When and where

I found this article that analyzed a bunch of hiker's speeds based on their journals of their AT hikes.

Based on those averages here is a tentative schedule for when and where I'll be. I guarantee that it is not accurate in the slightest as everyone is different. But it does give a good idea for the couple folks that have said they wanted to perhaps come out and do a section of the trail with me. It would be great to have folks out so you can use this as a very rough estimate for planning purposes.

Some of the endpoints for each section are kind of arbitrary but usually correspond to a nearby town or feature of the trail that all 105 hikers in the sample reported passing (ie the georgia/nc border is a tree in a field but everyone reports it because it is your 'first' state line (of fourteen) ).

Based on these numbers, after I pass the first 1 or 2 points I should have a better idea about when and where I'll be

From: AT Hiking Rates, Section by Section


4/01/2007 - 4/09/2007 Springer, GA to Georgia/NC Border
4/09/2007 - 4/17/2007 Georgia/NC Border to Fontana Dam, TN
4/17/2007 - 5/11/2007 Fontana, TN to Damascus, VA
5/11/2007 - 6/09/2007 Damascus, VA to Waynesboro, VA
6/9/2007 - 6/20/2007 Waynesboro, VA to Harpers Ferry, WV
6/20/2007 - 7/10/2007 Harpers Ferry, WV to Delaware Water Gap, PA
7/10/2007 - 7/22/2007 Delaware Water Gap, PA to Kent, CT
7/22/2007 - 8/14/2007 Kent, CT to Glencliff, NH
8/14/2007 - 8/24/2007 Glencliff, NH to Gorham, NH
8/24/2007 - 9/03/2007 Gorham, NH to Stratton, ME
9/03/2007 - 9/17/2007 Stratton, ME to Katahdin, ME

--Later!

Gear List

So what exactly should I take? Gear is one of the most variable things that goes into a hike, it can make or break you. But even the best gear won't get you a mile up the trail unless you have the desire to keep on walking. That said, the key to gear selection for me is keeping the weight down. I've quickly become a 'gram weenie' weighing everything and trying to figure out exactly what goes and what stays. So far, here is what is in my virtual pack:

Item	ounces
Marmot hydrogen	22.00
HH Hyperlight / snakes	19.80
Mac Cat tarp	12.00
Tent stakes	4.00
JRB Nest	25.10
ULA Catalyst backpack	48.00
Foam sleeping pad	14.00
ground sheet	6.00
Platypus 2l	3.50
silk bottoms	3.20
Cap 3 long sleeve	6.10
Capilene 3 bottoms	6.00
Fleece pants	13.00
Rain pants	13.00
Rain jacket	13.40
bacalava	5.00
gloves	2.80
2 pair socks	7.40
cookset	10.50
Toothbrush	0.40
Tooth paste	1.00
aqua mira (60 qts)	1.30
lighter / matches	0.80
hiking poles	17.40
Capaline 2 short sleeve	3.80
TNF light fleece	9.00
MontBell Jacket	8.80
UA underpants	3.20
convertible pants	10.00
Trail runners	28.00
socks	3.70
Baseball hat	5.00
watch	3.00
glasses	0.50
Sit pad	2.30
pen	0.30
1/2 Companion	4.50
Camera & phone charger	4.90
TP	3.60
wipes	7.50
Phone	3.40
Pocketmail	10.00
First Aid kit	8.00
space blanket	1.70
camp towel	1.50
carmex	0.50
spare camera battery	2.00
sunscreen	4.00
duct tape	8.00
soap	1.00
sm Flashlight	2.00
Headlamp	3.50
Multi tool	2.50
Hand sanitizer	2.40
maps	2.00
Camera	5.80
Deet	1.70
Wallet	5.00
Total	418.80

Or about 26 lbs ... 11.8 kilograms

Thats a lot of crap to be schlepping 2175 miles.....Some of it ain't gonna make the cut...stay tuned to find out what lucky piece of gear gets cut next!

