Message posted by lone wolf on January 27, 2004 at 21:32:11 PST:

I'd suggest having a GPS. This website has the waypoints. [The GPS can also get you back to your car, er um, provided you take a waypoint. ;-)] I'd also suggest doing the hike with someone who has done it before. On one of my solo hikes, I missed the turn after the camp and ended up hiking up the wash a bit until I found the trail. [And this is after doing the hike a half a dozen times before.] Needless to say I was exhausted at that point, and the hike was just begining.

Tips?
1) Tell someone what you are doing so they can send the Canadian Mounties after you should you not return.
2) Water, water, and more water. I use 10 liters. Your mileage may varying, but I don't think anyone drinks as much water as I do on this hike. Even the hike down can be a bit strenuous.
3) Think about leaving as little trash as possible before you hike, i.e. skip the canned food and go for Clif bars, jerky, etc. Whomever is pigging out on MREs is not packing out their trash.
4) Use a small tent. Space is at a premium. It would be unlikely you could get more than one person in a tent unless you set up very far away from the peak.
5) Bring binoculars. (Doh!)
6) If you don't have a camera set up with at least 2000mm equivalent focal length, leave the camera at home. The minimum set up would be a Meade ETX90 and a 2x teleconverter. Exposure can be tricky unless you have an old manual camera. A small magnifier will help in focusing. Obviously, you better practice with this set up before carrying all the stuff up the hill.
7) I use an external frame backpack plus a compressor bag to hold the sleeping bag, tent, and pad. There is a really ratty looking sleeping bag near the peak that you could use as a pad, i.e. set your tent up on top of it.
8) A mouse trap might come in handy. I was able to keep the mice at bay by putting those green chemical light sticks near the ground where I was seated. I don't think they like the light, or else they got tired of playing with me.
9) A scanner of course. Band scanning the civilian air band on a scanner with the local freqs locked out will get you the unpublished frequencies used at the base. [Sedilia Mike and I had all sorts of fun doing this at the powerlines.]
10) First aid kit. The dudes who drove up the first half in ATVs have really messed up the trail, making the loose shale even looser. Sometimes they drove on the trail, and sometimes they went a bit to the right (heading up) making a new trail. Your mission is to not confuse the hiking trail with the ATV trail.
11) I bought a down jacket. It can fold to the size of a football, but comes in handy at night.
12) Flashlight, spare batteries. I try to run everything on AA cells.

I'm sure I forgot something.

May the force be with you.

In Reply to: Spring Trip (Tikaboo Peak, etc..) posted by Rose-chan on January 27, 2004 at 14:46:00 PST:

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