2 Months and Counting...

2009 is coming to a close and I have just 2 months left before departing for Springer Mountain. For the most part, preparation is done: resupply boxes for the first half of the trip are prepped and delivered to my parents, gear is pretty much settled, and mentally I am ready to go. But, I still have to get everything in order with the "real-world" (bills, taxes, work, etc.) before I begin the hike. So, that will still keep me plenty busy. As far as warm-up trips, I am planning on 2 more remaining...one being a snowshoe hike next week in VT and another being a trip somewhere in PA/NJ with some people from whiteblaze. I am sure these next 2 months are going to fly by.

Food

Well, planning is continuing and the focus as of late has been on FOOD. The plan is to pick up mail drops with resupplies every 6-7 days and supplement the food drops with whatever I find in towns. I am preparing the packages for the first half of the trip and will take care of the second half when I am taking my mid-break.

What I have found to work for me is to do a cooked dinner, a mix of cooked and cold breakfast, and snacking for lunch instead of a formal lunch. All the cooked meals are freezer bag cooking so they are already prepared and just need boiling water.

Breakfasts:

• Oatmeal
• Cream of Rice w/ Cranberries
• Rice Pudding
• Carnation Instant Breakfast and Pudding
• Granola
• Poptarts
• Cereal Bars
• Coconut Bars
• Granola Bars

Lunches:

• Granola
• Trail Mix (Nuts, Butterscotch Chips, Banana Chips, Wasabi Peas)
• Assorted Bars
• Assorted Chocolate
• Crackers
• Tuna Packets
• Cheese
• Salami

Dinners:

• Sesame Seed Ramen
• Spanish Rice
• Salami Ramen
• Mountain House Stroganoff
• Salami Rice
• Parmesan Ramen
• Indian Couscous
• Ramen Pot Pie
• Roasted Garlic and Almond Couscous
• Chili
• Stovetop, Mashed, and Sausage

Gear List

Here is my current gear list that is approaching the final list of what I will take with me at the start of the trail. Some of the items are meant to be only for the winter and will be dropped as soon as the weather warms up.

Pack / Shelter (134.6 oz)

• Gregory z65 (62 oz)
• Marmot Helium (33.7 oz)
• Hennessy Hyperlight Asyn Hammock with tarp, 4 stakes, guy lines, tree hugger, and z-line cord for tarp pullout (28.7 oz)
• Section of Heatsheet Blanket (0.7 oz)
• Hennessy Hammock Undercover (7.5 oz)
• Thermarest Z-Seat (2 oz)

In-pack Clothing (99.8 oz)

• Northface Denali Fleece - Winter Only (24 oz)
• Northface TKA 100 Fleece Pants - Winter Only (11.5 oz)
• Balaclava - Winter Only (2 oz)
• Northface Prophecy Jacket (14.4 oz)
• Northface Lightweight T-Shirt (3.3 oz)
• Northface Lightweight T-Shirt (3.3 oz)
• Northface TKA 100 Fleece Pullover (10.3 oz)
• Adidas Shorts (4.5 oz)
• Rain Shield O2 Rainwear Pants (3.8 oz)
• WrightSock Coolmesh Double Layer Socks (1 oz)
• WrightSock Coolmesh Double Layer Socks (1 oz)
• Bottom Thermals (6.8 oz)
• Upper Thermals - Winter Only (8.6 oz)
• REI Underwear (3.4 oz)
• Mountain Hardwear Fleece Hat (0.9 oz)
• Glove Liners (1 oz)

Cooking / Water (42.9 oz)

• Ursack with OP Bag (10 oz)
• Titanium Spoon (0.5 oz)
• Foldable Bowl (1.5 oz)
• 1/2 Bandana (.4 oz)
• Bic Mini (0.3 oz)
• MSR Titan Titanium Pot (4.5 oz)
• Bushbuddy Ultra (4.9 oz)
• Katadyn Pro Filter (11.5 oz)
• Platypus 70 oz water bladder (3.9 oz)
• 16 oz Nalgene (3.2 oz)
• Gatorade 20 oz Bottle - Winter Only (1.5 oz)
• Small Swiss Army Knife (0.7 oz)

