MHW Enterprise Daypack: Seamless from Desk to Summit

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After searching seriously and casually for over a year, I think I found the next-to-perfect daypack for the office and a day in the backcountry. There are a number of daypacks that are capable of doing the double duty of the lifestyle of suburban mountaineers; remember, I made this site for people that work 50 weeks a year just to hike and climb the other two. The Mountian Hardwear Enterprise daypack does the job.

These days, work does not tend to require a briefcase like we did before the age of computers and smartphones. We tend to carry pad holders and folders in compact folios, but we still commute and get around with either a messenger bag (which is great for cycling but can be brutal on your spine from long walks) or a backpack. In the past, my trail daypack and bag for work have been two separate things, until now.

The North Face, Patagonia, L.L. Bean, Jansport and a lot of other companies manufacture daypacks with both pencil dividers and laptop sleeves (essential for the office, class and the coffee house) that can be taken on the trail. However, not all of them were built for extreme durability and include a convenient hole for a hydration-system and an ice axe loop. I got it all with the MHW Enterprise. It’s 1,850 cubic inches large and is stylishly designed to boot! In fact, it fits my large monitor laptop with ease, which I write these posts.

On the downside, people reviewing the daypack have observed that while it’s size could be considered by some to be big enough for a overnight, it’s straps (particular the waist strap) is not strong enough for a 40-plus pound load. However, I carried quite a load over the weekend and felt the waist strap (simple webbing) could be unformfortable with a greater weight. Generally, I try to keep my loads around 17 pounds and limit it to about 25 if possible, and it works wonderfully well. The only improvement I would make is to add and elastic draw string closure for the water bottle sleeves on either side. I’ve carelessly bent over twice already sending shooting my Klean Kanteen like a torpedo for the floor. (Good thing that bottle is so durable!)

Well, I’m almost ready for my commute to the office now. I’ll replace the map, first aid kit, and compass from the weekend’s excursion with my padfolio and binder for work. Happy Monday, everyone!

Thanks again for visiting.  If you enjoyed this post, you can following the Suburban Mountaineer on Facebook or on Twitter (@SuburbanMtnr). There you’ll get more hiking and alpine information and news as I come across it.

Day Hike Checklist

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Green Mountains by Szalay 2009
Enjoying a day in the Green Mountains (Szalay 2009)

I know you’re a pro and don’t need a checklist for a day hike, but most of us know some people at work or in our family that need some basic information on what to pack for a day hike. In fact, I had a series of questions from a colleague at work. I hope they find this information useful for three-season hiking (the warmer months):

First off, less is more, so long as you take what you need and nothing you don’t. Start with the Ten Essentials:

  1. Compass
  2. Extra Food (take more than the trip calls for)
  3. Fire Starter (such as a candle or magnesium block)
  4. First Aid Kit (with any necessary medication)
  5. Flashlight (with extra batteries)
  6. Jacket (keep out wind and precipitation)
  7. Knife (pocket knife usually does well enough)
  8. Map
  9. Matches (store in water tight container)
  10. Whistle

The Ten Essentials were made by The Mountaineers organization in the Pacific Northwest and has been adopted as the main items that may save lives in the backcountry. The rest are a practical list of options for useful gear:

  • Boots/Trail shoes
  • Wool or synthetic socks
  • Gaitors
  • Day pack (around 1,200 cubic inches)
  • Water container
  • Water filtration/purification system
  • Spade and toilet paper
  • Plastic bag (to pack out trash)
  • Mug
  • Bandana
  • Fleece sweater
  • Bug spray
  • Sun protection
  • Hat
  • Sunglasses

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Managing the Far North

/ Andrew Szalay / 2 Comments

Andrew Skurka taking questions at National Geographic.

Andrew Skurka visited Washington, DC and he presented at National Geographic’s headquarters last night. He talked about his 2010 Alaska-Yukon loop, that put him in the same category of great explorers as some of his heroes, like John Muir Ed Viesturs and numerous, reputable others.  

While Skurka has completed several long hikes in the past decade, including the Appalachian Trail, a sea-to-sea hike, and an enourmous western loop where he combined the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail he had already hiked about 16,900 miles mostly on maintained trails. These were just the warm up for his latest self challenge.

On March 14, 2010 — a year ago yesterday — Skurka set out to cover 4,679 more miles in a self-created loop across Alaska and the Yukon Territory. This expedition was different than his other hikes mainly for two reasons: 1) Very, very little of it was on maintained trails or roads; and 2) Hiking cross country in the far north is a very different challenge from hiking in the lower 48 states and the lower part of Canada.

To do this hike, he applied himself to learn to ski, use a pack boat and navigate off trail in the backcountry — all of which were a necessity for success on this route. This was in addition to the hallmark of successful long hikes: Good, solid planning. As he put it, there are couple different kinds of people in the world, and he happens to be one that believes all of the world’s problems can be solved with Excel! Skurka shared examples of his spreadsheets representing terrain, distances and checkpoints. It allowed him make reasonable estimates for supplies and distances.

Skurka appears to be a rather fit and durable athlete. Part of his durability, or the appearance of it, may stem from the fact that he is risk adverse. A few people in the audience gawked at that comment. But I agreed with him. While he maintains a high level of fitness, he also avoids situations where the risk is not manageable. His problem solving skills and new knowledge of backcountry navigation proves this point: At one point he came to a raging river flowing into the Gulf of Alaska. Instead of taking his packboat into the Gulf or stringing a rope, he evaluated his map and determined the least risky path was to follow the source of the river to the head of the glacier that fed it, blow up the pack boat and paddle across. In this way, his expedition has the appearance of looking easy.

