes but the idea is compelling. Particularly since you can make a little extra and eat it for dinner at home the night you plan to do the dehydrating. This means it's not much extra work than you would be doing anyway. Plus, some ingredients like milk and eggs would not be safe to take raw for very long but work OK if they have been cooked and then dehydrated. Of course, you can always use powdered milk or powdered eggs and then you don't have to worry about it.

Linda contends that you can store meals that are dehydrated in entirety for 2 years or longer if they are put in the freezer. This means you could put together a season's worth of meals in advance and put them away in the freezer until you are ready to go.

The book is not all perfect, I have to ding Linda on her coffee recommendation. No self-respecting coffee drinker is going to be able to stomach instant crystals for a coffee solution. Read my prior descriptions for better coffee options. I'll let her off the hook because she comes right back with a nice breakfast casserole recipe complete with minced onions, mushrooms, whole-grain bread cubes, grated cheddar, eggs and cayenne pepper. Not too bad. That would beat the heck out of my normal granola and milk option.

The true test for a backpacking recipe book is the lunch recipes. Lunch is always the toughest meal because it's a pain to get out the stove to cook something up so you're limited in the kinds of things you can put together. Linda tackles this tough topic with a small assortment of homemade spreads that you can put on crackers, chapatis, tortillas, bread or the like. She has choices that include hummus, brushetta, curried tofu, hot bean spread and others. She also has cracker recipes and toast recipes to use for either breakfast or lunch. I'll probably try at least one of her spreads on my next trip. I'll report back how it goes.