Ireland Day Two

Today was a busy day but as easy as yesterday was. My first three days here are scheduled to be easier days, then I ride out and start seeing the cool stuff! The itinerary today was not too eventful: take the free Dublin walking tour, go to the olde jail, and do an evening bus tour. 

I woke up fairly early to catch a light breakfast provided by the hostel. Breakfast here is 7:30-9:30. Following, I repacked my backpack for the day. The free Dublin tour was to start at 10:30, so I waited in the common room until then. The common room is nice. Actually there's more than one, but the one I'm referring to is the main one at the entrance of the hostel. This gave a chance to get some reading done. When 10:00 came around, the tour guide came in and announced that we were ready to head out. 

Along the way, we stopped at 2 other hostels to pick up other tour groups. From the last one, we headed to an upscale pub called the Mercantile. Being that we were in the tour group, we all got free coffee or tea. Irish tea is nothing like what we have in America. It has a distinct aroma and taste that is difficult to explain but is satisfying. 

At the pub, we were seperated into 2 groups: English and Spanish. From there, we made our way to Dublin Castle. I had already been there but the history and stories behind it were interesting. All that's really left of the castle is the tower. The tower was used in the 15th century to house prisoners and was also used as a torture facility. Later on, a chapel was built onto it. To get to the castle, we walked through the original city gates of which there's remnants of throughout Dublin. 

The gates actually lead to a courtyard surrounded by administrative buildings. Our guide also pointed out the building where the Irish Crown Jewels would be housed... If they knew where they were. If you don't know the story behind the Irish Crown Jewels, it's worth looking up. It's quite humorous. Within the courtyard, we also saw the building where Bram Stoker wrote Dracula. 

Behind the castle, is the Dubh Linn Garden that we visited. Dublin has many gardens that are just awesome. Next to the garden is the coach house which was once a stable. We continued to tour around the castle for a bit which was a lot I already saw but the guide gave interesting stories about it. 

From there, we briefly visited a Greece style amphitheatre where we got a chance to stand in the middle and hear our voices echo. 

For a short break, we stopped at a pub called "The Storehouse" where we all could get a drink. I decided to try the Irish coffee. We were there for maybe 25 minutes before we took off for Trinity College. To be honest, I never gave a thought to visiting the college, but I'm glad we did. It was originally built and used in 1592. At the time, Catholics weren't allowed to attend the college which is funny because one of their slogans now encourages acceptance of everyone. The entrance is the original one as well as the campanlle. All of the buildings in the college are very ornate including the library (of which I went back to). 

We then visited Christ Church Cathedral, of which I was at yesterday. We heard many stories behind this cool building. We also learned that the field nearby used to be a Viking village. As they were excavating to build some office buildings, they found the village underground and perfectly preserved. Unfortunately, all that remains is a large grassy yard. We heard many stories of the Vikings. I did not know that Dublin was the Viking town in Ireland. We learned many things including that England did not like fighting the Vikings or the Celts because of their unpredictable and fierce combat techniques. Apparently, the Celtic priest used to give the soldiers hallucinogenic mushrooms before battle. 

We didn't have much time so we briefly saw the Leinnster house which is Ireland's political headquarters. Lastly, we ended in St. Francis Park which was awesome. We thanked our tour guide and gave him something for his time. 

Immediately, I went back to the Trinity College to tour through there. In the library, is housed 2 copies of the Book of Kells. This book is the 4 gospels of the Bible, written in Latin by priests as early as the 600's. Unfortunately, I was unable to take pictures of them because photography is not allowed. However, I must say that the books are well preserved. 

Another section of the library contained the "Long Room". This is the portion that houses over 200,00 books, including some of the originals from Aristotle and Homer. This is where George Lucas got the idea to use the library as the Jedi library in Star Wars. He was denied but he took pictures and had the whole library done in CGI for The Empire Strikes Back. Later on, the actual library was used for the filming of Harry Potter as the Hogwarts library. Housed in the library is also the harp used on the back of the Irish penny and the Guiness symbol. 

From there, I didn't have a whole lot of time before the bus tour. I came back to the hostel for a cup of tea and put on some more under armour because a part of the tour was to be outside at night. 

Well, we were to meet out side of the Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub. I decided to head over there early for dinner and had an Irish beef stew with tea. After dinner, I waited for the bus until I realized the tour was cancelled. So instead, I walked down the street and saw St. Patrick's cathedral. By this time it was too late to visit the jail. However, I heard that it wasn't much to see. Luckily, because of the walking tour, I have things I added to my list of things to see.  

