North Country Scenic Trail

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Young Satchel
Posts: 116
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2017 2:52 pm

Re: North Country Scenic Trail

Post by Young Satchel » Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:48 am

t-$ wrote:i do love michigan for the opportunities to do this kind of stuff. i only went 20 miles down the trail, but you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere...

conny, yeah, my choice of trees was limited in the area i wanted to camp. that one in particular was sagging really good in the morning! but oh well, i still slept great. that has always been my downfall with the hammock, choosing less than stellar trees :lol:

so satchel, my system is the eno pac crest hammock (really a summer hammy, but i use it all year). it's a nice piece of simple, effective gear. in that i put an rei air mattress. can't remember the model name, but it is also the best air mat i have ever used. generally i dislike air mats due to their ability to fail at the most inopportune times, but this one has stood the test of time and abuse. my winter bag is an old army down mummy that was my grandpa's. still works a charm and is super warm...smells kinda funny tho. then on top of the bag i use an old army wool blanket, also from my grandpa. this system seems to work good and i'm always toasty. not very space efficient however, as the sleeping bag and blanket take up nearly half the sled :(

my favorite bag (that rode in the sled this time) is an osprey kode 32. for winter sports it is absolutely my favorite. the insulated hydration system does freeze, even in michigan. but i haven't found a bag yet that will keep the hoze and nozzle ice free. the best thing about the bag tho is the ski and snow board carrying ability. it has the rubber-backed straps typical of a ski bag, and i have used them many, many times for both skis and snowboards. it handles all of them beautifully and keeps the load high and tight. also it has the nice avvy pocket with all the bells and whistles that are found on the osprey avvy pockets...but i don;t have to worry about avalanches here so instead it houses my flask for easy access with mittens!!

the sled is a jett sled jr that i have modified to beef up the attachment point. my harness will be redone this summer and be much upgraded for next winter. on the ice last weekend the straps (instead of rigid poles i had on my last pulk) were useless as if pounded into my heels on occasion. not good. that was the biggest bug i found in this little trip and i really gotta just get that that corrected. it could be dangerous on top of being annoying.
Thanks for the intel! Lord, that sounds like a great time.

I’m currently dialing in New UL-backpacking kit for summer, then after that’s done will begin work on next winter season. Pretty much only thing I need in that regard is a winter weight sleeping bag. I’m set on almost everything else. Never used a Pulk sled OR skied with a pack, curious what that feels like, but I guess I’ll have to wait until next year to find out at this rate :-/


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t-$
Posts: 272
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:29 am

Re: North Country Scenic Trail

Post by t-$ » Thu Feb 22, 2018 11:35 am

hey satchel,

yeah, skiing with a pack or sled does take a minute to get used to. especially a heavy pack...that is the best (sarcasm).

are you in the new hyperlite stuff? its too bad golite went out but someone just posted a link that they are back in business with "my trail", maybe you saw it. i was disappointed tho when i went to the site cause it says all of their tents basically are out if stock ??? that doesn't seem like a promising restart. i wasn't planning on buying one anyway, it just struck me as odd, but i guess thats part of launching a business.

asolo has a really great, liteweight, -15 mummy bag that i bought when living in alaska. it worked awesome and packed down nice and small, and super lite. it's still in my exes garage with all my other crap, and hope to be reunited with it this summer...



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lowangle al
Posts: 2732
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:36 pm
Location: Pocono Mts / Chugach Mts
Ski style: BC with focus on downhill perfection
Favorite Skis: powder skis
Favorite boots: Scarpa T4
Occupation: Retired cement mason. Current job is to take my recreation as serious as I did my past employment.

Re: North Country Scenic Trail

Post by lowangle al » Thu Feb 22, 2018 11:56 am

P1020003.JPG
Although this was early September in the Brooks Range I had my winter set up. It's a Kifaru 4 man tipi with a stainless woodstove. Total weight is less than 15 lbs. with the tent stuffing down to a little bigger than a loaf of bread and the stove folds down to about the size of a three ring binder. I don't do winter camping anymore without a "hot tent".



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Young Satchel
Posts: 116
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2017 2:52 pm

Re: North Country Scenic Trail

Post by Young Satchel » Thu Feb 22, 2018 3:01 pm

lowangle al wrote:
P1020003.JPG
Although this was early September in the Brooks Range I had my winter set up. It's a Kifaru 4 man tipi with a stainless woodstove. Total weight is less than 15 lbs. with the tent stuffing down to a little bigger than a loaf of bread and the stove folds down to about the size of a three ring binder. I don't do winter camping anymore without a "hot tent".
That. Is. Fucking. Awesome. [emoji41][emoji1305]


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Young Satchel
Posts: 116
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Re: North Country Scenic Trail

Post by Young Satchel » Thu Feb 22, 2018 3:07 pm

t-$ wrote:hey satchel,

yeah, skiing with a pack or sled does take a minute to get used to. especially a heavy pack...that is the best (sarcasm).

are you in the new hyperlite stuff? its too bad golite went out but someone just posted a link that they are back in business with "my trail", maybe you saw it. i was disappointed tho when i went to the site cause it says all of their tents basically are out if stock ??? that doesn't seem like a promising restart. i wasn't planning on buying one anyway, it just struck me as odd, but i guess thats part of launching a business.

asolo has a really great, liteweight, -15 mummy bag that i bought when living in alaska. it worked awesome and packed down nice and small, and super lite. it's still in my exes garage with all my other crap, and hope to be reunited with it this summer...
I like the Hyperlite stuff but don’t own any.

I’ve got a custom modular full-Spectra Woven pack I had built by Dan McHale last year. It’s pretty insane. 40-60L expandable capacity.That’ll likely be my winter go-to. It’s about 2.5lbs fully stripped

Then I’ve got a 40L Dyneema frameless Pack for summer UL-backpacking overnights and short trips on the way from a couple of young kids who have a company called Pa’lante.

I was thinking western mountaineering or feathered friends for a winter bag, but those are both major bucks so we’ll see!

I like gear too damn much [emoji38]


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t-$
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Re: North Country Scenic Trail

Post by t-$ » Thu Feb 22, 2018 5:31 pm

Fishy....let's do it!!! Let's be the "first" to make it happen. I think you mentioned that trailhead before and I have friends who hiked that section but I've been a little a-scared of it. There's little room for error as you know. But I would totally do it if I had another person who was fairly skilled. Up to make a plan????

Nice pic al, you make me so jealous and missing my frontier days. Nice racks btw...


So satchel, who is that guy that made your pack?



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Young Satchel
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Re: North Country Scenic Trail

Post by Young Satchel » Fri Feb 23, 2018 7:39 am

t-$ wrote:So satchel, who is that guy that made your pack?
Dan McHale has been making extremely high-quality custom backpacks out of his shop in Seattle for a good 35 years+. He’s kind of a legend in his own right, except unlike other “pack gurus” (Dana Gleason of Dana Designs/Mystery Ranch for example) he never really went commercial.

I followed him for almost a decade before finally taking the plunge. Here’s the Full-Spectra pack we built:



And here’s his—extremely antiquated but totally lovable—website:

http://www.mchalepacks.com/ultralight/index.htm



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t-$
Posts: 272
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:29 am

Re: North Country Scenic Trail

Post by t-$ » Fri Feb 23, 2018 5:20 pm

nice bags! yours looks pretty cool, and i like the full spectra. have you used it in serious downpour, or how is the waterproofness?

i like this bag
bag nice.....jpg
and it would be awesome in spectra as well, with maybe some ski loops/straps on the sides...i carry my skis a lot :?



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fisheater
Posts: 2510
Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2016 8:06 pm
Location: Oakland County, MI
Ski style: All my own, and age doesn't help
Favorite Skis: Gamme 54, Falketind 62, I hope to add a third soon
Favorite boots: Alpina Alaska, Alico Ski March
Occupation: Construction Manager

Re: North Country Scenic Trail

Post by fisheater » Sat Feb 24, 2018 11:13 am

t-$ wrote:Fishy....let's do it!!! Let's be the "first" to make it happen. I think you mentioned that trailhead before and I have friends who hiked that section but I've been a little a-scared of it. There's little room for error as you know. But I would totally do it if I had another person who was fairly skilled. Up to make a plan????

Nice pic al, you make me so jealous and missing my frontier days. Nice racks btw...


So satchel, who is that guy that made your pack?
T-$, there is good reason to be wary of that section of trail. It is awesome on a mountain bike, however there is quite a distance between road crossings. I want to do a lot of things, however I think most of my "up north" skiing for the next couple of years will be with my son skiing lift served. He is in ninth grade, I need to take full advantage of the next couple years. Things change once they get out of high school. I know you have a near you, forget whether it was lift served or trails to the top, but the Big M is trails to the top, good place to kick and downhill.



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t-$
Posts: 272
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:29 am

Re: North Country Scenic Trail

Post by t-$ » Thu Mar 01, 2018 7:06 am




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