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| On top of Half Dome in Yosemite |
I love to hike. I love to camp out. Backpacking allows me to do both! I love to take a weekend
trip here and there, but somehow just an overnight or two doesn't really seem like much of a test. On a weekend trip
you can get away with hauling along a few luxuries that you wouldn't want to haul if you were really trying to cover some
ground to a more distant destination. I've always been intrigued by the Appalachian Trail and the stamina and the sustainable
backpacking methods necessary to complete such a long hike - especially if done as a "thru-hike" - one long continuous hike.
My Meetup.com Backpacking Club
The Appalachian Trail
| At gap and trail junction on the AT in the Smokeys |
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I can't take six months
off work for a thru-hike, so I'm a section hiker. I've hiked several sections already. This year I plan to hike
the Southernmost end of the trail. I'll start at Springer Mountain in Amicola
State Park, Georgia, and hopefully will end up in Fontana Dam on the Little Tennessee River on the border of Tennessee
and North Carolina.
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| The AT in the Smokey Mountains |
That's about 165 trail miles. That doesn't take into account any detours for water or trips into towns for supplies.
I've got 8 full days to hike this, so my daily average will have to be over 20 miles a day. I've done 20+ mile days
before, but never 8 in a row. This will be a real challenge.
I'm working on my pack weight. Several years ago I met a trail maintenance volunteer on the AT in the Smokey Mountains,
and he recommended to me the book "Beyond Backpacking" by Ray Jardine. I bought it and read it. Not only did this
completely change my outlook on backpacking, it also started a revolution withing the backpacking GEAR industry. The
Go-Lite brand was a company that started initially in order to produce Ray's gear designes under license.
Very efficient blurb on Backpacking with good links - Wikipedia
Beyond Backpacking by Ray Jardine (Amazon)
Go Lite's Website (Jardine's designs)
Ultralight Backpacking - Wikipedia
10 Backpacking Essentials
Click here for some great thru-hiking journals with photos. See the AT trip.
Thru-Hiking Articles and Resources
The first woman to thru-hike the AT.
Bill Irwin, with his Seeing Eye dog Orient, is the only blind person to have completed the 2,168 mile Appalachian Trail.
Bill Irwin's book, "Blind Courage", Chapter 1. Read this then get your sorry butt off the couch!!!
| Seven Principles of Leave No Trace |
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| Clickable Link to LNT Website |
Anyhow, my base pack weight dropped by half, and I made a bunch of my own ultralight gear. My pack currently has
a base weight of right at 16 pounds. Loaded pack weight (food, water and fuel added) will be about 24 pounds.
So I have three goals between now (9/21/07) and the start of my trip (10/12/07):
1. Reduce my pack weight to 12# base weight
2. Keep training: strengthen legs and improve aerobic fitness
3. Loose body weight
When I return I'll post my trail journal entries and then, maybe, I'll begin entering my other trip journals.
Trail Journal Summary - 2007 Appalachian Trail Hike
| Can somebody translate this? |
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| Don't SIT (three-letter word) on the trees? |
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