It started to cool down a bit so I decided to head back to the hostel. The weather is much different from back home. When we landed yesterday, it was cold enough to see my breath, but felt warm. It also seems like the temperature doesn't change much day to day. It's been in the high 40's but feels like 60. When walking or biking, it's almost too hot for long sleeves, but if you just sit on a bench, it feels cold enough to start shivering. On the other side, when there's clouds and wind, it feels like the temp is in the 50's but as soon as the sun comes out, it feels like 70. Ireland also has a distinct smell. I'm not sure how to describe it. It smells like... Well, Ireland. 

And that's where I am now. Stay tuned to keep updated on the trip. 

Ireland Day One

Well I'm finally here!! Ireland! I flew into Dublin this morning and it had been quite a trip. I arrived at Chicago airport at 10:30 pm, wasn't able to check in until 3:30 am, and waited for my flight to go out at noon. I was at the airport for 14 hours (Which I won't be doing again) with only a few hours of sleep. Needless to say, it was a long day. However, moving through the airports was a breeze.  

I flew out of O'Hare and had a 3 hour flight, landing in Newark. That's when the headache started. I new there was some type of transportation to JFK airport and was actually directed to the "Air Train" after picking up my bike from the baggage claim. The air train only took me to the train station where I took a train to 3 different stations before arriving at the JFK shuttle. The ticketing and shuffling from train to train was enough to make me give up.

It was pretty easy getting through the airport at JFK. Luckily, my bike was able to be checked at of all the airports for no charge. However, my bike bag ended up with a couple tears from rough handling. I was at ease after boarding, knowing this was the last flight before landing in Ireland. Not long after departing, we had our complimentary dinner which was nice. I was able to sleep most of the way, with waking a few times for comfort reasons. Prior to landing, we also had complimentary breakfast. 

Flying over Ireland was a thrill! I can now see why Ireland is associated with green. All but a few recently tilled farm lands was green. The green became more prominent as we got closer to landing. The cliffs were impressive as well. 

The landing was nice and claiming baggage and going through customs was a breeze. The original plan was to assemble my bike at the airport and ride to the hostel. Instead, I caught a cab. It always seems to take a bit to get used to driving on the left of the road. The cab driver was interesting to talk to. Better yet, he was fun to listen to because of his thick accent. When we arrived at the hostel, I tried to check in but the the desk person said I wasn't going to be able to check in until after 2. At this point, it was a little after 8. He did let me pay for the bed and let me use the key to the bike garage so I could assemble my bike. The bike went together easily and I was able to use my new panniers. I was able to get a locker where I could store all the packing materials for my bike. 

I decided that since I had a lot of time to kill, I would explore around Dublin (which was actually in my itinerary for today for after checking in). I caught onto riding on the left side pretty easily. However, there's a lot of one way roads and their road system and intersections are something complete foreign to what we have in the U.S.  I rode around for a while until I got lost. Not really lost but had difficulty finding where the hostel was. I knew about where it was at, but the issue was getting to it with all of the one way streets. I eventually got off the bike and walked it to the hostel. Ireland (and particularly Dublin) is very bike friendly. They have bike lanes almost any where and the roads that don't have "cycle tracks", the drivers are very courteous. Some streets are barely wide enough for a car whereas some streets have lanes wide enough to fit 2 cars. Regardless, drivers are always good about giving bikers plenty of room and often times give right of way to the bikers. The people here are very friendly. 

When 2:00 came around, I was able to check in an get the room key. The rooms are all locked with hotel style door locks. I took a quick shower which felt really good after spending almost 24 hours in airports. 

The room I'm staying in is a 16 bed mixed dorm. The room is small but it doesn't really need to be that big since I'm spending most of my time outside. The common room is pretty nice, as is the break room, game room, sauna room, kitchen, and library. I made a trip to the break room to access the wifi. By this point, I had 2 Dublin maps and bunch of literature on attractions. I went through my itinerary and marked each place on the maps. Then I was off. 

I grabbed my backpack with some of the snacks I had leftover from the plane, and started walking around. If someone is not used to the Ireland road systems, biking can be somewhat difficult, so I found it easier to walk around and now I know most of the places around the hostel. I decided to also take a trip downtown. 

Downtown was pretty cool. It was there that I saw some of the ruins of the city's original gates. I also was able to see many historical buildings, including Dublin Castle and a few cathedrals and churches. I'm sure my tour tomorrow will go by many of these but I will probably get a lot more history from the tour. 

