Frog Lake Post-Trip Analysis, Part III: Wrap Up
Moving on from food and drink… I was pleased to have the DWR coating on my Patagonia down sweater, which again performed very well. It also makes a fine pillow when in its stuffsack. Below 40F I’d prefer something warmer , although something heavier than my usual long-sleeve Capilene 1 shirt would help. When the jacket was covered with beads of rain, the MSR pack towel worked well to absorb all that water so it didn’t wind up all over the tent.
Speaking of the tent, the ol’ Eureka Dome 2 is about 19 years old now and after this trip it really needs a good wash. I will re-treat the DWR as well as a precaution. I really appreciated the spaciousness of this tent with all two adults and an energetic 8-year old cooped-up in it for much of Saturday afternoon and evening. Our packs were all in there (and out of the rain) as well.
I needed the first aid kit this time, using a packet of antibiotic ointment and a small bandaid for the kid who naturally fell over and scraped her palms, knees, and toes at various points along the hike. Speaking of which, the kid needed shoes that had better grip on the trails, so I got her a new pair of inexpensive hiking shoes.
I also need to review the clothing we pack for Allison, because Carrie’s not used to evaluating what is needed for overnight camping. Allison’s clothing was fine, but could have been better.
A small deck of cards may have been nice to have. I think. I don’t know how much Go Fish I can handle though, so maybe sticking to the iPhones is best!
The small Casio EX-Z90 camera worked very well overall on the trip. I really appreciated its tiny size. It does have a tough time when pushed: noise at higher ISO; chromatic aberration when things like branches are back-lit by bright light; high contrast is challenging; and there’s no macro mode, which I really miss. But overall it does far better than it has any right to, and it’s wonderfully easy to carry. In the future I’ll probably choose between this camera and the dSLR.
Despite my attempts to completely use up the camera battery, it went through over 300 photos and some video without reaching the lowest bar on the first battery. That’s much better than I had been led to expect, and I should be able to get by with a single spare battery on pretty much any future trip. I like that aftermarket batteries are small, light, and unbelievably cheap.
Finally, this trip’s edition of Stuff I brought But Didn’t Use: Tyvek ground cloth, signal flare, corn side dish, margarita mix & tequila bottles, Leatherman Squirt, sunblock(!), the backup water purification tablets, and the bug wipe.