Part Way to a Bindings Fix

There is a NCT hike tomorrow. There are 10" of snow on the ground here, and possibly more on the trail. If no one has hiked the trail this week, it will be tough going. If only one or two people have tried to hike, it will be a mess with "post holes."

In any case, my snowshoe bindings have not fixed themselves. Haha. As you can see, these straps- the ones that fasten around the instep of your boot are in imminent danger of turning into four pieces instead of two. I really don't want that to happen on the trail. So I got serious about some other solution today.

I rummaged around in my webbing scrap box and found two pieces of lightweight webbing with clips that I cut off something else that was dead (I think something of Om's). For a temporary fix to make sure this kind of clip buckle will work (some are too hard to undo when they are cold), I fastened the straps on with safety pins. That will be fine for at least tomorrow.

Here are the boots clipped in to the shoes. You can't see the new straps at all because they are black. That white toe strap is from the military bindings. I can use the other toe strap from that set. But the long strap that goes around the back of the boot is way too long and can't be altered without sewing (see link below for more info than you want about those bindings). And, sigh, I currently have no working sewing machine. (Which is increasingly becoming another a real problem). The reddish-brown is the remaining pieces of the neoprene bindings. The blue is a jerry-rigged velcro fix on the boots because the plastic buckles disintegrated and the boots are still fine (I just love expensive gear with one low-quality piece that sabotages the whole thing, don't you?).

And here is a closeup of the "new" black strap with buckle. If these work well, I'll rummage in my webbing box some more to find long strips for the heel strap. I'm pretty sure I have enough, but I think it's wide.

So I look like a toggled up mess, which it is. But I don't care as long as it doesn't break on the trail.

In other news, I did get my act together. I edited a lot in the morning. Did shopping and errands all afternoon. Ugh, but I did get gas for $2.66/gal! Soothed my stress from the hatred of shopping by pigging out on carbs.

No extra walking, though. Now, I just have to get myself to the hike on time!

See Military Service Bindings

First Snowshoe Day this Winter

Went for two short snowshoe walks today. The first one I did on my traditional snowshoes.

I really prefer the way those feel on my feet, but since I hadn't really compared them in the same space, in the afternoon I walked with the Luna foam snowshoes that I took on the big hike.



Here's where I walk out back. The deer also like to use the trail where I got the grass whacked down. It was well-traveled before I went outside.

But when I get farther from the house, then I'm using a trail the deer made. This is harder walking because the grass isn't cleared.

Here's what I was walking on my first day in snowshoes a year ago. A little more "romantic." A lot harder.



So, now that I've worn them both on the same day, what do I think? Well, I really still like my wooden ones. However, they never would have been useable on the big hike. Sometimes I needed to take the snowshoes off and strap them to my backpack. The longer shoes wouldn't have been as easy to get over rocky terrain (where snow may not have completely covered things) or fallen logs.

However, I had to learn to be careful to get the velcro straps fully engaged with each other, and even then, they were sometimes a problem. As the day went on the velcro would clog with snow and ice, shortening the length where it was making contact and holding. Also, there is no left or right to these shoes. They are exactly the same except for the way the straps are mounted. Actually, this is also true of my wooden ones. However, the foam ones always seemed to be on the wrong feet no matter which way I wore them. Once again, they are made for bigger feet than mine and the ends of the velcro straps caught on things which led to the first problem mentioned above.

The wooden ones need new bindings. I was not able to make the military bindings work. I'm sure I can made bindings, but it's just added to the huge list of things I could/should do.

I will tell you that I must have been in great shape a year ago. I did a total of about a mile on them today and that was plenty!

In other news: client work in the morning. Pantry, research and writing. Vacation from DMS is up to 17,960 words.

See First Snowshoe Day Last Winter

Thinking Wintery Thoughts

  Spectacular sunrise this morning, but with the calendar changing to November it's no surprise that the days are colder. Oddly enough, this seems to be the first November sunrise I've ever posted!

I've been hoping for over a year to get this pair of snowshoes for my hike. I wanted them last winter to test them out. Nope. Out of stock. I figured I was going to be up the creek, and wasn't sure what I would do about it. I was checking the web site about once a month all year. At the beginning of October, they suddenly said they could ship on October 18. Got me a pair!

These are Crescent Moon Luna shoes. They're made of foam. In fact, the pair weighs under 2.5 pounds!

I made sure they will work with my small feet, but it's all good. No way to predict if I'll need them in Ohio, but I don't want to awake some morning to deep snow and not have this option. They are light enough that I can just bungee them on my pack if I hit a space where they aren't needed.

I also broke down and bought a 15-degree liner for my "sleeping system." I did add a zipper to my Enlightened Equipment Revelation quilt, which turned it into a sleeping bag. But I just don't think that even with removing the draftiness that it's going to do the job on really cold nights. The liner is Sea-to-Summit Reactor. It weighs 9.4 ounces. More than I'd like, but then again, I don't want to freeze at night.

The real issue may be that it's polyester. If you've been hanging around me long enough, you know that polyester tends to give me a rash. But I'm hopeful that my pajamas will keep me separated from it enough to be OK except for maybe my neck. I currently have a rash on my neck which I suspect is from wearing a 50/50 cotton/poly sweatshirt, so this is a real issue. I suppose I can tie my bandana around my neck.

It feels slightly fuzzy but not like fleece. I will sleep outside one night this month when it drops below freezing to test everything out.

In other news: I did accounts and trail food all morning (with, of course, another trip to the store), and worked on the trailer in the afternoon. I unrealistically thought I might be able to cross off the next big thing in the trailer, but it really was too much to expect. I made good progress, though, and worked till my hands were so cold they were clumsy. Then I did three of the small jobs from my list, which included putting away the hoses- a miserable job that I hate, so I get to pat myself on the back. High of 42 degrees today. Same predicted tomorrow. OK to work on the trailer for a few hours at that temp.

28 BIG ITEMS to do (34 done) and 21 small ones to do (17 done). 29 days to go. I need to start adding stuff to the list of small things. I'd REALLY like to get the big ones done with enough days left to actually think about being ready to leave. But, that's not looking good, right? I'm already thinking about which of those items I can ditch and "blow off" for a whole year.

See Enlightened Equipment Revelation Review