As I was walking, I learned that the Irish have different ways of going about day to day tasks. They are a bit more relaxed and open than Americans. But I think my favorite part of Ireland so far is listening to the people talk. I love their accent. 

Well I was thinking it was close to dinner time so I walked around until I found a pizza shop that had an awesome deal on whole pizzas. So I stopped there and brought the pizza back to the hostel so I could eat here. I saw a great tea shop earlier, but when I went looking for it, I couldn't find it. I may have to go looking for it tomorrow. Even though we get free tea and coffee at the hostel, it will be cool having some good Irish tea. I would also like to get some to take home. 

This brings us up to where I am now. I can say that I am exhausted. I don't think I will have any problem sleeping tonight on that top bunk. Tomorrow is free breakfast so lucky I'm looking forward to that. 

"Didn't Expect This"

I think it's safe to say that the cold winter months are behind (at least in the midwest). This past winter was a great experience. I did much more camping and learning this winter than ever before. Winter camping can be a challenge, but a fun challenge. From keeping a fire lit, to hauling extra gear, to keeping warm at night. More thought has to be put into winter camping along with the extra gear required. Each year, when I winter camp, I run into unexpected problems and have to learn how to overcome them. Since this year I had more camping in, I thought I would share some of the things you may not expect on a winter camp.

Winter camping requires exprience to detemine what gear you need. When I first started winter camping, I would take my entire gear closet. Now I take the minimum amount needed. However, there is still extra weight and what seems to add the most weight is the sleep system. The sleep system is the most important piece of gear for your winter camp. We found that not having your sleep system well put together will make for a miserable night. It's important to, before the winter comes, find out what exactly you need to keep warm. I found that the particular sleep system I used works best if I put my coat inside and around my feet. I have a problem with my feet getting cold and that was one thing I had to learn to compensate for. While in our hammocks, my camping partner had troubles keeping his butt warm and had to find how to compensate for that. So before you go on a full blown winter camp, you should find what works best for you to keep warm. If you camp all year long, late fall is a good time to get out and discover what you need to improve on.

If you are starting out with winter camping, it's easy to over pack for the trip which adds unnecessary weight to your pack or pulk. That's why it's good to find out ahead of time what exactly you need for the winter camp so you aren't over packing. Some things, though, are good to have an excess of. it's good to have some extra fuel. I found that the cold weather, especially sub-zero, significantly decreases the pressure in fuel cans, limiting how much you can use. An extra stove is also a good idea in case one decides to quit.

Since there was only two of us camping, we narrowed it down to two stoves. Our first trip this winter, we started with three. With multiple people in your party, it's much easier to have each person cooking a different part of the meal. In our case, I was browning the meat as he cooked the noodles, then mixed the two into both pots. After dinner, we used one stove to heat water for hot chocolate while the other was used to heat water for our Nalgene bottles.

Our first camping trip this winter, we had a hard time keeping a fire going. In the sub-zero weather, or even around zero, the fire seems to go out quicker. With that being said, it's important to have enough fire wood for the night. I cut enough wood to overfill my pulk and that seemed to be enough for one night. If the fire goes out, it can be difficult to restart. I found that the fires started easier by using LOTS of little twigs and a fire starter. For a fire starter, we used cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly. This works exceptionally well. As you collect wood, be aware that if it is frozen and has even minimal snow on it, you will have a hard time starting it. I found that the best wood to use is branches cut from dead trees. They seemed drier and started easier. You can also precut and store wood, then haul it in your pulk.

Fire is an essential tool for keeping warm in the winter, though proper dressing will provide adequate warmth. However, it's difficult to keep a fire going overnight without monitoring it. To keep warm in the sleeping bag, it helps to stuff your clothes in with you. This not only helps to provide insulation, but keeps your clothes warm for morning. We also boiled water over the stove and filled our Nalgene bottles. By putting the bottles in your sleeping bag about an hour before going to bed, you will have a very warm sleeping bag. We also boiled the water right before bed to keep them warm. We crawled in our sleeping bags around 10:00 and my Nalgene bottles stayed warm until about 5:00 AM. I used two Nalgene bottles, but I think this winter, I will use three or four. The one downside to this method is when the bottles cool down, they can actually make you colder than you would be otherwise.