The other reason Skurka deserves historic company with Muir is because of his sense of wilderness. I’ll talk about this a little more later, but I will say that his isolation from civilization brought him closer to the land and the wildlife. Humbling is probably the best single word to describe it.

He completed the loop where he started, in Kotzbue, Alaska on September 5, 2010 around 10:00 p.m. without fanfare.

Well, thanks again for visiting.  If you enjoyed this post, you can following the Suburban Mountaineer on Facebook or on Twitter (@SuburbanMtnr). There you’ll get more information and news as I come across it.

Knowing When to Turn Back

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I’ve covered a lot of mountaineering lately. Let’s talk hiking today.

A couple of years ago I introduced my wife to what I call a “real” day hike. We headed up the west side of Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s highest peak (if its shape can be called a peak.) I made us turn back about 300 feet from the summit ridge on the Maple Ridge Trail. She was okay with my reasoning at the time but later, sometime afterwards, she asked me what was my analysis since she wouldn’t have made that call.

The reason that I called it quits was that I wanted prevent us from descending in the dark on the wet, slippery slopes.

In this case we started too late, it was going to be dark soon, the trail was sopping wet, we were getting to the steepest part, and the frequent stretches of slabs in these conditions were challenging. I certainly was not going put my wife in a situation where she would hate: 1) Hiking and the mountains, or 2) Me. Here is a list of considerations for your risk analysis on any trail:

  • Distance (short and easy, short but hard, long and easy or long and hard)
  • Time of Day (early, late)
  • Terrain (difficulty, texture, vegetation density, up hill, down hill, river crossing)
  • Conditions (weather, moisture, season)
  • Body Condition (energy level, injury, soreness, hungry, tolerance for pain)
  • Wildlife Hazards (bear activity, herd movement, insects)

In addition to these factors, just be sure you go prepared. Pack the Ten Essentials and make sure everyone in the group can navigate. Sleeping outside overnight is always a possibility and an option that must be included for safety’s sake.

Above all, attitude also plays a factor, and a positive one should be maintained. But if someone loses their grip, be sure it isn’t you, and be ready to deal with tears from others if necessary. Fortunately we never reached those points, because I knew to turn around.

Thanks again for visiting.  If you enjoyed this post, you can following the Suburban Mountaineer on Facebook or following me on Twitter (@SuburbanMtnr). There I will have lot’s of other news and resources as it’s made available to me. Happy trails!

Snowblindness: Old, Tasty Cure

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Snowblindness, particularly at altitude, as most of us already know, is not really temporary blindness brought on by the environment but rather the eye getting too much sun like  your back at the beach. It’s sunburn. And it can be extremely painful.

Preventing the condition from ocurring from wearing proper UV protected shades is critical. These can also help if damage is already done. Glacier style goggles or shades that cover all sides of the eyes are best to prevent the UV rays from getting to your sunburn eyes further. The Mountaineers’ Mountaineering First Aid, 4th Edition, also recommends using tape to cover the lenses and leaving only slits to also reduce uncessary exposure to light.

Treating snowblindness has come a long way since the first ascent of Mont Blanc in the 1780s when mountaineering was born. Placing cotton or foam pads over the eyes, after removing contact lenses, for about 12 hours is required and using anti-inflamatory pain relievers like aspirin or Ibuprofin may also be used, according to the same guidebook.

But Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard, who made the first ascent of Mont Blanc in 1786 with a single porter, Jacque Balmat, had a different solution for the newly discovered condition. According to the great T. Graham Brown and Sir Gavin de Beer, FRS, in The First Ascent of Mont Blanc published in 1957, Balmat, serving as a guide on a subsequent attempt in the following years, recommended to a gentleman climber who complained of sudden blindness that it was really “due to the reflection of light from the snow,” and that it would go away, but to treat it with the froth of beer once he gets home. This was Dr. Paccard’s own recommended treatment.

While I don’t recommend trying it as a salve or remedy, the notion that beer cures all astounds me once again. Brown and de Beers don’t record this but I believe Balmat went on to direct this snowblind patient that after using the froth on his eyes to then down the beer as he sees fit. But this is only logical speculation on my part.

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Shutting Down the Parks

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Here in the United States, there is a viable worry that the national legislature won’t approve spending for the government in time to prevent a shutdown of national government services.  While law enforcement services will continue uninterrupted, our access to federal public lands will suffer and, potentially, so will the parks.

The U.S. federal government financially provides for the National Parks, Bureau of Land Management lands, National Forests, National Wildlife Refuges and similarly designated public properties.  These properties include recreational areas and wilderness, such as mountain ranges, treasures in natural beauty, like Arches National Park, and historic landmarks, like American battlefields and homes of great Americans.

While government affairs professionals are optimistic that the legislature will reach a deal, the threat of closing these public lands off from the taxpayer are very real.  The last time the U.S. federal government shutdown was in 1995, which shutdown only portions of the government.

Is it possible that some services, like public land access, might be maintained while others are shutdown?  Yes, but access to public land is likely to fall victim to the closures.  It is more likely that the legislature might fund portions of agencies, or only certain agencies, to maintain what might be considered essential services.  For instance, the Forest Service is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  It the department itself is not funded, the National Forests will remain closed.

It is possible that the public lands themselves could suffer during this time. I am less concerned about the natural order of things than the human element.  I believe the parks would be fine if we left them alone, for the most part.  I’m worried about trespassers that don’t respect the land.  Fortunately, according to the Access Fund, the “essential” law enforcement funds will be allocated to protect the public lands.

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