I probably carry too much stuff. I'm not into backpacking or "fast-packing." And though
its enjoyable, I'm really not even into hiking. My purpose in climbing small mountains is to train for bigger ones, so
I make no attempt at those miracle 8-pound hiking packs you read about in outdoor magazines. In true alpine conditions I'll
have to carry a whopping big pack anyway, so I might as well train with something a little heavier.
My pack weighs about 22-30 lbs depending on the climb. I travel lighter
in the summer and heavier in the winter when I carry a bit more cold weather survival gear that is usually not necessary.
But as Ed Viesturs said, "getting to the top is optional; getting down is mandatory." When we climbed Mt. Le Conte
we passed the same spot where a climber had died of hypothermia after getting caught in zero-degree temperatures without sufficient
cold weather gear. When I returned from Mt. Democrat after being turned back by a blizzard, I learned that another climber
had been given up for dead earlier that afternoon on Mt. Holy Cross just a few miles away (her body was never found). Being
lost and frozen on a 7,000-foot mountain is no better than being lost and frozen on K2... your'e just as dead either
way. So I err on the side of carrying too much gear even though there aren't many truly dangerous climbs in the eastern
United States.
My SwissGear trekking poles have
become prized possessions. I was just in an outdoor gear store the other day and I handled a pair of $140 poles from an expensive
manufacturer, but I wouldn't trade them for my twenty-dollar SwissGear poles. They are lightweight with great shock
absorbing capabilities and have held up under all the punishment they've been put under.
Clothing is low-tech. Polypropolene underwear covered by cotton-free outer pants and sweater, topped off
with a shell jacket takes me down to about 15 degrees Farenheit in relative comfort. My boots are unlined Ecco Receptors
that are barely adequate for similar temperatures. I'll have to upgrade my clothing before I go on a big mountain. My
other gear includes:
