This weekend saw Pinch and I going for an overnight hike with the rest of the ORGT folks to a camp site in Vogel State Park. The length of the entire trail was nearly 12 miles, I think. The idea was to cover 6 miles each day. Started on the trail at 11 am Saturday morning. The first part was uphill, no two ways about it. Plus I had on this backpack, the first time in my life that I was hiking with one. It weighed about 30 pounds i.e. just short of 15 kgs, I think. Took some time getting used to it. The straps of the bag dug deeply into the skin on my shoulders and within no time, I had reddish welts running downward from my shoulders…:-(
The trail wound deeply upward and more upward and finally about 3:30 pm, we reached the camp site. Pitched the tents, found a stream which was surprisingly cold(!) and filled our bottles. The troupe leader had a certain apparatus which we used to filer the stream water and make it potable. Quite a neat thingy…:-)
A campfire was made soon, water heated and everyone had dinner. It was rather soon but we had to get that done before the daylight faded. The rest of the evening passed in chatting, tips on how to handle black bears which wander up once in a while and scary stories about ‘snipes’ who nip people’s noses when they’re asleep(purely fictitious animal!). Laid out our sleeping bags soon enough and off to bed thereafter except that I slept rather fitfully. Kept waking up in bursts….
The morning dawned soon enough and post-breakfast, we started the walk home. Strangely, this also involved some steep uphill walking. Pinch developed a muscle pull in his right calf and slowed down considerably. He found a sturdy stick which helped him make the trip. Phew! That was tiring and I was more-than-happy when we reached the base and clambered into the van back home.
Will post the pics later…. Inshaallah, more trips shalt follow!
parag says:
Wow! That sounds like fun. I miss being outdoors. We probably have to wait another year or so to let Ashwini grow up a little before we restart our camping/hiking.
March 30, 2004 — 8:18 am
Lakshmi says:
It was a lot of fun. Would be great if you could start on your hikes again with Ashwini in tow. Bet she’ll have a great time too… and will be one of the youngest and cutest hikers ever!
March 30, 2004 — 2:10 pm
hariputtar says:
hi.
we are so proud of you. great to know that u like backpacking 🙂 i have been backpacking regularly for a year now. we even did a couple of winter camping trips.
a couple of observations here. u may already know all this …
– about the marks from the straps: i hope ur backpack has padded straps. besides adjustment is essential, not only for comfort but also for positioning of weight. the backpack, moreover should sit on the haunches – with no tugging at the shoulders, almost. also, one should not put all the heavy weight towards the bottom of the backpack. one should distribute the weight evenly.
– water: u can buy (iodine) pills, that purify (but mess up the taste of) the water in about 30 mins (for a litre full of water). there are pills to make the taste a bit better as well.
– my gang and i shop at REI (rei.com) or http://www.campmor.com.
hope to read more of ur hiking posts.
cheers.
March 30, 2004 — 6:42 pm
Lakshmi says:
Re: hi.
The filtration thingy was loads better than the iodide pills, that we figured. My straps were padded and very well too… Guess it was a wrong choice of innerwear, know what I mean??!!!
Besides, the backpack was ‘tethered'(!) very well to my hips and it was just about suspended from my shoulders. I adjusted it a million times and was pretty fine with it till we reached the end.
We plan to rent all the gear we need from ORGT itself.. The next trip we’ve planned is with some friends to the Rocky Mountains sometime in May. Memorial Day holiday, I think? Hopefully, we might be able to do some one-day trips in and around here which don’t require a backpack or any such elaborate stuff!
March 31, 2004 — 3:20 am
rileen says:
Why on earth were you carrying that much? Food?
Thanks to you and, i’m now going to seek hiking opportunities out here 🙂
March 31, 2004 — 1:14 am
hariputtar says:
And these are some of my favorite things …
Maybe i should make entries of hiking memories, that will be a better place to post such large “comments”, however for now:
1. Sleeping bag (weight of the bag depends upon the cost)
2. your share of tent/cooking apparatus
3. clothes (depends on the weather. e.g. when we went for winter camping, we had to have a few extra pairs of socks. cuz the socks get wet cuz of walking in the knee deep snow, eventually).
4. food – one tries to backpack with dried stuff …
like dried soups, to which one can add water at
the camp site at the time of consumption.
however things like – vegies, cheese are heavy and cannot be
avoided. vitamins / salts / sugars / fatty food are good for
hikes. they are ready energy. protein-sources are a waste.
5. ready drinkable water (say 3-4 liters each. once we ran
out of water, and hiked for about half the way (4 miles) w/o
any water. it nearly killed us. even entirely muddy pools were
looking like options at that time. moisture from oranges that we
had was the only source for that duration.)
6. someone has to carry first-aid stuff
7. everyone carries small tools / lighter / torches or headlamps
8. and finally the backpacking bag itself.
…
9. and a bottle of wine.
March 31, 2004 — 2:00 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: And these are some of my favorite things …
Right on all counts… except the wine!
Strictly no alcohol on any trips of ours…:-)
Also, we carried 2 quarts of water from home and then we used the filter thereafter.
Also, a sleeping pad(so that you don’t sleep on the ground), a light windbreaker(in case of a drizzle), a plastic sheet on which you pitch the tent…
Know what, I’ve trekked in India in worse weather and NOT ONCE did we carry such stuff… It was the roughest and most bare-minimum kind of prep we did… :-)))
March 31, 2004 — 3:24 am
hariputtar says:
Re: And these are some of my favorite things …
– right you are. sleeping pads. and sheets too. :))
wow. u seem to be a seasoned campaigner. will surely get to learn sth from you then.
– gear: yes i agree. most of the times gear is not so useful. except when – the temp dips into 10-20*F range. we made an abortive attempt at scaling a fourteener in nov 1st week. we had not anticipated snowfall. it was the 1st of the season. we were under-equipped, under-clad. it was one excruciating night out there. and next day – we were so tired having not been able to sleep – that we turned back from 2K ft below the summit. 🙁 even the lakes were completely frozen, had a tough time breaking the solidified-surface to get some water. and it was so cold, that the even the water we got from the lake promptly started turning into ice. 😮
March 31, 2004 — 4:05 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: And these are some of my favorite things …
Not really seasoned, Hari… Besides, in India, unless you trek in the Himalayas, you never encounter snow. Least of all, in the Western Ghats!
That ‘snowfilled’ experience of yours seems rather painful…
March 31, 2004 — 4:42 am
rileen says:
Hari !?!
Sorry to butt in, but seeing him addressed as ‘Hari’ is way too funny 🙂 !! (
You could try his LJ for an explanation of the username)
March 31, 2004 — 6:33 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: Hari !?!
Did go through all this theories and explanations.. what do you suggest, Harry??!!!
March 31, 2004 — 7:08 am
rileen says:
No, no – if it’s going to be based on his username, then keep it ‘Hari’ – it just cracked me up, but that’s agreeable anyways 🙂
Of course, the man himself might have something to say about that.
March 31, 2004 — 7:10 am
hariputtar says:
silver lining …
it cud have been worse. what if locks chose to use: puttar :O
March 31, 2004 — 5:24 pm
rileen says:
Lol, good one puttar, oops, ‘Hari’ :-p !!
April 1, 2004 — 1:17 am