Looking For Larry Conn

I have joined a group who is going to look for Larry Conn, the missing High Sierra trekker who was reported missing in October and has not been seen or heard from since. I was probably the last man to see and talk to Larry alive, so you might say, I have skin in the game. Search dates are July 30 through August 4th. For more details on the search and the organizers, go here. This this is a privately organized event, so I will go where I am most needed, but if I had my druthers, it would be over Pinchot Pass, then west toward Arrow creek drainage. Why? Larry told me he was going to explore the area around the pass. Another reason? Randy Morgenson, the seasonal backcountry ranger who perished in the same area. He was the subject of the excellent book,  Last Season by Eric Blehm, detailing the account leading up to his disappearance and the search for him that followed, all written in captivating detail.
I feel a connection with it all, so I might as well pick away at it, to it's logical conclusion.

A Tale of Two Stove Systems, Part 3

I have actually had pretty good luck in combining the Cone with my Bush Buddy wood burning stove that I like to use in the Los Padres. It could be another inch taller, but not really worth pursuing since Trail Designs has a system  that burns wood, and according to some folks, does it even better. The real reason I will not go there has nothing to with grams, it's about parts. The Trail designs system has lots of parts, stakes, inserts and a floor, all presented as options to the system. The Bush Buddy has two, the body and the pot support. When they are put together and stoked with a fire, it develops it's own distinctive personality that I want to revisit again and again. When I add the Cone to break the wind a bit, and suddenly Life becomes whole, educing a Soma, waiting for the boil, that only a trip to the wilderness can entice.

A Tale of Two Stove Systems, Part 2

This part of the story is about my love and obsession for the camp teapot design. I am talking about the traditional design with a proper handle, lid and spout. This design has been perfected to do just one task, boil water then pour it into a cup. That is what I like to do and with this design, that task can be done with the least amount of moving parts.

The Trangia teapot is my favorite design for camping. When I use it with the Trangia windscreen, the burner can boil water fast and efficient regardless of wind conditions.

But the Trangia windscreen system is heavy compared to today's ultralight standards so the the search was on for other designs that offered comparable performance and design at a fraction of the weight. The search eventually led me to Trail Designs and the Caldera Cone system for my Trangia Mini, 28 Series. The Cone really transformed the Mini from an inefficient system to one hot little setup.

 But all along, I missed the teapot. The Mini pan needs a relatively heavy lid/frying pan and the pot holder which adds to the weight and clutter of the system. There has to be a way to "cone" the teapot, and still have all the benefits of using the Mini pan and lid. A casual mix and match worked just ok, but the real issue to overcome is the teapot does not have the rolled lip that the cone requires since that is part of the support system to suspend the pan over the burner. It became obvious that I would not be satisifed in the field with such compromises, so I shelved the idea, for now. But not for long, so stay tuned!

A Tale of Two Stove Systems, Part 1

The two stove systems that I hold dearest to my backpacking gear geek heart is the

  

Trangia 

and the Caldera Cone systems.

 Trangia and Trail Designs 12-10 stove

Both are primarily based on the alcohol fuel burner using a highly engineered wind screen to increase the efficiency of the system. One huge difference between these two systems is Trangia incorporates the design of the pots and pans, while the Caldera conforms to a variety of different pots, depending on what is already in your gear closet. This difference is what I intend to explore so a trekker can continue to use what I consider fun to use, not necessarily the winner of efficiency, function and  lightness.