Field Testing - Northern Cascades - August 2014

In a continued effort to refine and test the gear for Thrukon, the F800GS was taken far North into the Cascades near the Canadian border, for a two day exploration of what might be one of the most striking areas of the Pacific Northwest.

List of standard supplies in the dry bag include:

Ortlieb Rack Pack 49L Dry Bag .......... 910g
Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 Tent ............ 963g
Big Agnes UL2 Footprint .................... 142g
REI Flexlite Chair .............................. 793g
Snow Peak Starter Kit ....................... 225g
Snow Peak Mini Hozuki Light .............. 54g w/o batt.
Snow Peak 110 Gold ProIso ............... 227g (x2)
Sierra Designs Zissou Mummy Bag .... 1191g
Therm-a-Rest ProLite Pad Small ......... 312g
Black Diamond Cosmo Headlamp ....... 91g w/ batt.

Total ................................................ 6,722g = 14.82lbs


In addition to field testing equipment, the exercises are planned to simulate real world travel on a long trip. Which includes experiencing the disorienting reality of arriving at a foreign place, tired, hungry; and having to find a place to set up camp and make a meal in the pitch black. 

The first day of travel put me deep in the canopy just after darkness fell. Camp was set by the dim red glow of the Cosmo headlamp.

Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 lit by a single Snow Peak mini Hozuki

Once the tent was pitched I focused on and dinner was a freeze dried pack of Apine Faire boiled over the hot blue flame of the Snow Peak Giga Power.

 Dinner of Alpine Aire curry and rice cooked on the Snow Peak Giga Power Auto Stove

I was tired and soon the sky was going to relieve itself all over the tops of the trees, and then on me. I ate quickly and packed the more sensitive equipment, cameras, electronics into the tent and spent the last few minutes of awareness with the light pat of rain hitting the fly and the gentle hum of wind inside my helmet still ringing in my ears, thinking that the temperature is perfect.

Morning comes, it's quite. No wind. The sky has cleared and is a pale dusty blue. I make no real effort to rise but eventually I poke my head out of the tent to check on the whip. All is well and I realize I'm starving.

Morning at camp in the Cascades near Ross Lake

Breakfast was two servings of apple cinnamon oatmeal and some tea that I brought back from Tealuxe on a recent trip to Boston.

#campwizard tip #1: Cooking on a log may cause stove tips and loss of rations. With that said, breakfast was a total success and it was time to pack up and do some glacial runoff research.

Diablo Lake tinted sea foam green with Jackson Mountain in the distance

The green hue of the water in Diablo Lake is caused by glacial runoff form the 700+ northern cascade glaciers, which provide 230 billion gallons of water during the summer months. Almost of this water is utilized for irrigation, salmon fisheries and power.

On the edge of Ross Lake near the Canadian border

 Obligatory, burned-out-warehouse-down-by-the-river, fashion model shot

Another successful multi-day test with no real issues or significant findings with the equipment. Everything worked as expected and provided a comfortable and enjoyable experience.