My wife and I are hiking Half Dome with friends later this month. We don’t have much time to train, so we need to get out whenever we can. We had a 4 hour, kid-free block of time, so we loaded up our packs and headed out to a local mountain.
I was pleasantly surprised at the number of wildflowers – this trail is very dry and brown for much of the year.
Gear
I loaded up our packs with extra stuff. I wanted my wife to carry what I expect her pack to be on Half Dome (12 lbs). I loaded my pack up with 35 lbs of gear and dumbells to simulate what I plan to carry at the start of my High Sierra Trail hike.
Notable Gear
- Six Moon Designs Fusion 65, 39 oz Ultralight Pack
- This my first time using this pack and an ultralight pack in general. I plan to use it on Half Dome and a couple of other hikes to get some miles on it before the HST.
- I am used to more padding when carrying a heavy pack, but over this short hike it worked well.
- Has more adjustment straps than I am used to. Once I get them dialed in, I think this will be a great pack.
- Farm to Feet Merino Wool Socks – Madison and Greensboro 1/4 Crew
- I continue to double up, wearing two pairs of socks to take up the extra space in my boots. I have some heavyweight socks on order.
- I am sold on merino wool. I wish I could replace my everyday socks with merino!
- Geigerrig Hydration Pack Engine
- I used the Hydration Pack Engine in my SMD pack. The SMD has dual ports for a hydration tube, so it works well with the Geigerrig stuff.
- Oboz Beartooth BDry
- I will continue to use these for my hikes through June, when I hike the High Sierra Trail.
Geek Stats
- Morton Peak || Distance: ~6 miles round trip || Duration: ~3 hrs (including a long break at the fire tower)
