Cross Country Gear

[maverick]

The 24-70 is a great lens for indoor, low light sports photography, wedding photography
and photojournalism, but a bit heavy for backpacking.
It is 2.1 lbs, compared to the 1.5 lbs of the 24-105, that also has IS.
Why not just pick up a used one on e-bay or FredMiranda.com.
I take my 1DS Mark 3, 17-40, 24-105, 100-400, multi-row pano gear, and accessories
all over the Sierra, and know I would regret not taking it, the IQ of a smaller point
and shoot would simply not compare.
I would probably be happy with the 24-105 and my pano gear for a long trip like this.
Now, if your plan is to just share your photo's with family, post on the web, and smaller
prints up to 8x10, than never mind, but with 10 mega pixels your not working with a lot
and the smaller sensor doesn't help either.

[RoguePhotonic]

Buying another lens would cost too much right now and I have already invested in the G12 so I might as well go with it. I've never really had much intention with my photos because I don't have anyone to show them to. I just throw them on FlickR and have never made prints before. My goal for Sierra photography has always been to capture all these locations in the best quality I can so all those that cannot get out there can enjoy the beauty and also to document the Sierra. If your like me and are wondering what an area looks like when your looking for trip ideas you will see a lake or so on the topo and search for it online. More often then not either you cannot find much on it or the photos you do find are of very poor quality. I love to document these locations in good quality for others research purposes. Every day people find my photos on FlickR by searching Google for different things in the Sierra.

I wouldn't mind making some posters some time but one print shop I talked to said it's about 60 dollars each so I haven't done any yet.

[oldranger]

Rogue

Try costco. They are cheap enough that if you are not happy with the quality you are not out much. Haven't tried it myself yet but I'm neither skilled nor do I carry a camera with a large sensor.

Mike

[RoguePhotonic]

I caved and ordered a Tarptent Rainbow. I used one until the end of 2009. It suffered zipper failure, then a bear ripped a hole in it, then it was finally finished in a very high wind snow storm.

I gave in due to the constant thought about how bad the mosquitoes will be and that I will never have a place to retreat to in order to eat in peace. Or no place to get out of the rain. No place to change without being attacked by bugs.

I'm also not satisfied with how much condensation you get with a bivy. Basically your sleeping bag is wet every single night which is just bad if the weather doesn't allow me to dry my bag.

That means I gain 24 ounces this year for my shelter but I am still probably 10 pounds lighter.

I bought the Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork Trekking Poles.

So basically my gear list is complete. Not sure how much I invested this year but probably a good 1700 at least in gear. I have bought enough food to send ahead for about 40 days and it ran me about 500 dollars. So a best case cost for basic supplies on this trip will run 1250 dollars.

Last year people would always ask me what my trip was costing me but I never kept track. This time I will keep some notes.

Living in luxury on the trail can add up quickly also. Hike out of the wild and eat a 20 dollar dinner. Pay 6 dollars for a shower. 8 dollars to get some internet time. 6 dollars for laundry. Spend another 10 dollars on snacks. 20 dollars for a camp site. Spend another 20 dollars for a good breakfast and hike back into the wild having spent 90 dollars on a single stop for a resupply.

Last year I brought 1000 dollars cash on the trail with me and went home with about 150 or less. I spent 500 dollars for 2 nights in Mammoth alone.