Day 1 Approach Trail
Here we go! Day 1 on the trail… The approach to Springer Mountain.
Supply Boxes Packed
After what seems like weeks of buying bulk food, dehydrating fresh food, and accumulating pre-packaged food that can be readily eaten on the trail, I’ve finally finished boxing up all my supply drops. A large flat rate USPS Priority Mail box can hold about 10 lbs of food and costs about $20 to ship. I tried to plan for 5 solid meals of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks (about 2+ lbs per day). I accumulated enough to put together about…
Tech on the Trail
I’m just going to talk for a minute about the tech I plan to bring with me on the trail. My friends who hiked the AT over a decade ago didn’t have cell phone technology as ubiquitously as we do today. I’ve read that about 85% of the trail has coverage (Verizon). I think most people carry at least a cheap Walmart phone for safety in case they need to call for help or let someone know where they are….
So Much Planning
We’ve had some epic snowfall here in Eugene, OR this past week… over a foot, which shuts this town down. In Colorado, that’s nothing, but without plows, and trees that break huge branches off under the weight, the roads are impassable and the power is out for much of the city. So far we’ve been lucky, but rather than training, I’ve been doing research for the hike. On the plus side, I put on ALL of the clothes I am…
Shopping!
So much preparation to do as I count down to leaving in a month. I’ve been researching gear and literally spending hours walking around our local REI. Most of the camping gear I have is at least 10 years old, and dated means heavy and less functional that new stuff. But to replace it all is pretty expensive, so I’m trying to save weight where I can when I buy new stuff, and make use of existing equipment as I’m…