All in long distance hiking
Just a few shots of the last day of our eight day traverse through the White Mountains.
What a blessing the Ethan Pond trail is to knees that have refused to bend for the past three days.
Good times!
A big part of preparing for a thru-hike and setting oneself up for success lies in getting your head right.
Once you’re prepared mentally and you’ve wrapped your head around the fact that it’s going to be tough--maybe even the hardest thing you've ever done--then you can make some choices about what you’ll do, or what you’ll carry, to vanquish misery.
Some of it fits in your pack. But some of it doesn't weigh an ounce.
Setting yourself up for a successful thru-hike means anticipating some of the unfortunate events that could happen and preparing yourself accordingly, like GI disasters or infected blisters.
Having at least a rudimentary first aid kit in your pack is a good idea.
I'm not one for pharmaceuticals, though I do love a good hit of Advil once in a while, so in this post I give you some essential oil alternatives to popping pills on the trail.
Five months before my start date and I’m contemplating resupply.
Resupply is a big topic. Today I just wanted to share a tiny chunk.
I offer five + five (ten!) resupply points along the AT that are, literally, along the AT. No hitchhiking required. You hardly have to break stride because you’ll be walking right past many of them anyway.
If I can't wear a towel while I'm doing laundry on the trail, what will I wear?
Such is the the dilemma of the thru-hiker, who only has one set of clothes (that desperately need washing).
For this, some genius invented the bounce box.
What is it and what do I put in it? Today, I answer the question.
Each week I'll be sharing five things about thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail that I've discovered, learned, heard about, realized or gleaned as I'm immersed in planning my own thru-hike.
This week, I share five things to do five months before you get on the trail. Number five may surprise you!
Enough, already. No more Chili Mac!
Customize your own freeze dried meals and eat exactly the food that nourishes you and titillates your taste buds after a long day on the trail.
It's simple. It's easy. And there's no actual cooking involved?
I’ve cracked the freeze-dried meal code and today I give you the formula I use for putting together meals that you’ll actually be excited to eat.
Fire up your pocket-rocket...dinner's on.
I almost skipped recording this day because, honestly, the trail isn’t that interesting for the first 3.5 miles. Just climbing and climbing and climbing some more. Nothing as gnarly as the Kinsmans. Just unrelenting up hill.
But there was a special treat at the end and an idea for my next challenge, so I decided to add this to the mix of Friday Faves.
One of the ways I get prepared for something epic like hiking the Appalachian Trail or starting a business is to gorge myself on every shred of information I can find.
I read all the books.
I take classes.
I give the internet a reason to exist.
Here are a few things I've found particularly genius this week
A few weeks ago, I went to Damascus, VA to take a course that was supposed to help me get ready for my thru-hike. The term “purist” came up a few times.
The course instructor felt like people had come to use that term in a derogatory way.
Maybe. But should we really GAF what other people think about how we hike? I think not.
This was our first overnighter in the White Mountains this season. Steve Smith, the guru of all things White Mountain hiking, called this one “the most grueling section of the AT in the White Mountains.”
Oh, goody!
This should be fun.
Don't tell my tent, but I'm having a clandestine affair with a hammock.
It was a tough decision to make. I thought it through, trying not to let my emotions get the best of me. I crunched the data--weights and costs. Pros and cons. Whoopies and webbing.
It's all here. Plus, the one thing it ultimately boils down to when deciding between a tent and a hammock.
