Well, I finished my hike and figured I'd write about it a bit.

Getting to the trail was a breeze. "Survivor Dave" was right on time and a couple of hours later I was setting off from Springer. I averaged about eighteen to twenty miles a day with a pack that weighed around fifteen pounds without food and water. Before I set out, I posted a gear list on the "Lite Gear Talk" forum so I'll probably post a reply with a final list. Suffice it to say, I mailed some stuff home at Mountain Crossings.

I started off thinking I would eat quinoa for most of my meals. This got real old almost immediately. At Mountain Crossings I got some Mountain House dinners and had those every night for the rest of my hike. Delicious. Lunches were tuna or chicken from a pack on a tortilla. These got old too so I'm still trying to figure out what to eat on my next hike. Breakfast was quinoa with dehydrated fruit which I hated by the end. I sent all my canned food home at Mountain Crossings.

Overall it was a lovely experience. After doing some AT hiking as a teenager with a 40-50 pound pack, I am still amazed at how much more I enjoyed the hiking with a lightweight pack. I think there's some kind of exponential relationship between decrease in pack weight and increase of enjoyment.

I ended up setting up my tarp near shelters but not staying in the shelter unless the weather was going to be really bad. I enjoyed the companionship of the people I met at the shelters, but actually staying in the shelters I didn't like. It seemed like there was always someone snoring, getting up in the night to pee, or making noise in some other way. I guess that's part of the shelter experience. The one time I had a shelter all to myself, the critters kept me up. The best night's sleep I had was about fifty yards from the shelter under my tarp. I also liked sleeping near a water source which most of the shelters had.


Thanks again!

Will


Edited by Will King (08/20/10 09:06 PM)