The GeekHiker

Last weekend I managed, finally, to get out on my first backpack of the season.

Took long enough, eh?  I mean it’s fracking June already!

The trip was in the same general area as the Dry Lake hike of last year; in fact, it shared some of the same trail.  I haven’t decided whether or not to write it up into a post yet.  Covering some of the same ground, I didn’t take all that many pictures on this trip, whose ultimate destination was Dollar Lake.

Which wasn’t there.

The drought in California continues, and Dollar Lake was barely Dollar Puddle, and well on it’s way to becoming Dollar Mud Flat.  So the scenic destination wasn’t so scenic after all.

Which is not to disparage from the area where we camped, which was a lovely draw with many flat spaces to set up the tents.  Of course, being a wilderness area, no fires were allowed.  I’m all for wilderness areas, but there’s something about camping without a campfire that just doesn’t feel right.

(Of course, it’s damn dry out there,  so campfires of any kind are a pretty poor idea right now to begin with.)

Still, it was probably my best backpack so far, despite it being a little cold that night.  Mainly it’s because the group on the trip was very good, with intelligent conversation and a lot of laughs.  When we ended up scraping the last remnants of a snow patch for water (all the springs having long dried up), having a sense of humor about it is essential.

So too was the fact that I’m finally getting some decent gear together.  I finally have a pack that fits reasonably well, a lighter tent, and a brand new Therm-A-Rest NeoAir that weighs a mere 14 oz, but is two+ inches thick when inflated and provided about the best damn night of sleep I’ve ever had on the trail.  Yeah, the color is a little weird (though good for flagging down rescue planes, I figure), but rolled up it’s little bigger than a Nalgene bottle, so it’s hard to complain.

Hard to complain, too, when my calves and shoulders only hurt for about a day when I got back.  It used to take me longer to recover, but I guess a good pack will do that for ya.

All in all, a better trip than it might sound like on the surface.  Despite the non-existent lake, lack of water, and chilly temperatures, it was a great time.

Yeah, I know, a little weird.  But trust me.

I still wonder, sometimes, if I’ll ever really be ready for multi-day treks.  I’ve come to realize that what I really like is having a base-camp, then doing long hikes from that point.  Still, I feel trails like the Lost Coast are just begging for me to try them.

I suppose time will tell…