Dec 27-28, 2006, Tronsen
12/27/06
3557
8
I had arranged with one of the trail breaking services out of Roslyn to break trail for me into a campsite I like at Tronsen on the morning of the 27th, but unfortunately, the contractor was unable to make it to the jobsite in time. I actually had to break trail for myself. Imagine that in this day and age. There was about 1 foot of fairly light unconsolidated snow, so at least it was not that hard. :)
I was able to contact the contractor by cell in the afternoon, and he assured me that he would be at my tent promptly at 8:30 am to break trail to the top of Windy Knob (5920'+). Although it was 27 degrees when I started out, by evening the temp was dropping rapidly. See the inside outside thermometer in the pic below.
It was 6 degrees by AM, but sure enough, my T-B service provider arrived on schedule, and we started up. The snow was a bit old, wind crusted in parts but the run we chose was without a track. Pole depth 8 to 12 inches. Very nice. :D
Larry
I was able to contact the contractor by cell in the afternoon, and he assured me that he would be at my tent promptly at 8:30 am to break trail to the top of Windy Knob (5920'+). Although it was 27 degrees when I started out, by evening the temp was dropping rapidly. See the inside outside thermometer in the pic below.
It was 6 degrees by AM, but sure enough, my T-B service provider arrived on schedule, and we started up. The snow was a bit old, wind crusted in parts but the run we chose was without a track. Pole depth 8 to 12 inches. Very nice. :D
Larry
See the thermometer? Check out that stove!! I particularly like the hardwood shims for levelling the base.
author=tdave link=topic=5895.msg24450#msg24450 date=1167458285]
See the thermometer? Check out that stove!! I particularly like the hardwood shims for levelling the base.
Thanks for noticing the stove TDave. Also got a PM also mentioning the stove stuff, so I thought that maybe a shop photo of more of it might be of interest….well to at least two TAYers.
Clockwise from the upper left corner in the pic:
- the stove lid that serves as a pot,
- a plastic bowl that I heat formed to fit over the stove when it is packed up,
- an LED light to check the fuel level as I am filling the stove; a fuel spill when you run a stove inside a tent is a very serious matter,
- a Nalgene dropper bottle for the priming fluid, a saturated solution of white gas in alcohol,
-two beer coasters to put hot things on so they don't damage the blue-foam pad, one of which has N, S, E and W markings that I line up with the compass - handy for stargazing,
- a refillable butane lighter that will direct the flame downwards without burning fingers,
- two wooden wedges to level the stove,
- a custom pot lid with the lifting loop served with jute twine so I don't burn my fingers,
- a modified pot lifter, coated with Plasti -Dip so it's not so cold to the touch,
- a 1/16th inch thick cork pad used under the wood stove platform as additional insulation while melting snow,
-a 1/8 ply stove platform with L shaped wood rails that raise the stove off the plywood by an eighth inch or so, beveled to encourage air flow under the stove. This keeps the bottom of the stove from getting too hot.
-the stove; the most important part. An Optimus 99 from about 1973. Works better now than even when it was new; of course it's had a fair amount of tweaking. Love and affection too. :)
Hate to admit it, but that's just the stuff directly associated with the stove. It gets worse… :D
Ahhh... gear.
I love it.
You missed two pictured items in your description though. Probably just a troll for gearheads, eh?
My guess is the silver cylinder after the priming fluid is the pump to pressurize the fuel reservoir.
But what's with the picture between the lighter and the wedges?
I can't imagine a confessed precision gearhead such as yourself would omit mention of it without a specific purpose in mind ;)
I love it.
You missed two pictured items in your description though. Probably just a troll for gearheads, eh?
My guess is the silver cylinder after the priming fluid is the pump to pressurize the fuel reservoir.
But what's with the picture between the lighter and the wedges?
I can't imagine a confessed precision gearhead such as yourself would omit mention of it without a specific purpose in mind ;)
Thanks for the tour, Larry. Any idea what the whole rig weighs?
Ron, I think that picture is the second beer coaster. And thanks for identifying the pump, I was wondering what that was.
David
Ron, I think that picture is the second beer coaster. And thanks for identifying the pump, I was wondering what that was.
David
author=ron j link=topic=5895.msg24458#msg24458 date=1167500494]
Ahhh... gear.
I love it.
You missed two pictured items in your description though. Probably just a troll for gearheads, eh? ...
I can't imagine a confessed precision gearhead such as yourself would omit mention of it without a specific purpose in mind ;)
Ron, as soon as I posted pic, I remembered that I had left the Optimus 'Mini-Pump' off the list. But being lazy and not wanting to re-post, I thought 'gee, I'll just see if anyone reads this stuff'. :) I haven't been able to find the mini-pump anymore; all that seems to be available is the midi-pump, which is somewhat bigger and heavier.
Yup, the picture is on the back of a New Belgium Brewing Co. coaster, compliments of The Fiddler on 35th in North Sea. Great spot, non-smoking.
author=tdave link=topic=5895.msg24461#msg24461 date=1167502985]
Thanks for the tour, Larry. Any idea what the whole rig weighs?
David, the stuff is packed up right now, but I'll weigh when I get back from this week's trip.
You must educate us further!
about Larry's stove... Lar you forgot to mention the value of your stove in just heating your tent. I am so often sitting in my tent in the near ambient 6 degrees or 16 degrees, whatever it is outside and I find out that down in Larry's tent it is so warm that he is sitting around in his base layer, while I am in full parka and primaloft pants. I have an antique stove too, just not so nice. My Coleman Peak One melts all of my water in about 15 - 20 minutes and then blasts me out of my tent. I only run it in my vestibule, set into an 8" deep snow pit with a kevlar heat shield. Lar, your accomodations on the hill are as good as a condo.
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