Lessons Learned: Gear

Rich and I were discussing what we learned from our treck up to the summit of Mount Whitney and I decided to share them with you. Here are the top three tidbits of info we wish we'd known before Whitney, but are glad we figured out before Kilimanjaro:

1) Bring Poles! Prior to hiking Mount Whitney, Rich and I had been told by several people that poles were a necessity for a successful hike. Rich and I were both extremely skeptical about this fact, however, and secretly thought that these people were just lightweights and that we definitely didn't need poles. But, as the trip grew closer, and everyone else on our trip listed poles in their gear plans, I decided we'd each borrow a pair to bring with us just in case. Well, I'm very happy to eat my words and say the poles were awesome. They were the perfect tool not only for extra balance when crossing tricky streams, but also when coming downhill after 14 hours of hiking. Upon returning the poles we borrowed for Whitney to their owners (thanks again, Melissa and Chance!), Rich and I headed straight to REI and picked up our own collapsable shock-absorbent poles for the trip. We both opted for REI-brand poles, just the men's and women's versions.

2) Buy a Walter Filtration System. Rich and I both went back and forth on this subject, as well. We knew we needed some way to treat our water, but had read mixed reviews about wawter filtration units and didn't really want to shell out the cash for a pro system. For Mount Whitney, we ended up skipping the system and opting for the chlorine tablets. Again-- we should have spent the $100 and bought the filtration unit. Chance's Dad Bob brough a unit with us on the trip and all I can say is it was glorious. It took about 5 minutes per camelback to fill, but it had an attachment that went directly onto the camelback spout, so that made it easier. The water from the filter, unlike that from our tablets, tasted great...and it was safe to drink. We are planning on investing in an MSR Hyperflow before we leave for Africa.

3) Liner Socks really do help! Rich and I experimented a bit with our socks on Mount Whitney. We both brought a pair of Smartwool Medium Weight Hiking Socks, a pair of Smartwool Heavy Weight Trekking Socks, and a pair of Smartwool Merino Liner socks. In the morning, we both started out wearing our mid-weight socks without problem. Around lunchtime, Rich decided to put his liners on under his mid-weights, while I still felt pretty comfortable in just my mid-weights. However, by the time we reached the summit, both Rich and I felt like we needed a change of socks. At that time I threw on my liners and heavy-weight socks and Rich just added his heavy weight socks over his liners. While I didn't have too many perspiration problems without the liners, my feet just seemed slightly more comfortable having the liners as a friction point rather than my skin. Neither of us had blisters from perspiration (although I did have a blister from trying to tape my toes!) and overall, we decided the liner socks are the way to go.

Those are just a few of the lessons learned from our hike a few weeks ago. We're less than two weeks out from the big journey to Africa now and everything is going in warp-speed. I packed this weekend, as the movers come in just over a week and I want to make sure everything I need is in my bag so there's no confusion the day-of with the movers. Everything's falling into place and there's just a few days and one tiny little MBA thesis standing between me and leaving for Africa! I can't wait. :-)