Monday, September 3, 2001

day 114, Hexacuba S, NH

Start:  Moose Mountain Shelter
End:  Hexacuba Shelter
Miles:  17.9 today, 1753.3 total

Little bit of climbing today.  My legs feel worked, like I just did the leg press.  First there was Holt's Ledges, a fairly short (< 2 miles) climb with some decent views at the top.  But then the majority of the day was spent either climbing or descending Smarts Mountain.  That was a pretty substantial climb (though I know in 2 days this climb will seem easy).  Had a fire tower on top and the weather was clear.  Numbfoot and I guesstimated that we could see at least 80 miles, since we could see Killington behind us.

Spent a good portion of the day thinking about how to be like Ray Jardine.  I really want to get my pack weight down, and I'm thinking a lot now about hiking the PCT.  Oh man.  The two biggies left on my back are my tent and the pack itself.  If I switched to a tarp, I could replace the tent and take off at least 3 pounds.  Sojourner talked to me about how she did that and is glad she did.  She says she's using an Equinox 6' x 10' tarp and an emergency blanket as a ground cover.  She says the tarp weighs 9 ounces and the blanket is next to nothing.  I want to do more research on Go-Lite and any other ultra-light packs.  I could knock off a good 5 or even 6 pounds with one of those.  So that's 8 or 9 pounds I could drop with those two items.  Makes my mouth water...

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