In addition to the bottles, I found that placing a large space blanket between the hammock and underquilt helped to keep the hammock warm. I had enough blanket to also pull it over me to trap the heat. The downside is that space blankets are not breathable and can accumulate condensation. Condensation can be a problem with hammock camping. I found that in the morning, my sleeping bag and hammock was covered in frost. One way to combat this is to make a frost shield. This can be done by taking an old t-shirt and cut out the neck hole and a large square from the front. The neck hole can be placed around the neck and the end of the square can be tied to the ridgeline. This way, any condensation will accumulate on this and not the sleeping bag. 

This year, I also started bivy camping. Bivy camping is an experience if you have never tried it. I will post on bivy camping later, but what I do want to convey is that bivies trap heat really well. I did an open bivy camp this winter and found the bivy adds significant warmth.

When you camp in the cold, remember that your body burns more calories to keep warm. Therefore, it's important to eat at least one good meal a day. Eat something with high calories and protein. Throughout the day, it's a good idea to also snack on high calorie and protein snacks such as nuts or ClifBars.

Lastly, I want to cover hauling gear. I started out with my usual Teton pack. I pack my bag the same every time and found it convenient to pack it the same as I do in the summer, then pack all of my winter specific gear (sleeping bag, extra fuel, wood, etc.) in the pulk. It didn't take long for me to realize this gets very heavy. I eventually refined my gear list to just the essentials and used only the pulk. A pulk is so much easier to haul gear than a pack in the winter. In all reality, I don't take as much for winter as I do summer.

Even though these tips are intended more for winter, I decided to post them now and primarily for two reasons. One: because they are still fresh in my mind. Two: because they can also be used in summer months. Some summer months can get cold at night and for those living in colder regions, these tips will still apply. Remember that the best way to improve on your camping skills and learn these little tricks is to get out there and camp often.

Packing the Pulk

There's just something about winter camping. Sleeping in the cold air, the element of survival, and opportunity to use skills you wouldn't use otherwise. I thoroughly enjoy winter camping. One unavoidable area, though, is the excess in gear. Extra blankets, thicker (and heavier) sleeping bag, extra fuel, dry wood, etc. Unfortunately, that means your pack won't quite cut it. Fortunately, you can use a pulk!

This post is strictly how to pack and use a pulk and not so much on building one. Though, I may throw in some things I added to mine to improve the function of it.

The first step is to make sure the pulk will work for you depending on your need. There are different sizes and the length of the poles depend on whether you are skiing or snowshoeing. If you are skiing, the poles may need to be longer. Also, if you are a heavier person and need bigger snowshoes, be sure they will clear the poles. Make sure to find a harness or belt that will work well with your pulk then go out and test it to make sure it will be suitable. The poles should be secured on the sides of the harness for added stability. If you will do a lot of turning and maneuvering, you can hook the poles to the middle of your back. Just be sure to have the poles crossed and in an x-shape. This will help stabilize the pulk, keep it from tipping, and makes it easier to control it. 

As you test out your pulk, there are some things to consider. Something I didn't take into account when I first used mine is the fact that it can be top heavy and can tip over easily. Sometimes it's dependent on how you walk or ski, but this problem can be mostly solved by placing a metal ring or carabiner to hold the 2 poles together (where the poles cross). I noticed that it will often tip over when the poles separate. You will see what I mean when you first go out. 

Now on to packing! Packing a pulk is very similar to packing a backpack or panniers. Balance is key! As you pack, try to keep heavier items in the center and balance everything out from there. If there's too much weight in the front, the front will dig into the snow. If too much weight is in the back, it will feel like dead weight. It's essential to get a good balance. 

As I mentioned earlier, the pulk can become top heavy fast which makes it easier to tip over. So you want put heavy stuff in first and as close to the bottom as possible. When you have few items, you can be more flexible. As you see in the picture below, I put the heavier sleep system toward to back and everything else in front to balance it out. If you have a lot to pack, put heavier items on the bottom and the lightest on top. 

Try not to overload the pulk. First of all, if it's overloaded, it may get too heavy for the poles. Second, the pulk will begin to feel like dead weight going up hills and will try to push you down hills. If it is an extended trip and you will be hauling a lot, balance the load between a pack and the pulk. 

If you hike all year long and have your gear list and pack perfected, you can do nice little trick I learned. I have some winter specific gear. If my pack is set up perfect for year round hiking, I will put my winter specific gear in the pulk and leave everything else in the pack. My bigger sleeping bag, shovel, extra blanket, dry wood, extra fuel, etc. You can strategically pack winter specific gear in the pulk. However, if you're an ultralight hiker like me and going for an overnight trip, you may be better off taking the pulk only. 

