by whiskeylover » Fri 26 Sep, 2008 8:52 pm
We take quite a few things that I suppose you could consider as luxuries because we used to be able to walk without them, but not only do they add to comfort I think they add to safety too, as added comfort equals being less tired and better able to handle the rigours of the walking? Thank God we can now afford these things - as you get older you're probably less likely to go without some comfort for the fragile body.
Down jacket (MD) - evening wear, mostly on hut walks as I'm scared of getting it wet - doubles as pillow
Exped Downmat 7 - soooooooo comfortable. Also has bag that can double as pillow, down outer stuffed with clothes.
Medicinal liquids, depending on length of walk - wine, port, muscat, tokay or whiskey - also depends on who is coming with us - no use wasting good whiskey on those who don't appreciate it (eh, corvus!).
Leki poles - I used to scoff at people who walked with poles until I tried them - power up hills with a pack on, depth checker for bogs, balance for stability - only a pain when scrambling over rock scree.
Crocs and hut booties - in combination keep feet dry and warm around virtually any camp site and weigh very little.
Extra socks and underwear - although need less underwear now that I've bought X Static MD quickdry, antibacterial and icebreaker gear
Fresh food, e.g. steak, vegies, zucchini , cheese and sometimes avocado, salmon rillette for first couple of days in chicken feed light flexible cold pack. Jealousy from others is worth the extra weight - sometimes we even share a little to make friends with our fellow walkers. P.S. Steak can be sold for a rather large profit on some tracks!
Lots of other things that could be considered as not necessary, but I'm happier to be safe and come home with a dry (not necessarily clean) set of clothes still in my pack. I'm satisfied that we're not going over the top weight wise - we managed to do South Coast Track for seven days with three of us and some fresh food with starting weight of under 18kg each - that's with my sister taking three books! I refused to carry them when we decided to take some weight off her later in the walk. By the way though, we're all small (under 5'6" and skinny) so all three of us fit into the first arrow tent, with the addition of a light weight sheet of ?something like ground sheet and guy ropes as a shelter for cooking and squatting under in the rain.
Love my pack towl too - being stinky and unhygienic should not be part of the bushwalking experience.
medicinal purposes only of course
Just so we all know... What day were you planning to do this?
If we do enough of the second, then the first won't really matter, but I don't fancy a trek back from Pelion with a sore head.
