Backpacking the Ozarks

[LostOutrider]

Now that Rick is back from his excursion, it is my turn. I'm heading out Friday after work to meet up with two of my mates. One is bringing his 10 yr-old son, so that'll make four of us. We're waiting to hear from the fourth man. He's about 30 years older than the rest of us and requires some coaxing to head out in an Arkansas August. So, with that in mind, join me in packing up.

The trip is 2 nights, 2 days. 13.4 miles. We'll gain over 1700 ft in elevation over the course of the climb. Highs around 87, lows around 66. Scattered thunderstorms expected all weekend.

So, let us start with clothing! See the attached photos below and you'll find:

Boots - waterproof (Gore-Tex), Columbia. Good brand.
Wide-brim hat w/ paracord chinstrap
2 pair wool socks, 1 pair liner socks
3 bandanas
Sleep gear (fleece pants, wool cap, long-sleeved fleece pullover)
2 100% polyester T-shirts
1 pair hiking pants (nylon, cargo pockets, legs zipper off into shorts)
1 pair spandex running shorts
1 windproof/waterproof hooded jacket (doubles as a pack cover if it rains at night)
1 pair loose polyester shorts (doubles as swim trunks)


Since it is only going to get down into the high 60's overnight, you may think I'm overpacking for sleep gear. Not so. I'll be in a hammock, for one, and the heat just drops out of the bottom of those things. Even with a 40-degree sleeping bag, the fill will pack down and provide almost no insulation. Also, keep in mind the rain chance. You get down in a hollow and a storm blows in, with the wind and the rain blowing, it'll drop another 10-15 degrees. I've never, ever regretted throwing in warm sleepwear.

Next: Food!

[crashdive123]

Have a great time and be safe.

[LostOutrider]

If you visit many backpacking sites, you're likely to run into this odd creature known as the Ultra-Light backpacker. They'll do stuff like cut the handle off of a toothbrush, rip a bandanna in half, or divide 2-ply toilet paper into 4 1-ply squares . . . all in the name of weight reduction.

Not us.

So if this next bit raises an eyebrow some, just remember. Food is good.

We're going to drive down after work on Friday, make camp near the trailhead, and eat dinner there. If there is a firepit, we'll have a fire, but we don't plan on it so all cooking is done on little metal fuel-pellet stoves. We bring all the food we want to eat, but often end up swapping around eating out of each other's pot anyway. There's also something of a competition to see who can create the most opulent dessert out on the trail.

See attached photo for my grub:

1 zip-lock sammich bag of sunflower seeds and dark chocolate peanut M&Ms
2 qt. gatorade
1 dehydrated Chili Mac w/ Beef dinner (serves 2)
1 box Jello No-Bake Oreo Cake (serves like 8 or something)
1 pkt dehydrated milk (makes a quart)
4 Clif bars
4 pkts instant oatmeal (cinnamon apple)
8 single-serving Folgers coffee bags
1 foil pack of cooked chicken
1 bag of instant Loaded baked potato side dish
1 bag of dehydrated Red Beans 'n Rice
2 packets of hot sauce
1 zip-lock sammich bag of dehydrated fruit (peaces, oranges, apples)
1 zip-lock freezer bag of homemade jerky (1/2 teriyaki, 1/2 peppered)
1 bottle Polar Pure (water purification)
4 tea bags

The Kitchen:

Cook pot, scrub pad, spoon/fork/knife thing, stove, MRE fuel pellets, windproof lighter, folding knife, hand sanitizer

I plan on winning the dessert contest this trip. Last hike, it was won by No-Bake Cheesecake with strawberry topping.



The first night, we feast like kings.

[Rick]

Sounds like a great time. One thing I wish I would have taken is the wool hat for sleeping. I think that's a good addition. Add a nice night time breeze and things could get pretty cold pretty quick.

By the way, spandex is just wrong on so many levels. "Close your eyes, Ethyl. Oh yes they call him the streak....."

The food part sounds like my midnight snack.

