Did another training hike in Forest Park today.  Meandered around and through the park in 95 degree heat.  Even walked through the zoo and saw the new polar bear habitat.  Covered 7.5+ miles and managed to find some sore spots on my feet.  Here’s a shot of a statue at the zoo.

I’ve also decided to feature one piece of equipment on every post until I leave in 2 weeks.  Today’s feature is my MSR bowl and DIY cozy.  The bowl weighs 60 gm and the cozy 33 gm, totalling out to 93 grams, about 3 1/3 oz.  That’s not instant oatmeal in the picture below, and it cooked right in the bowl with boiling water.  The cozy keeps the contents hot for a very long time, and it’s perfect for rehydrating food!

Going through final equipment check and decided to practice hanging a bear bag.  It seems like the black bears are more aggressive these days.  Their population is growing and civilization is encroaching on their habitat.  So here’s what I’ve got set up, and it seems to work well.

My food bag is a Sea-to-Summit 8L Ultra-Sil Dry Bag.  Along with the bag I have 50 ft of 1.75mm spectra line with a velcro strap; eye splices and soft shackles are on each end.  The whole set-up weighs just grams.

   

Step one is to find an appropriate branch to hang from.  It should be about 20 ft off the ground and have a spot at least 4 ft from the tree trunk, 6 ft is better.  Here’s a great branch in my back yard.

Then attach a weight to the end of your line (I used a stick) and throw the line over the branch.  It can take several tries unless you’re a major league pitcher.

   

Retrieve the line and attach the food bag to the end of the line.  The free end of the line should pass through the soft shackle as well.

Haul the bag all the way up to branch.  Then reach as high on the line as you can and tie the stick back onto the line.  Let the bag back down until the stick stops at the soft shackle.

    

The bag will then be hanging 10 plus feet off the ground, taller people will hang the bag higher. 😉

Good luck with that, Yogi and Boo-boo…

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success. – Alexander Graham Bell

Click this link to see a video on how it’s done, including an alternate method when the ideal branch can’t be found:  YouTube Bear Bag Video

Three weeks (21 days) until I hit the trail.  Packed some bounce boxes today and sorted out medications for the next 100 days.  Everything is packed and ready to go.

I also registered puffinshike.com today, so you can access the blog from that simpler address.

I loved this image of puffins that I found on takeahikephotography, how’s that!

If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself. – Albert Einstein

Hiked the 6 mile circuit around Forest Park with a 20+ lb pack today.  The temperature was 90+ degrees and shade was limited.  Had a great hike and finally broke out the umbrella; what a lifesaver!

The flowers in the park were amazing today.  The fragrance was everywhere and they were in full bloom along the trail.

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. – Albert Einstein