Doublehead Cabin Overnight
It's Wednesday morning and it is the start of my 5 days off. I have been looking forward to today for a few months now. Josh and I booked a night stay up at Doublehead Cabin. The closer the days crept up the worse and worse the forecast looked.
Josh had been spending nights in this Cabin for most of his life. I wanted to give it a try. Winter camping in a cabin that even has a woodstove and is only a 2 mile hike in from the car- Sounds like my kind of winter overnight.
Josh asked me if I still wanted to go, I replied "ABSOLUTELY". We packed our packs the night before splitting the water and camp stove weight. My sleeping bag currently is the Sea to Summit Talus TS1. It's rating is 23F, but as I learned when I was working for Backpacker Magazine and while receiving training from our Sea to Summit Rep, Woman sleep cooler than men, so when you are purchasing a sleeping bag, look for the "comfort rating" vs. the "lower limit rating". On my bag in particular my comfort rating is 34F. This means I will be most comfortable as a woman sleeping in temps as cold as 34F, however I could use it in temps as low as 23F.
When it comes to camping, I prefer comfort as my biggest go to. I would much rather carry the extra ounces in order to have a better night sleep. With that being said, this was technically a winter over night in a somewhat heated cabin, but I still wanted to make sure I was warm enough while sleeping. I added my Sea to Summit Thermolite Reactor Compact Plus Liner. For only an additional 9.3oz, this liner increases the sleeping bag performance up to 20F. Not to mention it is "mummy shaped" which helps keep the footbox much warmer. It specifically is designed to give more heat in the torso and the feet where woman need it the most.
Then there is my sleeping pad. I have the Big Agnes Insulated Air Core. I slept on this thing for almost 6 months straight, almost every single night. It was by far one of the only reasons I would sleep at night. I know it's no king size, pillow top or temperpedic mattress, but it sure felt like one to me for those 5-6 months. The insulation not only keeps your body warmer at night on colder ground, but also keeps you cooler at night on hotter ground. I can attest to just that. I slept on this thing at the bottom of the Grand Canyon at 118F, I didn't feel hot while sleeping once. However, as much as I didn't see it necessary Josh recommended I also bring a foam pad to put underneath my Air Core for added insulation from the bunk. So I did just that.
Last but most importantly, I brought a pillow. How many of you can not stand sticking clothing into your sleeping bag at night just so you can have some support under your head? Well, I learned quickly on my time being on the road living out of a tent. Investing in a Sea to Summit Ultra Light Aeros Pillow might be the best thing you could ever change about your overnight gear. It seriously weighs 2.5 ounces and take all of 4 breaths to blow it up and 10 seconds to deflate. I have used this pillow not only while I was on the road sleeping out of a tent for 5 months, but I also now keep on of these in my glove box in my car for long rides (especially if you have children), and I even pack one when I go to the beach. I can't talk about this piece of gear enough. It's by far one of my favorite pieces.
As for comfort, sleeping will always be my #1 concern. As far as clothing, this one I think I had the most difficult time on. Mostly due to the weather forecast. It would be cold and snowing, then raining, then warming to the 40's by morning. Also, I knew I would be wet by the time I arrived to the cabin so I also needed a second pair of clothing in case my others didn't dry over night. Then there was comfy clothing for sleeping at night. My choice of gear went something like this:
1 sports bra
2 techwick long sleeves
1 fleece long sleeve w/gaiter
1 polyester base layer pant
1 hard shell pant
1 fleece pant
1 hard-shell jacket
1 basic rain jacket
Then came the additional pieces to "clothing gear":1 Pair of liner gloves
1 Pair of waterproof leather gloves
1 Pair of mittens
1 Neck gaiter
1 Smartwool headband
1 Smartwool hat
1 Rain hat
1 Extra pair of socks
1 Pair of gaiters
Then came the few added extras:
1 70L dry bag for all of my stuff
1 Pack Cover
1 4L dry bag for my extra socks & gloves, first aid, fire starter, etc.
