Thursday, June 29, 2017

New Camp Shoe



My new camp shoe, the Birkenstock EVA Arizona. Size 45 metric or 12.5 in US Sizing. Even thought I wear trail runners, I like changing shoes at he end of the day, a luxury I cannot do without. If my trail shoes get wet from a creek crossing or fishing, they will not be dry until the next day and I value complete dryness in camp, even my feet. These slip on and off easily in the middle of the night and give good protection to the bottom of my very sensitive feet from sticks and stones, I could even hike in them if  I had to. They are bulkier than I would like but lighter by a few ounces than my current Patagonia Advocates that I have had for several years now and refuse to wear out.

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Mission Pine Basin

Mission Pine backcountry in the San Rafael Wilderness.


Hell's Half Acre on the Cachuma Saddle Road



Hell's Half Acre




Walking the ridge road.



Left the Road and started on the trail to Mission Pine Spring Camp,the destination for my 1st night.








The BeFree water filter. It's so easy to use, why not filter now?


Getting dinner ready, using the Bush Buddy store this trip since fire restrictions have not been turned on yet.



The trail junction and camp in Mission Pine Basin. The point where I joined the Santa Cruz trail and decended the ridge into the Santa Cruz creed drainage.




The camp at Mission Pine Spring is very nice indeed.


Good water from the spring.




The real Mission Pine basin camp located on the northwestern corner of the meadow.





The Santa Cruz creek trail down to Coche creek was in good shape. I could not find Coche camp so I stayed at Kellogg. No one has been there in awhile judging from grassy weeds growing in the fire pit, but still a serene spot with good water flow in Coche creek.




The trail past Kellogg to Flores Flat was not passable, lots of downfall. Obvious Bear activity at this camp that included what looked like a place to sleep, leave some scat, and tear up the table.

The next night was at Mission Pine Spring again, then back to the trailhead with panoramic views of the Santa Barbara backcountry.




A great trip into an area I have not been to and water was not an issue because all the springs are in great shape.







Sunday, April 30, 2017

.....Because I Dislike Headlamps!

Or should I say " I dislike running into people wearing headlamps. I recently purchased an

E-Case eSeries 9 Case with Jack with the help of a meager REI dividend to assist me in using my iPhone for a flashlight. The case has lash points for me to attach a lanyard around my neck, from the roof of the tent or on my bike, the headlamp does not adapt well to anything other than just the head.

So you think that this is not such a good idea because it will be a big drain on the battery life? That does not seem to be true. On a recent test, I charged my iPhone to 100% then turned on the flashlight accessory. After 6 hours, the light was still on, bright and the battery was registering 80%. 
The E-Case is water tight and has a jack plug-in so I can also listen to my music.