Shock Cord Replacement for Big Agnes

 Since Marie is not going on this trip, I decided not to take the really big tent we purchased. It's way too big for me alone. But I want more space than the little one-person Big Agnes Ultra Fly. Weight doesn't matter- we'll be base camping. Ergo... I need to use the Big Agnes Copper Spur that I purchased in 2017. But I discovered in the spring that the shock cord that holds the tent poles rigid had no elasticity left. That equals useless.

Supposedly, changing the shock cord is not a difficult job, but quite surprisingly, I've never had to do it before. This is the first time I've had it fail. Anyway, I ordered the new cord, and it came yesterday. You can see the reel of the new cord. Look at the fitting of the tent poles beside it, and you'll see the old cord lying loose between the parts. No elasticity. If you don't know, shock cord is basically a skinny bungee that runs through the tent tubes and is held tight at the ends.

I did watch a couple of videos, because there are several kinds of end fittings depending on the brand of tent. These end fittings screw in, so it was really easy to remove them.

The only remotely tricky part of this task was removing the fittings for the ridge pole. Once I figured out that they wouldn't break if I put a little pressure on them, they came out easily. This is that fitting with the new cord tied in it.

And then pulled down tight into the ring. Of course, when this was the view I had at the beginning, I wasn't exactly sure how to get it out, but it's plastic, and you just bend it a little to force it out of the ring.

I also looked up how long the new strands should be, and for Big Agnes, 80% of the length of the assembled pole is recommended. It would have been a tiny bit easier if I marked that length and then threaded the new cord through before cutting. But it didn't matter much. I used a clamp to hold the cord extended to get the last pole piece on, and that was easy enough.

I did do some research on the kind of knot to use. Found several fancy ones, but they all add bulk to the knot, and it needs to slide inside the pole. The knots that were on it were ordinary overhand loops. However, you can do these loops two ways. I didn't like the way they came from the factory (although I haven't ever had a problem with a knot letting loose). Anyway, the way they came, the loop was in the long strand which means the short end can pull through the loop. I made them with the loop in the short strand. You can see this in the second picture. Ha! I just noticed that you can't see the end of either strand. You'll have to take my word for it that the short one is the upper one.

Got all the cords replaced. Here's the whole pole assembly taking up a lot of room when it's flat in the house.

And proof that it's not too tight- they fold up as they should. The old dead cord is beside them.

What else should I have done? Set up the whole tent to make sure everything else is fine. Guess that will be tomorrow.

In other news: edited, did a bunch of things from my master To-Do list, but added some more. Cleaned the kitchen.

See What's In the Box?

What's in the Box?

 
Yes, I have a new toy. What is it? Of course you can read the name of the company I ordered from on the box and get a big hint.



It should properly be used outside. Maybe you guessed that.



Lay it out and assemble the poles. Yup, it's a new two-person tent. I've now owned a number of tents in my lifetime, but this one replaces my all-time favorite two-person one. You've seen it many times. It was the blue Sierra Designs Half Moon. But it was 25 years old, and it took its last trip in Vermont. The company replaced the poles twice, for free. I'd replaced the netting in the door. I also replaced the zipper once. However, one of the poles has now split again, and the fabric itself is beginning to get tiny pinholes. I can't complain a bit... it has served many years and miles. But it was my favorite. It cost $235 in 1992.



You know I love my one-person Big Agnes Fly Creek tent. So, I've been looking at their two-person tents. This is the Big Agnes Copper Spur, a $400+ tent, but I got it for $275 because it's last year's model! What a deal! Had to do it.



They assemble easy as pie, easier actually. Making a pie is a lot of work. Here it is with the rain fly on.



There are two features of this tent I'm going to like a lot. It has two doors, one on each side, so either person can exit easily. The other thing is.... it weighs just over 3 pounds with everything. That's a pound less than the Half Moon! We really like this style: rectangular (this one is slightly tapered), with a domed top and full rainfly. They shed water well even in heavy storms, and there isn't much the wind can catch either.



