Hiking with the PhotoBackpacker pack

[richardman]

I know Bruce is retired, but here goes my experience. This past weekend, my daughter and I went to the Garrapata Trail, overlooking the famed Route 1 Pacific coast. It was rated as "strenuous". Somehow I read somewhere that it's a 3 mile round trip but afterward we realized that it was more like 6.8 miles and since we went to the side "river trail", that makes the total more like 7.5 miles. It's a loop trail with both ends pretty much straight up/down the mountain with not many switchbacks.

The wildflowers are supposed to be one of the best in California, but as we saw the "orange hillside" in Tehachapi a month ago, the flowers at Garrapata are nice but certainly do not look "the best" to us. Nevertheless, the scenery is amazing, starting with cacti in the lower elevations, to Redwood around the river and scrub brushes on top of the mountain.

Anyway, the bag weighs 20 lbs, with 3 lens, filters, and 12 holders also in the PhotoBackpacker cases. I had the Chamonix F1 4x5 camera on the tripod. With a sandwich and a water bottle, I was carrying around 25+ lbs of stuff.

Summary: the P1 Backpack works really well. My shoulders were sore afterward but I am sure it would have been a lot worse with another pack. The suspension system works well to distribute the weight. Toward the last 3rd going downhill, my knees were giving me trouble, as they tend to do with hiking downhill for a long stretch, and my daughter carried the camera/tripod for me. There was even a bench on a vista point overlooking the ocean.

I was wearing my photog-vest and I carried one holder in a pocket, and the loupe and meter in other pockets. It took about 5 minutes to take a photo. After taking two photos, I just grabbed another holder from the case so I could be ready for the next photo. I changed lens once, but all but one photo was made with the 110mm Super Symmar XL. In all, I took 14 photos, one was definitely bad as somehow the cable did not work. Fortunately, I had 2 spare cables with me.

No time to develop the film yet, and I will mega busy for a few days longer, but looking forward to crank up the Jobo soon.

[tgtaylor]

Having decided at 3am Saturday morning to postpone visiting Yosemite Park for a week or two, I instead occupied Saturday shooting an 8x10 subject that I envisioned for an alternative print. After developing the negative I sat down and watched the documentary “Rebels With a Cause” on KQED: http://rebelsdocumentary.org/ This is the story of the planned Marin township of Marincello - a development that was to consist of single family homes and high-rise (16 story) apartments, schools, businesses...and a landmark hotel planted on the highest ridge overlooking the Golden Gate bridge. I had seen the documentary before and recently I believe the NPS made visual references to what the Golden Gate would look like had Marincello come to pass. This time, though, I was motivated enough to plan an exploratory hike Sunday with a small camera to scout for LF opportunities.

So Sunday I embarked on a 10-mile loop around Marincello with a Nikon F6, 4 lens, cleaning kit, and tripod (unless its street photography I always shoot off a tripod with a cable release) in a Lowepro 450 AW Pro-Runner backpack http://store.lowepro.com/pro-runner-450-aw. Although this is what I would term a “moderate” hike, I hadn't been on hikes of this length and with the climbing it entailed (see diagram) in some time but I felt confident that I could complete it without too much difficulty but was sure that I would be sore the next day. I was right! The backpack with the camera and all was no problem but the upper part of the legs, especially where they meet the hips, has been sore to the point that I kind a limp for the first couple of steps until the soreness works itself out.

149254

Thomas

PS: I found a good location for a 4x5 color negative shot at the 2 mile point and plan to shoot it soon.

[richardman]

Thomas

PS: I found a good location for a 4x5 color negative shot at the 2 mile point and plan to shoot it soon.

Mind sharing? ;-)

[Photobackpacker]

I know Bruce is retired, but here goes my experience. This past weekend, my daughter and I went to the Garrapata Trail, overlooking the famed Route 1 Pacific coast. It was rated as "strenuous". Somehow I read somewhere that it's a 3 mile round trip but afterward we realized that it was more like 6.8 miles and since we went to the side "river trail", that makes the total more like 7.5 miles. It's a loop trail with both ends pretty much straight up/down the mountain with not many switchbacks.

