Garmin Colorado 400T GPS Unit

I love electronic toys, but one of my more recent purchases could turn out to be a real timesaver - perhaps even a life saver.

Last summer I purchased a Garmin handheld GPS. The Colorado 400T (for trails) is a rugged, advanced handheld GPS unit, packed with detailed topographic maps for all my hiking adventures. It includes your typical topo maps plus a 3-D map view, barometric altimeter, electronic compass, picture viewer and color display.

Map detail includes national, state and local parks and forests, along with terrain contours, elevation information, trails, rivers, lakes and points of interest. Just in case you’re wondering how steep that hill really is, Colorado’s 3-D map view helps you visualize your surroundings — giving you a better perspective of the elevation - a feature really handy for those of us just learning how to read contour lines on a topo map.

Slim, lightweight and waterproof, Colorado is the perfect companion for all my hikes.

Backpacking & Hiking Resources

As I began doing research on the internet, I realized that there are so many great sites. I began to bookmark the sites of interest and then realized that I should include these on this blog.

You will notice a new area called Backpacking & Hiking Resources. As I find a website that provides useful information I'll post it here as well.

If, in the future, any of the links no longer work, please leave a comment below so I can investigate the problem.

Enjoy!

Catalina State Park - Canyon Loop Trail

This last fall I took the Canyon Loop Trail at Catalina State Park for the very first time. It's a wonderful "family" hike and in our family, this includes our black lab, Dusty.

Since then I've been back with my husband and our son Jeff, as well as Dusty and Jeff's dog Buddy.

As I mentioned, this is a fun, easy to moderate hike that has a well-defined trail. Along the trail are many different desert plants, cholla, prickly pear, sahauro, and desert shrubs. The first half of the hike, you will have a constant view of rugged mountain ridges. The second half of the hike will drop you down and right along a wash/creek bed that you will cross four times. During the monsoon season (May- August) the wash will likely be full of water, so be careful when crossing. Also remember that this is the desert and with it comes desert critters (snakes, scorpions, etc.)

The first time I was there was around Thanksgiving and all the washes were dry. We returned just after Christmas and there had been a pretty good rain earlier in the week, so the washes were running, but it was easy to step across the washes using the tops of rocks.

Distance: 2.5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: 200 ft
Hike Time: 1.0 to 1.5 hours (depending upon the number of pictures you decide to snap)
Difficulty: Easy - Moderate
Trail Condition: Well maintained trail
HikeType: Loop

Recipes for Backpacking

I've been learning that there are several challenges associated with planning 3 meals plus snacks per day while having to carry your entire kitchen and pantry on your back.



Challenge #1: Meals must be quick and easy.



Challenge #2: Everything you need for a meal must be in your pack. You seldom find 7-Eleven's nearby if you've forgotten something.



Challenge #3: After 3 days in a row, oatmeal is no longer a breakfast option. Think variety!



Challenge #4: Ice won't last very long on a hot day. With this in mind, don't pack foods that require refridgeration or you may live to regret it ... or perhaps, not live. Hmmm.



Challenge #5: With the physical exertion going on, plan on consuming 3,000 - 4,000 calories per day.


Challenge #6: At higher altitudes (above 9,000 feet) water boils at lower temperatures. This makes cooking "hard" things more difficult. Translation - store-bought spaghetti may take 45 minutes or more to come to a chewing consistency ... or maybe never if you're up around 11,000 feet. Plan accordingly.

So here are some of the things I've learned:

1. You need to select quick-cooking, one-pot meals. Avoid anything that’s greasy, complicated, or requires frying; such foods make clean-up harder and can attract animals.


2. Prep food at home to speed cooking time. For example, chop the first night’s dinner veggies before you leave and pack them in a zip-top bag.


3. Save pack space and minimize the trash you’ll have to pack out by unwrapping store-bought sauces and mixes and consolidating them in one bag.


4. Stay organized (and cook faster) by pre-measuring and pre-mixing ingredients. Pack each meal’s ingredients together in one zip-top bag.
   
