I feel like a reoccurring theme in my life is bad weather on climbing weekends. Josh and I drove up to Castle Crags for a weekend to hop on the Cosmic Wall for some nice, runout easy trad, but once again, Mother Nature threw a wrench in our plans.
For the past few years I’ve been relying on my Tarptent Scarp 2 or my Teton Sports Mountain Ultra 1 for any of my tenting adventures. They’re both great, but the Tarptent is designed to be an ultralight, small thing and the Mountain Ultra only sleeps one. I wanted something that was big enough for two with more room for luxuries. When Mountain Hardwear gave us the chance to pick out our ambassador kits for the winter season, I jumped at the chance at working with the Optic Vue 2.5.
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Pillows… are they something you really need in the backcountry? I’ve found myself debating this question of the last few years. Yeah, I could stuff some clothes into a stuff sack and call it a night. But after a few lumpy, sleepless nights, I decided that a few extra ounces of weight wouldn’t hurt for ultimate comfort while backpacking. The Feathered Friends Geoduck pillow did the trick.
It always blows people’s minds when I say I don’t drink coffee. I mean you guys, come on. Do you really think I need extra caffeine? I’m bouncing off the walls 24/7, filled with extreme excitement ALL THE TIME. But sometimes when it’s pre-dawn in the backcountry and my sleeping bag is super snuggly and I really don’t want to get outside of my tent, it’s super nice to have a piping hot cup of something to wake me up. When I’m the only tea drinker in the group, I’ll usually pack in my own tea bags, if I even remember to. In groups? I’m totally sold on Nature’s Coffee Kettle.
My little brother just got back from a brief stint of backpacking through Europe. With his heart still full of adventure, he asked me to take him out somewhere, anywhere. He didn’t give me any criteria and said he was down for whatever, but the first time someone goes backpacking will obviously make or break their experience. After much hemming and hawing, Meiss Lake in Mokelumne Wilderness was my pick.