The new pack - Osprey Atmos 50

REI's return/exchange policy is bar none the best. I had to order the new pack on their website and wait until it came in today to do the actual exchange. Smaller and over two pounds lighter the Atmos 50 addresses all my complaints of the Aethos 60:

1. The Atmos has a smaller lighter top compartment with inside zip storage for easy access to small items (wallet, keys, cash.)

2. Storgage compartments on both sides of the hip belt for snacks and small items like sunscreen, repellant, pocket knife, lighter etc.

3. Two large outside storage pockets for easy access to rain gear and a pack cover.

4. Over two pounds lighter is a lot of weight savings just changing one item. That's huge.

Color: Graphite Gray - $199 at REI in Hillsboro, Oregon

I loaded all my gear in tonight and still had plenty of room for 7 to 10 days of food stuffs even with the reduction from 60 liters of storage down to 50 liters with the Atmos. Keeping in mind I want to be as comfortable as possible and balance out the need to keep things light for my back and legs. It's worth repeating that you should spare no expense on the best equipment and you'll never regret it. If you find out something doesn't work the way you anticipated then change it or suffer the consequences. Now it's time for gear trip #2 to make sure everything works as it should!

Equipment Comments

A few things came to light on the Eagle Creek/Wahtum trip:

As usual we tend to bring stuff we think we need but don't really. I carried a full 3 liters of water (about 6 pounds) in the Platypus bladder for a two day trip when water was readily available all along the trail. Carrying a small Gator Aid bottle and just refilling as needed would have saved my legs a lot of effort.

I'm so impressed with the mummy bag (The North Face Cat's Meow 20F) and Thermo-Rest Z pad sleeping on top of the snow. Our lakeside camp temperatures had to be in the mid to upper 20's and I stayed warm all night.

The Big Agnes UL2 tent was easy to set up, stake out and very comfortable with plenty of room to sit up and change clothes as needed with minimal effort. At tear down in the morning a pool of ice water had formed under the tent foot print and I never knew it was there. Nice!

MSR's Pocket Rocket is awesome. For $40 and the no nonsense quick setup and operation, it works for me. The guys struggled a bit lighting their super lightweight alcohol stoves and they do work very well but once again I'm choosing just a little more weight for convenience.

Columbia's Omni-Tech rain gear worked perfectly keeping me bone dry and yet breathable so I didn't overheat. I loved that even with a loaded pack I never felt constricted in any manner. The gear worked perfectly for golf and now for backpacking as well.

I came to the conclusion after this trip that my Osprey Aethos 60 is just too big for my needs. I'm not carrying enough stuff to utilize all 60 liters of space. After logging 13 miles each of the two days and slogging through snow going up and down hill I felt every single ounce of weight in my pack. I can save over two pounds going to the Osprey Atmos 50 and be that much more confortable. Thanks to REI's return policy a pack swap is in the cards very shortly.

Gear Trip #1 - Eagle Creek to Wahtum Lake (26.2 miles round trip)

The famous and very scenic Eagle Creek Trail in the Columbia River Gorge just west of Cascade Locks is within easy reach of the Portland metro area. Consequently it's hugely popular for day hikers and overnight backpackers. Arrive early to secure a decent parking spot and bring your NW Forest Pass. $5 day passes can be purchased at the parking lot. The trail passes several stunning waterfalls that have side trails down to see them at creek level. Walking behind thundering Tunnel Falls pictured above at the 6 mile mark is pretty unique. It is a great hike and highly recommended.

We anticipated rain showers mixed with warm sunshine for the day and we were not disappointed. Joel had suggested Eagle Creek to Wahtum Lake as our first trip out with the new gear since him and his brother had come down it from the PCT back in September. The Pacific Crest Trail loops around the lake which is a popular camp spot for hikers before dropping into Cascade Locks. There's a forest service road as well that goes to the lake for car campers and picnickers.

At about the 8 mile mark a well signed cutoff trail to Wahtum Lake appears on the left. From the trail head up to this point it is an easy elevation gain of about 1,200 feet. From the cutoff to the lake it's about a 2,500 foot climb up in a little over 5 miles. Be warned there are numerous stream crossings with no bridges unlike the Eagle Creek section. You can not help getting your feet wet. Surprisingly we encountered patches of snow within a couple of miles from the turn off and then complete snow cover the rest of the way in to the lake. The snow was hard packed in most places and we followed the old tracks pretty easily and only occasionally post holed down to our knees.

We did not anticipate snow camping but decided based on the gear we packed in that it was safely feasible. At lake level 3,700 ft in elevation, we estimated there was still 6 to 8 feet of snow which is extremely unusual this late in the season. The only portion of the lake not frozen over was a small area where the lake drains out of the glacier bowl back down eventually into Eagle Creek. Finding a fairly level area for my tent with the right mix of sizable trees for Joel's Hennessy hammock setup was a challenge. Fortunately after wondering lakeside for a few hundred feet past the end of the trail we found the evening's camp spot.

We quickly set up camp and cooked dinner being very hungry after such a grueling last couple of miles. The guys fumbled around with their alcohol stoves in the cold while I quickly lit my MSR pocket rocket and had water boiling for my cous cous in a couple of minutes. After dinner with the sun setting and our hands and feet frozen we called it a night. Changing into some dry wool socks and some thermals felt great. The new 20F degree mummy bag from North Face on top of the Thermo-Rest Z pad got me toasty warm quickly and it was a breeze to find a comfortable position to fall asleep in. I was exhausted!

The next morning at day break I got up and saw everything covered in frost and a beautiful low fog on top of the frozen lake surface. It was so quiet and still. The sun coming up over the ridge with streaming rays of sunshine beaming down on the whole scene was pretty surreal. I asked Jeremy how he slept and if he stayed warm enough (his bivy crusted with a coating of frost intrigued me a bit) and he answered within that he slept well and only his feet got cold if they shifted position off the sleep pad. Naturally wondering how Joel fared, I wondered over to his hammock in the small grove of trees by lakeshore and heard his characteristic snoring which put my mind at ease. The common theme between us was staying on the thermal sleep pad was the key to staying warm.

Firing up the MSR pocket rocket for morning coffee Jeremy offered me $100 if I'd bring him a cup to his "bed" which had me laughing pretty hard for so early in the morning. It felt really cold so we wasted no time eating a quick breakfast of power bars, beef jerky and coffee. Packing up was done quickly and we headed back down the way we came as quickly as possible while the top snow was hard.

All tolled it was a great trip and one I learned a little more about my equipment, my own resolve and really how impressively fast my two sons can hike under not so great conditions. Things to learn from and improve for the next trip out. Thanks fella's! Love Dad.

Training

How to prepare for hiking 15 to 20 miles per day 3 to 7 days in a row at a time? I don't run (back/neck issues) so the only way in my mind to get in decent shape is to hike when time allows. Fortunately we have within a 10 minute drive of our house one of the coolest city wilderness parks in the world; 5,200 acres of Portland's Forest Park. There are several miles of trails in the park with the longest called Wildwood at 30 miles. Lots of loops if you mix and match the trails that cross each other. My plan is to hike 20 to 40 miles a week and hopefully be in good enough shape by July to stay with the youngsters and not be in too much pain the first few days. That's all I can hope for!