Gossamer Gear Tent Set Up

I had time this afternoon and the weather, for a change, was cooperating, so I set up my new Gossamer Gear Shelter. First, I had to cut the really cool light-weight cord they sent with the tent, to lengths indicated in the instructions. Then, I had to tie loops in each end of the cut cords. Not very noteworthy, you may be saying. It is to me cause I had to learn to tie a Bowline Knot to do it. Big pat on the back to me cause Randy taught me to do it on two tries! Anyway, I got all the lines attached to the tarp and took it outside with my new titanium tent pegs and my new carbon filament hiking poles and began to set the thing up. Well, it wasn't hard at all! It went up very quickly and I can see where it will do the trick pretty darn well. I still need to seal the seam that runs along the top of the shelter but there are few other seams and it won't take long at all.

Randy and I have decided to take a short hike tomorrow. Since I now have my bear canister and the majority of my gear, I decided to take my full pack. (I'm still short the stove fuel and a few other oddiments but no matter). Anyway, now I neede to pack the backpack. This is tough as the pack is narrow and I've given up durability for lightness. I tried putting the bear canister (full of food) in the bottom of the pack to keep the weight low to my hips. That doesn't really work cause I can't get all my stuff in the pack that way. So, I've settled on putting the sleeping bag in the bottom and all the rest fits inside. The sleeping mat is bundled into ties on the back of the pack length-wise and the bear canister is strapped to the top of the pack. I put the thing on and it feels like it's pulling backward from the top. I'll try it tomorrow and make adjustments after some experience.

Oh! And I went to the Orthotic guy today. He modified my inserts for me and I could immediately tell they were better. The 1/8 inch padding under the ball of my foot was indeed causing a problem. He has removed the padding and left the nahgahyde part which raised my foot only 1/16 or less. I can feel the insert cuddling up into my arch now. I suspect this will do the trick. I sure hope so anyway.