As noted in the Initial Report, this pack is intended to carry a maximum weight of 25 pounds (11 kg). In addition, the ULA website indicates a recommended base weight (i.e. the weight of pack and equipment before food and water is included) of 12 pounds or less (5 kg). On the first trip, my base weight was below the recommended minimum, as I was carrying a tarp shelter, which helped keep the weight low, but as I was making a dry camp I carried about a gallon of water in two 2 L Platypuses. With food, that raised my starting weight to about 22 lb (10 kg). I used a standard canister stove, not an alcohol stove,

On the second trip I chose a more substantial shelter, a two-person Tarptent Double Rainbow whose weight is around 3 lb (1.4 kg). This gave me a higher base weight, just a little over the recommended minimum. I could probably have shaved off an extra pound by leaving out a few oddments, but chose not to do so. I was carrying less water than the first trip (less than I could ideally have used, as it turned out, as I failed to find a spring that was supposed to be the vicinity of my campsite), so my starting weight was still a moderate 20 lb (9 kg). Neither load could be called ultra-light, but my intention was to carry a load close to that for which the pack was designed. In general, on short trips, I don't go for the bare minimum.

On both of these overnights, I used a full length Z-Rest; the pack is designed to be used with a sleeping pad to give it structure. I folded this to create a back panel. On the second trip I placed my shelter poles diagonally within the folded pad for added firmness and to facilitate weight transfer. The Z-Rest, placed in the pack, is held in place at the top under the diagonal elastics built into the CDT, and I secured it in position with the bulk of my sleeping bag placed in the base of the pack. This was a lightweight bag (Valandre Mirage) rated to 23 F, -5 C, weight 25 oz (0.7 kg), housed loosely compressed in a lightweight silnylon drybag. I could have gone for a significantly lighter bag with a rating of 35 F (2 C), but on the first trip I expected strong nighttime winds (and was not disappointed). In a tarp shelter, winds can make for cool sleeping. I felt the sleeping bag was the right choice on both trips. More to the point, it demonstrated that despite the CDT's limits of recommended minimum weight, perfectly adequate comfort can be achieved, for a three season trip at least, with the right choice of gear. I would have been comfortable at a significantly lower nighttime minimum temperature than I experienced.

In both cases, I carried my shelter in one of the side pockets. Here's the setup for my first trip:

How the CDT carries

I put my headlamp in the supplied mesh wallet for easy access, along with my ID and some cash for the trip home, as I expected to set up camp after dark (I did so on both trips). The wallet, which is at the top of the pack, below the collar, is a very nice addition to this pack's features. It is easily detachable. I didn't use the hydration sleeve on either trip, but I will at least once for the long-term report (I am not a big fan of hydration tubes, as a general rule). At the trailhead I loosened all the straps, put the pack on, and cinched in the waistbelt and adjusted everything just so, starting with the waistband and then the shoulder straps. I then hit the trail. No fuss, no muss, all very straightforward—I especially like the way that the waist adjusts, with the pull straps situated away from the main buckle. I was interested to find (and I noted that this was consistently the case) that I didn't really need the sternum strap. I have slightly narrow shoulders, and find this strap almost essential with many packs, so this was a pleasing discovery. The only time I really felt it essential to have it fastened was during a brief third-class climb during the second trip, as I wanted the pack to hug my back without any possible side-to-side slop while I climbed steeply a couple of hundred feet or so on some narrow and rather exposed ledge systems.

The pack's waiststrap seems very well designed, spreading the load to the hips well, and even fully laden it is remarkably comfortable to carry the CDT at weights near the suggested maximum load or less. As my levels of food and water declined, I sensed that the true "sweet spot" was around fifteen to eighteen pounds (7 to 8 kg), but this pack certainly isn't at all uncomfortable fully laden. It is constructed without load-lifter straps, but on a pack intended for these weights I certainly didn't feel their absence. It's fairly snug, in a good way, a good pack for precarious perches, handy for one who likes a little non-technical climbing on a hike. Perhaps because of this snugness, as it has no back panel it can feel a bit sweaty, but the same's true with most packs I use, panel or no. It's also light enough to carry briefly over one shoulder for ventilation. I do feel that the torso length (medium/large) is just right for me.

I did use the handloops on trail for a while. Though I knew ULA packs had them as an option, I have no other pack with them, so they were a new feature to me. I like them, and they do seem to slightly change the way the pack carries. It seems to me that some load is taken by my hands when they are in use, and that perhaps they act slightly like load-lifters. The downside is that the loops can't easily be used with hiking poles, so those have to be strapped on using the retention loops, adding load to the pack.

A minor disaster

On my second trip, I began a long ridgeline ascent to the highpoint of my route. This is a bushwhack I've taken several times in the past, though not recently, and my recollection was that it was not too densely vegetated. The hard climb (in terms of verticality, not elevation) was at the beginning of the day, when I ascended the summit of the peak below which I had slept, and I was looking forward to hitting the trail and beginning the descent to the car. Unfortunately, either I had forgotten them, or i was away from my usual line, but my route took me through some very dense spruce-fir growth, common at higher elevations in the Catskills. This is rough stuff on body and gear alike, and I found myself crawling under the close-packed trees to get through (and getting scratched up, as usual). Finally, I hit the trail, and unshouldered the pack to get some food and the remains of my water. It was then that I saw the spruce had taken its toll.

I called ULA the following week, arranged for a repair, and shipped the pack off. The response from ULA was exemplary. I have just received the pack back (about two weeks later) flawlessly repaired. Initially I thought it had been entirely replaced, but a careful examination (a spruce needle tucked away in some waistband padding) indicates that this is one and the same. The craftsmanship of the repair seems impeccable. I am very impressed, both by the turnaround time and the quality of the work.

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