Exploring the San Mateo Wilderness and Doing it Ultralight!

Clark and I enter the San Mateo Wilderness.

It is now the end of April. I was supposed to be headed to Mt. Whitney for a multi-day climb of the Mountaineers Route this weekend. After my Split Mountain adventure I headed up to Mammoth and again was faced with heavy winds, blasting snow and cold days. Upon my return from that trip I laid a good coat of summer wax on the skis and informed my winter friends I was done for the season. My mind had moved on to warm weather excursions, ATV riding and summer backpacking at Catalina.

As a prep for our upcoming Trans-Catalina Trail (TCT) we needed to get out in some warm weather at low elevation with short but steep inclines. While we are always doing local day hikes we figured an overnighter is what we needed to shake down some new gear and try some new concepts on the trail. We decided upon a 2 day backpack trip within the San Mateo Wilderness in the Cleveland National Forest straddling the Orange/Riverside County line just south of the Ortega Hwy. Our route would start at the infamous Candy Store (Bear Canyon Trailhead) and take us south to Tenaja Falls and Fishermans Camp where we would overnight and return via a different trail following a ridge the next day. The total loop was to be 22 miles and evenly split between the two days.

I have been doing a really good job at lightening my pack on my recent winter trips. I have removed a lot of stuff that I have not touched all season and have done a much better job at not bringing too much food. So many trips ended with a bag full of uneaten food amounting to several extra pounds. With this trip heading out on a weekend with daytime temps in the 80's and nights at 50 it seemed like going light, or ultralight, seemed like a good idea.

Clark's pack on the left, mine on the right at 14.8 lbs!

My major items would be a sleeping bag (Mountain Hardware Phantom 45, 1lb), sleeping pad (Thermorest NeoAir, 1lb),  alcohol stove system with fuel (10 oz.), my new ultralight tent (AppyTrails Mark III, just under 2lbs with Tyvek groundcloth and stakes), 3L Camelback bladder and my REI 18L Flashback to stuff it all in. Yes I had my first aid kit and ten essentials as well but it was a lightweight version. My personal clothing consisted of an extra pair of underwear, socks, long sleeve shirt and a backpacking towel. No jacket on this trip, I would just double up my shirts. I did splurge on a 2.3 oz. backpacking pillow as I had no jacket to wad up for that purpose. I also left the camera at home as hauling a 2.2 lb. digital SLR camera kind of goes against ultralight packing. I would rely on Michelle to take pictures on this trip. Without food or water I was at 8 1/2 lbs.! With food loaded up and 2 liters of water I had 14.8 lbs total to put on my back. This was a new record for me! I even wore a lightweight pair of trail shoes rather than the leather boots I have always worn in the past.  My friends traveling with me had differing tactics. Michelle went lightweight while Clark made up for all of us and traveled heavy. He claims it was the lightest his pack had ever weighed at 40 lbs. which was true, at least this time he did not carry a TABLE strapped to the back of his pack! Even their dog Ranger was required to carry his own load.

Strolling through the woods on our way to the falls.

The trip from the trailhead down to Tenaja Falls was very scenic as the whole area was very green from the abundant rain we had this year. While we did not have grand views of mountains and lakes we did have very nice scenery and enjoyed walking through fields of wildflowers and oak covered trails with small creeks still flowing everywhere. We reached the falls, 8 1/2 miles into the hike, around noon. They were crowded as they can be reached via a much shorter route (less than a mile). We enjoyed lunch at the falls and put our feet in the water. Clark decided he would submerge himself in the rather cold water which wasn't a bad idea as it was warm day.

Michelle, Ranger and I at the top of the falls.

More hanging out at the falls.

