We ended up hiking about 3 1/8 miles with no more than a 270 foot elevation gain. We averaged around a 2.65 mph pace, so somewhat short of the goal of 3 mph. Only HDLS and I showed up for this one. Considering the area's suitability for firearms training and room for different hiking routes (including routes with major elevation gains for more challenging hikes), plus the accessibility to a variety of vehicles and excellent suitability for camping (it is possible for over 200 people to camp there if desired), I think this is an excellent location for repeat hikes and training. Also, most of the time, there aren't many or any people there. This wasn't the case on this occasion, but it's also the largest number of people I've seen in over three years.
After the hike, we set up targets and proceeded to establish BZOs on new weapons, practice pistol shooting, and then practice with our newly sighted-in rifles at 100, 200, and 300m. Due to from where we chose to shoot and the foliage, we used the vehicles to give us the elevation needed to see and hit the targets. We had a couple of paper target stands plus two mini-IPSCs with hostage takers, a COVID target, and a couple of smaller plates, set up for use.
We camped out the night before on-site. Winds were very high at night, and fairly high during the day. We oriented our range to minimize cross-winds, although a shift in the afternoon meant that we got some cross-wind when we were shooting from 1-300m.
For myself, pack was around 45 lbs with water (37 lbs dry), LBE around 33 lbs with pistol and water (25 lbs or so dry), and rifle about 11 lbs loaded, so I was carrying around 90 lbs., which is the most I've done in a while.
Some photos below:
Also, chugging was attempted: