Based on my experience this past trip to Myakka I have a few thoughts on some difficulties I ran into and some ideas, here is a list of the things i came up with...
-less weight... lighter=better. There was a few things that I could have done without:
-Reading Material- In anticipation of the trip I would have brought less book... i would suggest getting a cheap copy at a used book store and burning the chapters previously read.
-Photo gear- though I used the tripod a couple times, it wasn't worth the extra weight for the hike. The wide angle lense was not necessary either... I used my telephoto lense exclusively.
-Clothing- i brought two cotton T shirts... I should have brought one synthetic. I had a pair of cargo pants.. based on the weather, shorts would have sufficed. The rain gear and extra pair of socks... eh... maybe if I had a better guess as to what the weather and terrain would have been like... who knows... but i dont regret having them.
-FOOD- i carried way too much food. I planned for my changing tastes with normal living in mind.. while on the trail your taste buds dont really give a shit, your body is screaming for nutrition. In other words... I could have eaten the same meal three days in a row and would not have cared so long as i was eating something. Now mind you it would not have had to be this monotonous, but the extra lengths i went to be "gourmet" were useless. oh and spicy foods... NO!
I should have brought more powdered foods such as soup mixes and potato flakes.. dried veges and ramen. the half pound of trail mix, nuts and dried fruits... not even touched. I would bring power bars chopped in bite sized pieces to snack on along the route and possibly candy and peanuts. I certainly recomend trying eating something at home before going out on a tedious hike, to get an idea of what might be palatable, and take into account how much it takes to go into one serving.. the meals i prepared were more than too generous. which in the long run added extra weight.
There are some other things I could have done to be rediculous with weight, and the weight weenies will jump with delight at my recognition of these things... my tent is traditionally a two man tent, and with two people it is great becauase you can split the weight, but with one person the added comfort of a higher roof and a double wall tent really may not justify the added weight. A tarp or single walled tent that can be less than a pound when used with trekking poles would be a great idea to save a couple pounds. Another thing is the stove I use, this is being really picky because the set up I use really isnt bad, but an alchohol stove or a purely dry diet would have saved a little bit of weight... I WILL look into alchohol stoves when i start getting more involved with bike packing... a whole 'nother adventure I havent even begun to truely explore.
Some things I learned beyond saving weight:
Though I have heard those say that solely using water purification tablets make things lighter, I believe that school of thought depends on the sources of water available, and how much you consume. I needed to consume about 2 liters a day at least on my trip and in the dry prairies of Florida the lack of usable water made things difficult, what made things even more difficult was by the time I found water i had to wait FOUR HOURS for the purification tabs to do their trick. With this in mind I had to carry more water with me in fear of having to wait so long next time a water source was available. I recommend carrying a water filter.. the water is instantly drinkable and you don't have to carry extra water in anticipation of the purification lag. If I were able to drink it instantly I would have had my fill then filled the bottle or bag I had with me. dont get me wrong.. I will always keep a couple water purification tabs in my first aid kit for emergency purposes but to rely on them soley... never again.
Trekking Poles - serve many puposes... could have eliminated my need for the tripod, could have eliminated my need for use of tent poles and saved weight on my back through the use of a tarp or tent that used them instead of the poles, and would have saved me some energy and strength(and possibly a sprained ankle) in the miles of pig ruts that litter the trails of Florida. Also possibly a self defense mechanism against these same pigs... though only a minor one. ha. those guys freak me out.
No Regrets - glad i brought the extra camera battery and extra memory card.
Ok. so im letting my Army experience come through here for the first time on my blog... we did a lot of what the Army calls "road marching" while I was in training and otherwise with the US military. If anyone does some serious hiking it is the US Army, miles and miles of road marching which is really just sleep walking after you get used to it. I mean seriously, after months of training it got to the point where I would wake up to find myself walking with an M-16 held firmly to my chest, clutched tightly in my leather and wool gloved hands, 30 lbs of gear hanging from my shoulders down my back in an alice pack that was probobly used for the previous thrity years, and a heavy kevlar helmet weighing down my head. I mean serisously... I would WAKE UP and realize that I was in this situation... "oh shit! here I am walking 5 meters behind the soldier in front of me, and I dont remember how i got here" it was an experience. Well... I guess i can reflect on the things I learned while hiking with the army... or for now at least one of them. While in training at Ft. Benning, GA my L.T. (or butter bar as I called him) taught us what he knew of pacing and the use of Ranger beads. Well... he didnt really teach us, but he used them, and I learned by watching. While hiking, most hikers know (by use of compass and map) which direction they are headed, but they can rarely acurately tell you the distance they have travelled without a GPS system.
;)
