Maybe because I've already had three "practice packs" during a paranoid week of stuffing and weighing, but everything seemed to fit in in sensible places and I found myself putting in the last few things without having to force zips or strain straps. Phew...huge (and premature) sigh of relief! BUT that was literally just the "stuff"; no food and no water. Food space has been reserved in the pack by a plastic canister (currently empty), so volume wise food shouldn't be a problem, I just have to worry about the weight (that's tomorrow's challenge).
Incidentally, I'm using the plastic canister to mimic a bear canister, to see if I can keep all my food contained in a hard-sided container in my pack, as you are required to do by law, if and when I'm am inspired (crazy?) enough by my Te Araroa experience to attempt to thru-hike any of the major trails in the United States (check back with me in a few years...). I also like the idea of having something to catch the spillage when something like the powdered milk gets a hole in its bag that I don't notice until I take it out...you know it's going to happen at some point...Simulated bear canister aside, the immediate problem was water. It takes up quite a bit of space and compared to almost everything else your pack, it weighs a heck of a lot! (Handy that 1L = 1kg, funny that...).
Unfortunately water it is also absolutely necessary.
In New Zealand water isn't as much of a problem as it can be overseas. Compared to a lot of other places we can often drink 'wild' water with comparatively little treatment, plus it is typically fairly readily available. Except when it's not. Reading up on the trail it's clear that there are one or two stretches where water can be scarce, particularly if it hasn't rained in an area for a while and if all the walkers before you have emptied out the few water tanks associated with some huts. Consequently I am currently planning to be able to carry 2-3 days worth of water if necessary (though will only take a days worth in general). The problem is: I drink like a fish.
Even in cool weather I sweat, and in hot weather I sweat buckets. Add physical excursion and well...it's not an overly pleasing prospect when I consider I'm about to head out on a three month odyssey with only two sets of clothes and my weekly shower ratio is about to drop from around 8:1 to 1:1...if I'm lucky...urgh.... Sudden shocks to personal hygiene routines aside, another problem is I also drink a lot of water, even when I'm not sweating: at least 1.5 L per day, and well over 2-2.5 L if you count numerous enormous cups of tea. So I expect to be drinking around 3 L per day on the trail, more if its hot (past experience indicates the 5 L/day mark may not be unreasonable). Kind of scary when I'm already struggling to keep my pack weight down...So! Back to the game of Tetris...
Taking out my jackets x 3 (fleece, synthetic down, rainshell) I filled up my 3 L hydration bladder and stuffed it into the back of the pack (inside a secondary heavy duty plastic bag; I'm always paranoid bladders will leak), then put the jackets back in on top. Good news is the pack still closes and having the weight in the right place means it's not too unruly to wear. Great. 3 L down...but I'm aiming to be able to carry at least 6 L for those days where there's no where to refill. I've run out of water in the field before, twice, once in Africa and once in Australia, and I assure you the memory of those occasions is a great motivator for sucking it up and carrying a heavier load of water!
My side pockets are already full of other kit (walking poles, tent poles, sunscreen, sandals, loo roll, mini-shovel...you get the idea..). Enter second 3 L hydration bladder that came with its own little back pack. It's a dirt cheap one off Trade Me so I don't trust it not to leak and it won't go in my pack (it wouldn't fit anyway), but doing up the straps and slinging it down my front instead of over my back wasn't as uncomfortable as it might have been. I also have a bum-bag that I've always used for stuff you should keep on your person and/or want to access without having to take your pack off (PLB, survival kit, camera & snacks). Long story short, with 6 L of water on board I saddled up (in specific sequence--bum bag, hydration pack, backpack--otherwise the overlaid straps aren't comfortable). I don't know how much it all weighs (I tossed the scales away in disgust after completing the "just pack the 'stuff'" part of the exercise...) but once it was all on, it didn't feel nearly as heavy as I had feared. Slinging 3 kg of water down my front actually helps balance the weight of the main pack even more (might try doing it even when I'm only carrying 3 L of water). Two kilometers into the actual hike I'll probably be swearing my head off and repacking everything, but for a hop, skip and a jump around the living room it all felt okay. Not quite a day pack with only lunch and an H2Go bottle, but definitely manageable.
The really exciting news is that fully saddled up (except for food) I had EVERYTHING in my pack, even luxury items I'd previously set aside as too heavy (enter Kindle). Consequently if it all does get too much 2 km in, I'll be able to cut down some weight (eventually) by posting stuff like that home from the first stop in Ahipara (like most rookie thru-hikers apparently end up doing). What the hell, I am a rookie, and so I have no shame in behaving like one...to an extent. I have still tried to be sensible and stick to the thru-hikers packing list without adding too many unnecessary luxuries (a list I found online had only two pairs of underwear! I've packed a luxurious four...).
So here it is, my kit for the pending adventure:
Final weight...don't ask. I think if I put all of this lot on the scales the psychological damage it would do would seriously undermine my ability to carry it all. (That's my theory and I'm sticking to it...at least for now. If I pull this off with this kit I'll definitely weigh it all so that I can properly gauge the reasonable extent of my bragging rights!).
No comments:
Post a Comment