Paddling Pageant and the Sioux Hustler portage
by Benutzer
Trip Type:
Paddling Kayak
Entry Date:
08/22/2006
Entry Point:
Moose/Portage River (north) (EP 16)
Exit Point:
Little Indian Sioux River (north) (EP 14)
Number of Days:
10
Group Size:
2
Part 14 of 14
Gear Report:
kayaks: 9.5' recreational boats. They were slow as molasses, but very stable which turned out to be important in the wind. They were also very easy to maneuver through the woods during bushwhacks. Good choice for bushwhacks, but not for distance. An anticipated disadvantage of using them was the portages, but we planned well for that and they didn't take long. We packed everything in 3 dry bags each, and then dropped the 3 bags into our packs. This made loading and unloading the kayaks a breeze, as well as kept everything bone dry.
Packs: Jeremy used a SealLine Boundary bag (70L) and was quite happy with it. I had a Woods Mason pack and was very happy with it. I was able to carry more weight comfortably than the Boundary bag. Which was nice, but a disadvantage as well depending on your point of view.
Tent: Mine is an old Wenzel Cedar Creek hex dome tent I've had for years. Weighs 5 lbs, and is mostly mesh with a rainfly. They don't sell them anymore. It's a good design but about 6" too short. Seems like my feet always touch the side and wick condensation in.
Tarp: Kelty Noah's 12. Sweet. Love it. Not overly expensive and worth every penny. Weighs 2 lbs, and with both it and the tent we could handle anything. We used both, either or none on different days. Pitched over a so-so tent, you can give it extra protection from wind or rain, and on a ugly day the light color helps make it a lot more cheery.
Hammock: Byer's Traveller. We each had one and this was our preferred bed.Usually used a sleeping pad beneath me. 11 ounces, $18, what's not to like? I take it everywhere.
Sleeping pad: Thermarest Ridgerest. Closed cell, weighs about the same as a feather. Lashed behind me, it gave me a nice backrest and provides extra buoyancy in the event of a flip. Not as nice for old bones on hard ground as some of the inflatable pads, but I slept fine.
Sleeping bag: Marmot Maverick 30 synthetic. Nice. Love it. Discontinued. I've been using it over the past winter with an Alps Mountaineering fleece liner I picked up used from VNO. Good stuff.
Water filter: MSR Sweetwater Microfilter. After looking at the discussions about filters in the BW, I made sure to pick up a siltstopper for my filter to give it extra protection against clogging from the water in the area. I tried using a coffee filter over the intake, but that was a pain in the butt so I quit that pretty quick. Need to find a better way to attach them than twisty ties. With the siltstopper, I found that I had to clean the filter about once every other day, and clean the siltstopper as well. Took some extra time, but the water always pumped well and reasonably quickly. It did a great job for us, and the customer service and warranty on them is awesome. This was my new one. MSR replaced my other one that I'd had some 13 or so years for free.
Footwear: Keen Taos for paddling/portaging. I wet foot. The Taos is a hybrid shoe/sandal that protects your toes, but also drains water immediately and dries reasonably fast. Does not give ankle support, but I don't seem to need it much. They're the most comfortable shoes I own and I wear them a lot. They were expensive but I plan on getting my money's worth out of them. Jeremy saw mine and picked some up as well, and loves them too. For around camp, Crocs. Crocs are the stupidest, ugliest most overpriced things I've ever seen, but they're also incredibly comfortable and water runs right off them. You can't get anything better for hanging out around camp, especially around lakes or rivers. I clipped mine to the kayak with a carabiner and dragged them in the water 1/2 the time, and put them on right afterwards. Smartwool socks can't be praised enough. When you're calf deep in wet, stinking bog most of the day, and your feet are happy, you're happy.
Stove: Coleman Peak 1 Micro. 5.5 ounces and burns butane/propane. Awesome stove cost $20 at WalMart. Make sure you have a level place for it though. Big bonus - they also sell a Peak 1 lantern that screws on to the same fuel cannister, for about the same price. That light was awesome. Love it. One can of fuel lasts for days using both of them.