Now, here's where you can laugh. This is not the tent I'm taking on this trip. We are base camping, not backpacking (Marie's backpacking days are over). So we'll be taking the big old green tent! It's about 23 years old. I can't find a picture of that on the blog. I probably never showed you because it's a very ordinary green Eureka dome tent. But it works well for basecamping. Not huge, but Marie (who is tall) feels less claustrophobic in it.

OK... now back to getting my gear together!

if you like this blog, click the +1   or

It's Ohio Again

 
Yup, Ester and me in her brand new (huge)tent. We took it out of the box and set it up in the rain new tent.



We're in the car now and she is going to drop me off for a day of walking on the Buckeye Trail (mostly road walk). Catch you later!

But at least I got a post up!

	See Now Where
if you like this blog, click the +1   or

NCT Vermont Extension- Long Trail Day 4

 
This was our last day for this hike, and truth be told, we probably could have hiked out the day before. But we didn't want to. (I can't speak for Marie, actually, but I didn't want to, and she knew I didn't want to, and she likes me.) So we had one last night in the woods, and awoke to a lovely morning despite going to sleep in the rain.

There were just four miles to go to reach the car, and only three to make it to the big goal, a place called "Maine Junction." That's just a fork in the trail where the Long Trail and Appalachian Trail meet (for southbounders) or split (for northbounders). It will eventually be the new eastern end of the North Country Trail.

We were feeling happy and the trail was relatively easy. There was a steady uphill for the first couple of miles, but it wasn't difficult. We rested at a bivouac area.



Even the trail markers were happy! And if you were wondering, the Long Trail is marked with white blazes.



Before we knew it, there we were! Maine Juction, and two smiling hikers.



We'd passed quite a few hikers on the Long Trail, all NOBO (northbound), over the past few days. In the final mile to the car on the shared trail, we passed one hiker. I asked him if he was hiking the Appalachian Trail or the Long Trail, and he said the AT. But he was clearly intent on moving along and we didn't chat. We reached the parking area just before 11 am. First priority at the car? Let the feet out, of course.



The next priority? Iced tea and a nice meal. We went to the Rochester Cafe, in, duh, Rochester, Vermont. Recommended!



Here's the map. The Long Trail and our route is in red; the AT is in white.

	See Long Trail Day 3
if you like this blog, click the +1   or

Cold

 
The tent was dry inside. However, before I even got back to it last night the rain had changed to snow, so I awoke to this. (Actually, I awoke to the lining of my sleeping bag, but you know what I mean.) And I did awake, which means I got some sleep, but the grain dryers won most of the battle last night. You'd think I'd be tired enough to sleep anyway, wouldn't you?



This is the first time I've had this little tent out in rain or snow, and it is great. Not wet inside at all. It's hard to get out and in without bringing some snow in, but that's true of any of these small tents that open at an end. This is the Big Agnes Fly Creek Tent. I'm still very happy with it.

The car door was frozen shut, but I got it open and discovered a winter wonderland on the windshield.



Even with eating breakfast, breaking down camp, and driving to my starting location, I was walking at 9 am. Pretty impressive for me. Hey, you don't think so? You haven't dealt with me in the morning.

This fellow was a bit more lively. Yes, he has 6 points.



I'm afraid this post isn't going to be too artistically written. I'm getting sleepy. I think it's the combination of little sleep and finally warming up. I slept warm enough in the tent, but the air didn't warm up much all day, holding just a little bit below freezing. Those northwest Ohio fields sure do look bleak in the winter, and there is nothing to stop the wind. On the outward trip, it was more at my back and tolerable. This lovely crossing of the Portage River was one of the prettiest sights of the day.



But when I turned around for the homeward journey. Wowzers! That was one cold walk. Flags were standing straight out from their poles. That puts the wind speed somewhere around 15-20 mph. It was sunny, so that helped a bit. Sunshine on the shoulders really does make me happy. But still cold.

Here's a question. What is the value of a small woodlot like this one?



