I took 11 days to hike from Shepherds Pass to Tuolumne Meadows. (The Whitney Portal trail was being blasted and walk-in permits were not being issued. Shepherds Pass cut off about 7 trail miles but added another 2000' of climbing.)


ZPacks SoloPlus – A solid shelter I can set up with ease.

Seam sealing, on the other hand, appears to be a challenge. Or User-Error, depending on how you look at it. I set up the SoloPlus in the garage to seam seal. I've used it on several trips before this one. Once in a torrential downpour. But on this trip, after an hour of light rain, I had leaks emanating from the pole cone stitching and from one of the pull outs. Nothing serious, just drips running down the wall. I think they result from setting up the shelter Tight when on the trail, and stretching out the SeamGrip. So I'll pitch TIGHT on a lawn and re-do everything.

Also, and much more of an issue, is the .75 oz ground Cuben ground sheet. By the end of this 11 day trip it was full of pinholes. Whether from pitching on gravel/rock (of which there is plenty above 10,000'), or dry stubble I cannot say. If I had had significant water running underneath I would have had a problem. Although heavier, I think PU coated taffeta might be more robust – able to conform over pointy things without puncturing.



Easton Nano Stakes – I like them, will continue to use them, and be a little more careful on driving them into rock.


This was the result of a "dark-thirty" desperation pitch, being nearly brain-dead, and in a hurry.


Nothing but little rocks on top of big rocks.

On all other 9 campsites I could either step on the stake to set it, or lightly tap in it, moving a bit if needed to find "drivable" ground. I had to hammer the stakes in three other sites, and had no problems avoiding further damage. And all heads are still tight. I have the Version 1 Nanos and think the walls on Version 2 are a little lighter, requiring just a little common sense when in a tough situation.



Saucony Perigrine 2 Trail Runners – Solid, tough, capable trail shoes. Excellent grip/traction on all types of trail, as well as wet rock.

The peeling toe caps were a cosmetic issue, but had they gone further I could have been in trouble. I SeamGripped them back into place but they popped free pretty quickly.


Note the wear areas. On the next pair I'll "armor" them with a smoothed layer of SeamGrip for some added abrasion resistance.


I'd put about 50 miles on them on local trails before this trip, so they did very well, but they are Done. Towards the end of the trip I did notice a loss of traction in "loose stuff on top of rock", and looking at the soles you can see why. The JMT is hard on footwear.



Patagonia Tropic Comfort Sun Hoody - A great garment for me. I really like the hoody aspect. It was a welcome feature for cold morning starts and for near perfect sun protection. The fabric is very breathable and the cut is generous. It never felt too hot, even with the hood up at 3pm under a blazing sun (at 8,000' and 75° days). I am disappointed in the finish of the cuffs. The stitching is too tight (non-stretch), and when I pushed the sleeve up my arm it broke, setting the end trim free.


I hand stitched in the field. No big deal, but I expect better.

Edit: I just received my 2nd Tropic Comfort replacement from Patagoina (version 3) and what do you know - stretch stitching on the cuff trim! I'll see if they got it right.

Edited by greg23 on 01/24/2013 11:04:35 MST.

I forgot to mention my experience with the Hiker water filter -

The Good -
I like a pump because it can acquire water in almost any situation where it is flowing. All you need is a golf ball sized depression/dam and you are good to go. It is fast: I can fill a liter bottle in about 3 minutes from the time I set my back down until I'm back on the trail. The water is ready to drink immediately - no need to carry a liter (32 ounces) for 30 to 60 minutes waiting for the chemicals of work. (The pump when wet is about 12 ounces.)


The Not So Good -
I pumped about 8 liters a day for 11 days, and by the end of the trip it was getting noticeably harder to pump. I was careful to pump clear water, and to avoid the sludge and crud on the rocks and bottom. At $35 a cartridge this is coming to about $0.40 per liter, which seems crazy to me. And if I'd been sharing the pump with a hiking buddy the implication is that we would need a new cartridge about mid-way through a trip. To me, this is pretty poor performance.

Edited by greg23 on 09/23/2012 10:16:22 MDT.

Greg - curious to know if you cleaned your filter at all during the trip?

