But it was really nice while it lasted. We had a couple great panoramic views, climbed our first mountains together, slept in bear country for the first time (taking rocks and sticks to bed), and got to field test our $400+ investment in new gear (thank you, birthday money). We extended our trip a day by swinging through Mammoth Cave on the way home. We spotted tons of tame deer strolling right through the campground and got to descend down a million-dollar staircase into the earth (I guess the going price for a submarine contractor to build underground is $3,000 per step).
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| From Appalachian Trail 2008 |
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| From Appalachian Trail 2008 |
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| From Appalachian Trail 2008 |
A couple more pictures + 1 video over here.
Below is all the meticulous backpacking details - what we took, how much it weighed, what happened each day. I post it here for my own future reference, but read along if you're nerdy or nosy: [notes in brackets]
Adam's pack - 13 lbs dry weight (no food or water)
Clothes/Main Gear:
*GoLite Gust Backpack - 1lb 4 oz [simple, light, strong; capacity is 30 lbs max; doubled as a pillow - internal pad provides enough cushion]
*Big Agnes Seedhouse Superlight 2 Tent - $201, 2lbs 14oz [worked fine]
*North Face Blaze Synthetic 20 degree sleeping bag - 3lbs 2oz [can go down to 25 degrees if I have pants, 2 fleeces, rain jacket, and hat on]
*Ridgerest 4' sleeping pad - $20, 9oz [Becky loved it]
*Cheap foam sleeping pad [provided little padding - get another Ridgerest]
*$1 fall gloves [wear out fast, not rain proof, but help keep me comfortable]
*New Balance 473 [not picky with shoes, prefer trail running ones]
*Generic nylon rain coat [my $200 North Face coat is heavy and doesn't shed water; this was light, cut wind, but wasn't rain tested - I sprayed water repellent on all gear and clothes]
*3 pair socks [might have gotten by with 2, but make sure they are different thickness for variability]
*2 fleeces [didn't throw in the 2nd one until I got scared by another hiker's tale of a recent 4" snow blizzard in the Smokies. I'm glad I did - I slept with all my clothes on and was just on the edge of sleepability, though I never wore two fleeces while hiking, even at 30 degrees]
*1 long sleeve sweat-wicking shirt [not sure if I ever took it off in 3 days :) ]
*thin nylon pants
*running shorts w/ netting
*hunter orange acrylic stocking cap [wear during hunter season - critical for heat retention too]
*yellow cotten bandana [barely used it; usually cold enough to need stocking cap, but bandana would keep hair out of face in warmer temps]
*large black plastic trash bag [rain protection + bear bag to put food in tree]
*30' nylon rope [to put food out of bear's reach - also used to strap sleeping pads underneath pack]
Cooking: [not cooking is lighter/faster, but cooking adds a psychological boost by providing a treat to look forward to and expands menu options. Items carried in grocery sack, which quickly tore]
*HEET fuel additive [plan for about 3oz/day], cooking pot, cigarette lighter, old vienna sausage can + small chicken wire fence as stove set, liquid soap for clean-up, 2 plastic spoons in bag, sponge [the thin scraping part]
Toiletries (in a ziploc):
*1 mini-bottle bleach [2 drops/quart for water purification], 1 roll T.P. per wk for us 2 [probably need just 3/4 roll], 1.3oz body glide lubricant, 4 sheets moleskin, duct tape [wrapped around HEET bottle], 1 bar hotel soap, moisturizer w/ SPF, chapstick, comb, hand-sanitizer, perfume, 2 toothbrush heads [take a full 1/2 of a toothbrush next time], disposable razor, 30-some ibuprofen, alcohol swabs, band aids, triple-antibiotic, cotton balls, anti-diahreal meds.
Office/Other (in a ziploc):
*1 car key, digital camera w/ batteries [bring good ones + spares], cash, ID, debit card, 2 pens (just the ink part), 3 pages of Bible, 6 pages trail data, plastic emergency whistle/compass [a light last-minute addition that was lying around], 2 velcro straps, 1 large rubber band, 2 small pieces of string [didn't use, though might come in handy], 1 42-oz plastic bottle and 1 20-oz plastic bottle [42oz worked well for mixing one giant shake and share; having a few 20oz bottles helped us distribute weight more evenly, even pinning one to my chest by my chest strap - that's 1.25 lbs off my back, counterbalanced to the front!]
Forgot to take:
*safety pins [to hang drying socks, though I improvised]
Should not have taken:
*Couldn't find too much to leave behind. Some stuff was not used, but we weren't out very long and nothing got rain-tested. After seeing how heavy some other packs were, we certainly value packing "light" but I'm not going to compromise a trip to save a pound or two. Most weight is saved in the Big 3 - shelter, bag, and pack, all of which we've made fairly good low-weight investments in (just over 7 lbs if I carry the whole tent).Becky's pack - 8 lbs [our total dry weight was just 21 lbs - hiking in pairs really cuts down weight and allows it to be shifted, depending how all are feeling. Since I outweighed Bec by 70 lbs, I took both our pads, the tent, cooking, toiletries, and our big water jug]
*GoLite Jam 2 Pack (small) - approx. $80, 1lb 5 oz. [boy this was small, but it forced us to take little and let Adam carry the rest
*North Face Tigger 20 degree Climashield Child's sleeping bag - $80, 2lbs 1 oz [This was great! Since Bec is tiny and kid's bags fit persons up to 5', we took a risk and ordered this one. She fits fine, it cost about 50% less than comparable woman's bag, packs smaller, and sheds at least 1/2 a pound - just what we needed for her tiny pack!]
*other stuff that she took ... don't have record now.
Itinerary + Highlights:
*Night 1: Hot Springs, NC (elevation 1,326') just off the trail. 30 degrees or lower.
*Day 1: 13.1 miles, finished in 8.25 hrs. 1-2" snow on N side of mountains. Saw black bear running across trail 20 yds away at 10 miles.
*Night 2: Walnut Mountain Shelter (~3,800-4,000'). Cold and windy, 30 degrees or lower. No water all day and none tonight. Slept with 4 other thru-hikers (southbound). Company was a large psychological boost.
*Day 2: 13.1 miles, finished in 8 hrs. Finally found water after 1 hr or so. Incredible view at the bald on Max Patch Summit (4,629').
*Night 3: Camped alone at Groundhog Creek Shelter (2,900'). Warmer, no snow on ground, but deserted. Water supply not running, but looked clear (we drank). A little creepy and very quiet. Woken by the screech owls.
*Day 3: 7.2 miles. Hiked to Standing Bear Farm Hostel and saw Curtis, the owner (we miraculously ran into him at a diner our morning in Hot Springs before we hiked a mile!) He was busy so we called outfitter in Hot Springs to send a shuttle.
