New Start Date

Okay, it looks like spring will never get here.  While some may like hiking in cold weather it is not for me.  I hope to get back on the trail the first weekend in April.  At that time I plan on meeting my son and his wife for a weekend camping trip, probably covering some of the trail I have already covered.  They will drop me off at Horse Gap on that Sunday so I can pick up with the section of the trail I skipped.  I now have a hardshell bear canister, so I will stop at either Jarrod Gap or Blood Mountain Shelter.  The canister is required for overnighters in that section of the trail.  Another reason for going with the canister is that I can now carry food items that would be squished or crumbled if stuffed in my pack.  There is additional weight of 2 lbs, but I have changed over to a new lighter, more compressible sleeping bag which should make up the difference.  My old sleeping bag was a synthetic zero degree bag that kept me warm at night, but it is really a heavy winter bag.  The new one is a three season down bag rated at 20 degrees.  Even though I loved the Solo Jet Boil stove, I have switched to a new lighter alcohol stove.  There is a big difference in the time it takes to boil water, with the Jet Boil boiling a cup of water in about 1 minute as opposed to the alcohol stove boiling 1 cup in about 6 minutes.  The difference in time should not matter on the trail.  I will be experimenting with cooking different foods next week so hopefully my menu of food items will improve.  Although the Mountain House dehydrated meals are edible, I will need to plan better meals.  Breakfast will still consist mainly of oatmeal and coffee, but I my try pre-mixing powered milk and cereal in plastic bags for something different.  I definitely need additional food items for suppers.  Lunches will continue to be fiber bars, candy bars and GORP (good old raisins and peanuts - i.e. trail mix).  Suppers will consist of Ramen noodles, pasta, tuna, salmon, peanut butter sandwiches, or other items I may experiment with between now and the end of the month.  Of course, I may be limited on choices since I will only carry food for about 5 days, and will have to depend on what is available when I resupply.  I will try to list exactly what foods I will be taking as soon as that decision is made.