The Shipwreck Coast and Hurricane Ridge Olympic National Park

Well, the initial plan was a 3 day 20.1 mile hike from Rialto Beach to Ozette, but I had too much to do to get the pickup ready to tow the Subaru to the ending point. Not to mention not enough money to get it done in time for the trip. So the trip was restructured to about 17 miles, Rialto Beach to Cedar Creek, but just over half way to Cedar Creek Heather's shin splints were acting up from climbing over all the rocks. At Cape Johnson we decided to turn back to the Chilean Memorial and just setup camp. At Cape Johnson and shortly pass it there is 2 points that have to be crossed before the tide gets too high and we were 1 to 2 hour from that high tide. Hast would of had to have been made and with Heather's shin splints it was decided that it would be best to just make camp at the Chilean Memorial and not create a death march for Heather. I really enjoy her company and don't want to wreck any future chance of her backpacking with me. So in total, the trip was 9 miles from Rialto Beach to Cape Johnson.

Day 1, After taking my chemistry quiz, we did the inevitable forgetful dance of leaving small things at the house and coming back before we finally escaped the clutches of the house. The extra hour of driving on Hwy 101, behind all the slow people that can't read the speed limit signs was brutal... After finally picking up our camping permit and bear canister from Port Angeles WIC we headed to the store for some food and other odds and ends. A few hours later we finally made it to Rialto Beach around 7ish on the trail by about 7:30ish. We hiked out roughly 1.3 miles just shy of Hole in the Wall and found a camp spot tucked away in the brush above the tide. Magically a softball appeared at the entrance of our camp after the tent was setup... Any ways we finished setting up camp and hoped to catch a sunset which wound up being fairly drab. Then off to bed for the night.

food line up for original length trip


At the parking lot before it was definitely filled upon return to the car.




















Hmmm...


Day 2,
We hiked from near Hole in the Rock to Cape Johnson and then back to the Chilean Memorial to setup camp and hang out for the day. This is the most down time I've had on a backpacking trip... At the Chilean Memorial we also got around to cooking some raspberry and strawberry oatmeal mixes, mmm... dehydrated berries and oatmeal! Than we played a few games of war, and collected some water. Found out that the activator for my Aquamira was a 1/4 full and the chlorine only had enough for one liter. Thankfully I carried in twice as much water as I normally carry. Lesson learned check both bottles for how full they are versus just one even though they are a 50/50 mix to purify, or as what I'm headed to REI for today... Micropur ClO2 tablets so that I can just carry what I'll need plus a few more. We had to use Dead Man anchors for all but 3 stake points on the myog tarptent. The stakes just didn't want to hold in the soft sand, but logs did :D .


Hole in the Wall






Along the way to Headwall.
















Headwall




Rounding towards Chilean Memorial




Shortly after turning around at Cape Johnson


Chilean Memorial/Camp area, The long down time...








Heather standing by for the water to boil for oatmeal




The Corona shot with Gatorade


Stickpic shots




Dinner time






Day 3,
Packed up and headed out for the car. Heather opted out of a breakfast stop along the way and we hiked through to the car and off to Forks for breakfast. Than off to the WIC in Port Angeles and we took a side venture to Hurricane Ridge.











Hurricane Ridge Olympic National Park







A little reflection here instead of another post... The pie tin windscreen will still be a temporary recyclable piece of gear and I'll just remake it as needed. It holds it's shape really well compared to the old aluminum foil one I had made previously, but some of the strong winds blew the flame enough to melt a little aluminum away near the burner head on one side. When I buy some .016 Ti sheeting to make a Mont-bell style trowel I'll probably just make a base out of that for a more permanent solution one day, for now I have 2 more pie tins and plenty of trips left on the current pie pan base.

As for the Tarptent, the permanent floor was a great modification, but I found one more thing to modify. I'll be putting elastic attachment points just like the corners halfway down the long side of the tarptent to keep the floor from migrating inwards as you move on the pad and reducing the center width of the floor. Other than that the tarptent worked great!

Also always check both bottles of your Aquamira for how full they are, or switch to Micropur tablets which are a higher concentrations of ClO2 and have a full EPA purification certification without doubling or tripling the amount of Aquamira you put in...

The Elwha River April 2009 Gear and Trip Analysis

Well as a Whole the trip went off with out a hitch. We arrived at the ranger station in Port Angeles before it opened, and the park ranger was nice enough to let us in and fill out a backcountry camping permit for us. I also found out that my access pass also gives me 1/2 price on the backcountry camping permits. So for 2 of us it was only $4.50! After missing the Whiskey Bend turn off and backtracking our way to the trailhead we finally got a start on the hike around 9am. Since it was the first decent length backpacking trip of the year, we hiked at a decent 2.5 miles per hour, and added several long breaks along the way. We arrived at Elkhorn which is about 11.5 miles from the trail head around 3pm. We then decided to hike to the camps further up the river another 1/3 to 1/2 a mile up river for a better campsite (the really good ones were taken by a trail crew that had been there all week). The initial camps after the meadows on the Elkhorn Camp map were all wiped out by previous floods, so we didn't find an open camp until we reached the stock camps. The view at the site was great and we were tired of hiking so we pitched camp and started the camp chores.

