2019 App Trail Thru Hike: What To Wear

The clothing I'm taking for my early April Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike departure

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(From Top Left):

Montbell 800 Fill Power Down Jacket: I was really trying to be the last person to own a puffy jacket. Oh well. It's light and warm. More for camp than for hiking. You get warm fast hiking and cool down fast when you stop.

Outdoor Research Helium II Rain Jacket: Very popular on the trail. Super lightweight and folds into a compact pouch. It's my first additional layer for cold or wet. It doesn't have pockets, so I duct taped some plastic bags with some quick dry towel material to the lower inside of the jacket. I can flip them out and shield my hands from the weather if necessary. 

Columbia Silver Ridge Long Sleeve Shirt: The shirt I plan to wear everyday. It has pockets, ventilation, and sun protection. I will pre-soak it (along with most of my clothes and tent) in permethrin insect repellent to protect against ticks and mosquitos.

Smartwool 150 long sleeve shirt: Minimal merino wool layer

Smartwool 150 short sleeve shirt: Hangs from the bungee on the back of my pack for quick access. Usually as an underlayer, but might end up as my primary shirt in the heat.

REI On The Trail Short Tights: My only "pants"...commando. Breathable, quick dry, drawstring, don't ride up so inside thighs don't chafe, and a mesh phone pocket. My legs never really get too cold. I never wear long pants in real life, but if I need to shield my legs in really bad weather I can wrap my tent footprint and\or a compactor bag around them. I cut a hole in the bottom of a compactor bag so I can slip it on as a skirt. I tested it in a cold driving rain and it worked well.

Duluth Trading Boxer Briefs: Maybe to sleep in

Sealskinz Waterproof Socks: Nice layer to have just in case it gets really cold or I'm having blister trouble. Cold, wet, and mud are all fine with sandals, but sand\grit or prolonged skin-penetrating wetness can cause blisters.

Copper Fit Compression Socks: Recently got these on impulse while walking through CVS. I've never had compression socks, but they will be nice to put on at camp after cleaning my feet and rubbing them with Badger Foot Balm. Like a spa treatment.

Darn Tough Micro Crew Socks: Additional socks...maybe to sleep in

Windstopper Gloves: Older pair of gloves from skiing. Hands are exposed using trekking poles. Will pull plastic bags over them for cold\wet protection. Might get some Showa waterproof gloves.

Merino Wool Buff and Buff Hat: Buffs are ubiquitous on the trail because they're so multipurpose

Chaco's ZCloud Sandals: I wear Chaco's sandals almost exclusively everyday. I don't want to start wearing shoes I'm not used to. I haven't encountered a time when my feet were too cold to wear sandals and I love how free my feet feel and how quickly my feet dry in sandals. It's not that unusual to hike in sandals these days.

2019 App Trail Thru Hike: My Big 3

Going over the "big 3" for my early April Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike departure

In the backpacking world, the big 3 are your backpack, shelter, and sleep system. These are the base of your "kit" and are usually the heaviest and most expensive items.

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My backpack is a ULA Circuit

It can be frustrating to keep everything both accessible and out of the way at the same time. It's a constant battle.

It's deceivingly hard to access anything in your pack once it's on your back. The side pockets end up sitting up much higher and farther behind you than you would expect. They are almost impossible to reach. The hip belt pockets sit much farther to your side than you expect. You'll only be able to reach them with one hand, which is hard when a zipper is involved. 

I attach my water bottle upside down using the bungee cord of my right side pocket. The lid rests in a little gap created by the hip belt strap. It's much easier to grab from there than the side pocket. You can use the bungies on the shoulder straps to hold water bottles or other things but I don't like things blocking my peripheral vision or view of the ground if I can help it.

I removed the small internal pouch clipped to the inside of the backpack. It had an opening on one side and I cut another one on the other side to match. I slip my hip belt straps through the pouch holes and use my pouch to comfortably rest my hands in front of me and shield them from the weather. I attached some quick dry towel strips and a little canister of pepper spray to the inside of the pouch.

I attach the grips of my hiking poles to one of the bungies on the shoulder straps and then use a flexible gear tie that's long enough for me to find and manipulate with one hand and without being able to see what I'm doing since it's behind me. The poles stay tight enough to my side that they are out of the way and they also sit comfortably in the crook of my arm when I have my hands resting in front of me in my hip belt hand pouch.

I keep a rain cover over my pack

 The rain cover folds up into a nice little pouch, but unwrapping it and getting it on in a hurry is a bit of a pain, so I just leave it on. It's easy to pull the top of the rain cover back and get into my pack. I attach things like my hat, rain poncho, sunglasses, reading glasses, waterproof socks, quick dry towel, emergency whistle, etc to various places on my pack, but let the things rest in the sides or the bottom of the rain cover where I can get to them. If anything mistakenly falls out of a pocket it ends up at the bottom of the rain cover.  

