[pct-l] Trip, gear report

[vichanson@juno.com (vichanson@juno.com)]

We had a great backpacking trip to Mt. Baldy just over a week ago. Three
of us started up the Middle Fork of Lytle Creek, a forth caught us at
Icehouse Saddle. We camped near the top of Telegraph Peak on Sat. night,
the wind howled all night long but at least it wasn't cold. Sunday
morning two decided to turn around due to problems but two of us went on
to Mt. Baldy, had lunch at the Notch and made it back to our cars by
7:00pm, total of about 30 miles. The scenery is great, if you are looking
for a nice overnighter in the L.A. area with plenty of elevation gain, I
highly recommend it.

I took my new Wenzel Star Light tent, got it at SportMart for $30.00! It
has plenty of room for 1 person (2 would be a squeeze) and it is very
light. Total weight of the tent, poles, and stakes is just under 3 lbs.
(the box says 3 1/2 lb.) I used my trekking poles instead of the 2 front
tent poles and dropped the weight to 2 lb 3 oz., they worked fine. The
stakes weigh 5 oz total so with some lightweight ones should be able to
get the weight down to 2 lb.

I got a new pack just before the trip, it is a Trekk Acadia 60 (about
3500ci and 4 lb). Bought it at a luggage/backpack store downtown L.A. for
$31.00, they were asking $39.00 but you can bargain there. Had a total
pack weight of about 35 lb. (including a gallon of water, 2 sleeping bags
and a tent and a bivy sack.) It felt like it wasn't quite balanced right
but has lots of adjustments so guess I need to try some different
combinations. Even so, it handled the load well and my shoulders didn't
get sore like they did with my old pack. I guess I will have to have Tom
R. "fit" it for me!

Vic