The wildflowers are supposed to be one of the best in California, but as we saw the "orange hillside" in Tehachapi a month ago, the flowers at Garrapata are nice but certainly do not look "the best" to us. Nevertheless, the scenery is amazing, starting with cacti in the lower elevations, to Redwood around the river and scrub brushes on top of the mountain.

Anyway, the bag weighs 20 lbs, with 3 lens, filters, and 12 holders also in the PhotoBackpacker cases. I had the Chamonix F1 4x5 camera on the tripod. With a sandwich and a water bottle, I was carrying around 25+ lbs of stuff.

Summary: the P1 Backpack works really well. My shoulders were sore afterward but I am sure it would have been a lot worse with another pack. The suspension system works well to distribute the weight. Toward the last 3rd going downhill, my knees were giving me trouble, as they tend to do with hiking downhill for a long stretch, and my daughter carried the camera/tripod for me. There was even a bench on a vista point overlooking the ocean.

I was wearing my photog-vest and I carried one holder in a pocket, and the loupe and meter in other pockets. It took about 5 minutes to take a photo. After taking two photos, I just grabbed another holder from the case so I could be ready for the next photo. I changed lens once, but all but one photo was made with the 110mm Super Symmar XL. In all, I took 14 photos, one was definitely bad as somehow the cable did not work. Fortunately, I had 2 spare cables with me.

No time to develop the film yet, and I will mega busy for a few days longer, but looking forward to crank up the Jobo soon.

It sounds like your torso length might be set a bit short. If you can, lengthen it one slot.


Bruce

[gevalia]

Hmmm. The last 2 weeks of April I flew out to SE Utah and spent the time around Escalante, Boulder, Bryce, etc. Now I had a heart attack back in October but they fixed me up real nice - 4 cabbages - and I feel like a million bucks. But as I read the OP's post I smiled. My photobackpacker carries 5 lenses, 10 holders, filters, water, and all the bits a kit needs. 1/2 my lenses are great for hiking while the other half are the usual clarion 305 monster types. 4x5 on tripod in hand. I was feeling it after a few days. My problem is that on a 4 hour hike, I plan for anything and I shouldn't. I never take 20 shots on a hike so I should only bring 3 holders. But then there's the B&W vs color conundrum. The thing is, it's me. It's not the pack. The pack is great and serves me well. And, well, there's that age thing that I have refused to accept.

[Drew Wiley]

Anytime you change a pack you need to get accustomed to it, even if it's the same pack, yet with a different load balance. I try to keep my pack heavy all year
long for conditioning purposes. Even when I'm only shooting med format, I opt for the big Ries tripod and a heavy lens set. It's especially important at my age to
try to keep accustomed to this kind of weight all year long, before taking high altitude backpacking trips with large format. But it is also important to alternate these heavy pack sessions with quick distance walking with lightweight gear, since that exercises leg and knee muscles differently, and you need both. Choice of
cameras is largely a matter of subject matter. Last week I was out on ridgelines right above the ocean, and the wind was too constant for view camera use. I
anticipated this and carried P67 gear. Tommorow the forecast will be reasonably cool and comfortable inland, so I'll carry the 8x10. I do have a nice CF tripod in
reserve, and other options, for serious gezeerhood use with 8x10. But for now, no problem with the extra weight, and preferred Ries support.

[richardman]

Went up 2500 ft Mission Peak last weekend with a 17 lbs pack with the 617 camera. Keeping in shape :-)

[Drew Wiley]

You mean above Fremont? I haven't been up there for a few years, when I went up from the creek in Sunol Park rather than the Fremont side. Was a clear day with a wonderful view.

[richardman]

Right, right above Fremont. We went up the "popular" side from Stanford Ave entry. We had one small lousy cloud but the view is pretty cool. Nice views with tons of other hikers. Many people dropped their plastic bottles even though there are garbage cans here and there. People are arseholes. We packed a few out.