Paul,
The Hiker filter cartridge is paper media and activated carbon, and back-flushing is not recommended.

And, because of the pump's internal check-valve, would be difficult to accomplish.

is shep pass really 2000' more climbing than WP to trail crest?

you drink 8L water a day!? dayum!

"is shep pass really 2000' more climbing than WP to trail crest?"

ahhh...nope.

only about 1400' according to Topo!

I forgot that Trail Crest is ~13,500 instead of 12,000'.

Greg - I'm not talking about backflushing - since the outside of the filter element is the dirty side, and the clean side is inside, you can simply unscrew the filter cartridge from the unit and swish it around in the stream or lake. Also, if your hiker is like mine, there is a prefilter screen wrapped around the element which you can unwrap and rinse out. I have done both steps many times, it usually makes a noticeable difference. I never had to replace my filter cartridge on my Hiker - although mine was the more basic unit without the carbon. I did crack the case finally, and had to replace because of that.

Paul,
I'll try it.
Anything to get more life out of the cartridge.

Thanks.

Can I ask you a question about them? I have a set of them, but they don't have the line loops included. Did you make those line loops yourself and if so, which line did you use?

They are great stakes--handled the rocks well.

I added the loops.

The line is from Zpacks.

I use it because it is bright, making the stakes easier to find when loose, or when buried in the duff. I like loops in general because I can use a stake to pull another one out.

So, the Hiker and the Hiker Pro are identical, other than color, QR fittings on the pump body and the pre-screen filter that wraps around the element inside. Importantly, both use the same element, which retails for $50.

After years of use with a First Need, I received a Hiker Pro this summer and used it on our August trek. The pump worked smoothly and quickly, certainly easier to pump than my First Need, and we used it in high altitude lakes and streams with visually clear water. Day 4, with less than ten gallons drawn through the pump, it became dramatically harder to pump over the course of about 5 strokes.

We pulled it apart, checked for obstructions, noted how clean the pre-filter and filter appeared, swished them anyway and put it all back together... no dice. A few more pump strokes and it burped a load of white sediment into the bottle and then became a little easier to pump for a few strokes, before firming up and then - pop!, goes the check valve. Onto pills for the remainder of the trip.

I've switched to the Sawyer, which is lighter, can be backflushed and has a total cost similar to the cartridge cost on the Katadyn. Campmor took the Katadyn back, after Katadyn's customer service told me that it's not uncommon for a filter to fully clog after only 10 gallons of clear-looking water. Yeah.

yoir sawyer vs hiker pro experience is pretty much polar opposite of mine.

Ive put several hundred gallons (probably thousands) through my katydyn hiker and never had an issue...

I also own a sawyer squeeze but prefer the hiker pro because I worry less about it clogging, and I frequently hike in sub freezing temps, which kills the sawyer.

I like the weight savings the sawyer provides, but I've just found the hiker to be way less tempermental and more reliable. I can't think of a single trip I've had to Sawyer on that I haven't had to constantly be back flushing it every few gallons in order to get it to work.

Of course someone has alternate experience. With over a thousand gallons through my First Need, I only became an owner of a new filter because it has gotten harder and harder to fit and pay for new cartridges in the old rig. One issue it never had, over so many years, was cartridge failure.

After my Katadyn cartridge failed "nearly immediately", I looked on the internet and found that I am far from alone with having had bad experiences with the Katadyn Hiker series (which is generally perceived as a benchmark for pump performance and value), something that seems consistent with Katadyn's approach at customer service regarding the mega-dollar cartridges. Of course, it's probably just that the folks experiencing failures aren't qualified to use such a fine device.

That's me in a nutshell, so I'll happily carry less weight and enjoy the ability to unscrew my filter it it clogs up, rather than be stuck out there with dead weight that can't be repaired on trail. More experienced and skilled folks can continue to lead the path with pumps and I'll only respect you more for it.

Our initial experiences with the Hiker (First Need) were all positive. Cartridges lasted for a Long time.

Now, in the same places, on the same trails, we rarely get 100 liters. Something changed somewhere. And it wasn't the water.

Edited by greg23 on 09/24/2012 08:54:23 MDT.