We left the falls and headed towards our evening destination, Fishermans Camp. When we arrived there we discovered a Boy Scout Troop of about 20 people had descended upon it before us. Not only were all the descent camp spots taken, we were there to enjoy nature and get away from it all, not camp on top of somebody else. We decided to head down the trail another mile to our next scheduled trail junction and look for a better spot along the way. This proved to be a great choice because once we reached the junction of the San Mateo Creek Trail and North Tenaja Trail we discovered a beautiful camp location complete with a sandy beach along the creek, a babbling brook, shade trees and numerous flat tent areas. We were happy to have found such a secluded location with all the amenities. This location was far superior to Fishermans Camp so the crowd really did us a favor.

My new ultralight tent, big enough for 2 adults.

Now it was time to test out my new tent. Up to now, my ultralight travel had gone very well. The small pack performed perfectly although I did need to lash the tent to the outside of the pack. I had practiced the setup of the tent a few times at home in the backyard to make sure I had it down and had already rigged it with the appropriate cord. I used my trekking poles as the tent poles and had the tent set up rather quickly.  Because it must be staked out I did have to hunt for a less sandy location so that my tent stakes could really hold. With the tent set up I moved in my stuff and was very impressed with how much room this lightweight tent had in it. To save weight, the tent does not have a floor. I had ordered and cut a sheet of Tyvek to make a footprint for the tent and used that. The tent was good enough to keep flying bugs out but not good enough to stop the crawling type. No big deal to me if it means shedding 3 or more pounds out of my pack!

The new tent was very roomy given the low weight.

Clark broke out the radio and the camp chairs, water filter, the cooking pot and heavy liquid fuel stove. I grabbed my iodine tablets and meager alcohol stove and we commenced on dinner. I noticed that a strange thing occurs when multiple people are travelling with different concepts or ideas. Even though Clark had a water filter, I wanted to prove I did not need it and purified my own water. Clark refused to leave his heavy stove behind and just bring a few ounces of alcohol for mine. He wanted to check his new large pack with a heavy load. Michelle's new pack was really cutting into her shoulder even with her light load. I offered to swap packs with her but she decided she got herself into this and was going to get herself out of it. I am not sure if this is a common phenomena or if we are all just the most stubborn people on earth!

Clark, Michelle and Ranger at our lovely camp.

After dinner we sat around and enjoyed the radio along with a few games of Uno, our favorite trailside pasttime. Clark whipped up a batch of popcorn that I was more than happy to eat even though there is no way I would carry a pot or enough fuel to cook it! We finished up our game of Uno and headed to our tents. The frogs were really going off that night. These were not your typical croaking frogs, these were frogs that made very long groaning sounds. With about 3 of them near my tent I was serenaded ALL night long!

Having travelled ultralight I had skimped on a jacket. In the middle of the night that was looking like a bad idea. I was cold and shivering. I pulled my thin backpacking towel out of my pack and wrapped my head with it. It may not sound like much but that was all I needed to be comfortable for the rest of the night.

I was pleased to find that when morning rolled around that I had no moisture buildup in the tent. It was a dry weather pattern we were in but with a single wall tent that was zipped up all night you never know what will happen. We made our breakfast and packed up and rolled out of camp later than we would have liked at 9:30.

Our final picture overlooking San Mateo Creek.

Our first 1 1/2 miles were tough as we climbed 1,300 ft. to gain the top of the ridge behind our camp. The remainder of our hike was very beutiful as we were hiking along the ridgeline for most of the way back. We had views of San Jacinto, San Gorgonio, Baldy as well as the ocean. With temps in the upper 80's and only 2 liters of water in my pack I was hoping to finish before I went dry. We did as we finished a little after noon. We bypassed our optional Sitton Peak side excursion as it was just too hot and we were all ready for a good lunch.

Over a great lunch back in San Juan Capistrano we discussed our experiences. Michelle will return her new pack and go back to a smaller one she has used many times before. Clark the pack mule really liked his new even bigger pack even though he carried the lightest load ever, about 35-40 lbs. I was very pleased with my results on going ultralight with a new pack and tent. The pack was very small and I really had to plan ahead to keep the things I would need at lunch either at the very top of the pack or in my pockets. I just cannot fit anything else in the little pack and will have to use something bigger for Catalina as I will need to carry a little more food, fuel and clothing. If I can keep the Catalina weight to around the low 20 lb. range I will be extremely happy. I think I gave ultralight backpacking a really good try and did well. I am intrigued to see what other tricks are out there to not necesarily reduce weight but rather bulk so that I can get everything in my little 18L pack and even have a jacket next time! The learning never ends.