Food: Dehydrated Mountain House brand for dinner, choice of gorp, jerky, tuna, tortillas for lunch, instant grits or oatmeal for breakfast. Clif bars for added calories. All of it served us just fine, although we were pretty glad to get rid of the weight of the gorp. The whole wheat tortillas last forever. The leftover ones were still good a month later. As a matter of fact, I just checked the pantry, and the leftover ones from 4 months ago are still edible. I'm kind of scared now. What the heck is in those things? 10 days' worth of food was not overly heavy, didn't take a lot of room, and served the purpose. And nothing took more skill to fix than boiling water, which worked well in our case.
kayaks: 9.5' recreational boats. They were slow as molasses, but very stable which turned out to be important in the wind. They were also very easy to maneuver through the woods during bushwhacks. Good choice for bushwhacks, but not for distance. An anticipated disadvantage of using them was the portages, but we planned well for that and they didn't take long. We packed everything in 3 dry bags each, and then dropped the 3 bags into our packs. This made loading and unloading the kayaks a breeze, as well as kept everything bone dry.
Packs: Jeremy used a SealLine Boundary bag (70L) and was quite happy with it. I had a Woods Mason pack and was very happy with it. I was able to carry more weight comfortably than the Boundary bag. Which was nice, but a disadvantage as well depending on your point of view.
Tent: Mine is an old Wenzel Cedar Creek hex dome tent I've had for years. Weighs 5 lbs, and is mostly mesh with a rainfly. They don't sell them anymore. It's a good design but about 6" too short. Seems like my feet always touch the side and wick condensation in.
Tarp: Kelty Noah's 12. Sweet. Love it. Not overly expensive and worth every penny. Weighs 2 lbs, and with both it and the tent we could handle anything. We used both, either or none on different days. Pitched over a so-so tent, you can give it extra protection from wind or rain, and on a ugly day the light color helps make it a lot more cheery.
Hammock: Byer's Traveller. We each had one and this was our preferred bed.Usually used a sleeping pad beneath me. 11 ounces, $18, what's not to like? I take it everywhere.
Sleeping pad: Thermarest Ridgerest. Closed cell, weighs about the same as a feather. Lashed behind me, it gave me a nice backrest and provides extra buoyancy in the event of a flip. Not as nice for old bones on hard ground as some of the inflatable pads, but I slept fine.
Sleeping bag: Marmot Maverick 30 synthetic. Nice. Love it. Discontinued. I've been using it over the past winter with an Alps Mountaineering fleece liner I picked up used from VNO. Good stuff.
Water filter: MSR Sweetwater Microfilter. After looking at the discussions about filters in the BW, I made sure to pick up a siltstopper for my filter to give it extra protection against clogging from the water in the area. I tried using a coffee filter over the intake, but that was a pain in the butt so I quit that pretty quick. Need to find a better way to attach them than twisty ties. With the siltstopper, I found that I had to clean the filter about once every other day, and clean the siltstopper as well. Took some extra time, but the water always pumped well and reasonably quickly. It did a great job for us, and the customer service and warranty on them is awesome. This was my new one. MSR replaced my other one that I'd had some 13 or so years for free.
Footwear: Keen Taos for paddling/portaging. I wet foot. The Taos is a hybrid shoe/sandal that protects your toes, but also drains water immediately and dries reasonably fast. Does not give ankle support, but I don't seem to need it much. They're the most comfortable shoes I own and I wear them a lot. They were expensive but I plan on getting my money's worth out of them. Jeremy saw mine and picked some up as well, and loves them too. For around camp, Crocs. Crocs are the stupidest, ugliest most overpriced things I've ever seen, but they're also incredibly comfortable and water runs right off them. You can't get anything better for hanging out around camp, especially around lakes or rivers. I clipped mine to the kayak with a carabiner and dragged them in the water 1/2 the time, and put them on right afterwards. Smartwool socks can't be praised enough. When you're calf deep in wet, stinking bog most of the day, and your feet are happy, you're happy.
Stove: Coleman Peak 1 Micro. 5.5 ounces and burns butane/propane. Awesome stove cost $20 at WalMart. Make sure you have a level place for it though. Big bonus - they also sell a Peak 1 lantern that screws on to the same fuel cannister, for about the same price. That light was awesome. Love it. One can of fuel lasts for days using both of them.
Food: Dehydrated Mountain House brand for dinner, choice of gorp, jerky, tuna, tortillas for lunch, instant grits or oatmeal for breakfast. Clif bars for added calories. All of it served us just fine, although we were pretty glad to get rid of the weight of the gorp. The whole wheat tortillas last forever. The leftover ones were still good a month later. As a matter of fact, I just checked the pantry, and the leftover ones from 4 months ago are still edible. I'm kind of scared now. What the heck is in those things? 10 days' worth of food was not overly heavy, didn't take a lot of room, and served the purpose. And nothing took more skill to fix than boiling water, which worked well in our case.
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