The current plan is to have February 27th be my last day at work. I'll then spend a few days getting my gear together and then attend attend DrupalCon in Washington D.C. On the 9th or 10th I'll make my way down to Pilot Mountain N.C. to meet up with my father and together do a little shakedown and last minute prep of our gear.
Then on March 15th, 2009, I'll be on Springer Mountain, GA to start at the southern end of the Appalachian Trail. The goal is to walk approximately 2175 miles to Katahdin mountain in Maine. Roughly 85% of the people who start with this intention don't make it to the other end in the same hiking season.
I've got hiking on the brain. I have an excel spreadsheet that keeps me up at night with the packing list, complete with the weight in hundredths of an ounce of every item I plan on carrying 2175 miles. Currently, with 5 days of food and 2 quarts of water my pack will weigh in at 23.56lbs. Yes, that is absurdly low and I expect it to change as I continue to prepare.
I have another sheet in that same document that lists dozens of likely trail foods, their caloric values, and amount of carbs, protein, and fat included. The goal is to cram between 4000-5000 calories per day into 2 pounds of food that is remotely tasty.
I now own a titanium spork. .5 ounces.
I am ridiculously obsessed. And also detached. I know me, and I know that once I hit that trailhead all bets are off, I'll probably live on raisins and chocolate, but that does not mean that the planning is for naught. This is a big undertaking and if I can put some structure to it before starting the deviation will at least be from a good starting point.
I think the most entertaining aspect of all this has been me testing camp food in my kitchen. It is a miracle I haven't burned the place down yet. My little alcohol burner (1 oz), cooking rice and chorizo. The dehydrator has been running 24/7 stockpiling veggies. And Zip Loc has a neat new line of vacuum bags that beat the pants off of a vacuum sealer.
So, this is all by the way of saying, if you haven't heard from me, if I've been off the radar, if you come across me with a blank distant look on my face, it's likely that I am running weight-shaving scenarios through my head to get rid of half an ounce somewhere.
1 mile = 5280 feet. = 63,360 inches
1 stride = 28 inches
63,360/28 = 2,262.63 strides in a mile
2,262.63*2,175miles = 4,921,220.25 strides in the AT.
4,921,220.25 stries x 1oz. = 4921.220.25 ounces
1 lb = 16 oz.
4,921,220.25/16 = 307,576.07 lbs.
307,576.07/2000 = 153.79 tons carried for every extra ounce taken on the AT.
153 tons. 1 oz. matters.
Good luck Tresler, I just have something to say, er, repeat
By SUV2008 (not verified)Hey stranger. I share your desire to do the whole thing someday. Last year I purposly started in the middle so to eliminate the tease of hiking all 2100 + miles. You see I had only weekend experiences in the woods, where literally anything goes. I planned for a long haul, and ended up going somewhat less; a lot less. But I still proudly claim today to have hiked 365 miles in 6 weeks, with a ton of crap on my back. I call my experience a good one because I loved every step. I stopped at every overlook, and grazed on all good berries. And when someone accused me of being a section hiker I started to realize something. They were right.
My luck began after the first night, we'll call it day two. I met HikerDave and he gave me much assurance. That he thought everyone starts out with too much weight, too many comforts. but after a month or so you begin to overcome the fear of having very little.
This summer I plan to hike Virginia. I will carry 1/3 of what I thought I needed last summer. And I want to thank all of the Thru-Hikers i met last year. When you start in the middle and hike north when I did, you get passed daily by the 25% of the thru-hikers that make it. I asked them a lot of questions and generally everyone gave me advice that was either new and interesting or redundant, (the best kind). My favorites were: Get a hammock, carry a water bag for basecamp (1.5 gallons for cooking and cleaning and resupply the following morning; some springs are a significant hike down mountain off of the trail that you will only want to do once), and Spam with instant baby red potatoes.
I Love this stuff. And can go on and on. scottvoelker7@yahoo.com if i can say or repeat anything, feel free to email me. And i think congradulations are in order already. You are closer to the dream than lots of mental-hikers ever do get. Peace, and I hope you pass me in Virginia.
Scott
Wow, Thanks a lot
By TreslerThanks Scott,
Those are some real encouraging words. I've also taken a step back and re-adjusted my mental attitude approaching the trail. I will nto be 'Hiking the Appalachian Trail' I will be starting a hike that begins at Springer Mtn. and goes for 4-6 months or something else intervenes. If that hike so happens to end at Mt. Katahdin, great, if it ends in North Carolina, I will still have had a good time.
Anyway, I may shoot you an email at some point. Good luck with your hike in VA.
I'm more than happy to come
By nikkiana (not verified)I'm more than happy to come out and cheer you on (and feed you) when you hit one of the New Hampshire stops. :)
When are you going?
By Frank (not verified)That's freaking awesome Sam, I know you've been talking about doing this for a long time. My grandfather apparently had thought about it too. When I was 20, he told me that he had always wanted to hike the AT after he ritired, but that he waited too long. It freaked me out so bad I spent a summer traveling through Europe (not much of a hiker myself). So what if any technology will you be carrying? GPS, one of those cool satellite text messenger devices hocked by Survivor Man? Or will you be doing it old school and get yourself a map and a titanium compass?
Yo
By TreslerI'm going March 15th, 2009. And I am considering various sponsorships for blogging the trail, which may be GPS related. Whatever I carry, needs to be light, thats all I know.
I think I am a little too much of a media freak to be off the map where news is concerned, however, I also don't want people calling me, so I need to think on the communications issue.
And yes, age is part of the timing, but not for me. I'm trying to get my father to go, and he was born in 1949. This could conceivably happen in a couple of years, but I'm not sure how plausible it would be in 10 or 20 years.
Wow
By Julie (not verified)You're kind of impressive...wild and eccentric, but impressive...I hope it's everything you've hoped for.
Awesome...
By Jacob Redding (not verified)That is entirely awesome, congratulations. I guess we won't be seeing twits and flickr pics from the trail, eh? or maybe we will.. is this why you're counting weight of food, to make room for your laptop and satellite internet card? ;)
See you in D.C to wish you well.
Post new comment