This past weekend I did a fastpacking trip in the Dick Smith Wilderness with ultra-runner Howard Cohen.

We ventured up Santa Barbara Canyon on a 2-day 43-mile loop through the fabled Puerto Suelo trail.

Full write up on my blog: TR: SB Canyon Puerto Suelo FastPack Loop.



~J.

Yeah, I always wear pants anymore. No need for the flesh version of desert pin striping.

Great little write-up, but I'd second the idea of wearing long pants on this trip.

I third that. However, I still haven't found a pair I can hike in comfortably. I don't even own a pair, otherwise I would have worn them.

A pair of full height gaiters would have been ideal; even Howard's legs were shredded through his pants. You need something like Cordura to ward off spines.

Whew! Looks rough. Way to grind it out.

I hear ya on the black night sky. Dazzling.

Do the waffles taste good?

@Todd, they are very neutral, and personally I like them. Nice waffle ice cream cone type flavor.

It's one of those foods you can eat when a Clif Bar or jerky seem to dense, too much effort and too unsettling. The waffles go down easy and settle well in a stomach in limbo. I wouldn't use them on a strolling type trip, but if you are pushing the limits, then they fit the bill well.

Also good when a gel doesn't provide enough satisfaction, and they are pretty dense on calories too.

You guys get an "A" for effort. That's some long miles through difficult terrain; forty some miles in this stuff in an overnighter is probably on par with a 60+ mile overnighter on a well-maintained trail as far as required effort and time spent walking goes.

Post-Zaca Fire hikes in the Dick Smith just aren't very pleasant... the wild rose, throny ceanothus and a few other choice varieties of chapparal have come back with a vengeance and filled in thick. Throw in abundant PO and maybe even some poodle dog bush and you've got a recipe for hiking pants/skin destruction! Full height, tough gaiters are the only thing that will hold up (well) to sustained brush busting like this. I have a pair of BD full height gaiters that come out of the gear closet only for snow and the nastiest of bushwhacking trips. They would have definitely been along on this trip.

It's really too bad that the Dick Smith has more or less been neglected by the FS as far as trail upkeep goes. It has some really special places and lots of opportunities to have an area to one's self. The pound of flesh (literally) it costs to visit these places anymore makes it pretty discouraging though.

Nice job enduring that pain, that looks like it hurt! But you know what they say, what doesnt kill you only makes you stronger.

By the way do you have a gear list, or geargrams?

@Michael (bubonicplay): Same list as my last trip detailed here in a prev. BPL thread, minus the Bear Canister:

SUL Durable / Thru Hike

~J.