Gearing Up: After the Fact

So here’s a review of our gear after having used it for a few days:

1. Tent – I love our tent! It’s so easy to set up and take down. It’s not tall enough to stand up in, but it’s quite roomy and easily fits two people with all their stuff. It even has pockets to put your kindle or phone into so they don’t get lost during the night. The only thing I would add to it would be a hook in the middle of the roof to hang the lantern from.

2. Sleeping bag/pad – our pads were quite comfortable, but man they were noisy! Like, really noisy. Just the slightest movement created a racket loud enough to wake the dead – believe me, I woke up each and every time he moved! Blowing them up and deflating them afterwards was easy enough, although Bryan’s took longer each time. And our sleeping bags were not warm enough; it got downright cold at night, so I ended up curling into a little shivering ball each night. I think that will be the next item on our Upgrade List.

3. Food – we brought the Mountain House type food this time, and it was okay. Not the greatest in the world, but certainly filling. I’m not sure I would buy their Breakfast Bowl again, but the rice & beans was very tasty. For snacks we had Cliff bars and M&Ms – with blueberry pop tarts thrown in for good measure.

3a. Hydration Bladder - I used my new hydration bladder on this trip and love it! Not too happy about the taste (it was supposed to not have any weird taste) but having water right there the whole time I’m hiking really helped my migraine issue. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the nozzle & hose – I just left it dangling but think surely there’s a better way.

4. Bear Protection – those bear-proof canisters are really hard to get into - which is the whole point, I get that - but we probably broke two or three nails each time we tried to get into the darned thing. 

5. Bug repellant – worked like a charm, except for the one place I forgot to apply it = my ankles have about 20 bites a piece on them! In fact, one bite actually created a bruise! I don’t know what critter that came from, but he has quite the bite!

6. Boots – my boots were very comfortable. They have more ankle support than I’m used to, but once I forgot about that, I had no problems at all. I should have worn the liner socks from the very beginning of our journey, however - I did get a little raw at first. But once I put on my layers, it was fine.

7. Packs – my pack rubbed me raw in several places, namely my collar bones and my hips. I have a feeling I just didn’t have all the straps adjusted properly. There’s only like a million straps, so it’s hard to know what to do to adjust the thing. It’s quite roomy, however: I was surprised at how much stuff can be stuffed into it.

8. Clothing – I pretty much wore the same outfit the entire time. I did bring lots of socks, and a change of clothing incase I fell into the lake or something. I should have brought a warmer sweater along – did not expect the cold (like I should have).

9. PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) – we arranged to send the SPOT to my sister Noel each time, and she enjoyed following our journey on the maps. It gave her our exact GPS location so that if need be she could pass that information along to the emergency response people to find us more easily.

10. Lodging – the B&B we stayed at in Homer was a very cozy little place, but not for everybody. It was very cluttered with all kinds of knickknacks everywhere. It was a small place but quite functional, with a very comfy bed. For breakfast the next day, we even got 6 fresh eggs from the chickens out back! Very tasty! Our host gave us all kinds of local information, too – very helpful.

11. Water Taxi – Ashore water taxi was very prompt and helpful. The captain of the boat was a fisherman, so he and Bryan talked fish the whole way. The boat was exactly the kind of boat I’d get if I lived on the water = small but perfect for getting around. I had a hard time not laughing like a maniac the whole way there and back because the ride was so much fun!

12. Electronics – my kindle worked perfectly the whole time, but I probably could have left my phone at home since I never even turned it on. My camera has issues, however: I am not happy with it at the moment, but have no idea how to fix the darned thing. I may have to just toss it and get a new one – which I hate doing. Thankfully Bryan’s camera worked so I was able to take pictures of the place.

13. Kittens – the kittens were so excited when we got home – they missed us! Naldo just kept running around and attacking our ankles as we walked passed her. Viktor was a bit stand-offish at first, but eventually crawled up into my arms to nuzzle my neck for a while.