First REAL cold night in the hammock

1/11/2007

Ok now we are talking serious cold!
Temp: 28 degrees falling to 22 by 5 am
Wind: calm to 3 mph
Lowest observed temp with wind chill factored in: 16.9 degrees

So here is the setup I went with:
HH Hyperlite with stock tarp
JRB Nest
Marmot hydrogen (30 deg)
small pillow
sea to summit sleeping bag liner

Clothes:
Capaline 3 base layer
Hiking socks
200 weight fleece pants
200 weight fleece pullover
fleece balaclava

This actually worked out ok. I had a cold spot right under my butt, and the outsides of my shoulders were cold, but not so much so that I couldn't sleep until morning. The cold spots occur where the weight of me in the hammock has caused the hammock to sag and collapse the insulation in the Nest, or the Nest is attached to tightly to the hammock.

The Nest is attached to the bottom of the hammock before you get in, when you have a new hammock, the first couple times you use it it stretches or sags just a bit. I think once the hammock settles and I can dial in the Nest setup, I should be ok with this setup down to about 20 degrees.

I'll also be carrying a blue foam 'sit pad' and a 3/4 length blue foam pad. the sit pad will go under my feet in the hammock and I can add the big pad under my butt and shoulders. I'm going to try this next time we get some cold weather. I forgot about the bag liner until late at night when I woke up with cold spots, and couldn't easily get it deployed so I just stuffed it underneath my butt to eliminate the cold spot there.

GA->ME 2007

First cold night in the hammock

1/05/2007

So I plan on hammocking instead of sleeping in a tent while I'm out on the trail. I'm using the Hennessey Hyperlite hammock. I think they are more comfortable than tents and pads. The problem with hammocks is that you tend to get cold sleeping in them. This because the air circulates underneath of you and robs you of your heat. When you sleep on the ground, you have momma earth to help insulate you. Even if the ground is frozen (32 deg) that is better than having 30 degree air constantly blowing below you. Also, your standard sleeping bag's insulation gets compressed down if you lay on it. Down and most insulators work by 'lofting' and trapping warm air (air your body has warmed) between the feathers or fibers. Once you have compressed the insulation you very little protection from the cold. The pads that folks use when they are camping are really there for insulation from the ground, not especially for comfort (until you get to big air mattresses).

With all that said, the challenge for me is to figure out the gear I need to take to stay warm and safe on the trail this spring. Here is how night 1 went:

Night 1 was ~42 degrees w/5mph wind

Here is the setup
HH Hyperlite
JRB Nest
Marmot Hydrogen (30 deg down bag)
Capaliene 3 base layer
200 wt fleece pullover
Hiking socks

This worked very well, I woke up in the morning toasty warm, in fact maybe a bit too warm as the sleeping bag was tossed aside. This was my first full night in a hammock and I was surprised just how comfortable it was. The hammock I'm using is asymmetric, your feet go on one side of the center line, and your head goes on the other....hard to explain, but the up shot is that you pretty much lay flat in the hammock. No banana back as some people call it.

Check out the gear list, for what a Nest looks like, it is a down under quilt that hangs below the hammock (so you don't compress the insulation) and insulates your underside. It seems that most people can be comfortable with the Nest down to around 30 degrees. We'll see!

GA->ME 2007

So why would I be doing this?

I started my trail journal on a different site, but blogging will allow me to post directly to it from the trail instead of forcing charlt to update a website. The first three blogs are all today (1/19/2007) but have the actual date at the top. You can check out my gear list here:

http://www.trailjournals.com/gear.cfm?trailname=5146

1/01/2007

Dunno, ever since I heard about the idea of hiking the entire AT in one shot, I've been intrigued by the idea. The funny thing is that it just made sense to me in terms of a challenge. On the other hand, people would talk about climbing a mountain and that just didn't make any sense at all. I really didn't see it as the same thing at all, but when a couple people asked 'why?', the only answer I had was, I want to or because it is there.

Some people head out to hike the trail so that they can 'get back to nature', some people are trying to run away from problems at home. Some people want to party for 2175 miles. I'm not sure why I'm heading off to walk day after day. I'm sure I'll find out along the way. Stay tuned!

GA->ME 2007