Hikers/Back packers/Firetowers

[quercus21]

Bought backpacks today. On sale at Gander Mt. Gregory z55 backpacks. One for me and one for my oldest son. I will have to let you know how we like them once we have started using them regularly.

Ooooooh....so excited to go hiking/camping now! Work really interferes with my life.

Good for you with your new packs. I hope they work out well for you. We are going to be doing a bush wack this Sunday. Lone & Rocky along the Neversink. It's going to be long day. The worst part, we are going to be packing our snow shoes and most likely not using them........
What's your next hike?

 

[happycountryhens]

We have a campout and hike in Ava in a couple of weekends. Will try to get some pics. Not sure what we are doing next weekend. May have to plan something in. Maybe check the calander of the Tramp and Trail Club and see what they are doing. Also, gotta get the tires changed on the ten speed bike or trade up to another bike. (Whatever is more economical.)
Need...more...time!

Also, we want to plan a Brookfield hike this year.
Maybe one near Hudson, NY.
Really want to try one where we backpack in with the tents.

 

[quercus21]

Really want to try one where we backpack in with the tents.

Have you ever thought of trying the lean to's in the Catskills? They are usually within 3 - 4 miles from a parking area. There is usually a spot for putting up tents in the area. Either way, they are suppose to be shared. You can't set up a tent inside of one. You can camp out just about anywhere in the Catskills (trails and such) under the 3500' mark and 150' from the trial or water source.

Here are some pics from out last 2011/2012 winter hikes: Lone and Rocky - bush wack with a partial herd trail Left Vinny in the parking lot, at 8:30 am and 17degs (f). We made it out by 4:30 pm and it was 57 degs(f).


Canister & packs


Summit - Rocky


Heading off of Lone


A woodpecker afraid of heights?


Looking out from a cave

First hike for the year without ice in the water and/or frozen water.......

Enjoy
Kaj

 

[happycountryhens]

Day Hike in Brookfield - hosted by Rogers Enviornmental Center. They did a great job educating everyone.

 

[quercus21]

It's good to see green vegetation again. I have seen small shrubs with their buds popped. Some of the larger trees are should be flowering in a week or 2. From what I heard, maple syrup was to good this year. We are off for another hump Sunday, where I have no idea. The better half is picking to peak.
Enjoy

 

[happycountryhens]

So where did you go? We did bike care and upkeep and rode bikes around the driveway and yard.

Finally packed the gregory z55. Had to watch a u-tube video to get it right. Like where does the sleeping bag go?

I did notice that the guy in the video had a sleeping bag packed in something that takes up about a third of the room that ours does.
Hmmmm....can we say compression pack? Sigh...I am trying to purchace things a little as a time, upgrading as we go. The foldable cups and bowls look cool. Regular ones take so much pack space. And where do I hang my coffee maker? Don't people realize this is a must have??

Anyhow, we passed muster for the trip this weekend, so hopefully will have some pics of that.

 

[quercus21]

So where did you go? We did bike care and upkeep and rode bikes around the driveway and yard.

Finally packed the gregory z55. Had to watch a u-tube video to get it right. Like where does the sleeping bag go?

I did notice that the guy in the video had a sleeping bag packed in something that takes up about a third of the room that ours does.
Hmmmm....can we say compression pack? Sigh...I am trying to purchace things a little as a time, upgrading as we go. The foldable cups and bowls look cool. Regular ones take so much pack space. And where do I hang my coffee maker? Don't people realize this is a must have??

Anyhow, we passed muster for the trip this weekend, so hopefully will have some pics of that.

We have been getting yard work etc done around here. The wood 99% for next year is just about all split and drying. If it is warm enough, maybe a bike ride on Sunday, if not a hike in the Catskill Mountains.

Our sleeping bags and then some, can fit into a 2 1/2 gallon zip lock bag. They tell you to put everything in plastic bags? Nothing like crawling into a wet sleeping bag at the end of a day. You have yourself a small pouch with emergency supplies in it? Mine contains a couple of fire sticks, high energy food, tea, dry soup, waxed matches, space blankets, to name a few.
As far as coffee, I have one of those one cup coffee drip funnels. We still use the metal cups/plates with the enamel plating. Worst comes to worst, you can use them for cooking. You can also "pack fragile" things in them.

Looking forward to your pics.

 

[happycountryhens]

So, it was a nice trip Ava. A bit cold and drizzly. The boys did all the cooking and cleaning (yeah...that was cool). There was only short hikes last weekend, so it was a nice excersise in preparation. Ended up with the stomach flu on Saturday night, so I went home to be sick all Sunday. Yuck.
This weekend we went on an overnight trip to the observatory. Stopped at a museum on Saturday and a park on Sunday. Walked a couple miles by the river at the park. Saw some geese in a soccor field on the way back. It was a nice weekend. A nap would be good now.

Thanks for the tips on packing. We do have a ceramic single cup coffee maker to be used with boiling water. Just gotta figure out how to pack it. The sleeping bag is the problem, it just takes up so much room. We have our med kits in plastic ziplocks and our clothes in platic Hannaford bags, but everything else is unprotected. We shall have to fix that.

 

[quercus21]

Sounds like you making a head way. It's good to get the kids out and doing this. Ours, even grown up and out of the house still make it into the woods when they can. We might be able to sneak out this Saturday, but we'll see. We don't start camping for another month or so.

If we are heading into the woods for a extend stay, we drink instant coffee with creamora. I'll figure out what I think we'll need and mix it all together in a zip lock bag. Over nighters, I'll bring our coffee funnel. The on we have is plastic and found it at the grocery store. Something will get packed into it while in the "kitchen" bag.

You have yourself a emergency pouch?

 

[happycountryhens]

We have a large first aid pouch that I carry and the boys all carry smaller first aid pouches. We do carry firestarting kits, whistles, compass, maps, emergency rain gear, flashlights, water, snacks and extra carabeeners. Always extra socks (wool) and shoes in case of wet feet. I will add to this based on your suggestions of some dry fire starter and space blanket. I will always be open to any pearls of wisdom.

Working this weekend, so no trips. Got my bike back yesterday so will be riding it starting Friday. Will have to plan something for next weekend. Hopefully it will be a nice weekend. I try to avoid miserable weekends to keep the family really enjoying this. The weather suprises us on a regular basis enough to give us some wet weather experience. (Example: last fall at the campgrounds it rained every day we tented. Had to restart the fire twice daily due to heavy rain. Thankfully, I was keeping the wood in the car to keep it dry. Never packed such a dripping wet tent in my life as when we packed up from that camping trip. Then it rained every day and I couldn't get the tent up to dry for over a week. Poor tent may never be the same. It is a large cabin tent so there was no putting it up in the garage.)

PS: I would put instant coffee with cremora in small letters too.

Have you tried the coffee bags by foldgers? They look like teabags, but have ground coffee instead. They don't take up much room, although you would still have to pack the cremora.