Headed out last weekend for a little overnight backpacking trip. The plan was to head up a local drainage, catch a few fish, then head up to 3000 feet or so and camp out to test my gear in the cold. I brought a new pack I put together. It is an Everest 3500 ci adapted to an old Coleman aluminum frame. I set it up as a hunting pack, as it will hold a rifle, a ton of gear, and the frame will carry a whole deer quartered:



So Friday morning I grabbed my gear and my dog (Emo), and jumped in the 4x4. I arrived at around 10:00 am after ten miles of some very muddy trails, and hiked down to the river. Started fishing and was able to land about 7 decent fish in about an hour or two.









I kept three, returned to the truck, and drank a few Rolling Rocks. We then began the 4 mile hike upstream.







I hunted a bit halfway up, but nothing was dumb enough to be out in the cold, so I packed the rifle up and continued on. We arrived at a decent sandy spot, nestled between some rocks, and I set up camp, filleted the fish, and got a small cooking fire going.







I then drank some vodka mixed with Crystal Light and enjoyed the night. My cooking fire slowly evolved into a full fire ring, lol.





We retired, and it got COLD! About 20 degrees according to my thermometer. I was fine in the bag with my wicking thermal underlayer and goretex hunting cloths, but the dog got cold, and I had to unzip my bag and use it as a quilt for both of us. This totally destroyed my sleeping bag's effectiveness. If I hadn't brought a ground pad, it would have been miserable. But I was able to sleep all night, waking up periodically to readjust the covers that the dog pulled off, lol.

Morning came, and I got up at around 8, sore as heck from sleeping cold, with a lump under my hip. I restarted the fire, cooked up some oatmeal and made a cup of coffee. We then packed it up and headed out. Poor Emo was gimping along with sore feet. After about an hour or two of easy downhill hiking, we got back to the car. You can tell by the look our faces it was a rough night, lol...





Either way, it was a fun trip, and it was nice to test out my 30 degree bag below rating. I got home, opened a beer, and inserted a fleece liner in my bag, lol. I also switched my gear back to my medium ALICE pack, as it seems to be more comfortable and less top-heavy on my long torso. Emo went into a coma for the rest of the day, refusing to leave the couch. I wasn't much better off.