Opinel Knives - Two Generations

As a teenager I purchased my first Opinel knive at Carlton Sports in Vancouver.  This was the classic wooden handled non stainless steel blade model.  It served me well over the years.

Two years ago while on a cycling trip through Brittany I bought my second one.  This is forty years after the first purchase!  The new one is the 'Marine' version and retains the same basic shape and rotating blade lock but the handle is some sort of plastic (with a built in whistle and lanyard) and the blade is stainless steel.

The antique and the new kid.  Both very cool.

Maps

Ken kindly sent me pfd maps with his notations and our route marked out - thirteen pages in total.  I had these printed at the local UPS shop on a heavy paper.  Pages were slightly over sized so I cut approximately 1 cm off each edge.  Punched a hole in the top left of each page and used a modified freezer zip lock as my cheap-o map case.

Gearing Up for Grand Canyon Hike

For this upcoming trip I will be purchasing some new kit.  I try to ensure my purchases will not be specific to a single trip but will be equipment I can be using for future trips too.

Sheltering

MEC Spark 1

I bough my last tent, an MSR Hubba Hubba back in 2010 before I cycled the French Camino from Le Puy to St. Jean Pied ed Port.  It has served me well on many trips since.  This is a fairly tight two person tent weighing in around 2 kg but a bit of over kill for this trip.
I have been thinking about picking up a super light weight solo tent so this seemed like the time to add to my tent stable.   The MEC Spark 1 is a roomy, solo tent that only weights about 1 kg and is fraction of the bulk of the Hubba Hubba.  $299 is a very reasonable price too.

Hydrating

Ken recommends that we have the capacity to carry six litres of water.  I will be taking two water bottles 1.0 and 1.5 litres.  For 'bulk' carrying I purchased a 4.0 litre MSR Dromedary water storage bag.  This is made of a tough material with sturdy tie downs.  It fits nicely on the outside of backpack.  Weights only 186 grams empty and rolls up pretty small when not required.

Electrolyte Replacing

I am a sweaty guy when hiking and have in the past suffered from agonizing leg cramps at night following strenuous activity.  Some folks I know swear by electrolyte replacement tablets.  If I am ever going to try these out a long hot desert hike would be the time.  Added bonus is these provide a light flavouring to the water.  I've gone for berry and lemonade flavours.  One tablet per 500 ml of water. 

Trenching 

Solid human waste is best disposed of underground.  This practice requires a digging tool to perform adequately.  There are little hiking trowels on the market but for my purposes this sturdy $2 aluminum snow tent stake which is almost weightless should do nicely.  Made in England too.

Sleeping

Rather late in life I came to the realization that when backpacking I really need a pillow to get a decent night's sleep.  I can put up sleeping on hard or uneven surfaces much better if my head in supported.  The MEC air pillow has good reviews so hoping this will work for me.

Eating

Taking six assorted freeze dried dinners.

DIY Instant Breakfast Cereal

The little Quaker Qats individual packets of instant oats has been hiking staple of mine for decades.  I cannot say I ever really enjoyed these which I find to be over sweetened, strangely flavoured and slightly slimy in texture.  That said QO 'just add boiling water' instant oats are both quick and convenient and do the job.

I am a bit of a fan of hot oats cereal and my current preference at home is Rogers Oats and Ancient Grains.  This is a blend of eight different grains - oats, rye, barley spelt and khorasan flakes, oat bran, millet, flax seed and quinoa flakes.  It is a traditional cereal mix that required cooking on stove top or microwave - not happening on the trail.

With our upcoming GC hike which includes six breakfasts I tried a method of converting regular oats to  instant by mixing one third oats that have been 'blenderized' to a powder with two thirds Roger's mix.

Dry

Add boiling water, mix and wait a couple minutes and the result is superior to the commercial instant oats.  Add some brown sugar and chopped dried fruit takes it to another level.

'Cooked'

Delish.

Footnote - This method of oat preparation has become the 'go to' method for home oats now too.

Grand Canyon Hike Pre-Trip Planning Meeting

Met with Ken and Dale today where reviewed some of the details for our upcoming Grand Canyon hike.

Our time line:

• March 12th - I will be in Palm Springs so I will drive to Phoenix and pick up team at the airport then drive to Grand Canyon village where we have a hotel reservation for two nights.
• March 13th - Spend the day sorting things out, picking up groceries and parking pass, etc.
• March 14th to 19th - Hiking the Grand Canyon
• March 20th - drop team at Phoenix airport and return to Palm Springs

Other things to ponder:

• Temperature - In the canyon the temperature this time of year is expected to be 17-30 degrees centigrade.  Much cooler at the 7K foot rim level.
• Do we used tents or bivi bags?
• Stove - Taking my tiny pressured gas stove and a couple of gas cartridges 
• Water capacity - It is recommended we each have the capacity to carry six litres
• Water purification - Ken will bring his pump filter and we will back this up with purification tablets

It is just great going with Ken as he is a veteran on many Grand Canyon backpacking trips often alone.  He is wealth of info for Dale and me.  Fortunately the hike we are doing is one Ken has not done the latter bit but now the first half.  Ken had kindly gone printed out on-line maps with the our route marked out, camping and potential water sites.

Grand Canyon Bound!

My old friend Ken has been doing an annual backpacking trip to the Grand Canyon for several years.  I have always thought this would be an awesome thing to do and a great segway from from our damp PNW winter to summer.  The perfect should season getaway.

We chatted about this a month or so ago and I with my new retirement status looming I asked if he was going this year... 

Fast forward and our backcountry permit has arrived for a six day hike that is start March 14th. 

Our friend Dale will also be joining us so this really gives me something to look forward to and prepare for.  How grand!
 

Post Cycle Tour trip to Prague

October 1-4, 2017
Prague
On foot
Cool with some showers

Fun time playing tourist in this great city.

Lisa had been here before and was happy to return.  We visited the castle on the hill, took the walking tour, walked over the Charles bridge a few times, sampled the Czech beers and food, did some shopping, rode around on the trams, tracked down some of the oddball sights (Lisa found a list), saw a bunch of Kafka stuff...etc.

Castle - Charles bridge combo pic

Main square

Astrological clock

Franz Kafka dream statue 

Tramming around

Castle grounds

Lunch stop

Lunch

Automated Franz Kafka sculpture  

The church some careless king built house in front of

The deer tunnel (allowed deer to pass between sides of the moat) at castle

Yup

Another brandy Sir?  Why yes please, thank you Lufthansa.