Buffalo National River planned hike December 4th - 7th

I agree about getting out "EARLY". Especially when we have less light now... 5pm and its totally dark. Also water will be tougher as very few places to be able to get down to the river to get to the water and all campgrounds have the water shut off. The Slatty place is the hardest but the climb coming out of Kyles will kick your butt as well, but once you get past that last stair step just before Cherry Grove Cemetary then its almost totally flat the rest of the way to Pruitt. Colt, I would also say to go ahead and pack up your pack with water and food for 3 days and weigh it. Try for under 20 lbs. If you don't have a hanging scale to weigh total weight let me know and I will bring you mine when I bring you the map cds and user manuals for the GPS. Only reason I say that is cause I know how your prone to pack the kittchen sink... this would also be a good chance for you to quite smoking hahahaha. just a thought.

Actually, my proneness for "packing the kitchen sink" is one of the major reasons I am getting the ULA Conduit pack. I CAN'T pack the kitchen sink with that thing. With that, my big 4 will be 7.53 pounds. That is a big start since I have now shaved over 4 pounds in tent and 3.8 pounds in pack alone. Now if I can only find a sleeping bag and pad that can save me significantly in weight (my bag is 40 ounces and my pad is 34 ounces) without breaking the bank, then I will be doing great.

I would like to borrow your hanging weight, if you don't mind, when you drop off the stuff for the GPS. Also, if you could grab that 64 MB MicroSD, that would be great too. At least until I can find my 1GB card.

If you guys would like for me to post my gear list from the trip that Lew and I made on the BRT back in October, I'll be more than happy to. My base weight was right at 7.5 lbs and food weighed in at another 3.75 lbs for 3 days.
Let me know,
UL

Please Post it UL.. also what kind of time frame did you have or better is how many hours a day did you hike... I am only concerned about the short days. Thanks

I would love to see this gear list as well!

OK, here's the gear list for the October BRT:
Pack - ULA Conduit - 21.5 oz
Clothing - GoLite Wisp Wind Jacket - 3.12 oz
Smartwool Socks - 3.50 oz
Injinji Socks - 2.12 oz
SilNylon Poncho - 6.5 oz
Kitchen - Gatorade 24 oz Bottle - 1.25 oz
2-Liter Platypus Bottle - 1.38 oz
Woodstove w/Pot/Bandana/Mini-Bic/Spork - 11.00 oz
Misc. Items - First Aid Kit - 1.00 oz
Foam Sit Pad - 1.75 oz
Katadyn Hiker Pro Filter - 12.75
Petzl e+lite w/case - 1.62 oz
Shelter - 9x9 Flat Tarp - 14.12 oz
.7 mil Plastic Ground Cloth - 1.5 oz
MSR tent stakes (10) - 6.25
Sleep System - Marmot Atom Down Bag - 23.0 oz
ThermaRest 3/4 UL Pad - 17.62 oz

Total Base Weight - 129.98 oz/8.12 lbs

I remember that there was a threat of rain, so at the last minute I threw the poncho in, making the weight a little heavier than 7.5 lbs.

As far as hours per day hiked, we were on the trail right at 8 hours per day. We started the first day from Boxley at 8:30 and got to Steel Creek at 3:55. We left Steel Creek at 7:15 on the second morning and arrived at Kyle's Landing at 11:15. We stayed at Kyle's for about 50 minutes, having lunch and resting up, then left at 12:05 and arrived at the Erbie campgrounds at about 3:25. We left Erbie on the third morning at 7:45 and arrived at Pruitt at 11:25.
The idea was to get an early start, take a 10 minute rest break every hour to hour and a half, take a 30-45 minute lunch break, and arrive at our planned camping spot no later than 4:00 each day. Even now, with the shorter days, you can get to camp with plenty of daylight left to set up camp, cook dinner, and get things ready for the next morning. In order for us to leave by 7:15 or so, we found that we had to get up shortly after 6:00 am every morning. We had to use headlamps much of the time to get packed up and ready to leave. It also gave us time to grab a bite of breakfast before we took off.
The frequent breaks help keep your energy levels up, but by keeping them around 10 minutes, the muscles don't cool down enough to start stiffening up on you before you start again. At lunch, take at least 30 minutes and try to prop your feet up on something so that the blood can circulate easier and this will refresh the leg muscles.
Hope this helps,
UL

UL,

Thanks for the list and the advice. This list gives me lots of ideas.

I am just curious... why do you still carry the Katadyn instead of going with a UL type like the one from ULA or AntiGravityGear?

The Hiker Pro is my one luxury item. I like the speed in which I can fill my water bottle and its easy. I've got a couple of smaller and lighter filters, but they come with drawbacks, even though they're lighter.
I guess I'm willing to carry the extra weight there because of it's convenience and fail-proof (so far!!) workings.
On the BRT, Lew brought his ULA Amigo and we used it once. It worked good, but I still like my pump.
I do have a Frontier Pro that weighs 2.5 oz that I'm wanting to try, but haven't so far. Maybe the next trip, I will take it along and see how it does.
UL

OK.. I was wondering about that.. Thanks UL

Just sitting here wondering UL.. if you were packing for a January hike as we are getting ready to do.. what would your gear list and pack weight be?

I did a 2-1/2 day, 40 mile section hike on the OHT last January where the highs were in the 20s and the lows at night got down into the single digits. The only changes that I made from the list above would be the following:

Sleeping Bag - Montbell Alpine #1 (15 deg.) - 38.75 oz.
Clothing - Montbell UL Thermawrap Jacket - 10.62 oz.
Wool Cap - 2.5 oz.
Marmot Liner Gloves - .88 oz.
Thinsulate Gloves - 3.12 oz.
Mid-Wt. Thermal Top/Bottom - 15.87 oz.

These additions/changes to the gear list above bring the base weight totals to the following: 180.60 oz./ 11.29 lbs.

Yeah thats about what I had planned as well.. Thanks.. you need to come on up and do the BRT New Years Weekend.. what a way to bring in the new year lol

TM, I'd love to, but the job has me in Kansas the first weekend of each month and I've got to leave on the 2nd.
The 3rd or 4th weekend is always better for me.
Maybe next time.
UL