It just so happened that the bear wire at this camp was not marked well... I walked past it several times and traipsed all over trying to find it (presently the leaves are all missing from the deciduous trees and all the branches blended in and looked like wire, along with all the little camp paths being covered by leaves). We had one heck of a time as always trying to get the camp fire going well... By the time we finally got it going well it was time for bed. The following day we munched down on a cliff bar and knocked out just shy of 4 miles till we stopped and cooked breakfast near Mary Falls. After breakfast we headed straight back with a few short breaks along the way.

Gear Analysis...
Warming layers-
First and foremost I should have listened to my gut feeling of what my particular needs are when it comes to warming gear layers. I don't like to be uncomfortable, and certainly didn't want to freeze to death... So I let myself be talked into carrying an extra fleece (fleece is heavy). Leaving the extra fleece at home would of saved a lot of pack space, and 14.55 oz (nearly a pound). I never used it, and with just my top base layer, shirt, and minima jacket on I was toasty warm down to 36 to 37 degrees first thing in the morning. Which also makes me wonder if I really even need to be carrying the heavy pant base layers. I still had a rain shell top and bottoms to put on to protect wind and add warth. I don't want to fully eliminate a set of bottom warming layers for early season hiking, but I am willing to look into saving 4 ounces by switching to a lighter weight merino wool base layer pants from Backpackinglight.com. The minima vest is made with a DWR water repellent and wind resistant inner and outer shells with a 1.8oz synthetic insulation. So it repels the wind on the torso and insulates extremely well.

Golite Ultra 20 Quilt
I'll do a full review and impressions blog later, but would like to make a few comments. I can't blame the design for the problems that I was having. It was mainly a user with new gear, who needs to learn how to thermally regulate while using a quilt. I've always had problems with staying cool in a sleeping bag anyhow. I just need to get the venting down to a science. When I closed up the quilt I about sweated to death! Which when venting led to a rapid cooling and repeating of the overheating scenario. I also loosened the straps that secure the quilt to the airmattress when I got up to go to the restroom in the middle of the night. After I forgot to retighten the straps, I did get chilled with a slight breeze. My mistake and definately can not be pinned to the quilt yet. Overall I like it so far though, but will need more practice with it before I can do a fairly comprehensive review.

NEOair mattress
The supposed noise that everyone is complaining about... Is definately not an issue for me. As I moved around the fabric on my quilt made more noise than the air mattress. The only time I actually heard the Air mattress was when I was rolling from my back to stomach. The mattress is extremely stable, my hips didn't dip into the mattress, and this is the only air mattress that I was able to easily lull into sleep on my back. Normally I sleep on my side and stomach because I can't get comfortable on my back on most mattresses. The insulation value of the mattress was extremely evident and possibly part of the problem I kept overheating. Between the insulation of my quilt and the Neoair mattress I was a serious sweat factory, even at 36 degrees Fahrenheit. When my feet got cold on my Jam2 I just curled up into a fetal position on the pad and warmed right back up. I'll post more on this mattress after a few more trips, so that I can hopefully take some more notes and test it under different conditions.

REI UL Peak Trekking Poles
Overall I like them, but the twist lock issue can seriously get annoying sometimes. I've decided on a couple modifications. I'll be removing the wrist straps since I don't use them, and because they get in my way when shifting grips for different terrain. Eventually I'll get around to writing a full review on them as well, along with possibly doing a blog on the actual different grips and techniques I use for different terrain while using them.

Tarptent-for-2
Great shelter so far, fairly light for a minimal 2 person shelter, and a palace for 1. I have decided on a couple modifications to do to the tarp after the last several trips. I'll be sewing the mesh sides to the floor to keep creepy crawley insects out and add a zipper on the bottom of the door and affix it to the tubbed floor also to enclose the shelter when needed.

Golite Jam2 backpack
Decent sizing, but slightly heavy for the size loads I normally carry and I don't see myself ever fully filling the pack unless I'm carrying a bear canister or thru-hiking the PCT. Mods to be done, remove the Hydration sleeve and salvage for the Golite Ion backpack project. After more time I'll do a full review of this pack.

Other Gear Ideas and Possible Changes
-Possibly combine the dry bags for the warming layers and sleeping bag, saving about 1 ounce.
-Remove the fleece from the kit all together, saving 14.55 oz.
-Still need to find some significantly lighter rain gear, possible weight savings of up to 14 oz.
-Switch to Micropur CLO2 tablets for water purification. Then I will only have to carry the amount of tablets to purify the water I'll need per trip plus a couple extra. I might also mull the idea around of assembling a lightweight (3.5 oz) gravity filter sytem to be used with the tablets to speed the purification by filtering out the larger organisms.
-REI waterproof matches to replace the standard matches I presently carry in my essentials.
-Lose the e+lite case, nearly 1 oz of weight savings
-possibly get a Ursack for food storage, chasing bear wires and or a tree to hang food from sucks when your tired, weight gain of about 5 oz.
-Baby wipes for field showers on short duration trips
-Get another niteclip #1 for clipping stuff
-Install vents for the Ti windscreen for my stove to facilitate easier air flow
-mont-bell potty trowel, then eventually make a .016 Ti-trowel from the montbell pattern.
-Gallon ziplock bag for laundry on longer trips.
-Buy an ExOfficio Vented long sleeve shirt to mitigate bugs and body temperature.