My sleep system

Enlightened Equipment 20 degree Revelation Quilt: I got a "special edition" version of this that they were offering over the holidays for both Helen and I. The "special edition" was less expensive than the custom one and didn't come with the DownTek water repellent treatment. There are mixed reviews on whether water repellent down treatments matter. I'm a little worried. I hope mine will be ok. Quilts come with straps to attach to your sleeping pad so you can clip your quilt to your pad when it's cold.

Sea To Summit Sleeping Bag Liner: Not sure about this one for me. I like the feel of the quilt by itself. People like liners for added warmth and to keep their sleeping bag clean. It's also much easier to launder than a sleeping bag. They're also nice in hot weather or warm hostels instead of a full sleeping bag.

Sea To Summit Pillow: Nice to have. I used a hair scrunci (I use a lot of scrunci's) to attach a contact lens container with some ear plugs to the air valve of the pillow.

Neo Air XLite Sleeping Pad: Most popular lightweight air pad on the trail. It's lighter than the REI sleeping pad I had but sits a little higher so that I notice my arms falling off more. It's a little crinkly, like a bag of potato chips, when you move around.

Non-slip drawer liner: I use some strips of this to keep my sleep system in place. It seems like the tent floor and all the gear is slippery and the slippage is magnified on unlevel ground.

I attach my puffy jacket to my pillow using a velcro strap and then cover it all with my merino wool buff. It beefs up the pillow to feel more like a normal pillow. I find that under-inflating my sleeping pad and pillow make them more comfortable. 

I use a shipping envelope with some air pockets as a camp seat and also put it under my sleeping pad to elevate my head

Lightweight plastic is waterproof and insulating

A lot of people use trash compactor bags on the trail. They are tougher than normal garbage bags.

Even though my tent footprint is waterproof, the ground still feels wet and cold sometimes so I put a compactor bag under my sleeping pad as another layer.

I have a lightweight plastic film drop cloth as another warmth layer and to help with condensation. As much as you try to keep your stuff dry, condensation is insidious. Glass is waterproof but water still forms on the inside due to condensation. Rain jackets are waterproof but sometimes make you sweat more than the moisture they block. Sometimes you find yourself in a ground hugging wet cloud of all encompassing moisture.    

I plan on putting my backpack under my legs in order to help the blood flow away from my beaten up feet and lower legs.

My sleep system and small ziplock of extra clothes are stored in a compactor bag and stuffed in my backpack.

My shelter is a Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2

My tent poles, rainfly, and packet of guy line extenders are stored in the mesh netting on the back of my pack. My tent footprint and stakes are stored together in a side pocket of my pack for quick access. 

I can use the footprint as a seat\ground cover or even wrap it around my legs as a skirt in bad weather. I can setup the footprint, poles, and rainfly fairly quickly without opening my pack - important in bad weather.

The tent is stuffed into my backpack - inside the sleep system contractor bag if the tent's not wet.

2019 App Trail Thru Hike: Prep and Injury

Trying to get my body ready for my early April Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike departure

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Nursing an achilles strain

It's important to get your body ready for a thru hike:

•  REI: How To Train For Thru Hiking, Hiking Training, Training Tips and Exercises
•  Early Riser: Pre-Hike Warm Up Routine

Injury is the main reason people end their thru hike. It makes sense. Asking the body to hike on uneven, rocky, root strewn terrain up and down mountains for 10-20 miles a day with very few off days and with 20-30 pounds of extra pack weight is asking for trouble.

On a thru hike everything is going to hurt. It's hard to know when you should keep walking through a pain and when you need to shut your body down to avoid real injury. Everyone says to go slow to start - maybe 8-10 miles a day for weeks in order to let your body acclimate.

It's hard to go slow. You're excited. You're there to walk not sit around. You have 2200 miles to cover and if you want to finish in 6 months or so then you need to average over 12 miles a day and there will many days where, for various reasons (weather, rest, injury, logistics, etc) you won't hike any (a zero) and other days where you will hike very little (a nero). 2-3 miles an hour is pretty standard pace, so that means you'll only be hiking for about 4 hours in order to go 8-10 miles. That leaves a lot of time to sit around and think about why you're not doing what you came to do.

About 4-6 weeks into a thru hike you start getting your trail legs and eventually become a hiking machine. This is also a dangerous time. You feel great and want to walk all day. You think your body is battle hardened and capable...until it buckles suddenly and without warning under the strain.

