Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting HPG Kit bag, humidity, Kuiu and miscellaneous other etc's

Went on a hike this past Monday. We've had hot temps like a lot of the country. A lot of you guys out west know hot but hot with 90% humidity is different than hot with 30%. Anyway, I wore my relatively new Kuiu attack pants that some of you forced me into buying, you know, since they dry quickly. We had rain the night before and the humidity was unreal. In fact, if you look at this photo of the stream, you can actually see a light fog hanging over the water, aka humidity.

This was shot at one of four, or was it 5?, creek crossings, three of which required removing hiking boots, socks and rolling up my pants. That's a pain! Speaking of hiking boots, my old Lowa's performed well enough, I keep think I need more hiking boots but can't find a good reason to buy more at this time.

The Kuiu pants were quickly wet in the humidity combined with sweating, as was most everything else. I carried my new (to me) used Dana Designs Terraplane with about 35 pounds for a day hike. Mostly just wanted to check out the comfort after carrying some distance. I hiked 7 3/4 miles and am happy to say the pack rode comfortably the whole way.

About the wet pants, I carried misc things in my pockets, I like the thigh pockets for maps, etc. Well, with all the humidity and sweating my map was wet, as was my iphone in my other pocket and a small digital camera. A Cliff bar stayed dry though the packaging was wet...All stayed wet. My iphone is in an OtterBox so no biggie but, I decided I NEEDED one of those nifty Hill People Gear kit bags.

Along the trails I noticed something disturbing. You guys out west have pine beetles, we have the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, a little critter that infests our native Hemlock trees and sucks the sap out of the leaves(needles) killing the trees. Whole areas are losing the Hemlocks. I've heard of it for years, but this is the first time I've seen an area so profoundly impacted. I last hiked this area about 9 years ago and was astounded at the dead trees.


Here's another shot. While the photo shows dead timber, the extent and volume of downed and standing dead timber was pretty difficult to capture on camera, and these photos don't truly show the scale of dead timber.


A lot that has fallen has been cleared from the trails but it occured to me with all the massive wildfires in the west these last few weeks, in spite of the general rarity of similar fires in the east because of our higher rainfall and humidity levels, with all this dead and dying timber it wouldn't take much of a dry spell to have some similar fires here.

I did see a deer on the trail and she stood for a photo, relatively unalarmed by my presence. Probably because of the numbers of hikers usually present in this area. This area is used rather extensively by hikers, mtn. bikers and horseback riders. The photo wasn't worthy of posting here however.

I concluded my hike where I started at the trailhead, a suspension bridge over the river.


After 7.75 miles, I discovered; I was happy with my backpack, Kuiu's don't dry in 90% humidity and heavy sweating, things get soaked in the pockets, which requires yet another $110 to obtain an HPG kit bag. (supposed to arrive Saturday!)

I had the mountains to myself. Other than some horse track from the day before and one set of mtn. bike tracks, I saw no other signs of people...and it the week of the 4th!

June, July and August is paddle time in the SE, not hiking time. May is as good as it gets, and maybe into June if you are lucky up your way. Thanks for sharing.

Great pics there! Thanks for "taking us along..."

Ditto TAK....it's been over 100� here for a week or two. We'll finally get a break next week. Highs in the high 80's!

Fishing and canoeing only for me in this weather.

it's been brutal with the heat and humidity in east tn.

In 2009 and 2010 I went back to the area I hunted in VA during the 80's. There are big stands of virgin timber there, with some huge hemlocks in the creek bottoms. All dead now.

Yes but it AVERAGES 12 degrees cooler in Erwin TN than where I currently reside.

In Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, I read an article about removal of dead Hemlocks. Because it is a "wilderness area" no mechanical devices can be used(chainsaws). But because it is a popular area, and the dead hemlocks presented a hazard, the FS decided to blast the trees with dynamite! The trees that happened to fall over a trail had to be cut and removed with crosscut saws! Anyway, sad to lose those old hemlocks. I hope new ones just now springing up will be able to eventually regenerate and repopulate. But we won't see that in our lifetime but likely will see the demise of most mature hemlocks. Hopefully there will be some pockets that avoid the adelgid and survive but not likely.

I'm not really sure why anyone would live in those conditions.

i grew up not too far from erwin.

Erwin is a nice little town, awesome smallmouth fishing there I'm told.

Came home from a hike today and WooHoo! Look what the mail carrier delivered!

http://hillpeoplegear.com/Products/tabid/762/ctl/ProductDetails/mid/1916/ProductID/8/Default.aspx

VERY nice bag, well constructed. Can't wait to use it!

Did take another nice hike today. I enjoy looking at photos others post on here so I hope you'll enjoy these. I hiked up to John Rock. It's a great hike, also popular with the tourists. While not particularly difficult it's nothing to sneeze at. It always amuses me to see some of the "tourist types" puffing back down in their flip-flops and empty water bottle without reaching the summit.


This is Looking Glass Rock as seen from John Rock. It also is a great hike though I don't think the view from there is quite as good and the trail is a little longer and more difficult.

Not to hijack your thread...

But what's the best way to get tree pitch out of your ass hair in the backcountry?

I do know that nothing I had in my kit worked. I also know that once you have tree pitch in your ass hair, it sticks to Merino Wool MORE than it would a synthetic.

I'm really not joking here

EdT...

There will be another chapter to the book "Schit Gone Wrong in the Backcountry"

Dan,

You really do need a custom built crapper-flapper chair.

It's easier to keep tree pitch outta your ass hair than to get it out.

This.

snubbie that's a nice pic. have you ever hiked up to mt. cammerar fire lookout. great view from up there.

WD40 on paper towel.

I hear GOJO works too.