I was thinking the same thing. Sometimes people are more in love with the idea of backpacking than actually doing itOriginally Posted by BuckeyeBill
Flip flop. Start in Virginia near to home and hike south. You can make it a close to home shakedown without being committed to the entire hike.
You are also close enough to home that you can leave everything but the bare bones.
Get the whiteblaze guide from this site and plan out hostel and hotel stops. You can get a very gentle start. Maybe even slack pack parts. Ease into it. Mostly with the puppy home at fist.
This clearly was not meant to be taken seriously. No one would start a thru hike with a little puppy that was intended to be carried in the pack at times. Something tells me he is on the trail today at Springer and having a good laugh.Even if my food bag fit there was still the issue of there not being enough room for my little pup for when she can't walk (rain, snow, rocks).
So it is with that I have to quit. If I can't figure out how to pack my pack then I'm a failure and can't go. No idea where to go from here, this is really killing me
you don't need food, just go fastWife and I were loading everything up in my Excursion to head down to GA. and then an hour later... we weren't.
We were going over the last of the things before we left and started loading everything into my pack. Everything fit well, but then we noticed the food bag had never been put in. There was no room for it. My 65L pack was full and the food didn't fit.
That was when we stopped, we just sat there not knowing what we had done wrong. Eventually we just said to each other "We've messed something up somehow" and then admitted that we might not be ready to do this. Even if my food bag fit there was still the issue of there not being enough room for my little pup for when she can't walk (rain, snow, rocks).
So it is with that I have to quit. If I can't figure out how to pack my pack then I'm a failure and can't go. No idea where to go from here, this is really killing me
Hi there! I'm the wife. Some notes:
1) The dog? Is a fully grown Miniature Pinscher. She's also a therapy animal. She is not a puppy; "pup" is just the word that we use to refer to our three dogs. She is also a necessary part of Llama's hike. Leaving her behind is out of the question.
2) Thank you to the sincere individuals who were able to offer advice, suggestions, and encouragement while leaving out the sarcasm.
Oh, and to the person who insinuated that maybe I just didn't want him to go, and that I wasn't encouraging him enough, or was using this as an opportunity to keep him home or whatever nonsense ... take that thought and kill it immediately. The *first* thing I said was "OK, we can try again in two weeks." You don't know me.
There is so much more going on here, and if Llama didn't want to air the entire issue, can you honestly blame him? Yes, pack space is a problem, and we already have plans to have an expert go over it to offer advice and suggestions.
Illabelle, thanks for the above in red. I was slightly less than mid-speed, though.
I also asked almost everyone I saw about what gear they had, what they liked/disliked about it, how they did things, etc. I learned several tips I had never thought of before. I bought a few things to upgrade as well.
500 miles before failing in 2012 helped quite a bit with expectations and finances.
Hope Llama gets his......... pack together and starts. What's the worst that can happen? Neels Gap and quit? Damascus and quit? Harper's Ferry and quit? Katahdin and........... finish?
Old Hiker
AT Hike 2012 - 497 Miles of 2184
AT Thru Hiker - 29 FEB - 03 OCT 2016 2189.1 miles
Just because my teeth are showing, does NOT mean I'm smiling.
Hányszor lennél inkább máshol?
llama, you have psyched yourself out of a thru-hike. Pre-hike jitters, second guessing and then finding an excuse not to hike. You seriously didn't think about leaving room in your pack for food?
I suggest reading "Appalachian Trials, The Psychological and Emotional Guide to Successfully Thru-Hiking the Appalachian Trail".
If you don't at least try you will regret it.
"Chainsaw" GA-ME 2011
I'm a little late to the party with this, but I hope it helps anyway. Last year, I saw "The Movie" and immediately started thinking about hiking the AT. It was February. I pulled the trigger and started buying equipment in March. I bought an Osprey Atmos 65L backpack. I crammed that sucker to full and then removed stuff to get my food in. Like the OP, food was the last thing to pack. I started hiking on April 3 from Springer. I had never hiked before - ever. My backpack was heavy, almost 40 pounds, but I persevered. In Hot Springs a bunch of stuff was sent home and I got the weight down. I kept going.
Now I never intended to do the whole trail. Eventually I finished at Marion, VA, which totaled 532 trail miles. By the way, I was 67 when I finished and weighed 140 at 5' 9". The point is, it can be done, and whether you section hike the trail or do the whole thing, here is how to do it. It has very little to do with physical conditioning or equipment. It has everything to do with your mindset. I watched much younger and stronger people drop out last year when they should have been able to keep going. If you are not mentally prepared, you won't get 100 miles.
I'm going back to Marion, VA in May and continuing north. My hope is to do another 500 miles - maybe more. I learned a lot last year. The Osprey backpack is gone along with my sleeping bag - both replaced with lighter equipment. I hope to have no more than 32 lbs in my pack when I leave in May and that's carrying 7 days worth of food.
