When will backpacking season ever get here?

Sitting around waiting for spring so I can hit the trail and sleep under the stars, I decided to see if I've accomplished my winter task of building a lightweight backpacking list.

I made a spreadsheet using advertised weights of all my gear and made my goal to have a pack weighing under 13 pounds before adding food, water, and fuel. Here's my list...


Gear
Clothes
Extra Socks (3.77 oz)
Thermal Top (4.83 oz)
Thermal Bottom (5.11 oz)
R1 Bottoms (8 oz)
Gloves (2 oz)
Cap (3 oz)
Patagonia R2 (14.8 oz)
Poncho/Tarp (10 oz)
Subtotal for Clothes (51.51 oz)

Sleeping
Stakes (10 oz)
Guylines (2 oz)
REI Bivy (17.6 oz)
Sleeping Bag 32deg (34 oz)
Sleeping Pad (7 oz)
Subtotal for Sleeping (10.6 oz)

Packing
Backpack (32 oz)
Stuff Sacks (4 oz)
Subtotal for Packing (36 oz)

Cooking & Water
PocketRocket Stove + 1 can fuel (3.2 oz)
Coffee Cup (2 oz)
1-liter Platypus Bottle x 2 (2 oz)
Pan (4 oz)
Water Filter (11 oz)
Subtotal for Cooking/Water (22.2 oz)

Other essentials
First Aid Kit, etc (6 oz)
Headlamp, compass, etc (10 oz)
MaxiDeet (2.4 oz)

Total -- 12.27 lbs

All my gear (except food, water, and my sleeping pad).
This is my food preparation gear. A titanium pot, a titanium mug, a water filter, an MSR Pocket Rocket stove, and a can of fuel. I've read tons of arguments on the best lightweight silverware whether it be titanium or lexar. I think they're all wrong and the the asians got it right...chopsticks!

This is my sleeping set up minus my sleeping pad. Basically, a 32-degree bag, a GoLite Tarp/Poncho, an REI Minimalist Bivy, some rope, and some stakes.

This is the REI Minimalist Bivy. Basically, its a waterproof bag that wraps around your sleeping bag.

This is what the GoLite Poncho/Tarp is supposed to look like set up. I'm waiting for the snow to melt so I can practice setting it up.

I packed it all in and put it on the scale at work.

And, voila! Under 13 pounds before food and water!

Tokyo

I made my first trip to Tokyo over the weekend to pick up Rose's mom. I rode the bullet train which was fairly exciting. While it didn't feel very fast from the inside, we went about 450 miles in 3 hours. Once exiting the train at the Tokyo station, you enter what feels like a small underground city full of restaraurants and shops. It took me 30 minutes to find an exit to the ground level.

Once on ground level, I was reminded that I really don't like big cities. Its kind of claustrophobic. I didn't dress warm as well, so I was kind of miserable walking around.

A short walk from the train station is the Imperial Palace. Its a huge complex surrounded by moats.

A house located inside the Imperial Palace garden.

The city is apparently "smork" free as there were signs like this everywhere to include carved into the sidewalks.

Japan is well known for the many electrical gadgets and fine automobiles it exports, but it is often overlooked on its advances in the field of high-tech toilets. The highlight of my trip was being able to take this little beauty for a test drive. The first feature I noticed was a perfectly heated seat...definitely a "warm" welcome in from the cold.

The control panel was conveniently located on the right side as I am right-handed, but I wondered if a left-handed user may have some trouble. Perhaps a swiveling control panel could be designed to accomodate other users. I particularly liked the adjustable water pressure. I toyed around with it for awhile and it was functional at all pressure levels, but I found that I fancied medium the best. Another thing I would change is perhaps an adjustable deodorizer. With this particular seat, you only had the choice of "Powerful Deoderizer On" or "Powerful Deoderizer Off". Some days require more deoderizer than others. Lastly, it had the energy saver function. What else would you expect from the country who brought you the Kyoto Protocol?