Gearing Up for Hiking, Part 1

Made a Tuesday trip to Massey's in N.O. and it was successful.  Following a half-hour-plus of measuring and trying on, I decided on an Osprey Atmos 50.  That's plenty for the Tuxachanie Trail, and enough to get started on more ambitious projects.  BTW, the people at Massey's were very good at fitting and sizing the pack.  What's more, even though I hadn't exhaustively researched the topic they had, and after reading some reviews (here, here), it looks like the right pack for this hot muggy climate.

Clocking in at 4 lbs, it's just over half the weight of my old medium ALICE frame pack, about 30% bigger in volume, and much more comfortable.  No exposed frame on which to mount the VHF antenna, but that's probably just as well.  Not every expedition needs the full-on ACME treatment.

About a month and a half until cooler weather genuinely arrives, and it can't come in too soon.