What's the worst item you've seen a hiker start the AT with?

[drastic_quench]

I love hearing stories of people starting off carrying cans of Coleman fuel and such. Supposedly, great sites like this have cut down on the phenomenon, but what've you witnessed over the years?

[boarstone]

10x10 heavy poly tarp, no experience, plenty of gusto, willingness to participate, no fear of the unknown, scout stove w/ 1lb. canister, started out w/two dogs lost both by Gulf Hags,(never did recover them) 5lb. two man tent,(1 person), Hoho packs of beer, cases of beer, 5ths of whatever, fishing poles that don't collapse(until later), total amnesia to hiking but have the "camping" part down. Can't comprehend directions when pertaining to the woods... A mile in the woods is not a mile on the road etc....but by gee! they are having fun!

[JF2CBR]

I'm not sure about one item but my friend just started with a 50 lb pack. He had a hatchet, two large knives, 3 pots, 3 fuel canisters, food for 5 weeks, 10 lbs of dog food, a large 2 person tent, and about 75 clif shots. All seemed wayyyy overkill to me.

[John B]

A 6-pack of bottled water.

[Cannibal]

67.5 lb pack on the approach trail. Dude had a steel hatchet, a circus sized tent, a huge blue tarp, 8lbs of rice, Coleman lantern (with size "D" batteries) and an extra pair of hiking boots dangling from his pack. That's just what I can think of off the top of my head.

To his credit, he carried it without complaint. Trailname was: "Mule". We gave it to him the first night at Black Gap Shelter.

[JERMM]

I saw a guy wearing a ice cooler on his chest last year. He had attached nylon straps to the sides and looped them over his shoulders, like wearing a pack backwards. I guess I don't need to mention he got off the trail at Mountain Crossings.

[TD55]

Plastic toilet seat with collapsible stand was the funniet, but I've seen more than one dutch ovens and iron skillets.

[UnkaJesse]

Lord I hope the dude I'm about to describe was just out for the weekend, but I witnessed the following just south of Black Gap Shelter......

Crossed the forest service road at Nimblewill Gap and noticed a military haul bag (I'm sure there's a name for it, but it looks like an olive drab climber's haul bag) just off the trail in the grass. I didn't think much of it as I know the Rangers train in the area. Stopped to pump h2o about half way to the shelter and spoke to a fellow in denim overalls, packless, coming down. Again, didn't think much of it. Stopped for lunch at Black Gap shelter and there's a big, steel cruiser bicycle leaning against the shelter wall. (It's even one of those Harley-Davidson inspired deals with huge tires and a sofa for a seat. It had to weigh 40 lbs. As a mountain biker, I almost fainted thinking about pedaling that sucker across a parking lot, much less up the AT.) And hanging from the cable is another of those military bags. Anyway, we all had a big laugh about the fool that pedaled that bike up there and what the fine would be for mechanized travel on the AT. We figured the owner of the haul bag was off in the woods takin' care of his bidness.

A bit later, the same fellow from the water stop rolls into the shelter carrying another military bag and flops it down on the table. He pulled out a cast iron sandwich griller and fire up his coleman carcamping stove, also in the bag. So, we had to get more info.....

Well it turns out that Capernicus here was shuttling his bike and two bags of stuff up the trail. So, leaving two bags in Nimblewill Gap he rode up to Black Gap on the bike, then hiked back down. He took one bag up leaving one at Nimblewill and one in the tree like I found it, then went back for the second.

God only knows what was in those bags. I have always wondered how far he made it with his triple shuttle hiking style. And, what the fudge did the bike add to his outdoor experience?

[UnkaJesse]

I saw a guy wearing a ice cooler on his chest last year. He had attached nylon straps to the sides and looped them over his shoulders, like wearing a pack backwards. I guess I don't need to mention he got off the trail at Mountain Crossings.

Just a side note here, if any of you are willing to carry the cooler, I'll buy the beer. I'm just sayin'......

[Summit]

I saw a woman with a five lb cast iron frying pan dangling from a rope off her pack near Woody Gap, GA. Said her destination was PA. I seriously doubt she made it out of GA.

[Mighty Mouse]

Last year, I saw:
1) One dude with a 5 lb bag of rice. Non-instant to boot! Never saw or heard of him after day 3 on the trail.
2) Four guys, hiking together, all carrying axes. The were supposedly going to use them to chop firewood. Kind of scary.
3) Four guys sharing one water filter, but each carried their own camcorder. Made perfect sense once you got to know them. Just not the smartest move, since they frequently got separated.
4) Guy carried a spice bag that was the size of my food bag. He still had it in Erwin, the last I saw him. I don't think he ate one Lipton's on the trail. I heard he finished too!

[Blue Wolf]

10 days worth of food a guy had in 07 he was going to resupply in Franklin his pack was 60 + pounds at Neel Gap.

[EAnderson]

A year ago March 1st, we hiked up the approach trail to Springer (where we met Kirby) and then stayed the night at Len Foote Hike Inn. We saw a guy (not Kirby) on the way up who looked to be in agony. On the way down, we passed him again not far from where we last saw him hours or so before. We found out that he stopped at Len Foote to ask for help in downsizing his pack. They removed a pair or 2 of jeans, a pound of coffee, a jar of honey for his coffee, a full sized saw and hatchet, a large maglight, & a heavy water proof bag liner. He started with about 72 lbs and got it down to 35lbs or so.

Another guy had a great light ULA pack with the largest almost gallon sized container of bear spray attached. Felt sorry for the bears.

[freefall]

Two cousins were carrying a 5 man tent between the two of them, easily 15 pounds. By the NOC one had dropped out. That meant that one had to carry the whole thing. The next morning I passed him on the trail about a half hour up. About an hour later he was passing me and said he dumped the tent a while back and felt much lighter!

[Frick Frack]

4) Guy carried a spice bag that was the size of my food bag. He still had it in Erwin, the last I saw him. I don't think he ate one Lipton's on the trail. I heard he finished too!

I think we ran into this same guy last year! It was VT maybe?

I did a section hike 3-4 years ago and met some nobos who started with "tater". He started with a 50lb sack of potatos and that is what he intended on eating along the trail. They may have been pulling my leg

[Frick Frack]

On that same section hike we met "vertical eddie". He started up the approach trail with almost 80lbs and went back to AFSP and managed to get down to a uber-light 60-something lbs....he had tree stoves (alchohol, wood burning and butane). He told us it took him 3 trys to get up to Springer. He was quite the talker and funny as hell.

[Skidsteer]

A firelog.



My comment? Well, at least you can get rid of it easy enough.

[snowhoe]

I saw a guy with a pick ax. He said he was looking for gold. He was in GA.

[Egads]

10 days worth of food a guy had in 07 he was going to resupply in Franklin his pack was 60 + pounds at Neel Gap.

Musta been one of those hikers without an agenda. Packing 30 days of food just to get to Franklin

[thecaptain]

last year on our section hike from deep gap NC to springer we passed 4 nobo's one had a BB gun strapped to his pack...I did not see how many BB's he was carrying