Miscellaneous (34.4 oz)

• Jacks R Better Gear Hammock and Pack Cover (3.7 oz)
• Minimal Elevation Profile, Data Points, TopoMap (0.1 oz)
• Sea to Summit Stuff Sack 9.5 x 19 for sleeping bag and clothes (1.3 oz)
• Sea to Summit Stuff Sack 4L for stove and pot (0.5 oz)
• LED Headlamp (1 oz)
• TP (0.3 oz)
• Toothbrush and Baking Soda (0.1 oz)
• First Aid Kit with matches, candles, and flashlight batteries (3.4 oz)
• Credit Card / ID / Cash (0.7 oz)
• iPhone 3gs (4.8 oz)
• iPwr Battery Pack (1.7 oz)
• iPhone Charger and cable (1.5 oz)
• 2 Plastic grocery bags (0.6 oz)
• 4 Quart Ziploc bags for various items (0.8 oz)
• PowerShot SD780 IS (4.7 oz)
• Spare Camera Battery (0.5 oz)
• Knockoff Crocs (8.6 oz)
• Pen (0.1 oz)

Consumables (210 oz)

• 4 Esbit Fuel Tabs (2 oz)
• 2 L Water (64 oz)
• 6 days of Food (144 oz)

Wearing (69.3 oz)

• WrightSock Coolmesh Double Layer Socks (1 oz)
• Northface 104 Trail Running Shoes (27.8 oz)
• Northface Lightweight T-Shirt (3.3 oz)
• Northface Convertible Pants (17.6 oz)
• REI Underwear (3.4 oz)
• Leki Trekking Poles with Duct Tape (14.5 oz)
• Mapdana (1.7 oz)

Total Baseweight = 19.5 lbs (16.6 lbs w/o winter gear)

Total 6-day Pack weight = 32.7 lbs (29.7 lbs w/o winter gear)

My thoughts on my gear...

--Resupply--

I am planning on resupplying approximately every 6-7 days including a town-stay at those points. Most of the resupplies will be handled through mail drops (thanks, Mom!). I'll talk about food in another post, but I will pick up a few items in towns to supplement my mail-drop food.

--Pack--

Yes, my pack is not one of the lightest options out there. I am willing to compromise though because (a) I need a slightly larger pack than normal given that I am only doing food drops every 6-7 days, (b) I feel that a more comfortable pack is well worth the weight, and (c) I am not bringing a sleeping pad, so the pack with decent padding will act as that if necessary.

--Shelter--

I used to hammock when I was younger. Then I got sick of the bugs, and switched to tenting. Now I am switching back to hammocks (the hammocks nowadays are so much nicer and even have bug netting :). My plan is to sleep in a hammock for a majority of the time with possible shelter stays every now and then.

--Warmth--

Ok, this is an area that I am still messing with since I have recently switched back to hammocks and that requires some additional thought. My current theory is that I will be fine in early march with my clothing layers, the Marmot 15 degree bag, the Hennessy undercover, heated water bottle, seat pad under cold spots, heatsheet blanket, and my pack as a pad. And, oh, yea, I sleep warm. The good thing is that I have the whole winter to figure out if this is sufficient or overkill for me.

--Cooking--

I am going to go with a wood stove along with Esbit tabs for those times when everything is wet or I am too lazy to collect wood. A part of an Esbit tab can also be used as a firestarter and I also have a few trick candles and TP to help with starting fires. I do all my cooking in freezer bags, so all I need is boiling water. All my dinners require hot water, about half my breakfasts require hot water, and my lunches do not require any cooking.

