A couple of weekends ago, I hiked from Zutphen to Olst, It was a two day trip organised by Spring, a youth division of the Dutch Naturfreunde. The first day our goal was Deventer and the second day we would end in Olst. The first day we walked 17 km and the second day a little less only 13 km.
For this hiked I used my "new" backpack the Golite Jam2 (2009 model). It was the first time that I used for a weekend hike. During my holiday I used it a lot. And I must admit I'm quite keen with it. It easily fits everything for a weekend and for a daypack it also works. The only downside when using it as a daypack is the roll closure it isn't very convenient if you just need something fast from your pack. And when using it on my bicycle it gets very sweaty but that is because the pack is to close to the back. But that is oke because the jam2 wasn't designed with that intention. The Only thing I really dislike about it is the useless logos on it. I spend a lot of money getting my equipment lighter and those morons make it heavier by putting al lot op patches on it saying Golite. So I immediately removed those. But overall I really like this pack and its versatility.
Sleeping: I used my Lafuma warm and light 600 down bag with the polycotton liner. I wasn't the warmest night I ever spend. But the conditions weren’t optimal, It was very moist and I maybe had a bit too much to drink. But using my Bergans of Norway down jacket I managed it alright. I slept on my NeoAir and a thin foam mat, the foam mat also doubled as my frame fore my pack because I removed its original frame.
Too sleep under: I had hoped to use my tarp but staying on a campsite near the town I opt fore my Coleman Rigel X2, a "two" person tent weighing 980 grams. It is a very small and low single wall tent, But apart from condensation it kept me dry and more important it kept my stuff out of sight.
Clothing: The weather was very changeable, some short shower and periods with sun. So I decided to test my soft-shell clothing and I didn't bring any rain protection. I must say I worked very well. The clothing kept my dry during the showers and it dried really fast when the sun came throw. So undoubtedly a winner and a keeper!
Shoes: I used my Inov8 330 Terrocs with smart wool socks. They were great. I have used and abused my shoes a lot during my time in Denmark, Sweden and Germany and they are still as new. Because of the rain the track was very wet and the Terrocs a very open I got wet feet. It was my own fault because I had some Sealskinz socks in my pack but was too lazy the get them out, so by the end of the weekend I had wrinkly feet. And the last 4 km's walking form the train station to home wasn't the nicest journey I ever had.
The walk was quite nice, we walked through the meadows and many of the dikes. The second day we walked through fields and woods.
