Gear Review- Lakeshore Trail

What worked and what didn’t. Spoiler- it was pretty dialed in for once.

Part of what made my recent hike through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore was A) how light my pack was, and B) how efficiently I chose and used the items in the pack. I made a conscious decision beforehand to try to go lighter than I ever had before, in order to take advantage of the summer conditions and the new pack I was trying out for the first time. With that in mind, I packed less luxury weight and minimized extra clothing. It turned out that I pretty well nailed it. Every other pack I saw out there weighed more than twice what mine did. My gear list is HERE.

PACK

Let’s start with the pack. I was using (for the first time) a custom Nashville Packs Cutaway. Earlier I posted a “first impression” review which you can read HERE. I coupled it with their Penny Fanny pack, since the Cutaway doesn’t employ a hipbelt. At a combined weight of 13.6 oz., this resulted in nearly one pound of weight savings.

The Cutaway had more than ample room for what I brought, and carried the approximately 16 lbs. maximum load like it was nothing. I am confident I could have carried at least 3 more days of food if it had been necessary.

By the end of the trip, the pack was so light that I could hold it with one finger.

This was my first experience with a running vest-style pack, and I must say that I’m a convert. It felt as if a modest amount of weight was transferred to my chest instead of it all being borne by my shoulders. I never missed the hipbelt. The fanny pack held what my hipbelt pockets normally do, and TBH with easier accessibility. The fanny was also nice in camp when my pack was off, allowing me to still keep a few items handy.

As my earlier review noted, the Cutaway comes with numerous lycra pockets. I used the generous one on the bottom of the pack to stow my rain gear. I used the main chest strap pockets for a ziploc containing wipes and for a mini bottle of DEET (it was super nice having that handy in a jiffy), and I used the smaller pockets to store food wrappers, a mini Bic and my Victorinox. Bottom line- I cannot recommend this pack more highly. It was the envy of many on the trail, and it looks sexy AF. And at 56 years old and far from svelte, I need all the help I can get in that department.

SHELTER

I thought long and hard about bringing my Slingfin tarp setup, which would’ve saved me 4 oz., but in the end (rightfully) decided that potential bug pressure called for my Tarptent Aeon. At 17.6 oz. including stakes, it’s a pretty light way to go. I had struggled with setting it up on my previous AT section hike, so I made sure to review the set-up instructions on Tarptent’s website and practice in the yard before heading to Michigan. Those efforts were rewarded.

I felt like I got a pretty taut pitch every time on this trip. I only had 3 minor quibbles. One, the buckle that keeps the two front vestibule doors together during setup disconnected easily. Two, I was careless folding the tent one morning and knocked the ceiling strut loose from its cupholder thing. And three, this tent absolutely needs a bigger stuff sack than the one Tarptent supplies. When you take the tent down, it’s pretty easy and quick to align the pitch-lok legs with the support strut and then somewhat messily roll it all up into a cigar, but you really have to roll it TIGHTLY to get it into the original stuff sack. I brought a slightly larger ZPacks dry bag cuben sack in the appropriate length, and it worked fine.

I would say that every night I camped in places with a high liklihood of condensation. But I didn’t have any. This shelter is very well-ventilated. And there were just enough mossies around that I’m glad I wasn’t tarping. Very happy with the Aeon.

SLEEP SYSTEM

My quilt, pad and pillow combined weighed just over 1.5 lbs. and turned out to be perfect for the conditions. My 50 degree Enlightened Equipment 50 degree Apex quilt kept me mildly warm while wearing my sleep clothes, packed up small, laughed at whatever moisture was around and didn’t even absorb much hiker funk. Winner.

This was my first trip with the Exped Airmat Hyperlite, and it performed well. Warm enough when temps dropped to 50 degrees. Not quite as comfy as my S2S but close enough, and a few oz. lighter.

The Exped UL pillow….meh, it was ok. Not the best, not the worst, but didn’t keep me awake and weighed under 2 oz. I’d bring it again.

HYDRATION

I carried a pair of 0.7L SmartWater bottles, and brought a BeFree filter and the 3L bag that goes with it. I like having 4-5L of water in camp, since that gives me enough to drink, cook dinner and breakfast AND fill up my bottles in the morning without having to make another water run. I mean, once I’m in camp I want to do as little work as possible. The BeFree is ridiculously fast, and on a warm sunny day on the beach, when filled with cool Lake Superior water, it makes a very respectable pillow too. Multipurpose gear for the win.

KITCHEN

My cooking gear for this trip, including fuel, weighed under a pound. I repackaged commercial meals for breakfast and dinner and prepared them freezer bag style, and that worked well. I was generally boiling 2 cups of water for each meal over 5 days, and probably finished with enough fuel in the 4 oz. canister to make several more. The cozy also served as a makeshift bowl to support the freezer bag while I was eating. The Soto Windmaster stove is super efficient and probably is the reason why I didn’t run out of fuel on the last day.

FOOD STORAGE

I used a Hyperlite Mountain Gear pod for this purpose (the HMG folks have a blog post showing how they used pods for food storage on a Grand Canyon trip) and it was just the right size for 5 1/2 days of repackaged food and snacks. Because the campsites had bear lockers, I didn’t have to worry about hanging it. I moved snacks for each day to the fanny pack.

MISCELLANEOUS

The Anker 6700 gave my Pixel 3 a couple full charges and was at less than 25% when I finished, which means it was the right tool for the job.

The Nomad 3 in 1 charger cord is a game changer. Definitely helps minimize cord clutter.

DEET mini bottle- served up hot death to the dipteran hordes when needed. Also kept ticks off my sexy uncovered legs when hiking through tall grass.

CARRIED CLOTHING

The KUIU Peleton fleece top and pants, which combined weigh a mere 11 oz.despite being bubba XXL, were not only perfect for wearing in camp as the evening chill rolled in, they gave me a perfect margin of “safety” in using my 50 degree quilt. Among the best of the items I brought on this trip.

I didn’t really need the rain gear, although I wore the ZPacks Vertice rain jacket in camp on one chilly morning. Both it and my EE rain wrap/kilt packed up small in my bottom pocket.

My spare socks were used as sleep socks at night after rinsing my feet in the nearby lake or creek.

WORN CLOTHING

The OR Echo hoody is a superb lightweight long sleeved garment for wearing in warm weather. Love it. Also still love my Altra Timps and Dirty Girl gaiters. Despite hiking though a lot of loose sand, I never noticed any in my shoes. I probably should’ve left my sunglasses at home, since I only wore them while on the beaches. They were otherwise clunky to keep up with. I was rocking some sexy striped Ex Officio boxer briefs, which would have served well as a bathing suit if I had been brave enough (Lake Superior wasn’t THAT cold).

WHAT DID I REGRET LEAVING AT HOME?

Bourbon. I can assure you that mistake won’t be repeated in Zion next month.

Sit pad. At barely over an ounce I could have used it for cushioning while seated, and also to supplement my pillow.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN LEFT AT HOME?

Half of my toilet paper. But that’s a fear that I’ll probably always pack.

The measuring cup. I ended up being lazy and didn’t mark my water bottles at 2 oz. intervals.

Digger of catholes. Given the prevalence of privies, the Deuce of Spades could have stayed home.

I brought 2 mini Bics. I COULD have left one at home, but I was glad to have the spare when the first one locked up.

So there you have it, one pretty well dialed-in kit for the conditions, largely made possible by my increasing experience and familiarity with things, which allows me to make more minimalist yet still safe choices AND get over packing some prior fears. We’ll see how well I do next month on my first trip into the desert, where new fears potentially await.