Fabricating Your Own Alcohol Stove System

So you want to build an alcohol stove do you? Well I was faced with this same question a little over a year ago after my son won a Pepsi can alcohol stove at a Scout Fair. I was impressed with the weight but it lacked what looked like any type of self contained useable system so I began to research the topic. For a great resource I would suggest Zen Stoves.

I will save you hours of searching for a stove design and all accompanying items that make the stove a useful tool. It is not just the stove but also the pot, pot stand, windscreen and other pieces that make the system I will describe into a complete cook system. I have used it many times on day hikes as I got tired of eating a sandwich at the summits and wanted more. I have taken it on 4 day backpack trip as my sole cooking setup and been very pleased. When combined with freezer bag cooking you have an ultra reliable and ultra simple system. Best of all, your complete stove and cooking set will weigh in at about 5 oz!

I want to stress that I did not invent any of this. I have taken many peoples different ideas and refined them into this stove system. I have spent hours in my garage on rainy days testing different ideas and concepts to develop this system. There are plenty of ideas out there that sound good and even look impressive but when tested fail miserably.

The Stove and Fuel:

After much research I chose the Super Cat alcohol stove for my design. Please view this link as it provides everything you would want to know about the stove, how it works and excellent instructions on making one. I have used them with holes made from a hole puncher at ¼ inch as well as ones with holes at 3/16 inch from a Whitney punch as described. Both work just fine but I prefer the 3/16 holes as my testing proved a faster boil and less wind interference. While several variants are discussed I just use the basic supercat. I chose it because it was simple to make, does not require a pot stand or priming pan and you can easily see how much fuel you have added to it. Make sure to use the 3 oz. Fancy Feast or potted meat can as the flare fits the pot I recommend perfectly. He also provides lots of great information on fuels. I just stick with SLX Denatured Alcohol from Home Depot but I have used the Ace Hardware house brand and had identical results.

The Cookpot:

There is plenty of info out there to overwhelm you. While you can spent over $60 for a lightweight titanium mug to cook in I have found that a $3 25oz. can of Heineken works perfectly, and you get to drink the contents as well! This can is better than the large Fosters can as it is more sturdy due to the shape and the bottom fits the supercat stove better when built with the Fancy Feast cat food can. All you need to do is use a side cutting or safety can opener and remove the top of the can. It can be a little tricky and some openers work better than others. Save the top you removed for a lid or a little heavier but a great fitting lid is the top from an Altoids Citrus Sours can.

One of the reasons this pot/stove combo works so well is that the thin wall pot absorbs heat all the way up the sides giving a much larger surface area to conduct heat through. There are many people out there that like to wrap their pot with fiberglass wick or other non flammable material to keep from burning their hand when grabbing the pot. I have wrapped one with a fireproof blanket I trimmed down to cover a 2 inch wide section of the middle of the pot and as I had expected, my boil times went way up. While the fireproof material is cooler to touch, it takes away pot surface area that was transferring heat. My suggestion is to either wear a glove or use a handkerchief to keep from burning your hand on the hot pot.

Windscreen:

The alcohol stove has a drawback in that it performs very poorly with any type of wind. To counter this you need a good windscreen. For lots of background on windscreens and other wind devices visit here. One can be easily fabricated from thin aluminum roof flashing available at your local home repair store. I use some stuff I picked up at Home Depot although I had to buy a 25 ft. roll. I get the 8 inch wide roll as it covers both the stove and pot. To fabricate, simply cut enough off the roll to form a 4 ½ diameter circle with about a ¾ inch overlap (about 16 inches of material). A good pair of scissors will cut this just fine. Slightly round the corners once cut.

