Tried the north loop for the first time. It measures 14 miles and does a figure 8 back to the parking lot. I planned on passing the parking lot and hitting the first camp. Within 2 miles I noticed my shoes were a little loose and rubbing a little on the heel. Too late , as I had half dollar sized blisters on my heel. I stopped at about 4 miles to apply moleskin and found I had left my medkit in another bag. Compounding the problem was I was trying out my new Kahtoola KTS aluminum crampons.
I probably only needed these a total of 1 mile but used them a total of 12. The lightweight aluminum crampons weight in at 1 lbs 10 ozs with a bag (not included) and their lightweight version of anti-balling plates worked fairly well. These fit virtually all footwear and don’t require mountaineering boots.
The Aluminum wears fairly quick when moving over rocks and mud , so the steel would work better in these situations. My feet hurt so bad at 12 miles these had to come off. It didn’t help , the damage was already done. I’ll have to rethink my footwear with crampons , maybee a sock liner will help.
Another piece of gear I tried was the Mountain Laurel eVent rain mitts.
These worked awesome in freezing rain and sleet. The eVent kept my hands from sweating @ 32 degrees Fahrenheit. A lower temperature my have required lightweight gloves.
Ice cave towards the end of the hike. After hitting the parking lot I didn’t have enough will to hike another 2 miles and headed home. I’ll probably do this again with proven footwear.
0 Comments