Weekend Backpacking Trip

[apssbc]

Hey all just a little AAR of a small backpacking trip my brother, friend, and I did. We hike the Manistee River trail in NW Michigan. We had hot weather over the three days with one small rainstorm. We backpacked about 6 miles the first night we stayed in a rustic campground. My bag is a ILBE and I loved how it worked for me. I grabbed it and went camping...no other preparation. It was loaded down with everything I would normally carry in my BOB plus some IV supplies since I knew it was going to be super hot and humid. It weighed in it 45lbs with water. I strung my hammock for the first time. I did not have enough of a space between trees so when I got in it I could not sleep comfortably since I was pretty much bent in half. I resorted to my sleeping pad and poncho for that night.
http://i647.photobucket.com/albums/uu198/emmettfire45/DSCF1837_zpskdmrnj5n.jpg
http://i647.photobucket.com/albums/uu198/emmettfire45/DSCF1845_zpsbw48vs4t.jpg

The next morning we hiked about 3 miles (one of group is extremely out of shape) to a camp on the trail where we were able to set up for the day. It was on the river bank and next to the waterfall so we had good cold water. I slung a hammock using paracord and set up a rain fly...which came in handy and did its job. I ate mostly mountain houses, protein bars, and jerkey I smoked. We filtered all our water and I cooked in my canteen cup over a fire. We pretty much relaxed since this was more of a leisure activity than a survival drill. I got a good night sleep by making sure the hammock was tight enough.
http://i647.photobucket.com/albums/uu198/emmettfire45/DSCF1818_zps76bowj2s.jpg
http://i647.photobucket.com/albums/uu198/emmettfire45/DSCF1828_zpsz2xty8k7.jpg

The next day we ate packed up and hiked on out. I have no complaints of any of my gear and the only thing I really learned from the trip was my boots are shot and I need new ones...its been ten years with the same pair, and to properly place my hammock to make it comfortable.

[Domeguy]

Sounds like it was a great trip.

[jamesneuen]

Did you get any rain?

[ElevenBravo]

Damn it dude, wish I was with you!

Some people have questioned my choice of the ILBE, mine has pleased me to no end!! I humped a regular ruck sack for 15 years, and Im here to tell you, the ILBE is easily 100 times better! The ruck will absolutely KILL your shoulders and back!! 45 pounds in an ILBE is a *lot* easier to hump than in an old school ruck!!


Great write up, thanks for posting!

EB

[bacpacker]

Sounds and looks like a great trip. I'm sure it was fun.

[apssbc]

Thank you everyone. It was an excellent trip and alot of fun. We got rain for around an hour and it cleared up. Otherwise the weekend was dry. My Suunto Core watch gave me a warning which was pretty sweet being the first time I used that feature.

As for the ILBE, I had a Alice before this and put some miles on that. I like the ILBE alot better. It dosent work well with my plate carrier and kit but it is doable.

[Sniper-T]

Sweet! Thanks for the report. Looks like an awesome trip!

[jamesneuen]

How did your poncho and hammock fare in the rain? I've never had good luck with a setup like that.

[ElevenBravo]

Hint: Nothing works well with a plate carrier (with a plate in it, anyway...)

[izzyscout21]

Hint: Nothing works well with a plate carrier (with a plate in it, anyway...)

Not true. I've used several different armor system with a variety of packs that work well. The caveat is that if you want to wear armor, you need a pack designed to integrate with it. The ILBE isn't one that works well with armor (you would have thought that the Corps would have thought of this, but alas.......).