--Water--

I have been unable to convince myself to drop the filter and go with drops/tabs. I like having the security of being able to get water from any stream/lake/spring/puddle/etc that I find, regardless of the volume of water or the clarity of the water. And, I don't have to wait to start drinking (if I can drink immediately I can avoid having to carry that much water). I also have a filter adapter on my bladder so I can pump directly into the bladder. On the topic of Nalgenes, yes I know they are relatively heavy. I have not dropped my last bottle though, because I know it is indestructible and can hold boiling water safely (for tea and sleeping bag warmer). The gatorade bottle was included for winter, because I have had issues in the past with the bladder hose freezing, which ends up being a pain in the butt. In those cases, having another 1+ L in other bottles is helpful until I can thaw out the bladder. But, I might decide to ditch this before too long.

--Tech--

As much as I am opposed to heavy tech on the trail, I finally decided on a Canon Powershot camera and an iPhone. For me, a camera is a necessity. I really want to bring my Nikon D60 DSLR but I can't justify the weight and pack space. Plus, to be really useful it would need to always be accessible, requiring some sort of rig or sling. I would also be constantly concerned about it getting wet and/or damaged. So, I will fall back to the Canon P&S cameras. On the phone front, I was going to bring a phone for use in towns to communicate back home with people anyway. A smartphone, and particularly the iPhone, provides a lot of multi-functionality without additional space and weight. For example, I was going to bring a paperback book. But there are problems with books. They are quite heavy and what do I do if I get to a town and have 100 pages left in one book? Do I take two books? Stop reading the first and pick up a new one? Go through the next section of the hike without reading material? I know some people burn books as they go along or tear it apart and leave sections in the shelters. I have an issue with damaging books, so I will instead use the Amazon Kindle App on the iPhone for books. That way I can have a few already queued up and downloaded to the phone. A few other uses are listed here:

• Amazon Kindle App for reading books
• Update this blog and facebook whenever I have reception
• Update the blog with my GPS location
• Digital versions of the guidebook and elevation profiles to reduce the amount of maps and datapoints I need to carry on paper
• Topomaps using the iTopoMaps App
• Compass
• Weather information if I have reception
• Backup flashlight
• Music for those rare times when I wouldn't mind listening to something on the trail
• I am sure I will come up with other uses

There is then the issue of battery life for tech devices. I am planning on having a spare battery for my camera and rotate out dead batteries via mail drops when necessary. I will be carrying a backup battery for the iPhone that is good for another 1.2 charges. With the phone in airplane mode whenever possible, off when not in use, 3G turned off, and the screen dimmed as much as possible, I should be able to make it between resupply points. If not, I'll update my plan as necessary.

Thru-hike Details (well, mostly)...

Planning for this trip is full speed ahead, and I am now 95% committed to a 2010 thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail (or at least an attempt).

For those of you who don't know what the Appalachian Trail (AT) is, it is a 2178-mile continuous hiking trail that travels from Georgia to Maine passing through Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. A thru-hike is a trip covering the entire trail and typically takes 5-6 months. More information can be found at: http://www.appalachiantrail.org/ or http://www.whiteblaze.net

My plans are to go northbound (NOBO) starting March 2-3, 2010 at Springer Mountain in GA and ending sometime last August. I will be jumping off the trail for 1.5 - 2 weeks at the end of May for my friend Matt's wedding and am hoping to be at Harper's Ferry, WV by that time. I am planning on doing resupplies through mail-drops (thanks, Mom!) about every 6-8 days, with a night (or 2) off the trail at each resupply point. My Dad is likely doing the sections through the Smokey's, Shenandoah, and the NH Whites with me. My gear list is mostly finalized, with just some minor tweaking that will need to happen and I have ordered a lot of the bulk-purchase food that I will be consuming (I'll post separate posts on gear and food). Of course, this will all likely change a million times along the trek. Next step is to work out all the logistics regarding being away from my house for 6-months (bills, work, insurance, etc., etc.).

I can't wait :)

Days like today...

Days like today are miserable on the trail...40 degrees and raining
constantly and hard. Good thing I haven't started yet :)

Planning to do a thruhike!

I am planning on doing a 2010 thruhike of the Appalachian Trail. I
will be starting sometime between mid March and early April and will
be heading from Georgia to Maine. More info to follow...

--drew