There are all kinds of answers involving the ecosystem, wildlife habitat, preserving botanical diversity. Practical answers like "as a woodlot, duh." But the plain and simple answer to a hiker walking through harvested agricultural land is that it is a place to pee! Very important in peopled landscapes.

The sun was setting as I drove through Grand Rapids. Saw my first sun pillar at sunset. It was spectacular, but almost faded by the time I could find another opening in the tree line and stop on the Interstate. In just those few seconds it had faded almost away, but you can see the last of it just to the right of center in this picture.



I'm heading for bed. Forward progress on the Buckeye Trail this week- 18 miles. Total miles walked- 34 (managed to cut off a corner on the way home today, and walked an extra bit yesterday, so the total is not double the progress).

	See Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Ear See Sun Pillar in Pink
if you like this blog, click the +1   or

Back to Minnesota

 


None of the things I wanted to show you today really turned out, but I keep working on labeling the pictures from the May hike in Minnesota, so I thought I'd show you a few more of those. I really gave that hike short shrift.

The first picture is Devil's Kettle on the Brule River in Judge Magney State Park. We had only walked about 20 minutes from the very start of the whole hike before we came to this exciting feature, where the water pours down into a rocky bowl and churns around before heading down to the river. So this view is readily accessible to most people.



This view, however, is only for those who are willing to work for it! I think that the Border Route has some of the most spectacular scenery anywhere along the North Country Trail, but it takes some serious hiking to reach it. On the right of the picture is Canada. We are looking west down Rose Lake. The small lake in the middle is Rat Lake, followed by the blunt end of South Lake.



Finally, just to point out that not every location on the trail is rugged and intimidating, here is our campsite the night following that spectacular view. The four of us had three tents, but Marie and I had this lovely spot by the calm waters of Topper Lake. At that lake I saw (but couldn't catch a picture of) what I think was a Common Merganser duck. I'm not so great with waterfowl, but it was a large white duck with a skinny neck, dark head and a black wing tips. It was awesome!

The upcoming Minnesota trip won't have such spectacular sights every day, but each trip has its own special secrets!

See Hiking the Minnesota Arrowhead
See Home- the Hike was Great!
See Walking Into Spring
See Early Yellow Minnesota Flowers

A Day On the Trail

 



I thought since most people don't go backpacking, I'd give you a really quick look at what the daily chores are. At first I thought I'd include a trail picture between the chores to make it more like there was travel/time lapse, but it put too many pictures in for one post. Maybe I'll do a "trail sampler" another day.

So, in the first picture, you can see that the first task is to find where the trail starts and put on the backpack. Then turn around and start hiking!

At least once, and sometimes several times a day you need to treat water in some fashion to make it safe. I cheated a little with this picture. That is Marie's hand, and the pic is from the Minnesota hike because I didn't take any pictures of me treating water on this trip. There are several ways to make water safe to drink, but whichever one you use, it's not wise to just drink from lakes or streams no matter how clean they look.



Then you walk a bunch of miles... whatever works for you, and pick a place to camp. This is my single-person tent. It's not the greatest. I have the one I really want picked out but it costs $300. (Anyone want to sponsor my NCT goal?) Anyway, you find a clear, hopefully level place that is off the trail, out of any active wildlife paths, and preferably legal! On this hike once I entered the National Forest dispersed camping is allowed. That means you can camp almost everywhere with some minor restrictions.



Then it's time to fix dinner. I do one hot meal a day. This is in dappled sun, so it might be hard to see, and explaining all the pieces is probably way more information than you want. But basically, I have a little stove, and the picture shows all my pots and pans and utensils, water bottles, some bags of food, and water bottles all spread out. It looks like a mess, but it all packs up really easily after the cooking is done.



Before crawling in the tent you need to make sure your food is away from the tent and safe from animals for the night. Here is my food bag high over the trail and away from any side branches.

And if it is THIS hike, then you run like mad for the tent because you are being chased by 10001 mosquitoes!

	See Hanging the Cache See Steripen
if you like this blog, click the +1   or