How to explain carrying 16 lbs of Peanut butter in a daypack

[Hetchy]

Wow that was a good quote Eric!
And yes Rosabella I endend up swimming that crossing!.. Actually the bear can could have saved my ass on that one..
It gave me bouyance (spelling) I was crossing Falls creek that time(at the Tilden canyon cutoff trail)..northwards during the late May melt. I remember getting about halfway, just where the grasses were poking out of the sand bar. The water was numbing and when I reached the sand bar I realized there was no where to get up out of it's icy embrace. Ahead it got deeper.. that hauntingly green water, I am sure you all know what I mean.. no rapids but the occasional speck of something organic passing by tells you it's moving swiftly and deep. I remember taking a step or two and then realizing I am floating. The packs weight pushed my head under water but I managed a breast stroke or two before the panic set in. I made it to the other side in what seemed like hours.. but was surely seconds.
This is the important part; I was always able to get a breath WITH the pack on and in fact the floatation aided me in the swift water.
Though I do not recommend this approach to anyone, of course.

I will say, my spare socks and warm clothing sure stayed nice and dry inside the bear can during the crossing.
Funny now I remember I caught two huge trout not twenty minutes later. Strange breed we Backpackers!

And on this thread has anyone else noticed how, in late May the creeks flow much higher in the early morning than in the PM? I know this is counter-intuitive but I have been seeing this same phenomenon for decades, drought years and snowbound ones.

Oh Yea, I just got my Father's blessing for the trip this evening!
Now.. If I can only decide whether or not to take a fishing pole for the Sierra section.. Hmm.. Hell Yes!

[quentinc]

Hiking always is the best lifeline to sanity. Welcome back to the board!

(And carrying 16 lbs of peanut butter is a lot more practical than what I train with -- a collection of 5 pound dumbells and various bedding material for ballast.)