Trial Hike: Mt Crawford
Simeon Finch
We pulled together a last minue camping trip for the long weekend. We got lucky, pretty much every campsite near Adelaide was booked out save for one last spot at the excellent Chalk's campground in Mt Crawford. Neil and Jenna were keen to dust off their gear from PCT and I thought it was a great opportunity for a shakedown test of my new gear and nutrition plan.
We arrived a bit before midday, geared up and headed north along the Heysen trail. It was a beautiful sunny day and just the right temperature for me. We passed a large group of UniSA students out for a class camp who looked like they were working hard. Stopped for lunch at a bench in a valley descent and looped back behind the forest for a pretty cruisy 15kms total.
My pack sat well and I didn't mind the ~12kgs at all. This was my first time using a lot of the new gear and I'm really happy with everything so far. The MSR Hubba tent is super quick and intuitive to setup and has heaps of room. My S2S Spark 4 sleeping bag was amazing - I didn't mind waking up hot and having to make some adjustments compared to wearing everything I had with me and still being freezing through the night when we camped late last year. Sleeping mat was comfy and worked well for side sleeping. It's going to take a bit to get used to the inflatable pillow but I think it'll work out.
Nutrition has been one of my bigger concerns - I don't want to lose weight over the walk as I don't have much to spare.
We'll have up to 6 days without resupply which requires a huge carry weight of food to meet calorie goals. Other than a sneaky bottle of wine I kept to my current plan strictly and it seems sustainable. Lunch was cheese, crackers, dried nuts and fruit. Dinner was my first test of double serve Outdoor Gourmet freeze dried meal. I had the wild mushroom and lamb risotto, bolstered with 50mls of olive oil for extra calories. It was tasty, decent texture and filling without being stuffed. Some dark chocolate for dessert.
I thoroughly enjoyed the controversy of my titanium saucepan for a cup and suspect it will feature in future episodes. At 75 grams it's not much heavier than a collapsible camping cup and it fits on my 800ml pot like a storage lid to pack and protect more fragile things like my cooker. it was handy being able to cycle boiling water for different purposes. The Soto Windmaster worked a treat and I love how light it is.
Dave is looking well geared and seemed very comfortable on the trail.
I've done a big update on my gear list to reflect changes, including putting in actual weights rather than manufacturers for most things.
Lessons learnt:
Overall the effort in planning seems to be paying off. Gear and food worked well, some minor tweaks and feels like things are on track.
Made decision to buy a tent footprint, I was on the fence before. Seeing how neat Neil and Jenna's was, that their tent was still in great condition despite their massive trip, option for a dry mat to sit on and insurance against a puncture from rough ground seems worth the weight.
I need a better puffer vest. I was a bit cold last night with my cheap Aldi one and it's going to be much colder. It worked well to wrap up in the sleeping bag in a pinch though.
I'm going to change my hydration setup. I was going to do a 3L hydration pack, but it's just not practical getting water out of it to boil in the pot and I expect to be doing a lot of that. I'll try a smaller hydration pack and bottles/water bags next trip.
I love the idea of Neil and Jenna's soup system! Get some warmth, electrolytes, flavour and hydration while waiting for main meals. Miso experiment next trip.
