Lostagain,

I think you misunderstood my advice. This is not the first time somebody misunderstood. I think I need to pay more attention to my writing.

My suggestion was to use the bivy you already have, plus either a poncho or a tarp. A tarp you could sew yourself, or they are widely available at relatively low cost.

If the quandary is a one or a two person tent, I would certainly suggest the one person. The footprint will be a bit smaller, giving you more choice in sites (sometimes a problem) plus whatever weight saving is available.

Also understand from your answering post that you are planning to start from Baxter SOBO in March (obviously I'm reading your post differently than BrianLe is reading it). If he is correct, his observations are spot on.

But if I have it right, there are a couple of issues. Starting dates in Baxter are up to the rangers' estimates of the safety of the trail up, and they tend to be pretty conservative. What I have heard from SOBOs is that the starting dates tend to be fairly late (later than March).

There are two other very well known problems with going SOBO:
bugs and water. You come off Katahdin right into the bug bloom and the spring run off (trail that is soggy in fall tends to be dangerously under water), and I've met several hikers who started SOBO and were run out by bugs and "flip-flopped" to restart NOBO.

Incidentally, I think BrianLe once did it SOBO and I'd be interested in his reflections on that.

One thing you might consider is starting south just below the Whites and then going back and finishing.

Good luck, best, jcp