Labor Day Trip Report - Part 1

[rauburg]

First off, no pictures. I was trying to hold my weight down.

The goal of the trip was my first multi-day back packing trip. I am 57, 5'11,'' and weigh 210 lbs. I have lost 25 pounds in the last year and do 1 hour of aerobic training a day. Still eliminating excess weigth was a primary concern.

With Dog Canyon as my base, the plan was to haul water up to Mescalero the first day and the rest of the gear on the second day. After hiking the bowl and parts of McKittrick ridge, I wanted to come down the Bush Mountain trail by Cox tank. Ranger Carver advised against that and suggested the Marcus trail instead. I finally decided to spend one night at Mescalero and one night at Marcus.

I wanted to keep weight to a minimum with equipment that I had and could borrow. To that end, I carried:

Camp Trails External Frame pack - This is an old pack of mine that is fairly light.
Sierra Designs 1 man Light Year tent without rain fly - borrowed - worked well
6 aluminum T shaped tent stakes - short but worked fine
LaFuma 600 Synthetic bag - 2# 4 oz, 30 degree (claimed)
Short Thermarest
Wal-Mart Blue Foam pad cut done to Thermarest lenght (luxury item 1)
Slumberjack camp pillow (luxury item 2)
2 - 1 quart platypus bottles
1 - 16 oz lexan bottle
1 - esbit stove - 8 tablets
1 - 16 Oz stainless camp cup
1 - plastic spoon

2 - low cut smart wool socks
1 - hiker lenght smart wool socks
1 - long sleeve t shirt
1 - light weight poncho
10 essentials kit
1 - led head lamp
TP and wipes from MRE accessory packets
plastic trowel

Food -
For once I decided to go ahead and go with Mountain House for breakfast and dinner in the interest of saving weight and space.

Coffee - Instant from MRE's. I didn't want to mess with Folger's bags that I usually use
Snacks - Cliff Bars, nuts, trail mix.
Lunch - Cheese, crackers, & meat - Salami one day, jerky the next

Clothing -
T shirt
Columbia Cargo Shorts
Hi-Tec trail runner type shoes
Canvas Aussie "Breezer" type hat - This worked better than the Columbia Boonie usually used

I probably should have carried a wind jacket and pants. The lows were predicted to be in the low 60's though and I decided that I would be moving most of the time and that I could use my sleeping bag and AMK heatsheet for warmth if needed. What I carried worked fine but it was a calculated risk (based on closely watching forecasts) to be sure . . . no excuses.

Day one - I cached 3 gallons of water in plastic jugs in an ordinary Columbia Day pack at Mescalero. For the day I carried 2 quarts of water in Platypus bags and one pint in a Lexan bottle, my 10 essentials kit, and a snack. After dropping the cache carried Platypus bags, Lexan bottle, snack, and kit back down to Dog Canyon in a cheap Academy hip belt.

The trip to Mescalero and back to Dog Canyon took about 6 1/2 hours. It wasn't too bad lugging the water because I was fresh. I figure that I probably carried a load of 32# to Mescalero and that was pushing it for a day pack with no waist belt. All in all though the day went as planned.

I really wrestled with how much water to cache. Two gallons might have been enough but that didn't seem worth making a separate trip for the cache. 2 1/2 gallons was probably the ideal amount but I thought what the heck, 3 gallons is only 4 pounds more than 2 1/2 gallons. If I were in better shape a better plan might have been to just carry the additional weight and make one trip to Mescalero.

Day two to follow.

Randy

[rauburg]

With 3 gallons of water cached at Mescalero, I left Dog Canyon on Day 2 with my base load. I had a 25+-# load including enough water to get me to Mescalero.

The plan was to get to Mescalero and set up base camp. From there I could explore the bowl and McKittrick ridge using the Columbia day pack used to haul the water cache. I could even progressively move water from Mescalero to the Marcus trail intersection on the day trips.

The load on day 1 (cache day) was the heaviest. Day two would see a moderate (for me) load and day 3 would be an easy day; a day pack for part of the day followed by a down hill run to Marcus. I would have climb the Manzanita ridge on the final day but it would be done with little food and minimal water.

Dawn broke on day two with mist and clouds shrouding the moutain tops. I broke camp and got my back country permit (toe tag.) Almost as an after thought I stopped by my truck, got the truck key out of my pack and got a light weight poncho even though I was petty sure that the mist would burn off.

The climb up the switch backs was much easier than the day before. It took 3 hours to get to the McKittrick trail junction. I had lunch there and decided to drop my pack and head up the McKittrick trail since it was only one o'clock.

The view of upper McKittrick canyon is spectacular! The trail was in decent shape but it was overgrown in a few places. I am amazed at how steep the canyon walls were, this is quite a view.

On the way back to get my pack and head to Mescalero I felt in my pocket for my truck key . . . it wasn't there. I was concerned until I remembered that it was in my pack. When I got to my pack and double checked to make sure it was there I couldn't find it, crap!

As I reflected I decided that once again, I had made my favorite mistake; leaving a key in a door lock. I am famous for that. I thought things over and decided that things weren't so bad; I had food, shelter, and plenty of water. I briefly thought that I could go on with the trip as planned even if I had left the key in the door lock since so few people go to Dog Canyon. I quickly decided that it wasn't worth the risk. I key sticking out of a lock is powerful temptation to the best of folks. And if I had lost the key on the trail it might take a day or more to get into my truck because of the remotness of Dog Canyon.

Reluctantly I headed down to Mescalero to retrieve my pack and the water containers. I poured out the water, leaving just enough to get me back to Dog Canyon. Man did that ever hurt.

I got back to Dog Canyon after 10 hours on the trail to find, you guessed it . . . the truck key in the lock. On the way down I decided that I would head back to home, Midland, when I got into the truck whenever that was. I cleaned up a bit, changed clothes, and headed home.

On the way down, I briefly entertained the idea of spending the night in Dog Canyon and then making an over night trip to Marcus if the key was in the lock or if Ranger Carver could pop the lock for me. I dismissed that idea though for several reasons. Number one, I had burned a lot of strength and energy backtracking back to Dog Canyon. With the original plan I could have made it to Marcus with a gallon of water after an easy day, plenty of water for the evening and hike back to Dog Canyon. To go from Dog Canyon and spend the night at Marcus I would have needed 2 to 2 1/2 gallons and that was more than I felt comfortable with, especially after two strenuous days.

Was I disappointed, not really. It will be easy enough for me to go back at a later time, I am only 3 1/2 hours from Dog Canyon. I got closer to the bowl than I have ever been and I got a good check on my gear and abilities. I am comfortable with both.

Did I learn a lesson, you bet. From now on I will be a follower of what one wag calls "double redundancy" :-) From now on, I will try to make sure that there are no last minute additions to my gear. I will also have two keys; one in my pack and one around my neck with my whistle. 

Randy

[RichardM]

Maybe next time tie your key to a lanyard which is attached to you.

[dkerr24]

I can't say I blame you for heading back, Randy.  While I was in Dog Canyon, a few folks would show up in cars with no camping gear, and would go sit in a campsite for a few hours.  A key sticking out of a door lock might have been too much temptation for some of those folks.

Too bad you didn't have some pictures, I would have liked to have seen the area green.  It was bone dry when I was there in May.