Notes from the Field: Arizona Canyoneering, SuperUltraLight Style

I enjoyed my sub-5-pound base weight trip into Arizona's West Clear Creek Canyon. Weather was as expected - lows of 60 °F and highs around 100 °F, no rain. The main thing I learned was that it's really easy to go sub-5 in hot weather - no insanity required. I was able to skimp on weather protecting (cold and rain) gear, which left plenty of ounces to carry luxuries, like a TorsoLite, so I was super comfortable on the trail and in camp.

Gear - How'd it work?

The spreadsheet below has my final gear list. My base weight was 4.5 pounds. An unforeseen safety advantage was that total pack weight was light enough that I usually just kept my pack on when scouting routes, so I automatically had the 10 essentials with me.

Choosing gear for a backpacking trip always involves trade-offs between gear weight and usefulness. For example, on this trip I would have appreciated a hipbelt on the Gossamer Gear Uberlight pack about 10% of the time (when scrambling down a steep canyon or carrying extra water weight). But is it worth it to carry the extra 2 ounces a hipbelt would cost when it's not needed 90% of the time?

Below I've listed selected gear and some of the factors I'll take into account when I decide what gear to carry on my next SuperUltralight trip.

Gossamer Gear Uberlight Backpack. The small size made it easier to slip between rocks and horizontal, vertical, and slanted uprooted trees during a descent down a debris choked side canyon.

No hipbelt left my waist cooler and made slipping on the pack simple, but let the pack flop over my head when I bent double to scramble down rocks, leaving small items in the back pocket vulnerable to loss.

When I carried extra water for a dry camp above the canyon, the 18-pound pack felt really heavy on my shoulders. I hardly missed the hipbelt at 12 pounds (starting pack weight).

I was very conscious of how I placed the pack on the ground and tried to prevent it from snagging on trees and brush due to the 0.96 oz/yd² spinnaker fabric. The pack did hang up a couple of times on tree branches but survived without any damage.

I missed a side water bottle pocket. I needed to take off the pack to get a drink of water.

My back was soaked with sweat from spinnaker fabric next to me instead of some absorbent - and heavier - material.

Bozeman Mountain Works TorsoLite. I really enjoyed the TorsoLite. I slept well at night on it, it easily floated my pack and hiking poles when I swam sections, and it even supported me when I floated down some swift water to cool off. It compressed small enough to fit in the outside pocket of the Uberlight.

Speer Hammocks Top Blanket. As Ed Speer advises, this is a narrow blanket (30") made to be used with a hammock. However, it kept me warm to 60 °F on the ground. I did need to be conscious of tucking the edges beneath me each time I turned over - something I'm not used to doing in a sleeping bag - but doing so became habit by the end of the first night.

Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Sack. I used a 20-liter Sea To Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Sack (1.8 oz) instead of a mylar turkey roasting bag (0.5 oz). The Dry Sacks are made of sil-Cordura with taped seams and a dry bag style roll top closure. The dry sack kept my bag and extra clothing dry (even when I "accidentally" dropped the full sack in the stream and left it for 20 minutes) and served as a back up emergency water carrier to my single Platypus bottle. The 20-liter size was a somewhat random choice based on what the Sea To Summit rep had available before the first major shipment arrived for the initial US release of the bags. It ended up being very handy. The sack diameter was the right size to nearly fill the bottom of the UberLight, yet left enough space so that I could easily extract the folded up TorsoLite from the pack and then slide it back in after I floated the pack through a swimming section. The Ultra-Sil Dry Sack also had enough volume that I could get all the pack contents into it at the end of the trip when my food volume was reduced.

Gossamer Gear Pack Liner. I used the Gossamer Gear Pack Liner inside the pack to provide double protection for the sleeping quilt and single containment of my food and sundries. It, along with the folded up TorsoLite, kept my pack floating when the pack "accidentally" fell in the water. The Gossamer Gear Pack Liner is proving to be quite tough; it survived this trip (and two previous short trips) with no holes.

Dancing Light Gear Ultralight SleepNet. This net (my size large weighs 2.7 oz) is a large rectangular sack that is intended to fit over your head and torso while in your sleeping bag. It definitely helped my sanity! I wore it over my legs while I ate to keep the pesky bugs from biting my exposed ankles. I used it over the bottom of my quilt and feet for a little extra warmth one night, and on another night over my head and torso while sleeping for the extra warmth. I used it as a head net by tucking the ends into my shirt.

Gardeneer Garden Pegs. These plastic pegs are very light (about 0.1 oz each), but didn't make the grade. I broke two and bent one pounding six stakes in at a camp site above the stream on hard packed dirt.

Grocery bag food sack. The grocery bag food sack survived the trip and enabled me to use my food as a very adequate pillow, although I did question the wisdom of having food so close to my head when I heard some kind of wildcat screaming while I was trying to sleep on my last night in the canyon.

OraLabs Lip Sun Shield. I loved the tiny size and, despite applying it frequently, I used less than a quarter for a four-day trip. I like the taste and its smooth application too.

Behavior Modification

The bottom line is that I didn't need to give up much with a sub-5-pound base weight in hot weather. The adjustments in behavior I made from an 8-pound base weight were minor since much of the weight loss was due to lighter weight gear, rather than less gear.

• I found rocks or logs to lean or sit on rather than carrying a Therm-a-Rest chair kit.
• I needed to get in the habit of tucking the blanket under me so I stayed warm at night.
• I needed to be careful of where I put my pack and be conscious of my pack position when bushwhacking due to the lightweight fabric that was unprotected by mesh pockets.
• I needed to take off my pack to hydrate.
• I had to carry more weight on my shoulders and be careful of the pack tipping over my head while scrambling.

Sub-5-Pound Base Weight Canyoneering Gear List

Expected Conditions / Context for July Sub-5 Challenge Trips

Dry camping

Hammock camping

Look for the pre-trip gear list for both July trips here in the Backpacking Light Gear Lists Forum.