That scenery is so beautiful. Sometimes it is best to bail. When I plan a big trip with my buddies I always put the bailout spots. Definitely a trip you will not forget.
@@BACKPACKERish went pretty late and ran out of water with no sources available until north racehorse. bailed down a sketchy alternate after racehorse pass. views are stunning though, absolutely.
That 16 lbs feels a lot heavier without a hip belt shifting it to your hips. You are supposed to have about 90 percent on your hips and 10 percent on your shoulders. I'd rather carry the extra weight and have it well distributed. What's a couple pounds? Big deal.
This series is perfect. I wouldn't change a thing. You consistently show that you make great decisions on the fly even if you don't like them. Thanks for sharing this experience.
Nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of, sometimes trips don’t go as expected… it’s always a learning process. Proud of you to be able to show your adventures and open your feelings/ emotions. The trails will always be there, and the challenge has no expiration date to be completed.
I absolutely adore you and your vids. I know those emotions well too. I've been mad at a mountain, terrified of scree, sobbed with disappointment after 20 hours of rain in a tent on a 2nd failed attempt of a solo summit and the relief of finding a lost path again. But like my mum says "don't worry, the mountain's not going anywhere". You earned the glory of achieving a huge section, you'll be back 🎉
@@BACKPACKERish I think it's as your energy drops, a bit of food and rest can sometimes turn things right around, but a cautious decision is always the right decision 😁🪨🍻
Does PickleJar Lakes require a reservation to backcountry camp (since it's located in Elbow-Sheep Provincial Park), or it's random camping (first come first serve)?
You need a conservation pass for the area, but thankfully it’s random camping in all the wildland provincial parks. No services, no sites, no reservations!
Thanks! And while I appreciate that, I have to call out the fact that I am continually humbled by the people I meet in the backcountry. Every time I go somewhere to push myself I see people doing even more incredible things! There really is no shortage of inspiration in the backpacking and hiking community. Next parts should be out in the next few days too!
This is awesome, I have been watching since the start and it's been great. Thanks for giving info on southern AB and Calgary area. When are you going to do a subscriber trip......?
I am happy. I get to see my friend, genuinely happy. It is awesome to see you succeed, and grow! Next trip, you bring a beer,I'll bring a cider, IT'S A CELEBRATION!
Shadowlight zipper is completely stupid and I told them so. Just stick with what everyone else has, a solid sealed main compartment with a single mesh stuff pouch. Once you put a bag liner in the Shadowlight, the zipper becomes useless! The two part mesh pocket will only fit a set of rain gear like my OR Helium if you tightly roll it up, hardly conductive to letting it dry out on the move. Frame is known to squeak, and the drawstring doesn't work on the upper pockets, you can get the pocket closed by only about 15% so be careful what you put in them. Looks like your bear bag line needs an Aglet aka shoelace end.
cool video. I went thru all these struggles at first too. After owning my x-mid pro for 2 years, I've found that getting an easy perfect pitch every time down to a science, and it's very fast. No adjusting lines, poles, nothing, it works the first time, every time. 1. Zip up both vestibules, then Start with a corner.. any corner. Stake it in. Don't worry about angles yet. 2. Now go to the opposite corner. pull it taut until this 2nd (opposite) corner has the perfect 45 degree angle to it's joining sides. The way this geometry works, if you make this 2nd (opposite) corner perfect, then your first corner will now be a perfect 45 degrees by default. 3. Next, go to any 3rd corner. Do the same thing. Stake it down so it's taut and both joining sides are fully tensioned.. If both joining sides are fully tensioned, you have a perfect 45 degree angle. 4. Then go to the 4th (last corner)... and again, pull it taut so both joining sides are fully tensioned. . It's now perfect (by default) because of what you did on the opposite (3rd) corner. 5. Now unzip your vestibules, and insert your first pole.. Raise it as high as the tent will allow, lock it in.. 6. Stake in that side's vestibule (to keep that pole upright while you walk to other side). 7. Insert 2nd pole, raise it as high as it will go 8. Stake in 2nd vestibule. 6. Zip up the vestibules. Boom. Perfect pitch, every time, no adjusting of anything. It took me a year to figure this out, and I've got it on the 1st try every time since. You're welcome. :D Edit: I just realized that this may be easier on the Pro.. as the floor is attached, and there are loops on the outer bathtub to perfectly place your poles in. It may be harder to get that perfect perpendicular vertical on your poles the first try, if your floor isn’t attached. But regardless, if there are any droops or shark fins on your ridgeline, rest assured you’re peg angles are ok… you can correct this by re-positioning the bottoms of your poles by a few inches and re-adjusting height to the highest it will go.