2 Mountain House Dehydrated meals
3 1L Bottles of water
1 G2 (small)
2 mini Champagne Bottles
1 Jetboil
1 MSR Lg. Canister fuel
2 Headlamps & batteries
*and whatever other miscellaneous stuff I had stuffed in there. (Trash bag, tea lights, hand warmers, etc..)
I did a few trial runs of putting my pack on and taking it off just to get a feel for weight distribution. Backpacking is trial and error- always. Even when you think your pack is packed and ready to go, then you need to add something, or take something out. While packing your pack you should pack the lightest stuff on the bottom, heaviest in the middle, and most convenient stuff at the top or in places that are easily and quickly accessible without having to tear your pack apart.
While Josh was working, I made the 2 mile trek up to the summit of North Double head in hopes there would be no one there when I arrived so I could unlock the lock and put our wood inside. I started on trail around 8:00am and it was a beautiful white wonderland. It was snowing the entire way up. Originally our plan was to go up for the night but skin up with our ski's and ski out the next morning. Old man winter failed us this year, so we bailed on that idea.
It took me roughly an hour to get to the top and it was quite warm and slippery in some spots. Once I got up there I checked in the windows and there were no signs of anyone there. Also, there was no fresh tracks in the snow to say anyone was there the night prior. I dropped the wood off and headed back down the trail. It sure is a complete different feeling hiking with 30lbs. vs. 5 lbs. on your back.
After the first haul of stuff up to the top, I returned back home to shower and finish gathering up the rest of my gear and get ready to make the ascent one more time. This time with Josh when he got out of work. Technically, this was our first "backpacking trip" together. I am also interested to see how our minds think when attempting feats like this together. It takes a unique person with a unique characteristic to want and to enjoy stuff like what we were doing.
After my shower I suited up, finished packing my gear up and then I weighed in. I weighed 130lbs. without my pack on and then with my pack on I weighed in at 160.2lbs. My pack was roughly about 30lbs on my back.
I picked Josh up at about 3:30pm and we hit the trail at about 4:00pm. Being my second time heading up this trail and with an even heavier pack on my bag I felt good at first and quickly started to feel like jello in my legs. My mistake was I did not eat a significant lunch to hold me over and give me the energy I needed for round 2. Always my mistake. Josh ended up being in the same boat and the two of us just took it a bit slower than normal.
Meanwhile, it was now pouring rain and somewhat chilly at 34 degrees. I actually don't mind hiking in the rain. However, hiking in the rain and the cold is a quick slap in reality that things could go wrong, and end very bad and quickly. With that in mind we continued onward and upward towards our cabin. Eventually hitting the top about an hour after we started.
We were happy to get to the top and so ready to dry off and warm up by the wood stove for the evening.
We arrived inside and each took a bunk to spread out all of our gear. Josh took the right front, I took left front. We set up our sleeping pads, bags and pillows.
I broke out the bubbly and candles to make it a bit more romantic.
He broke out his cigar in celebration. Except he didn't bring anything good to light it with- So before he burnt his face on the fire, I suggest lighting it with the Jetboil, but then made him smoke it outside :).
We ate our dinners, Josh had Pasta Primavera, I had Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and then we indulged in a Raspberry Crumble Dessert!
Then we spent the evening playing some Yahtzee! I won both times- FYI.
We eventually we quite tired and decided to crawl into our sleeping bags. At first the sound of the light rain bouncing off the tin roof was refreshing and was putting me fast asleep. However, the scratching of the mice in between the walls creeped me out a bit. We both had a difficult time sleeping through the night, which is always expected I feel like when you're out in the woods. We awoke at 4:00am and started a fire, made some coffee and packed up our gear to head back to the car and on to our next adventure.
The cabin was completely engulfed by a very think warm fog. Which made for our hike out very ominous and gloomy. However, the amount of rain that fell through the night made for a running stream of water on trail and very wet boots by the time we got back to our car.
Another amazing adventure checked off the list!
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