If you haven't already, get a copy of The AT Guide asap - all of these questions are effectively answered in the first few pages.
Just for reference I'll tell you what I did: four months before...
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If you haven't already, get a copy of The AT Guide asap - all of these questions are effectively answered in the first few pages.
Just for reference I'll tell you what I did: four months before...
Wildlicious. Hands down. It's not really a flavor... but then, are Pop Tarts really food? Whatever the case, I'm sure I ate my weight in these things on the trail and I never got tired of this...
I also think you should aim a little higher than 3000 calories. I'm about 160 lb and 5'11", and I put down 4,000-5,000 calories daily in the middle of the trail (although less at the beginning). If...
If you haven't heard of it, check out the Aeropress. Just Google it - it is something like a cross between a french press and a giant syringe, but it makes amazing coffee and is smaller and lighter...
I like small baskets to prevent slipping into cracks as mentioned above, but I take them off in the snow. Maybe bigger baskets would work for the snow, but small baskets in the snow tent to get stuck...
You will have to pack water up to DT. Your options, depending on which way you're hiking up from are: Pickle Branch Shelter (nice creek there, south of DT on the AT), and the creek between VA 725 and...
Going south through the 100MW late in the season the critters (chipmunks mainly) around the shelters and campsites have really figured out how to get to hiker food. Keep any food with nuts in a hard...
Do you pack bug netting then, and if so, did you purchase something or make something yourself? I'm relatively new to tarping and trying to decide what kind of netting would be best for the PCT....
Hi all - a question just out of curiosity:
I've used the PCT style hang a few times (when I'm not sleeping with my food) and I like it, but we all know that hanging is not allowed in quite a few...
I think I wouldn't bring poles without straps. They would just become tiresome to my forearms. Definitely can't imaging getting rid of straps - especially for long distances.
All you really need is a strong desire to complete the trail - which you say you have. I wasn't an elite hiker to start the trail, but I started with a pack base weight below 12 lbs including...
Sure Mimic - you can send me questions via the private messages (PM) function. I can talk about that hike 'til I'm blue in the face. If stats will help you prepare then I kept track of my progress...
Welcome Mimic! You can definitely be home before Christmas, but there are so many variables to a long-distance hike. One can only point to what others have done in similar situations and maybe...
A less exciting benefit of poles, but the reason I tend to bring poles even if it's flat terrain, is less swelling in the hands. Having the poles to hold and having your hands elevated to hip level...
+1 on The Barefoot Sisters. Great read!
I hiked with a Golite Pinnacle for a long time (very close to the Jam), but I since moved on to a Granite Gear VC 60, and except for being 3 ounces heavier than the Jam, I feel like the VC60 is an...
I went sobo starting in mid-August, so with your July start you can expect warmer temperatures than me even if you hike really slow. I started with a 40 deg bag, and then switched to a 20 degree...
I've used MSR Needle Stakes for frozen ground before. They're tough, narrow, and they're a single solid piece. Use a rock to hammer them two inches into frozen ground. Beware tent stakes in these...
I always bring Greensky on the trail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm27FHBAuRs
I used MARTA last month to visit the downtown area from the airport. There are plenty of signs in the airport that direct you to the MARTA station and you just need to buy a $3.50 ticket ($1 for the...
Have you considered a Crazy Creek?
http://www.crazycreek.com/hex-2-0-original-chair/
For me the daily investment on the AT was about 15-20 minutes just after finishing dinner. I had a keyboard in that case, so I could write much faster than with pen and paper. Sometimes I e-mailed...
Keeping the journal serves all of the purposes mentioned above, but it is a pain. For me, I was pressuring myself to keep one because I know how days blur together and I wanted something to have to...
On the AT I bounced a box 5 times, so about 400 miles between pickups. It got "lost" on the second bounce. By lost I just mean it never showed up at the intended destination, but two weeks later it...
The older model of the petzel tactikka plus (4 LED version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=341BjGlxiYw) has a flip-up red filter rather than an extra red LED, and I love that. Battery life is good (3...