This part of trail was very unkempt but still beautiful. Go up the hill and you’ll find yourself at the road to the resort. I found that would rather cache all my food and have less town stops in the future. I love the experience of town but it can be quite distracting from my main goal of being out in nature.
It’s made of heavy-duty polyethylene that is virtually unbreakable. The construction rivals that of the Yeti cooler and yet it’s a fraction of the price. We’ve put ours through the ringer the last several months and it’s stood up to daily use from van life. All in all, both mugs do an incredible job at insulating both hot and cold drinks for hours on end.
I am so blessed to be a part of this, and I would love to continue to be a part of this. I encourage anyone who is interested to hike this trail. We head to the Norfork Dam in an attempt to find the OHTA meeting we heard about from Tim last week.
Now it is time to rest, for we rejoin the group tomorrow to hike together and relish in the fruits of their labor. This is a wild moment as Washerrr and I turn towards each other with huge smiles, nodding to each other in solidarity. We both ozark trail backpack know that we will do whatever it takes to hike EVERY INCH of this trail that we can hike. Our hosts graciously let us shovel some food in our mouths before people start to gather around us.
All in all, it’s a pretty solid ice chest and a major upgrade from some of the stryofoam and even Rubbermaid coolers of yore. We start our hike north, not knowing if it’s 12.5 or 25 miles. By the end of the first section the AllTrails maps say we’ve done half the allotted miles but we see that we’d reached our destination.
Other items that you may want to keep at the foot of the sleeping area are also hard to access or reach if your head is near the door. For these styles, it seems most people want their head at the door side and so they have a constraint for which way the tent is set up if the ground is not flat. On the other hand, accessing the tent from the middle, or on the long side, gives one more degree of freedom. Assuming a symmetrical tent, like the Ozark Trail, my head could be placed at either end and both options would feel equally comfortable. In fact, my particular tent spot wasn’t completely flat so I quickly rotated my sleeping bag so that my feet weren’t above my head all night.
Additionally, when holding each tumbler, I couldn’t feel any heat or chill through the material, which makes either ideal for drinking exceptionally hot or cold drinks. I also took into consideration how cold or hot to the touch each tumbler was when filled with liquid and tipped each one over to see if they would leak. After a traumatic brain injury rattled my plans to pursue a professional career, I discovered thru-hiking. I know just how deeply healing spending time in nature can be.
After all, I had to be sensitive to weight as we were required to carry our own water for 10 miles as there were no options for filtering during that stretch. The Ozark Trail 1-Person Backpacking Tent is on the cheaper end of the spectrum. A variety of websites have it currently priced for less than $50. Many higher quality tents could cost 3 or 4 times that amount. Of course it has no side water holsters, or lid pocket, or hipbelt strap, but I think that all contributes to its low weight. For the water bottles I just use Platypus .5 liter and 1 liter flat style bottles, which you can fit in the main body of the pack on top of your other gear.
There is a lack of reinforcement on the pack’s taffeta bottom, though. Shoulder straps are lightweight mesh-lined with very little padding. Watching ice melt was probably the most difficult task of the tests I performed—only because it seemed to take forever for the ice to melt in each tumbler.
It also includes loops to hang your trekking poles when not in use. I find it weird that in the past I’d be tired and sore and hobbling by now. But this time, after 0 rest days, my body is ready to keep ozark trail sleeping bag hiking. I am a little mentally tired from a lack of 8 consistent hours of sleep but that is to be expected when backpacking. Be aware, this is a daypack, intended for lighter loads and shorter distances. It isn’t built to be on your back 8 hours a day, and it won’t support 25 pounds.