darxus | I'm doing an overnight hike in the White Mountains this weekend, dammit

A dozen miles, two days and one night in the woods, is nothing. I have the gear. I can do this. I should have done this already.

You're welcome to join me. I'm planning to spend the days walking, but I don't expect to make a lot of distance.

I figure about all you need is:

Hydration bladder or canteen
Poncho (or rain coat)
Tent or bivy sack
Sleeping bag
Food
Good boots
A small pack to carry everything in

In forms you're willing to carry over mountains for a couple days.

For food, I'm thinking of just taking lots of hard boiled eggs, for simplicity. I'm bringing a water filter.

I think my sleeping bag + bivy sack set is really neat. NATO Modular Sleep System, about $100 lightly used. Four season, two nestable sleeping bags. A bivy sack is a waterproof outer shell to use instead of a tent. I'm planning to put everything else in a small day-pack, and tie the MSS to the pack.

I'm already fantasizing about future trips to see how light I can pack:

Loin cloth
Belt
Knife
Poncho
Poncho liner (ties to poncho for expedient water proof sleeping bag)
1 quart canteen
Pemmican (jerky + rendered fat)

No shoes, no pack. Probably won't happen, but the thought amuses me. I have great difficulty with the idea that I need to filter water from a natural source before drinking it.

A web page of mine about somewhat related gear: http://www.chaosreigns.com/shtf/

A fairly common (to me) acronym is BOB - Bug Out Bag. A more specific term that often brings tears to my eyes is:
INCH bag.
I'm Never Coming Home.

"You only truly own what you can carry at a dead run."

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well, no it is really easy to fuck up too badly. people do it all the time, and die. the Whites are brutal that way. people underestimate them ALL them time. even people who know better, get caught off guard.

it SNOWS in the Summer there. we've been seeing temps into the low low 40s and high 30s (esp with wind chill). while wet. good times.

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=zmw:03589.1.99999

staying warm and dry is critical. think: Winter survival gear, even in Summer. kinda sucks to be the next guy that froze his legs off in high Summer. it's not Firefly.

bring the right gear, and no problemo.

i'd make sure my backpack was setup so the contents stayed dry. cell phone in otter box. gps would be handy.

plan it out more, but definitely do it :)

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I'm not denying that there's risk involved here, but I'm wondering if the odds of dying while doing this are more or less than the odds of dying in, say, an hour of driving at highways speeds into Boston?

If darxus deems this an acceptable risk, why not take it?

i might compare it do driving in Boston without a seatbelt while texting; vs taking precautions, including making sure your car is inspected/safe. at least with Boston, EMTs are standing by, and it's one of the safer cities to have an accident in.

NH is fed up enough with tourists dying, or needing rescue, that they are starting to charge for it, unless it's shown the person needing rescue thought ahead, had the right gear (esp in the case of hunters), and merely had a bad bad day. life flights are not cheap (assuming they can find you in time).

a famous MIT rock climber got into trouble some years ago. buddy got hurt on the way back. there was a blizzard (in the Summer). people died. he was severely messed up (frostbite of legs). esp notable as i've climbed with him in gyms, he's making a name for himself in artificial limbs, and he was prepared as can be, and still got caught out.

Mt Wash area has had a long rep as a killer. it's not a big mountain compared to many, it's only a couple hours from Boston, but it's curiously ready to eat people ;>

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I'm doing an overnight hike in the White Mountains this weekend, dammit

no subject

What's the level of risk?

Re: What's the level of risk?