I did a thing!
Or should I say I bought a thing!?
My first major, and hopefully most expensive piece, of gear needed for my thru hike of the Tahoe Rim Trail in 2020.
I replaced my old (1996!), heavy (over 7lbs!) North Face pack with a Gregory Jade 53.
Coming in at 3lbs 9oz, it is not considered an ultra light pack, but it is almost half the weight of my old one. It’s somewhat smaller (55 vs 65 liters), which will force me to pack less. And, it’s PURPLE! Oh, and I got it on sale. Win-win.
And to make things even better, I found a slightly smaller size one for my 13 year old daughter for even cheaper than mine (only the gray one was steeply discounted for whatever reason and I REALLY wanted purple 😕). I bought both through REI’s website.
I’m still going to need a few more pieces of essential equipment (shelter, stove, sleeping bag, etc). All of my old gear is OLD and HEAVY. But until I can afford more, I can still be training. At least I can throw a bunch of water bottles in my new pack and go hike the hills.
Happy Hiking!
-MammaBear
PS isn’t it so pretty? (Yes, I freely admit that I like my gear to match and if I have a choice, I will almost always pick purple or the closest thing to it. Purple makes me happy. 😊)
Journey in the Wilderness 