Along one of the long sides of the flashing you will need to punch some holes so your stove can get air to keep burning. Get out your hole punch with ¼ holes and proceed to punch holes on ½  inch centers all along one side about ¾ inch up from the edge. I tested many different openings in calm and wind conditions and found this to be the best based on shortest time to produce a boil.

Now you need a way to hold this in its circle shape as it wants to spring flat. To make this easier you need to remove the temper in the metal itself. Use some old wire (with no insulation) and make a circle with a 4 ½ inch diameter, twist the ends so it holds shape and slide it over your rolled windscreen. Place this in your oven in your home and heat to 400 degrees F. for 45 minutes and then turn off the oven and let it cool with the oven closed. When done it should keep its new curved shape fairly well.

To finish off the windscreen you need a way to hold it together to maintain the proper shape. The wire worked for the oven but needs to be improved upon for field use. I tried combinations of hardware and special slots and folds when I stumbled across a write up for the windscreen beltbuckle. This rather simple device solves the problem and weighs nearly nothing. Cut a strip of flashing about 9 inches long and ¾ inches wide. Slightly round the corners and lay it along the side of your circular windscreen from top to bottom where the windscreen overlaps. You should have about a ½ inch of overlap on top and bottom. Simply fold over the top and bottom to form a clamp and squeeze to pinch the windscreen and hold its shape. Holes can be punched in the buckle to reduce the weight if desired.

The first few times you use the windscreen it will give off a little smoke and smell funny as a coating on the flashing burns off so don’t be alarmed. It will also discolor a little and look burnt. This is normal.

Cozy:

The final item to manufacture is the pot cozy. This is the item that will help your pot retain heat once you have heated your water and keep you from burning your hand when you drink hot beverage from it. This is made from a material called Reflectix and is held together with aluminum tape or duct tape. The aluminum tape is more durable and looks more professional but duct tape can be used. For the background I have provided additional information here under Mods for your Mug, see Mod 3.

Fabrication of the cozy is explained fairly well under Mods for your Mug. You will need an 18” long piece of the 16” wide Reflectix product. Cut a 13” long piece of the aluminum tape and apply half of it to the thin, non bubble section along one edge as shown. Fold the non bubble section over and tape down. Measuring from the folded tape edge, come down 5 ¾” and cut out a piece that is 5 ¾” by 13”. You should now have a rectangular piece with the tape along one side. Fit this to your pot and trim as needed so that the edges just touch, there is no overlap and the pot can easily slide out. The pot will expand slightly with heat so a slightly looser fit is OK. Follow the same instructions to make a second one to go around the first but this time use a 14 1/2” strip of tape and cut a piece that is 14 1/2” by 5 ¾”. Complete the bottoms as shown in the link. Make sure you make the bottom on the end of your circular cozy that does not already have tape on it.

When complete, the smaller cozy will fit the pot and larger one can be either doubled up on the bottom cozy or used like a cover to slide over the top of the pot and smaller cozy to make an insulated chamber.

Accessories:

You now need a few little items to complete the whole package. You need a fuel bottle to store your fuel in. I use a flip top 4 oz. bottle from REI or Sport Chalet but any bottle with a flip top that will fit inside your pot will work. A silicone wrist band (like the Lance Armstrong yellow bands) is another item you need. This is used to place around the mouth of the pot to prevent you from burning your lip when drinking from it. You need a way to light this thing so either matches or a flint and steel (my preference) goes in the pot. Lastly, you need an eating utensil. A plastic spoon is OK but I have broken and melted a few so I now carry an aluminum spork.

That sums up the making of the ideal cook kit. I have provided instructions for the packing and use of your new stove system below. I hope you enjoy it and get as much use out of yours as I have mine. I have had my Cub Scout Webelos Den make these and the kids were very excited. You have never seen a child so excited to boil water! They also make great gifts for your backcountry friends.

I am considering offering the materials in a kit. Please contact me if you are interested.

