Leconte24 and the Ten Essentials

It’s only a few hours away from the start of LeConte24 and I am busy packing.  I have long been an instructor for the Boy Scouts, training leaders in outdoor fundamentals.  One of the basic tenants of venturing into the outdoors is the Ten Essentials…a basic list of critical equipment you should always take on any trip of any kind.  The idea is that if something went wrong, such as getting lost, you could survive long enough to find help or for help to find you.  Here are the ten:

1. Pocket knife
2. First Aid Kit
3. Extra Clothing
4. Rain Gear
5. Water Bottle
6. Flashlight
7. Trail Food
8. Matches and Fire Starter
9. Sun Protection
10. Map and Compass

 

To be true to my own preaching I decided to check my gear against the list.

• Pocketknife – CHECK  I have a light weight backpacker’s single locking blade by Gerber.
• First Aid Kit – CHECK  It’s cheaper now to buy them ready-made, so I found one that weighs ounces and has advice and Moleskin
• Extra Clothing – CHECK  I have a nifty jacket made for cyclists mad of TYVECK that is really light and compact and fits into my Camelback M.U.L.E.
• Rain Gear – CHECK  I am carrying a very lightweight backpacker’s poncho.
• Water Bottle – CHECK  My whole pack is a water bottle.
• Flashlight – CHECK  I will be wearing one on my head for the first 6 hours of the hike.
• Trail Food – BIG CHECK – We have all kinds of high carb, high protein performance food.
• Matches and Fire Starter – CHECK  I debated this one.  We are never going to be too far from help or a trail head and the course is very well marker.  I decided to go ahead since a lighter is very light.
• Sun Protection – CHECK  I have a good hat, sunglasses and a small tube of sunscreen
• Map and Compass – XXXX… well ok CHECK   All the trails up Mt. LeConte are well marked and we have been on all of them.  The chances of getting lost are really, really small BUT!!! we have cell phones with GPS so I’ll take a check on that one.

So to all those who sat through my sermon about always having the ten essentials, there you go.  Practice of the preaching!

Time for a spaghetti dinner.  Gotta load those carbs!!!