Sierrapaloosa 2003

“Thanks Hikin Mike - To be honest, I don't have a clue where I'm goin'”

“If your coming from Sacremento/Stockton, you'll probably take Highway 99 south right through Atwater (where I live) and Merced.”

“1x GPS [check]
1x Nikon Digital Camera [check]
5x 128MB Compact Flash [check]
5x EN EL1 Nikon Batteries [check]
1x Neutral Density Graduated Filter [check]
1x iRiver MP3 player (2oz) [check]
643x Lithium AA batteries [check]
1x Blue Polyproplene Cloaking Device [check]
1x 3'x50' Metalized force field barrier [check]
1x Full bottle of bug dope [check]

Let's go.”

“Ahhh okay.... I'll wave, then I'll zip into the Harley dealer and add another T-shirt to the collection”

“WW-

Got your email, but my computer has been jacked up with the ISP change over. Also had problems with my filter.

I'm now at comcast.net, but I'll try and get back to you this evening. Gotta get back to the office.”

“Hikin Mike...I think you should change your mind....and come on the trip. :)”

“Hikin Mike...I think you should change your mind....and come on the trip. :)”

“Hikin Mike...I think you should change your mind....and come on the trip. :)”

“Who's bringing the Tyrolean Traverse rope for the river crossings?”

“I'd like to, but financially I don't think it would be wise. If I change my mind I'll let you all know.”

“Mike, I'll kick in 20 bucks. ;)”

“Thanks Fritz, but I can't. You guys aren't making this easy...”

“Seeing as I'm back on the 5-day trip, I'll bring my extra Garcia Cannister for anyone that might need it.”

“Fritz: I'm going to Home Depot tomorrow - I'll pick up some extra chickenwire for you.”

“Mike...you're right...I am sorry, I know you're not happy about doing what you have decided must be done. Of course, do what is right for you and your family. I respect that. Just wish you could come.

I had to miss Montanapalooza last year for the same reason. I was depressed all summer. (Sorta.)

So, come hike Mt. Whitney with us on the 9th. :) That's a lot cheaper.”

“Hikin Mike...I think you should change your mind....and come on the trip. :)”

“WINGDING

wingding, thank you, that is a big help!

The only thing is, check back here later tonight or first thing in the morning before you go and buy it. I have an alternate plan in mind. If you buy it, of course, I will pay you for it whether I need it or not.

WANNABP/LANDSCAPER

I think we might stay in Visalia after all. The overall drive from airport to TH is 2 hours more than I had thought, and with the time difference, we would have to drive until 6:00am our time to make it to the campgrounds.

So we may need to forfeit the night of altitude acclimation in favor of safety on the road.

If we do stay in Visalia, does your offer still stand of driving us to the TH? That way, we could leave our car in Visalia, one less tasty treat to protect from the marmots. And we'll pay your entry to the park and pitch in for gas.

Would that work?”

“Only 33 more posts till #2000. Who we will be the lucky poster? Who ever it is has to buy everyone a beer after the hike!”

“Just finished packing by bear canister with 6 days of food (I will carry my first day's food in my pack) and it has a net weight of 7 lbs. That is barely over one pound per day.! I know that is not enough calories. What gives?

I think the Nature Valley granola bars take up a lot of space for their weight and size. Also, maybe too much air in some of the ziplocks. I repackaged all the freeze dried stuff to fit better.

I did this two years ago and don't remember having this problem. I was giving food away then.

Hope to catch some trout for a meal or two, but am not counting on it.

How are you other 7-dayers doing?”

“Thanks for the Whitney offer, but I'm going to have to pass.”

“A heads up on packing the cannisters. The 1st night there are park bear boxes, so you don't have to cram in the 1st or 2nd days supplies.

I'm so stoked!!!”

“Nav - Is that the first night on the trail?”

“don't look for me, but all of a sudden there's a chance i may indeed cross paths with the 7-day group. shhhh!”

“Hot Diggity Ding Dog Dang!!!!!
Outta here in less than two days.
I'm coming, Sir Naviguesser... :~ )”

“Phil, yes.

T-girl, I'm ready for ya! Come on down!”

“Hey Phil - I think if I don't include day 1 or 2, I can get a little more than half of my food into one bear canister.... damn hollow leg !!”

“Right on Tarbubble. Look forward to crossing paths!”

“Nav - Thanks. That will help a lot.

Tarbubble - Kewl!”

“hikerchic, The Chimera hurt my shoulders, so I gave it to Newgirl last year. I probably had too much weight in it. The straps were always loose and I had to tighten the shoulder straps all the time. My GoLite Trek pack is 4500 cu in (I think), and was ok with 24 lbs last weekend. The weekend before I was solo and carried 28 lbs but I got altitude sickness so I was miserable with that pack. I have to use it a few more times before I decide if I like it or not. Phil is borrowing Wingding Trek, so you can check it out. Its a great dayhiking pack! My other pack is a Kelty Flight, but its so dirty I'm afraid it'll walk away on its own. I have to figure out a way to clean it. I used it for the Wind River Range with the Expedition canister and 12 days of food and it felt fine (~40 lbs).

Fritz, I must've missed the post on the chickenwire. I'm not getting it for my truck. I was there last year and my truck was fine. I'll bring extra moth balls and ammonia and baggies.

Fritz, yes, you get one of the Expedition canisters. LDhiker gets the other one. I'm not sure if he was sharing with someone. One more is still available.