Alcohol Stove Operating Instructions: 

This stove is a complete cookset if used as described below. No additional pots, pans or other cooking items other than your preferred eating utensil are required ( I use an aluminum spork).

Fuel:

Use denatured alcohol from the hardware store. There are other alcohol based fuels out there and you can read up on those but denatured alcohol is the most consistent from my tests. NEVER USE WHITE GAS OR GASOLINE!!!

Setup:

Remove all items from the complete stove set. Set the stove (the small catfood can with the two rows of holes) on a non flammable flat surface. You may want to carry a piece of aluminum foil to place under the stove to protect the ground but that is optional. Next you need to get the windscreen ready so open it up to form a 4 ½ circle. You should just have about ¾ inch of overlap when formed correctly. Use the long metal strip to pinch the windscreen at the overlap to maintain the correct shape.  Add an appropriate amount of water to heat in the Heineken pot and place lid on pot.

Getting it started:

Add alcohol to the stove. The appropriate amount depends on many factors including water temp, air temp, wind, quantity of water and desired finish temp. When boiling 2 cups of water in cool weather I would add fuel right up to the lower set of holes in the stove. You may be able to use less but this is a good start point and will let you see how long your stove will run for. If only boiling a cup of water with no wind you may be able to get away with half as much fuel or even less. You will need to experiment to work this out as each stove is a little different.

With the fuel added, light it and observe. The flame is nearly invisible during the day so use your hand to determine if it is lit by feeling above the stove for heat. You need to let the stove burn until you start to see little bubbles in the alcohol forming near the edges of the stove. This priming phase takes less than 30 seconds typically but may take longer in cold conditions.

Add your pot with water and lid on it to the top of the stove and make sure the silicone lip guard is removed. I would suggest wearing a glove when doing this as some flame does come up the side of the pot as you place it on the stove. With the pot in place slide the windscreen over the pot to protect everything. Make sure the row of holes around the windscreen is at the bottom. Sit back and wait for steam to come out around the lid. If you are going to heat a foil packet of meat or a can of chicken you can place it directly on top of the lid for the stove unopened. It will get warm but not too hot to damage the packaging.

Finishing up:

As this stove is very hot while running, it is suggested you let it burn out before removing your windscreen and pot. Remove the windscreen when the stove has run out of fuel and remove the pot and place in the smaller cozy (the metalized bubble wrap) that snuggly fits the pot preferably with a glove on. Once in the cozy, you no longer need a glove as the pot will be well insulated. If you are making a hot beverage, mix it directly in the pot and place the silicone wrist band around the lip of the pot to make a lip guard so you do not burn your lip on the metal pot while drinking. To keep the fluid warm for a longer period of time, add the larger cozy over the top to seal the pot inside.

Storing:

When finished and it is time to pack it up, make sure the pot is dry. You will first roll up your windscreen and slide it into the pot. Next you need to put the stove into the pot, open end up, and slide it to the bottom of the pot with the windscreen touching the outside of the stove as you slide it down into the pot. Then place your fuel bottle, matches, spork and silicone wrist band into the pot. Place the lid for your pot on top of the windscreen that extends out of the pot. Place the pot lid on the top of the windscreen extending from the pot with the lip of the lid facing down to cover the top edge of the windscreen. Place the smaller cozy over the bottom of the pot and the larger one on the top covering the windscreen and you are all set.

Tips:

 My typical use of this setup includes boiling water, pouring some into a freezer bag meal I have created (adding a can of chicken I heated on top of the pot) and sealing it and placing in the bottom of the large cozy. I will then place the pot with small cozy on top of my meal to trap it between the two. I will them make a hot beverage in the pot while I am waiting on the meal to rehydrate and warm. I will add the lip guard and drink with the whole setup in my hand. Check out freezer bag cooking or FBC as this method is particularly well suited to this type of stove.

I do not claim to be the inventor of any of this stuff, I just came up with a slick way of incorporating several peoples different ideas into one handy setup. If you like it, share it with a friend. For instructions on building one of these please see my blog at http://hikingandscouting.blogspot.com