Liftoff!

Short hair.

If there's one thing I learned from the 2008 Alaska trip (beside the fact that NOT every small town has a barber - and I had always assumed the contrary, even if the barber was also the town sheriff and building inspector), is that if you're not going to be able to wash your hair for 3 - 4 weeks, it's best to have as little of it as possible. I didn't go for "best", but fairly close to it.


More stuff.

This year I am hauling the bulk of the group food with me to Alaska. I didn't have to do that last year. But, as I learned a couple days ago, it doesn't fit into my two duffel bags (along with all of my personal food and gear). I was contemplating the fees associated with hauling a third, large, heavy bag with me on the flight (vs maybe shipping it ahead to the hotel in Anchorage) but then Delta upgraded me to first class, and along with that comes a free 3rd checked bag, so, problem solved.


iPod Touch.

I'm ditching my iPad for this climb. I brought it in 2011 and watched maybe four movies. The only comfortable in-the-tent position is flat on your back on/in your sleeping bag. Holding an iPad (or even a hefty book) above your head for hours and hours gets tiring. And with the reduced blood flow comes very cold hands. Which in itself actually reduces the blood flow further. It just wasn't meant to be. In its stead is a shiny new iPod Touch which is filled with audio books and can run the Spot Connect (via BT). Together, it saves weight and reduces cold fingers.


Log out.

Last year at 11k feet I sent a status update via the Spot Connect. The device was acting up and restarting it didn't help; or maybe it was the app? I finally hit "log out" on the app, thinking that I'd give it a fresh try. I hit "log in" and the app alerts me, "you must have an internet connection to log in". And so the Spot updates stopped at that point. Brilliant design choice, really. It's a device specifically marketed for communicating when you have no other communication options; and that certainly assumes you *probably* don't have a strong Wifi or 3G signal in your area. I mean, who would want to use Wifi when you could instead wait up to 20 minutes to send a forty-one character text message via Spot? Anyway, from what I can tell they have amazing hardware engineers and dime-a-dozen (iOS) software engineers. I hope they read this.


Back support.

I never saw this coming the first time around, but besides fresh fruit and maybe steak, I miss a chair with a back on it the most when stuck in the mountains for weeks. Decent chairs are bulky and heavy. I have this fold-up chair that has no legs on it which has a semi-rigid back and seat. It only folds in half though, which means it can only go places that my sled/duffel bag go (it won't fit in the backpack). But at REI (where else?) I found a similar chair that also rolls up after it folds up. It's less of a hassle to haul than a therm-a-rest. I'm looking forward to sitting up in the tent during the day. Between afternoon naps, that is.