Or your luck finally runs out and you bust yourself up on one of the thousands of slippery roots and rocks along the way. Or you fall prey to one of the other common trail maladies: lyme disease, giardia, or norovirus.

2019 App Trail Thru Hike: Food and Water

Testing food options for my early April Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike departure

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I'll be using the CNOC Versa Flow to filter water

I have a little lightweight netting to keep chunky stuff from clogging my water filter, but filters can get frozen (keep them in your sleeping bag or next to your body if necessary) or get clogged (usually backflushing with smartwater bottle clears it) so I also carry some Micropur tablets and a little bleach (also good for cleaning clothes, gear, hands, etc).

Usually, I'll just collect water with one of my smartwater bottles, attach the filter, and drink directly from the filter. I wrapped a piece of anti-microbial cloth around the filter that I can use when I collect water to help keep debris out so it won't clog my filter. I'll have to be sure to purify the bottle if I ever drink directly from it without the filter.

I can see using one of my Versa Flow water pouches as a emergency night pee container...and then foot warmer. 

Food and water stuff all laid out

Blue automotive shop towels or anti-microbial towel: absorbent, durable, and soft...great for runny noses too...and they can be washed over and over.

Opsak odor masking ziplock bag: keeps critters from smelling your food and toiletries

Zpacks bear bag kit: lightweight bag for storing and hanging your food and toiletries so critters won't get them

SeaToSummit Delta Bowl and Spork: I'm going stove-less and plan on cold soaking my food in the delta bowl

Smartwater (or similar) disposable water bottles: preferred by thru hikers for their light weight, relative durability, and availability   

2019 App Trail Thru Hike: All About The Gear

"Gearing up" for my early April Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike departure

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Backpacking gear, especially for thru hiking, is a bit of a paradox: on the one hand you know you won't have access to conventional amenities for extended periods so you want to be prepared for all kinds of scenarios, but on the other hand the weight of the gear really starts to add up and makes carrying it difficult to impossible over long distances.

The lighter the load you can carry, while staying warm, dry, and rested...the better the chances you have of avoiding the biggest thru hike killers...mental fatigue and injury.

It's all about the weight these days when it comes to thru hiking gear. The days of heavy ankle protecting hiking boots and bulky external frame backpacks are over. Most people are now thru hiking in lightweight running shoes or even sandals like me. Some backpacks and tents weigh only a pound or so. Ounces matter.

In the classic 1983 trail journal, Then The Hail Came, George talks about carrying a 50 pound pack (much respect for anyone out there hiking long distances, but especially for people in the past that did it without all the new fangled lightweight gear).  Contrast that with Wired's base pack weight (not including food and water) of 13 or so pounds.

Having a light base weight makes carrying the necessary food and water easier. Each liter of water weighs 2 pounds. On the Appalachian Trail water is usually not too hard to come by so people only carry a liter or so at a time and filter as they go. On the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail water can be scarce in places and people have to carry 6-8 liters at times. On the Appalachian Trail food resupply is usually available at least every few days. Each day of food usually weighs 1-2 pounds.

My base pack weight is about 22 pounds right now and I usually carry about 4 pounds of food and 2 pounds of water for a total of 28 pounds. Not too good by today's standards. 

I've been over and over my gear. I swapped out my backpack for a lighter one, bought new lighter weight clothing (I was really trying to be the last person to own a puffy jacket...oh well...they really are lightweight), and minimized and re-minimized what I'm bringing. I've analyzed and re-packed a hundred times. I'm probably going to start with what I have, but I have at least identified some options that would allow me to shed another 7 or so pounds:

• Wire Mesh Bag (2 lbs): I bought a large wire mesh bag and some lightweight luggage locking cable and locks to secure my gear. Altogether it weighs almost 2 pounds. That's low hanging fruit, but I really want to bring it. Hiking gear is expensive and it does get stolen sometimes. The bag should also deter rodents and other animals that like to chew through backpacks and might even deter an only-mildly determined bear. Hikers rarely make any effort to secure their gear from theft and most would be unwilling to carry the extra weight. I've practiced securing my gear with the bag many times and can do it pretty quickly (if it's not easy I know I won't use it). I'm sure other hikers will make fun of it. 
• Tent (2.5 lbs): I have a relatively roomy Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 (3.5 lbs) that Helen and I use. It's a popular tent on the trail, but I could get a lightweight tarp or something like the ZPacks Plexamid (14.8 oz).
• Backpack (1.5 lbs): I originally bought an Osprey Atmos 65 AG backpack (4 lb 6 oz), but swapped that out for a ULA Circuit (3 lb 5oz). I could get a ZPacks Arc Blast (21 oz).
• Sleeping Pad (.5 lbs): I have an REI Flash (20 oz). I could get a NeoAir XLite (12 oz) or Thermarest ZLite (10 oz).