   Now I'm sure there are many, many more tips that I'll come across over the next year and I'll continue to post them here.

I also intend to try out recipes and determine those that will make the trip ... and those that just end up in the garbage (sorry Richard). I've decided to rate each recipe, no matter how simple it appears.

Ratings will be from one star (not very good) to five stars (a real keeper). They will be displayed as ****.

Feel free to provide me with your suggestions for meals and snacks.

Hiking the Grand Canyon in late August

Richard and I are hiking the Grand Canyon with two other couples the last week of August. It turns out that the SaddleBrooke Hiking Club also has two groups of hikers going this year - one in May, and the other the first week of September. For this reason, yesterday afternoon the club sponsored a program, Hiking and Backpacking in the Grand Canyon.

The presenter was Dan Davis. Although now retired and working part-time at Summit Hut, he formerly managed all of the Wilderness and Backcountry Ranger operations below the rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

Dan's slide presentation covered the corridor trails of the Grand Canyon (the ones we'll be taking down and back up) as well as mention of other more backcountry trails. He emphasized the need to be self-sufficient and discussed equipment needs, safety, nutrition --- most of the information needed to plan hiking and backpacking trips in the Canyon.

He gave some great tips for items to include in your pack. Among the notes I took were a couple of items he suggested we put in our first aid kits.

Today: Get out the hiking first aid kit. Update anything that is "old" and add imodium and the pain cream to the kit!

Back Pack Selection

In order to carry all the items needed for each segment of this hike, I decided I needed a new backpack. My previous pack was an external frame Kelty ... oh, about 20 years old.

I researched this topic quite a bit, looking particularly at packs suitable for "shorter" women. After trying on many I found what I think is the perfect pack for me. It's an Osprey Ariel 65.

Fit is the key to pack performance. I wanted to make sure that I took the time to get it right. I bought from a reputable mountain fitting store in Breckenridge, Colorado.


I like this particular pack because it offers multiple sizes to fit a range of torso lengths: tall, medium, and short. I'm a short.

Next, the salesperson determined my hipbelt size by measuring around my hips, not my waist. I learned that a properly fitted hipbelt rides centered over the hipbones and needs to be very snug; after all it will be carrying the bulk of the pack's weight. The padded portion should wrap well around your hips, leaving a gap of 3 to 6 inches between the tips of the pads when securely tightened.

This pack has space for a 3 liter bladder (and a drainage hole at the bottom of the space just in case your bladder leaks.) There are also multiple pockets on the outside, specific locations for your tent and sleeping bag, and a place to stow your hiking sticks.

This pack should work well for me, as long as I don't carry more than 45 pounds of "stuff".

Hiking the Colorado Trail - Time to Start Preparing

It seems that about every 5 years I set a personal goal to achieve during my lifetime. 5 years ago it was to do a supported 5-day, 430+ mile bike ride through the mountains of Colorado ... a ride called "Ride the Rockies". I bought a new bike in November and really began training in earnest in February for the ride that took place the last week of June. Neither snow, rain, sleet, hail or even temperatures rising near 100 degrees could stop my son-in-law, brother-in-law and I from this trek. My husband, Richard, provided invaluable support, driving our motorhome to the next town and meeting us at the finish line each day.

Well...

it's time to set a new goal and this time it is to hike the Colorado Trail during the summer of 2010.

The Colorado Trail is Colorado’s premier long distance trail. Stretching almost 500 miles from Denver to Durango, it travels through the spectacular Colorado Rocky Mountains amongst peaks with lakes, creeks and diverse ecosystems. Trail guide books say that users experience six wilderness areas and eight mountain ranges topping out at 13,334 feet. I've hiked partial sections before, but this time I want to see the whole thing.

My blog will chronicle my preparation for this trip, as well as a daily journal of the trip itself. I plan to include discussions of hikes used during the prep stages, equipment being tried and ultimately used, meals & other topics regarding nutrition, and who knows what else.