Fritz, just saw the post on denatured alcohol. I got some years ago to clean my bowling ball and it came in a plastic container. Is that what you want? If I find the bottle from bowling, would it still be good? Is someone already getting it for you? If not, I can try to find it when we leave town tomorrow. I try to go through all of these posts, but seems like I'm still missing some of it.

Less than 24 hours before we leave! Back to packing!!!!

. . . must . . . stay . . . off the . . . computer . . .”

“Tarbubble how will we know it's you?





Sometimes I just crack myself up!!”

“Snow, WW is taking care of my alcohol needs.

...hic...

;)”

“good question Navi, as i'm not sporting my fluorescent red hair these days, nor will i be carrying a baby. i can't even tell you what kind of pack i'll be wearing! maybe i'll disguise myself & make it even more fun. hmmm, wig or fake moustache...”

“Waaa....I wanna meet terriblebaby too!

Can't wait to meet all of you...leaving tomorrow...leaving, on a jet plane...WOOHOOOO!”

“I decided not to borrow wingding's Golite Trek because I will have about 10 lbs. more than it can handle. I am going to use my external frame pack again.

From all I can tell, the P2 is what I should aim for. It apparently will handle larger loads. Not sure what my pack weight will be yet.”

“Hikerchic - My quest for the perfect pack didn't end with the Mountainsmith Mountainlite, the Arc Teryx Bora 62 or the GoLite Trek. I thought the Trek was the one for me until I used it in the winter with the extra weight of snowshoes and crampons attached to it. It felt okay while out there, but my lower back would be painful for a few days after an overnight trip with the Trek when I got up to or over 30 lbs.

I just bought a Granite Gear Vapor Trail - it's 2lbs and does have a lightweight frame and a little more padding on the hipbelt. I'm going to give it a try on this trip to see how it does.”

“I just tried some of that Ready Crisp bacon from Costco...WOW it's awesome! But $7.99 for a half pound...ouch!”

“Wingding0, I'm interested in how your new down jacket works out, isn't it about 7-9 oz.? Ever since I started weighing individual pieces of gear, I've been surprised at some of the unescesary weight I'm carrying. Damn Tevas weigh nearly a pound and a half, down jacket weighs 22 oz., rain shell 21 oz. I'm hoping to have my pack weight consistently under 30lbs for 3-4 day trips by the end of summer.”

“There is a bear locker on the first night! Sweet. I have all my food packed, ( I did bring the tortillas, but I also like to snack on mini bagels. ( more carbs) I have six days of food but could not fit 4 mini bagels, a chocolate bar and two cheese crackers things. I was thinking about sneeking them into Ladyhiker's pack, but now I think I am covered. I did not weigh my canister, but there are six meals plus an extra one.

Hikerchic-
Are you going to try and transport your fuel on the airlines? They will not let you. Big no no. You better email one of those west costers to pick you up a bottle of fuel. I think just one of those small GAZ canisters should do it, plus with my big canister and the rest of the group, we should be fine.

I am packed and ready to get out of Dodge. I picked up some water shoes at Dick's for 6 bucks. Sweet.

My mind and heart are ready, I don't know about my body, but it is coming too. That is what motrin is for.”

“Hey all you 'five dayers' - Have a safe trip and we'll see you on the weekend. I'm hittin' the road south !!”

“The new down jacket is really nice so far, but I haven't used it out on the trail yet. The average weight is supposed to be 6 ounces. It feel pretty light, but I haven't weighed it. It looks like it's going to keep me really warm in the evening - way too warm for hiking in.

I've been wanting it for a while, but I couldn't find anyone that had Montbell products. Now REI.com has it, but only in large sizes. I ended up ordering it from the Montbell store in Boulder, CO.”

“I better get going - stuff is still on the dining room table and I have to go to the Ford dealership to get a new key made because I lost my truck key (had a spare, so I'm still able to drive). I hear they charge $75 for the key not including the remote opener. That's crazy.”

“Have a safe trip to all. It was a tough decision to drop out, but sometimes doing what is right is difficult. I'll look forward to reading all the reports and seeing the pictures!”

“wahooo!!!!!! I can't wait for this trip. Its gonna be a blast! Sorry for all those who couldn't make it. I'm sure I'll meet you in the near future”

“My pack weighs 39 lbs without water.I didn't think that was too bad for this long of a trip..

Flight outta here is at 8:15 in the AM...Can't believe it's actually here..

SIERRAPALOOZA BOUND!!!! :~ )”

“yoohoo t-girl. See ya on the 4th!

My table is full of stuff and still too much to do.”

“thanks snowy & wingding! Couldn't find the chimera anyway, so I ended up with the Lowe Alpine..um don't remember which one. But yeah, one of those. It feels good with all my gear. So we'll see how I do!

Tarbubble might be coming? Cool! Hope you can make it! Sorry to hear you can't Mike.

We'll see you 5 dayers in a few days!”

“If you haven't left already.............. We are taking my husband's truck since Tango is not going. My van got totaled while parked, and I got a new Pilot, but I don't have the heart to subject it to the Marmots. It's too shiny.

We still have to buy chicken wire, so will bring extra, plus baling wire or whatever to secure it and tarps or whatever.”

“Call us at the Days Inn -- under Bowerman or Clark. You can share our floor space and we can caravan in the morning if you want.”

“Tarbubble better bring that tarbubble drink she makes. She can also bring OMG. That would be nice.”

“Got your cell phone number in my hand, and I'm walking right upstairs to put it in my pack, so I'll call about 8:00 Thursday.”