It can be misleading to go by what gear is popular on the trail since most people (4 out of 5) don't finish their intended thru hikes. The gear might be popular because it's comfortable or readily available at big box retailers, but not practical for completing a thru hike:

The Trek AT Gear Surveys: Surveys of what gear people used on the AT
HalfwayAnywhere: Surveys of what gear people used on the Pacific Crest Trail

2019 App Trail Thru Hike: Going To School

Getting a "shakedown" at Mountain Crossings as I prepare for my early April Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike departure

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While I've been interested in hiking and backpacking for a while, my exposure has been more the storytelling variety. I really don't "know" anything and haven't really "done" anything, so I've been busy trying to get up to speed in order to give myself a decent chance.

Where to start? Google, of course (this list is just an overview of all that's out there):

Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC): Organization managing the Appalachian Trail
National Park Service: The ATC works in partnership with the NPS and the Forest Service

The Trek: Non-intimidating user friendly information
REI: Big box retailer, but still has some trail cred
Clever Hiker: Non-intimidating user friendly information
Darwin: Fun hipster guy with some charismatic youtube videos
Homemade Wanderlust: Dixie dishes with a fun chick attitude
Evan's Backpacking Videos: Love this guy. I really relate to him age-wise and to his analytical style. It was so informative going back and watching his older youtube videos to see how his 2018 AT thru hike preparations evolved over a couple years. He lists books and resources in his youtube video notes. The comments from these sites are also informative.
Handstand: Neat girl Evan hiked with during his thru hike
Early Riser: Good ole boy, ex-military, vlogged his 2017 thru hike with good advice and heartfelt struggles to overcome ego and become more mindful
Walking With Wired: One of my favorite interviews from Sounds of the Trail podcast
White Blaze Stories From The Trail: One of many youtube documentaries on hiking the AT

The Trek AT Gear Surveys: Surveys of what gear people used on the AT
HalfwayAnywhere: Surveys of what gear people used on the Pacific Crest Trail

The Hiking Life: Good list of more advanced backpacking sites

White Blaze: Long time home of the AT trail community
Trail Journals: People writing about their journeys is a tradition and great place to learn
Then The Hail Came: Classic trail journal from 1983
Post Holer: Non-AT specific trail community

AT (AWOL) Guide: Guidebook of choice for hiking the AT
GutHook App: Mobile app of choice for hiking the AT

2019 App Trail Thru Hike: Genesis

Obsession\planning continues for my early April Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike departure

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How did I get here?

I used to be more of a runner than a walker, but age happens and that's ok. The progression feels natural and brings new perspectives. While I'm no spring chicken, I'm grateful my body still works well enough to even attempt the thru hike.

I'm 53 now and well aware that the wheels are going to start falling off the bus at an ever increasing pace. When they do then Helen and I will settle down in a quaint cottage with a garden and a dog. Until then....

When we took the boys on all our big family trips, we would see these big beautiful national parks and only get to experience a small fraction of what they had to offer. You had to be able to strap on a backpack and walk long distances to really experience them. We did some small hikes, but barely scratched the surface.

As time passed, I really started gravitating towards longer walks, the sights and sounds of the natural world, and minimalism. The framework of what our empty nest life might look like started to form. I wanted to be "gone"...out there experiencing the natural world...with minimal possessions to weigh me down. I became interested in slow travel and backpacking.

A few years ago I started listening to "The Sounds of the Trail" podcast. Two of my favorite episodes are "This Is Why We Do It (Giving Yourself Permission)" and "Before and After (No Going Back)". I started to throw around the idea of a thru hike when we retired and Helen didn't dismiss it out of hand. In 2017, I came across an article called "10 Stunning Viewpoints Along The Appalachian Trail" and got Helen and Adam to go along to check some of the places out. We had a great time.

I also decided to quit my job at the end of 2017. While I had been discussing the idea of quitting with Helen for some time and she said I could...it turned out...she didn't think I actually would. 2018 was a transition...for all of us. Derek had gone off to Georgia Tech, Adam went on a summer trip to Europe and was moving to a new school for his junior year in high school, I was embracing "intentionality" and "minimalism", and Helen was working.

In early 2018, I threw around the idea of hiking the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail during the summer and Helen and Adam said they were interested. However, when the time neared and the reality of what would be involved became clear...they backed out.

As 2018 drew to a close, the idea of the 2019 thru hike started to form. With Helen's blessing, I decided this would be a good time to go for it. We had fun gearing up and learning a bunch of things about hiking over the holidays. Helen and Adam even got in on the action and got some of their own gear to do some limited overnight backpacking with me.

And that's how it all started.

At Max Patch in 2017