[Sarge47]

Your my kind of Backpaker guy! Bring the kitchen sink if'n ya can. I've studied on those "ultra-light" backpackers, kinda like TBWNs. Shoot, Rick even packs a Full-size Twinkie suit!

[crashdive123]

1 zip-lock sammich bag of sunflower seeds and dark chocolate peanut M&Ms
2 qt. gatorade
1 dehydrated Chili Mac w/ Beef dinner (serves 2)
1 box Jello No-Bake Oreo Cake (serves like 8 or something)
1 pkt dehydrated milk (makes a quart)
4 Clif bars
4 pkts instant oatmeal (cinnamon apple)
8 single-serving Folgers coffee bags
1 foil pack of cooked chicken
1 bag of instant Loaded baked potato side dish
1 bag of dehydrated Red Beans 'n Rice
2 packets of hot sauce
1 zip-lock sammich bag of dehydrated fruit (peaces, oranges, apples)
1 zip-lock freezer bag of homemade jerky (1/2 teriyaki, 1/2 peppered)
1 bottle Polar Pure (water purification)
4 tea bags

OK - what about after lunch?

[LostOutrider]

OK - what about after lunch?

I'm gonna get Ryleyboy to whack me some gophers and chop down some trees, have us a BBQ.

Next: Gear!

[nell67]

I'm gonna get Ryleyboy to whack me some gophers and chop down some trees, have us a BBQ.

Next: Gear!

pfft!!!!!!!LMAO!

[LostOutrider]

Okay, I love my gear. Other guys go out and spend lots of money on all kinds of Space-Age polymer crap. Me, I'm a public servant and I'm married with two boys to feed. Besides, I figure my taxes go to fund the best damn military on the planet. I'll use their stuff!

First attached photo - random gear.

* Mesh food bag w/ paracord drawstring (used for hanging food in a tree)
* lightweight green tarp (rain cover for my hammock)
* roughly 50' of assorted paracord (used to tie up hammock & raintarp)
* white plastic Wal-Mart sack (used to carry out trash we find on the trail)
*2 telescoping walking sticks, cord-wrapped handles. The one on the right has a black garbage bag wrapped with cord just under the handle.
*survival kit in an ammo pouch (look in the sticky to see what all is in there)
*leatherman multitool on a braided paracord snap
*square of folded duct tape (hot-spot blister prevention)
*TP in a ziplock bag
*journal w/ mechanical pencil
*First Aid kit (primary one - the secondary kit is in my survival pouch)
*head-strap flashlight
*metal cup, wrapped in paracord
*black garbage bag
*knife sharpener
*cigarette lighter

Second attached photo: Everything packed up.

My pack:

Medium ALICE w/ mods.

My sleep system:

40-degree sleeping bag & a jungle hammock rolled up into a compression bag and strapped to the bottom of the pack.


Total Pack Weight: 37 lbs.

I'm 5'9", 185 lbs. and in good shape - so that is a good pack weight for me. I try to keep it near 35 lbs and after we feast the first night - it'll be near that much.

Other items I'll bring, but didn't show up in pictures:
cell phone, digital camera, map of the area, small maglight, glasses case (I never wear contacts on the trail), toothbrush & small tube of toothpaste (I don't cut the handle off). I can handle stinking like a sweaty corpse when I get off the trail, but I can't stand for my teeth to feel furry because I forgot my toothbrush.

[LostOutrider]

Gear is distributed in the pack as such:

Excess clothing in a garbage bag stuffed down at the bottom of the pack. The tarp, folded once again and stuffed in the bottom front of the pack. Jerky, 2 Cliff bars, and the M&M/seeds mix is in the left outer pouch. 1 qt. of Gatorade w/ the metal cup and the Polar Pure (primary purification) is in the middle pouch. Windproof/waterproof jacket is wadded up into the right outer pouch for rapid access. Upper left ammo pouch has my first-aid kit, leatherman, and a lighter. Lower left is the canteen pouch w/ 1 qt. Gatorade and some iodine pills as back-up purification. Upper right ammo pouch contains the paracord and the folding knife. Lower right ammo pouch is the survival kit.

