I missed Boudoir for the second year in a row. (I’m possibly getting too old for it.) I had Friday off, M. hauled me to the new MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op), just open two weeks in Montreal, I dropped my paycheque. I didn’t need a backpack - M. bought a new expensive one for himself on Thursday and gave me his old expensive one – and I didn’t need a tent - M. bought a practical and moderately-priced tent on Thursday – but I needed a sleeping bag, a mattress, a water-purification system and nylon clothes.
I hadn’t known one needed nylon clothes for backpacking, but apparently one does. They are lightweight, and when backpacking every gram counts. And they dry very quickly, preventing hypothermia. In the event I bought a pair of nylon pants for keeping bugs out and a pair of boxer shorts for wearing under a comfy hemp skirt I already have.
Other nifty purchases: Muskol, sunscreen, waterproof matches, books of Quebec and Adirondack hiking trails, an aluminum emergency blanket, a small tube of biodegradable soap, a gadget for converting camping mattresses into legless chairs, a compressor bag to convert my large fluffy goose-down sleeping bag ($175 CAD / $130 USD) into a small soccer ball, special socks, an organic cotton t-shirt ($14 CAD / $10 USD) and a titanium cooking pot ($36 CAD / $27 USD).
Surprisingly, I was not instructed to buy hiking boots, and I didn’t bring the subject up. (Next paycheque.)
After thoroughly exhausting ourselves spending all that money we paused for a bagel at the Bridgehead Fair-Trade coffee shop that in the MEC.
Next stop: Ikea. We had to exchange some chair legs that had the wrong findings with them. Two and a half hours later, and laden with somewhat more than chair legs with the correct findings, we returned home. Boudoir had started an hour before and we hadn’t had supper or decided on our itinerary for today.
Apparently we still haven’t… but we bought the accessories, which is the important part.
Will keep you posted!