Thursday, January 20, 2011
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Adventure - Havasupai Trail
Some friends of Total MissFIT went hiking and camping last month along the Havasupai Trail in Arizona. A couple of these friends recently bought some gear from our shop and nicely provided photos of both the trek and their gear in use. Thank you Total MissFITs! You’ll notice a photo of their voyage is now on the home page of the Total MissFIT website. The blue backpack in the photo is the Kelty Coyote which got rave reviews.
The trek starts off at the Hualapai Hilltop and requires an 8 mile hike to Supai. The terrain is rugged and rocky, starting off steep (downhill) with 1.5 miles of switchbacks. The next 6.5 miles to the village of Supai is a gradual descent. You can either carry your own pack or have it taken by mule to Supai.
The village of Supai has a café, grocery store, lodge, and a small museum. It’s a great place to stop for lunch and a break. It’s also the only town that carries out mail by mule so you can send yourself a postcard via mule!
From Supai it’s another 2 mile hike to the campground. One thing that our MissFIT friends were happy to note was that the toilet facilities at the campground are much improved! What was once a not-so-pleasant experience at all has now become much much better for female campers. The composting toilets are solar-powered and have wood chips and fans. A vast improvement over the old porta potties that were in very bad shape!
A couple of the tents on the trip were purchased from Total MissFIT. The Kelty Crestone 2 and the Sierra Designs LT Strike 2. Both got great reviews - they're both extremely light and the SD LT Strike 2 was a hit since it has two entrances!
A permit is required to camp in Havasu Canyon. Information on obtaining a permit can be found here: Reservations
From the campground it’s only a 0.5 mile hike to Mooney Falls and another 3 miles from Mooney Falls to Beaver Falls. You’ll first view Mooney Falls from the top, and then you’ll descend down into it using a few chains and ladder on the way. The photos of the scenery will speak for themselves…
The descent to Mooney Falls…
MissFITs at rest….
Thank you for the photos, Emily.
Adventure - The Wave
The BLM gives out 20 permits a day for this trail - 10 are issued by lottery (you have to apply 4 months in advance) and 10 are issued as walk-in permits the day before the hike. The essentials to take with you are a daypack with a camera and lots of water.
You can find information about the permit process here: BLM Permit Process/Lottery
The hike to the Wave is 2.9 miles. With your permit you'll get a map that shows you where to go. It’s easy to get lost going there since there's no track but the map has photos that show you what to look for and in which direction to go. The first part of the hike is through a wash and then on a sandy trail in a green brush field. Eventually you'll hike over a ridge and the scenery changes to beautiful rock formations.
Please do not use these photos without permission. Thank you.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Why Women-Specific Sleeping Bags?
Of course we all want to be comfy as possible when we fall asleep under the stars but did you know that men and women sleep better in sleeping bags designed for their body type? While the average man is 6 feet tall, the average woman is 5 feet, 4 inches tall. Our body proportions and metabolic rates are also different. Women's bags are sized smaller so that we don't have to carry additional weight and heat up more air space than necessary. Women's sleeping bags also are designed with narrower shoulders, wider hips, and increased insulation in the torso and foot box.
Sierra Designs developed the first women-specific sleeping bags in 1995 (the Calamity Jane and Annie Oakley). Over the years sleeping bag designers have figured out that they're on to something and are figuring out even better ways to design bags for women. Total MissFIT is pleased to be able to offer a complete selection of women-specific sleeping bags! We've tried a few out that we're very happy with. What features are you looking for in a good bag?
Check them out here: http://www.totalmissfit.com/categories/Camp/Sleeping-bags/
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