Jim, Sagebrush – Page 64 – Sagebrush Trails

Segment 86 October 2022

Finally I return to my adopted section of the Continental Divide Trail for a 2-day backpack, starting at the northern terminus near Surprise Tank. The surprise is that Google Maps knows where this is. Clearing rabbitbush and some grass from the tread makes the trail more visible on this lower section. Later I clean some drains and saw or drag several trees which have fallen across the trail.

Camp is about 5 miles in. The cattle trough past dry Erman Well is now turned off, so I was low on water and did not hike the entire 11 mile segment, but turned around at dry Rincon Well.

Trail Phone Trends

I was recently forced to upgrade my cell phone after a hardware failure, and started worrying about the market trend of phones growing larger and heavier each year. My phone counts as part of my backpacking base weight (as defined as pack weight minus food and water), since it normally resides in a holder on my pack strap. How long until cell phone weights start seriously impacting base weight, which I try to keep under 10lbs for ultralight hiking?

Tl;dr Summary: Not to worry. My trail smartphones have not gotten unreasonably heavier in 10 years.

Details for Gear Geeks:

This year I celebrate my 10th consecutive year of doing a long backpacking trips each summer. A bulging lithium-polymer battery forced an unplanned cell phone upgrade.

For ultralight gear, I prefer small lightweight phones, but cell phone manufacturers seem to be introducing ever-larger screens and higher-capacity, heavier batteries. It is sometimes difficult to find low-weight new models that can handle the latest, more secure operating system versions. With 10 years of data about my cell phone choices (from past posts about gear lists, as well as a few unpublished gear spreadsheets) let us look at trends and make predictions.

Cave Creek Trail 2022

13 NMVFO volunteers camped at Panchuela Admin Area (next to Panchuela Campground, used by USFS staff) for a long weekend of trail work in the Pecos Wilderness. The first night got down to 26F, and the second to 23F.

On Friday 2 sawing teams, one with a 2-person crosscut and the other with a 1-person crosscut saw, worked their way up Cave Creek Trail. The second day the teams switched saws, and a lopping team was added. The saw teams completed Cave Creek and cleared 0.6 miles on Skyline, interrupted by a noon shower. From camp to our furthest work and back was about 12 miles, so we got plenty of exercise.