All the rest of the food is in the mesh bag stuffed into the left side of the pack. The "kitchen" is arranged inside the cook pot and takes up the right top side of the pack. Glasses case, camera, phone, wallet, flashlight, & journal are in the inside pouch up against my back.

Oh, yeah, and the map is . . well . . . in the map flap.

That pretty evenly distributes the weight with my low center of gravity.

[crashdive123]

Looks like a good set up. Good luck with the dessert contest. You realize of course that if you win, you must provide samples to the rest of the forum.

[LostOutrider]

By the way, spandex is just wrong on so many levels. "Close your eyes, Ethyl. Oh yes they call him the streak....."

Yeah, but last time I wore cotton drawers backpacking . . . it wasn't pretty. Those hiking pants are a bit thin for me to be going commando.

[DOGMAN]

One thing I like for sleeping more than a stocking cap is a hooded sweatshirt- with the hoodie pulled up. Personally, I always have my wool stocking type cap come off in my sleep, and then I become more susecptiable (spelling?) to getting cold. But a hoodie stays on and I feel mummified without having to pull my whole mummy around me.

Are you hitting the Ozark highlands Trail or the Quachita Trail? I have done extended trips on them both, and I really loved them.

[LostOutrider]

We'll be doing the Shores Lake/White Rock Loop which has a short stretch of Ozark Highlands Trail for part of the way, I think.

[Rick]

What do you carry water in?

I see several of the mods you made to the Med. Alice. It looks good.

[mtman22]

I have to agree with Rick, those clips on the draw strings is a great idea. beats messing with those snaps all the time.

Sounds like fun, have a great time.

[LostOutrider]

What do you carry water in?

I see several of the mods you made to the Med. Alice. It looks good.

Thanks. I now can work a Singer sewing machine better than my wife. Amazing what you can learn when you are tired of wrestling with those *&^%*! double-snaps.


Water: 2 qt bottles of Gatorade. That first night, since we'll camp real close to the trailhead, I'll just carry in a gallon jug of water and use that for cooking. I'll toss the jug in my truck before we head out the next morning. The trail crosses several streams/creeks and at least one waterfall. Drink a qt. of Gatorade, fill it full of creek water, dose it with Polar Pure, store it in the pack and start drinking the next qt of Gatorade. By the time we reach the first campsite - the water is drinkable and we can use it to cook. We'll camp by water both nights. I just keep refilling and treating the empty Gatorade bottles at each stop.

One of us usually carries some Gatorade mix to stir in once the water is treated. (I kind of like the taste of iodine in the water - but a good "extra scoop" mix of gatorade provides a much needed boost for getting up that next hill.)


Pack mods detailed in this thread:

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...?t=3505&page=3

[Rick]

Wrap some duct tape around the Gatoraide bottles and you're good to go.

Did you remove the vertical bar on the pack frame to install your Molle straps? I removed mine, re-riveted the bottom brace so I could install the wide strap in back of the Molle straps. It doesn't seem to have affected the rigidity of the frame any. I've modified two frames so far.

I have the wide strap in back wrapped around the upper and center horizontal bars on the frame and the shoulder straps woven through the small metal strap holders on the top horizontal bar of the frame. That let's me make some adjustments to torso if I need to.

[LostOutrider]

Nope, I kept the frame intact and they fit on well enough. The sternum strap is a little tight, but I usually keep it open anyway.

[LostOutrider]

those clips on the draw strings is a great idea

Those quick-release clips are about $0.50 at Wal-Mart, btw. The first time I took my unmodified pack out, what frustrated me more than those Gorilla-Grip double-snap pockets was the way the two main straps always seemed to be in the way. I wanted to be able to flip the top of my pack wide open and rummage around in it.

I love my pack now. $20 for the pack (ebay) another $18 for the frame and straps. One of my hiking buds paid almost $200 for his - and it won't carry near what mine will.