So, you have your gear in your pulk. Now what? You want to try to waterproof your gear because there's a good chance that your gear will get snow on in. I built my own pulk and I riveted a medium tarp to the inside. With this, I can fold the front and back in, then the sides and secure it. This works very well to keep gear dry. If your pulk doesn't have a built in tarp, you can set a tarp on the pulk floor and wrap your gear to keep it dry. I also have paracord running along the pulk and it pulls up on 4 points along the sides and one point in the front. I can secure the cord with 2 carabiners on top and cinch it tight to keep my gear compressed. You want keep your gear compressed as tightly to the pulk bottom as you can. This will not only keep your gear lower and the center of gravity lower, it will keep gear from shifting which could cause the pulk to tip over. 

Something else that the pulk is good for is storage. I love hammock camping and something you always run into is storing your gear overnight. I used to place my pack on one side of my ground cloth and fold the other end over to keep the pack dry. If I use a rainfly that goes all the way to the ground, I can just set my gear on the ground cloth. But with a pulk, you can wrap up your gear in the pulk and not have to worry about where to put your pack (if you take a pack). Otherwise, all of your gear is already in the pulk and you don't have to worry about organizing camp. For my last camp, I used a bivy and it worked really well to have the pulk. Since I didn't have a shelter per se, all my gear was stored in the pulk. I also, generally put my boots in my sleeping bag to keep them warm. But with the pulk, I just stored them in the pulk and used hand warmers in the morning to warm them up. 

Overall, I think pulks are an awesome investment of time and money. They are easy to use (for the most part) and make hauling heavier gear a breeze. I think pulks are probably the best way to haul gear in winter. Hopefully this has helped in your venture into pulk-pullin'. 

Gear Review: Teton Sport Tracker sleeping bag

This winter has been quite harsh. Even though here, in Southeast Iowa, we didn't get a whole lot of snow, it has been bitter cold. I have been camping a lot more this winter than I did last winter, so I decided it was time to start looking for more cold weather gear. As I was looking for a sleep system, I came across the Teton Sport Tracker. I am quite biased to Teton. They make some really good products from sleeping bags, to tents, to packs. In fact, my first pack was (and still is) a Teton. 

This is very comfortable sleeping bag. It has a 7 denier woven fiber Innovative Polarlite insulation. This is a very warm fill and even though it is a warm fill, it is still thin and lightweight. It's compressibility is quite impressive seeing as how it is synthetic rather than down. The bag is rated for +5 degrees, but sleeping bag ratings are for survivability and not so much comfort. I camped in 9 degrees and it was a little chilly. I would say about 12-13 degrees would be a comfortable temperature for this bag. It has extra fill in the foot box as well. The feet are usually the first part of your body to get cold, so this nice addition is a must. The bag is good for people about 5'6" but anyone taller than that would feel constricted. I'm 5'4" and am comfortable in it. It also is more for skinny built people for it is a thinner bag. 

The interior of the bag is actually a soft, synthetic material. Most sleeping bags have a diamond weave interior, same as the exterior. That kind of material can get cold and takes some time warm up after you crawl inside. The material in this bag stays warm so you don't have the initial shock of the interior being cold. The downside to this material is that it does not allow for much movement when wearing clothes to bed. The slicker material allows you to roll around inside with ease, whereas this material clings to clothes which is uncomfortable. 

The hood of the bag is pocketed and fits comfortably on the head. There is a single drawstring to tighten the face of the hood. Last time I was out, I was able to tighten it until the opening was almost completely closed, which is beneficial in cold weather. The bag also has a thick draft tube to keep the warmth in. 

This bag has a duel zipper system that can be opened and closed from the inside and outside. A Velcro keeper is also added to hold the zipper shut. As with most bags, it also has loops at the feet to hang the bag up to air out. A nice, final addition is a small gear pocket on the inside of the bag that zips closed. This is a great pocket for a phone or iPod. 

The bag also comes with its own compression sack. It has 4 compression straps on the sides to compress it lengthwise and 2 on the open end as well. The bottom end has a handle to assist with pulling the bag out. It compresses small enough to fit in a medium sized day pack and weighs about 4.1 pounds. 

This is overall, a great bag. In the negative degree weather, it works great with an additional sleeping bag. I hope this post helps you in your decision on choice of sleeping bag. Please comment any questions or comments.