So what do you do when you live half an hour from the beach and can’t stand the sun or sand? You get a beach tent that’s a snap to pop up. It’s actually a great way to pass out on the beach without turning into a sugar cookie. The front flap zippers up to total wind protection as well, so sometimes useful.
I did my Colombia trek with the Zulu 40 and it worked perfectly. The pack is made to stay off your back so sweat doesn’t stick to you, which is great in the jungle. I noticed however that the upper compartment on an airplane can easily fit a 65L pack, and not even long-ways, so why go for smaller? Yes, smaller looks neater, but it’s easy enough to tighten the straps and you have the extra room when you have to carry things for other people… so I upgraded. It’s not my go-to summer pack, but I haven’t used it much yet because I broke my leg and well, Covid.
I’m a super cold sleeper, so I went as warm as I could. I also wanted a bag that could open like a blanket. I went overboard. This thing is hot. You can see it here.
Update: this bag is stupid hot. I only ever use it opened up.
Technically a Backcountry / Touring ski pack, I plan on using this at resorts because it supposedly packs down very well. This is designed to hold avalanche equipment so it should be good for next year when I take avalanche classes.
Update: Only used it once. Tore my MCL and broke my leg. RIP skiing.
They claim it’s good to -40F. I’ve tested it to 5F and it was warm with just a t-shirt underneath.
Great in the dry season, wear them almost every day.
Spent the week of Thanksgiving at a house at Lake Tahoe. Got lucky, it was the first snow of the season and we got about a foot.
Got to use the snow chains for the first time. Absolutely necessary.
After the scuba diving I signed up to do the Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) trek. It was advertised as being 50km long and four days. What a lie. It turned out to be 73km with three days of actual hiking. Being out of shape, it was brutal for me. I did however get in much better shape than I thought I could in three days.
[insert long summary here]
One thing that came out of it was realizing I could push myself into much better shape than I thought. When I got home I started running. I’m currently only able to run three miles in just over half an hour, but that’s more than I’ve been able to run without stopping in over twenty years.
The second part of my trip was spent Scuba diving. I spent four days in Taganga with Poseidon Dive Center. It was fantastic.
I did the following
The water was about 75 degrees which was perfect for me for skin diving. Every day I dove Nitrox so I never felt tired afterwards.
I also got my Advanced Open Water PADI certification, so that was nice.
Went to Colombia in June. Spent a week in Cartagena. It’s hot, humid, dirty, and expensive. Parts are very nice, but way too many aggressive street vendors.
Cartagena is a classic tourist destination, I would skip it next time.
Project Hemingway 