@@BACKPACKERish😂 I just really like tying knots!! Also for the Garmin: they make a “tether accessory” it wraps around the shoulder strap of your backpack and then theres a mount that you screw to the garmin (sold seperately) and you can then attach them via velcro and theres a tethered line in case you drop it. It slides a little bit on my shoulder strap, but it’s WAYYYY better than the stupid bouncy carabiner! Hope this helps, great video!
Everytime I see an outdoorvitals pack, all I can think of is the 4 days of hearing your velcro on the first Pinto-De-Mayo. I also can't believe you're complaining about extra length...
It's a perfectionist thing I'm guessing haha. Doesn't make any practical difference having dangly straps that you can tuck inside, but it just dangles and might make a little noise. It is just him nitpicking and even though I don't agree with him on that specific nitpick either, it makes me laugh my ass off at his reaction haha
The shadowlight needs shoulder water bottle pockets. I retro fitted some to mine. Also the water hydration pouch entry hole could be dispensed with. The centre zip is kinda meh. Haven’t had the Velcro hip belt issue. Otherwise a good pack for the money
True! I’ve never once used the hyro pouch, and it would be great if they had shoulder pockets. The Velcro thing is probably just me not having it setup totally correctly…but was still super annoying. I don’t know that it can be beat at the price point.
It needs Smartwater size pockets, why does an ultralight pack have the perfect water bottle pockets for heavy Nalgene bottles WITH room to spare? mine came with a stupid ass-on shoulder pocket, but you have to cut the end of the strap to be able to even use it. You know, cut the end that stops the strap from seperating from the buckle.
Haha! Fair enough on the eating thing. I didn’t even think about it. I think I was so focused on hitting the 10lb thing I didn’t think as critically as I could have about of those were consumables or not. Good call.
Was wondering if the weight of a bear vault is considered part of base weight? If so, I believe getting base weight to 10 Lbs or less to be near impossible.
I included food storage in my base weight, just because it doesn’t change. Getting under 10 is really tough where there are active bears. I couldn’t do it and had to make an exception for my bear spray. I think as long as your critical in your decision making, and get lighter without risking safety, you’re doing as well as anyone🤷♂️
Usually "ultralighters" don't skimp on bringing water bottles (typically 2x1L water bottles and as much as a 2L croc or similar bottle). 🤔Little sus about what you chose to include if that's what your relying on to meet that 10lb metric.
Fair enough! I think if I didn’t already know the trail and water situation I wouldnt have thinned out my capacity. I’m curious, what are the things you are concerned about bin the decisions? I love the feedback.
@BACKPACKERish I mean the primary means of dropping weight is just checking "do I REALLY need this?". Looking at steps for a given trip: starting with only bringing clothes and layers that are needed, airing on the side of caution for insulating layers for safety margin. This gets easier with experience. If you're doing a summer backpacking trip in banff/Kootenay areas, knowing a pair of wind pants are plenty for keeping bugs from biting you in camp and forgoing unnecessary long jons can save 4oz alone. Ofcourse if the trip calls for a great deal of focus on camp experience vs hiking experience, you're inherently going to be carrying more. The narrative of UL backpacking being super $$$ is a fallacy, you can get a very safe and light big 4 with just a borah 2P tarp and bivy, take advantage of a gossamer gear sale, MEC serratus or even some 3FUL packs, then going for an appropriate rated quilt or sleeping bag (whatever is best for that quality sleep). Applying a questioning attitude to every item in your pack will help shed oz by oz until you've lost a few lbs. I realize this might've not been the coherent, but the most useful resource I've found is "Lighten up" by Don ladigin. You don't need to spend money to "go ultralight", it's more of a mindset and often times people use it to give more space or weight capacity for those luxury items that are worth the extra space/weight. At the end of the day, it's about what makes YOUR experience the best it can be FOR YOU, because who cares what some nerds (my being one) on the internet think. Happy hiking my dude! Take care!
@@matthewkenny2344 thanks Matt! I appreciate the response, and I just ordered that book. Always down to hear different perspectives and find new resources!
Absolutely, I think I actually found the format that I like for making these videos to outline routes! Hopefully once a month or so for the summer with this format.
