Michael: Seemingly Perfect

The hunters were there

With their high powered crossbows

Walking on the trails. 

 Tuesday, September 17, 2019



I was a bit jittery about doing the Silverton to Durango section of the Colorado Trail since I hadn’t done a solo hike in over 5 years, but the trip was a real confidence builder and went off almost without a hitch…almost.



Fortunately, the glitches were slight, manageable and even mildly comedic.



The smallest of glitches had to do with not packing something I hadn’t seen come up in any of the youtube hiking videos. That was a decent size nail file. By my third day out I had some pretty good size calluses on both heels that were causing some discomfort. This wasn’t surprising given that I generally file my calluses down every couple of days. So put another small item on the gear checklist because I overlooked it this time round.



And although I thought I had prepared decently for the cold nights at over 10k feet by buying a new inflatable mattress and pillow, I was slightly off. Although they worked great and I’ll use them again, my old sleeping bag was just slightly under filled. It was originally rated for 30 but given that’s about what the temps on a few of the nights were, I’m presuming that rating was either originally a bit optimistic or after hanging in there for over 15 years, it’s lost a bit of it’s loft.  I’ll definitely look into replacing it if I’m up that high again or in that kind of cold.



I was also thinking of ditching the idea of using a bivy again as it’s pretty damned cramped, and some of the single ultra-light tents are pretty damned light now a days. But There were a few nights where it was pretty windy and I could see the advantages of having such a low profile and small footprint. Again, I will probably replace what I have with a slightly sturdier and heavier version if I’m going to be that high up or in that cold of weather.



My pack was also at it’s limits. And therefore, if I’m going to make a few tweaks in equipment going to slightly larger gear, I’m also going to have to get a slightly bigger pack.



One advantage and offset of getting a more durable bivy will be that I can ditch the light but bulky foam pad I used to protect the delicate bivy I used on this trip.



So there’s the domino theory in action; although the trip seemed to have gone exactly as planned logistically, I’ll be making what could be considered major overhauls in equipment next time I get out there under similar conditions. I don’t see it that way. These are just minor (but costly) tweaks that come with getting out there and learning what my equipment and I are capable of. We worked well together this time out. And it makes me anxious to get back out there and see what I’ll learn and how whatever new equipment I get will perform together.