Ok... to the people here that weren't complete tools, thank you VERY much. Reading the comments like "You're a snowflake" and "Fastest. fail. ever." gave me a great laugh. I needed something to cheer me up, and that bit of humor was exactly what I needed. The thought that people could read what I said and post things that negative thinking they were helping is laughable.
Now on to my pack. All I have packed are the things I need, there is no "snowflake gear", and everything is packed 95% as good as you can pack it Scarebear. I'll make a short video in a little while and SHOW you where I'm at right now. If after that I'm where I should be then I'll go this year.
About my pup. She is 11 and quite adept at hiking. She has hiked with me EVERY time I have gone out, I CANNOT hike without her. She has done 30 miles a week with me on day hikes with no problems. She loves being out there more than I do, and is small enough (11 pounds) that when I hit the ladders and rebar I just toss her in the pack and she's fine. I've hiked for hours with her in my pack when the trail was snowed over and I didn't want her plodding along in it.
Carrying her isn't an issue, leaving her isn't an option, and I would never put her in danger.
NOBO March 2018
Man can only find oneself while alone on the Appalachian Trail. There his mind if free to explore his thoughts, the Universe and eventually find his true self. -Ernest Hemingway
And, Llama, please do post a COMPLETE gear list and your video. Folks here are happy to help you out. For reference, and why many don't get your pack issue, is the fact that many thru's do with a 45L or less.
All of the following fits into or on my 35L pack:
BA FC UL THREE. Yup. The three person tent. With poles.
40 degree sleep system.
4.4R air mat
kettle, Zelph Starlyte3, stand, windscreen, lighter, two fuel bottles, Ti spoon
Sawyer Squeeze, 2L Evernew, 1.5L Evernew, 1L SmartWater, 750 ml squeeze bottle, adapter fitting, SteriPen
Long t, short t, tights, 1pr socks, 1pr underwear, hat, gloves, balaclava, glasses, rain mitts, MH GhostWhisperer
Rain jacket, rain pants
Camp shoes
10000mah battery, usb cables
FAK, journal, space pen, lighter, map, smartphone
bear bag, 3 days food, 50ft slickline
This is without any belt pouches or strap pouches at all. Two side pockets. 35L. Your pack is almost twice the capacity of mine. What's wrong with your picture that I am not seeing?
Sometimes the naysayers are the biggest motivators.
Good luck! (Your wife is awesome, btw).
I'm going to take a guess here. Pack is largely filled with a very warm synthetic fill sleeping bag, and plenty of extra clothes. Revisit these and I'll bet you'll be fine.
Or maybe I'm wrong.
"It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss
Boom!
Although the atomic blast could have been targeting me, too.
42B05E12-82BB-40AB-B35A-FFD1B15C6B40.JPG
65 liter pack for a 3 day winter hike last month. She can do it, so can you.
Oh yeah!
Be interesting to see a list of the gear you "need".
A 65 liter pack and no room for food? I'd sure love to see your equipment list. There is ALWAYS room for food!
OK, here's what I get out of this:
llama, wife and Fido want to thru but ran into a snag with the food. This whole thru-hiking thing becomes a bit overwhelming. I get the feeling llama hasn't backpacked much.
llama comes here for some encouragement/help. He gets some, but also some BS. llama needs to understand that probably most of the people weighing in haven't thrued, some may have never seen the AT before.
llama needs the dog, llama is military. I know guys who find ways to help themselves, a dog is good, other ways not so much. Take the dog but understand Fido will be a burden on you. Seems you've already accepted that fact.
llama, if you really want to do this than you can get some serious help here. You need to pick out who you're gonna listen too.
Post a gear list, we'll thin it out for you. You're either carrying too much junk or have made poor gear choices.
Any reason why you can't leave in a few days and not two weeks?
Suggestions:
You're probably taking too much food, for the first week or two you won't feel like eating much.
Stop planning and thinking and go hiking. You can work the kinks out along the way.
Hope this helps.
"Chainsaw" GA-ME 2011
The OP posted a gear list some time ago, but it was missing too much to honestly evaluate. No clothes were listed. Link is here...
https://lighterpack.com/r/909mo5
LL, waiting two weeks may be to your advantage. Weather will be warmer which should be better for both you and your pup. Why don't you take a weekend trip locally in the meantime and evaluate your gear, see what you can get rid of.
“For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”
John Greenleaf Whittier
Having lunch right this second, we didn't get up until 2 hours ago or so (we stayed up until 4am talking about this last night). As SOON as we get back I'll post the gear list and video. Please help me guys, I really do want to hike this year
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NOBO March 2018
Man can only find oneself while alone on the Appalachian Trail. There his mind if free to explore his thoughts, the Universe and eventually find his true self. -Ernest Hemingway
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