How to Attach an Ice Axe to an Osprey Levity Backpack
One of the features that was omitted from the Levity was a dedicated ice axe attachment system. Fortunately creating your own is easy, you'll just need two things: About nine inches of cord (I use LiteOutdoors 1.8mm guyline)A Lightrek pack bungee attachment ($2.50, 4g) Ice axes are typically stored by pushing the shaft through a loop near the bottom rear of a pack until it catches on the head, flipping the shaft up vertically until it's near the top of the pack, and then cinching the shaft down against the pack so it's nice and snug. Since the Levity has [...]
November 2019 Loot!
I guess we're only halfway through but I'm pretty excited about this month's gear purchases so I thought I'd kick things off a bit early: Massdrop x Dan Durston X-Mid 1P Tent I love my Lunar Solo and used it exclusively for the entire 2019 season but the X-Mid's simpler setup (four stakes in a rectangle) and double-wall-ness (better condensation management and summer stargazing) were intriguing enough to me to overlook the fact that it requires two trekking poles. From experience I'll always carry at least one trekking pole in case of injury but custom carbon fiber tent poles are [...]
Review: Osprey Levity 60 Backpack
Short and stout wins the race After using an Osprey Exos 58 for over two years I upgraded to an Opsrey Levity 60 in Q1 of 2019. After using it for the entirety of the 2019 backpacking season I thought I'd share my impressions so far. This review will focus on the Levity but also contrast it with the Exos for those considering a similar upgrade. Stats Make: OspreyModel: Levity 60Model Year: 2019Volume: 60 litersCarrying Capacity: 10 - 25 poundsMeasured Weight: 873 grams (863 main body, 10 compression cord) in size mediumDate Purchased: 2019-03-10Price Paid: $270.00Usage: 13 trips (32 days [...]
Trip Report: Red Mountain
Red Mountain from the trailhead On Sunday the 3rd I took a break from working on the cabin to go check out one of the local trails. Red Mountain sits right at the north end of Lake Cle Elum in central Washington and from a distance it appeared to be both snow free and to offer some great 360-degree views of the surrounding area. It was only 34 degrees when I got out of the car at the trailhead but the WTA description said that trail was more or less straight up to the saddle below the peak so I [...]
October 2019 Loot!
Person B and I purchased a cabin near Lake Cle Elum (just east of Snoqualmie Pass and the Central Cascades and PCT in central Washington State) a couple months ago so I've been pretty heads-down with home improvement stuff. So, this month I'm not-so-proudly presenting the saddest Loot! post yet with only a single, lonely (but potentially very important) purchase: Salomon XA Pro 3D Wide After giving up on flimsy Altra trail runners due to their lack of cushion and uselessness off trail I've been rocking Oboz Sawtooth Low hiking shoes for the entire 2019 season and I've really enjoyed [...]
September 2019 Loot!
Now that I'm not out and about every weekend I've had time to do some research and make some late-season purchases. Unfortunately due to early snow in Washington I don't know whether I'll be able to really put this stuff through the paces until next year but here's hoping: Kuhl Airspeed Long-Sleeve Button-Down Shirt Paul Magnanti's recent Northern New Mexico Loop summary mentioned his love of cotton-blend thrift store hiking shirts. I was raised in a strict "cotton kills" household so I've always written off cotton blends as lifestyle wear with no practical application. His writing inspired me to re-evaluate [...]
Trip Report: Seven Lakes Basin
A pond on the outskirts of Deer Lake On August 10th I co-led a trip for The Mountaineers to Seven Lakes Basin after the original co-leader was unable to make the trip. Located in the heart of the northern Olympics, this alpine basin is, as the name suggests, dotted with lakes and has been near the top of my to-do list for a couple years. Unfortunately, lousy weather meant a lack of both views and dryness so I'm hoping to return next year to take in the full experience. On the plus side I did spot six black bears in [...]
Gothic Basin Photo Featured in WTA Magazine Article… About Poop
Everyone's gotta start somewhere. This article: https://www.wta.org/news/magazine/features/a-drop-in-the-bucket Contains this photo (full size): Which I put in this trip report: https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2019-07-30.5552171919 Of course, you can read my more in-depth trip report on this site as well. It's funny because when I got home and started working on it I almost immediately thought to myself, "This is probably the best photo I've ever taken." The article itself actually touches on a serious issue: the worsening overcrowding of our public lands and specifically the problem of human waste disposal. I have never been a believer in the idea that burying poop just makes [...]
UV Degradation: Nylon vs Polyester
In a comment on r/ultralight, fancy outdoorsman Dan Durston links to the following paper in The Journal of the Textile Institute which supposedly shows that at a given high dose of UV radiation nylon was reduced to 15% of its original strength whereas polyester remained above 99%: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00405000.2013.796629 As much as I'd like to read the paper for myself, at $50 a pop I'll take Dan's word for it. When I was out tent shopping it became very clear that one advantage of polyester over nylon was that nylon sags when wet and polyester doesn't, something I can personally vouch [...]
Trip Report: Tuck and Robin Lakes
Robin Lakes plural The 2019 backpacking blowout continues with an overnighter I led on August 3rd to Tuck and Robin Lakes, a group of alpine lakes situated just east of the PCT at Deception Pass in the North Cascades. From the Tucquala Meadows trailhead you head north past Hyas Lake towards Deception Pass, turning right at the sign for the Tuck and Robin Lakes trail. The trail skirts the mountainside a short ways before switchbacking steeply up to Tuck Lake. From there it's a cross-country scramble across cairn-studded granite up to Robin Lakes. We had some difficulty finding the route [...]