I did it. I can't believe I did it. Maybe I'm in denial and I'll accept that I did it tomorrow. I bought a backpack. (Here is why I needed a new pack.) I got a tip from my backpacking buddy about a place in Eagle River that sells backpacking and camping gear, and the knowledge to go with the advice about the various products. I spent a good hour and a half trying two backpacks.
Yeah. A long time for so few packs, but you can't really tell how a pack fits unless you wear it for a while with some weight in it. So while I waited for the pack to settle, the shop owner and I talked about reducing weight and some tips about other gear. I'm going to use the gear I already have since I've already spent the money on it, but he did have some good tips. And there are several places I can cut down, even a little, on what I took.
A couple of them were in regard to food and meal times. I can implement those. I took a lot of food that has water in it already: cheese, pitas, tuna. That was my lunch food. But what he does is he sits down and cooks a meal for each meal, so that all of his meals are dry weight. That way the food takes up less space and weighs less and you are already stopping to take a break for lunch so why not cook a meal? I don't want to cook at each meal, I want my fuel canister to last as long as possible. There is the cold cook option for lunch though. Something like cold oatmeal you can just pour water over, hike a bit more, and by the time you are ready to eat you have fully "cooked" oatmeal (with or without fruit) without having to boil water. I could try some of that, I've seen several recipes for meals similar to cold cooked oatmeal.
He also said he has no problem hiking for a couple hours before having breakfast, then stopping to make a meal. If I don't eat before I start moving, I will be crabby and I will have a blood sugar problem, I know this about myself, so I will still be taking something I can just grab, go and eat breakfast on the trail. But he also will stop, make supper, and then keep hiking for another couple hours until either he can't see anymore or until he is done for the day. He has set up his camp so many times that he can do it pretty much by feel and doesn't need good light. Right now I'd rather get my camp set up when there is still daylight, but I can see the benefit in hiking as long as you have daylight.
They were also having a deal. If you bought a pack bigger than 30L, you'd get a water reservoir free (while supplies lasted). So now I have my tent, backpack, water bladder, sleeping bag and pad, and all those other little things to live on the trail... Except shoes. I still haven't found a good pair of hiking shoes that fit me. I've tried on several, men's and women's, different sizes and brands. Only one pair even came remotely close to feeling good, and it was the first pair I tried on more than a month ago. When I tried those, I thought, "I'm going to end up just getting these." And I think I'm going to go back and get those.
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