Gear Review from MT Washington

[Apogee]

I wrote this up about my trip to MT Washington on LF.net. I thought someone over here might get something out of it.

So I climbed MT Washington (highest mountain east of the Mississippi) and took along some of my gear so I figured I'd review it.

Just as background, the gf and I took the Nelson Crag trail. That starts out at an elevation around 2000 ft and asends to 6288 ft along a 6 or 7 mile trail. I was planning on using my North Face Venture 40, but my girl's pack didn't come in, so she stole it and I used my BH Raptor Pack instead (I know, BH = not mega force cool, but I got it before I found this site). I ordered a BH large GP pouch for the pack, but its not in stock right now. So heres the pack:
http://img31.photobucket.com/albums/v93/jackal419/MT%20Washington/pack.jpg

+ Sized for military items (which I wasn't using on this trip)
+ Rugged and decently water resistent
+ Pretty comfortable with a medium load in it
+ Works well with hyrdation system
- No internal frame
- Should have thought about the waist belt. Its sized to wear with all of the go faster gear so its not really snug without any of that on. It did feel better on the summitt with my jacket on though.


I purchased a Garmin Foretrex 201 a month or two ago and this was my first opportunity to use it in a role other than running. I was very impressed with its ability to create a vitutal trail of where we had hiked. Heres it towards the beginning of the hike:
http://img31.photobucket.com/albums/v93/jackal419/MT%20Washington/gps.jpg
+ Small size and ease of use
+ Accurate down to a couple of meters
+ Contiued to operate despite heave cloud cover
+ 15 hours of operation on one charge
+ Fit over my jacket
- Lost signal sometimes in the forest
- Needs to be plugged in to recharge
- No integrated maps

Another toy that I had the opportunity to try out on this trip was the MSR MIOX Water Purifier. This purifies water by creating an oxidizing "brine" solution from water, salt and some process that goes on inside the contraption. We used it an number of times because my girl friend was drinking water very quickly. Anyways, heres the device on top of my RAPTOR Pack (it also comes with additional salt and strips to test the water to make sure you got enough of the MIOX solution in the bottle
http://img31.photobucket.com/albums/v93/jackal419/MT%20Washington/purifier.jpg

+ East to use.
+ No pumping
+ Kills EVERYTHING in the water, even stuff that iodine doesn't kill
+ No nasty iodine taste, smell, or color
- Tastes like pool water
- Smells like pool water

So thats pretty much it. I hope this helped someone. And heres me at the top. Have a good one.
http://img31.photobucket.com/albums/v93/jackal419/MT%20Washington/top.jpg

[Apogee]

I'd also invite others to post similar reviews of their stuff so we can learn as a community (if its ok with the old guys eerrrr I mean mods).

[ChuckThunder]

I have a Garmin Forerunner 101, it is the best thing since the heartbeat monitor. If there are any runners like myself, it is a must have! Especially if you don't have a track.

[Apogee]

I have a Garmin Forerunner 101, it is the best thing since the heartbeat monitor. If there are any runners like myself, it is a must have! Especially if you don't have a track.

I love how it tells me my speed and distance ran. Its wonderful for running around West Point.

[TacoDelRio]

Good to see you have some fun when not on duty, Scuba!

Hooah!

DB

[wyrm_142]

http://web.pdx.edu/~schmidtk/pics/me-hood_1024_90.jpg

Mt Hood, Oregon - 13 May 2001 (good god was it three years ago?)

Basics of the hike (climb if you will). Start at ~6000' summit at 11,243' treking up an snow / ice field, parking lot to summit, ~6 hours.

We left the parking lot at midnight, to allow a near sunrise summit (and most importantly to get away from the rock once the sun melts the ice).

Gear (approach phase, ~ 4 hours):
Poles, crampons.

Summit phase (note, if any of you saw the HH-60G lose lift and crash, this was roughly the area were we transitioned):
Ice axe, 3-man rope team, crampons.

http://web.pdx.edu/~schmidtk/pics/adams_ranier_1024.jpg
On the summit, looking into Washington, Mt Adams is on the left, Mt Rainer is on the right.

http://web.pdx.edu/~schmidtk/pics/line_summit_1024_90.jpg
Looking back up the hogsback following descent from the summit. We were 2-4th on the summit that morning, and didn't have a line of people above us.

[Apogee]

Great pictures buddy. Our original plan was to climb MT Rainer this summer, but that fell through due to Army reasons. So now I'm headed up to Alaska and hopfully see some amazing mountains. If I end up posting up there after graduation, I plan on climbing Denali one day.