JIMarx.comHiking the Appalachian Trail
The Right Stuff | October 1, 2008
Hi
from Duncannon, Pennsylvania.
The right stuff I am referring to is the equipment I have on the trail. Most everything I have is changed from when I started my hike in April in Georgia, even my underwear. To start with, the most important equipment are the shoes; as I know from the first half, if your feet are sore, nothing works well. I have upgraded from the hiking shoes I was using to hiking boots. At my half time break I purchased a pair of “Meindl Alaska Hikers” sold by Cabelas. They are designed for alpine hiking which I thought would be needed in Maine, New Hampshire, and the rocks of Pennsylvania. These have worked out very well for me on the rocks and on the wet trails. They are twice as expensive, but are lasting twice as long and still functioning well on the rocks of Pennsylvania. My feet still get sore from all the hiking by the end of the day, especially on rocks; but not painfully sore.
Everything I carry is in my backpack, a “Mountain Gear, Nimbus Meridian”. It is rated for 40 pounds which is all I should be carrying anyway. I upgraded to this pack in Virginia because it was smaller and lighter than what I started with. Inside the pack which is basically a sack, I have bags of my stuff. The bags are water tight “Sea to Summit” bags. The first bag is my clothing bag. I carry an extra pair of hiking pants and shirt, an extra pair of underwear, a dress shirt and shorts for when I am in town and to wear when I am washing the other stuff, and three extra pair of wool socks. Wool socks are essential. I have seen people starting their hike with cotton socks and they will get blisters. It is said on the trail that the only thing cotton should be your bandanna. When I was at an outfitter in Greenville, Maine, I explained that my underwear always stayed wet, did not dry overnight. They showed me a pair of “Exoficcio” that are made of synthetics and advertised that they traveled in 7 countries in Europe in 17 days and one pair of underwear. I bought two. I also have a pair of long underwear, and a long sleeve shirt I bought at Mt. Washington when I was not sure where I would be sleeping that night and was preparing for the cold. These are now my pajamas as the nights are getting a little cooler.
The next bag is my air mattress. It is a “Thermolite, Prolite” self inflating. This is also new as I downsized in Tennessee from the larger, thicker one I started with, to the smaller, regular size one, to save on space and weight. I didn’t need the height, and I was getting narrower by then. Then I have a bag with my sleeping bag, a “Marmot, Pounder”. It is called the Pounder because it only weighs a pound. It is rated for 40 degrees, but that is all I should need. It did get below that at the higher elevations in Maine and New Hampshire, but I just put on extra clothes to stay warm. This bag is new since Virginia where I replaced my larger, heavier one.
My food bag is next. All food items are carried here, so it is convenient to hang from the bears at night. This is still necessary. New Jersey has more bears per square mile than any other place along the trail. I have still seen evidence of bears along the trail in Pennsylvania. Inside the food bag is my food of course, and the cooking equipment. I have a “Snow Peak” stove that is nothing more than a small burner that sits on top a small propane canister. I’m pleased with it as it can heat two cups of water to boiling in four minutes. To cook in I have a “Snow Peak,Titanium” cup and small four cup pot. These are two of the only original things I have that I started my hike with.
On top of all this in my backpack I have two smaller bags. One bag is for my personal items like toiletries and prescriptions and a few first aid items. The second small bag is for my electronics. Here I carry my headlamp, chargers for my camera and phone, extra batteries, and my SPOT GPS. The last item inside my pack is a “Camelback” water bladder that holds up to 3 liters of water. It was a hose with drinking nozzle that clips on the shoulder strap.
There is a top pouch on the backpack where I carry my guide book and a zip lock bag with my wallet, phone and harmonica; and a rain cover. The rain cover is almost worn out.
On the sides of the pack are two spandex pockets. I carry a “Nalgene” one liter bottle for water in each. One also has my “Katahdyn” water filter. The water filter is the one I started with, but I have replaced the filter every 500 miles. The other has a can of insect repellent and a package of wet tissues.
Tied to the back of my pack is my tent and tarp. My tarp started out as a 6 foot by 8 foot. Early on it was reduced to a 4 foot by 6 foot by cutting it in half. I use this for a tent base, or in heavy rains as a cover. My tent is an “MSR, Hubba” one person tent. They also have a two person version they call the Hubba Hubba. This is my second tent, but identical to the first. I damaged the poles on the first one, and didn’t know how long it would last, so mailed it home and replaced it in North Carolina.
Finally I carry a pair of Leki hiking poles. These also have been changed out; but only because I damaged the other pair in a fall in Maine and could not get it repaired so bought a new pair and sent the others home where I will have it repaired when I get there.
I only have 125 more miles to go. This ending is becoming much like when I ran marathons. By the last couple miles, I was just waiting to get it over with so I could stop running, after running for so long. I feel the same way here now, I just want to stop hiking after going for over 2,000 miles already. Also by the end of each marathon, I promised myself I will never do another one of them again, same here on the trail. Pennsylvania has lived up to its reputation of being rocky, and you know how I feel about rocks. But I think the reputation is exaggerated. The rocks here are no more difficult than other parts of the trail, they are just more frequent. There are still some nice parts of the trail to hike.
An interesting feature has been the ridge line I hiked for weeks on. It is called the Kittatinny Ridge and started already in New Jersey. It is a sharp ridgeline that drops off on both sides. In one section in Pennsylvania, it called the “knife edge”. It was not as scary as it may sound, except it was wet when I crossed along it. One challenge when hiking a ridgeline is water supply. The trail does not cross streams or springs, so I have to carry more water. Along the ridge has been a rock called pudding stone. While I hate rocks to hike on, I can still admire pretty ones. Near the New York and New Jersey border, the pudding stone was a purple color with white quartz imbedded.
For the last two days I have not met any other hikers. When I arrived in Duncannon, I did meet some staying at the Doyle Hotel, and old Anhauser Busch hotel that caters to hikers with rooms for $20 a night. They are “Honey” and “Duster”. From the journals in the shelters I knew I was catching up to them. I was hoping to meet them at a shelter. I was going to arrive saying, “Honey, I’m home”. Glad I didn’t. To my surprise, “Honey” is a guy,” Duster” is the girl. They are hiking with “Bootstrap” from South Africa, now living in New Zeeland. Did I mention it rained on me for the last four days. At this point I really don’t care anymore, whatever. It can only rain on me for nine more days. But I’m told the forecast is for several days of nice weather. All this rain has taken its toll on my camera. It started working intermittently in Maine, and as of two days ago, not at all. So unless I can catch a ride into a large enough town to get a new camera, I will not being taking anymore pictures. MyCow is feeling useless.
I had been saying that the hiking is only half the challenge on the Appalachian Trail, the other half was that you are living in the woods out of a bag. There is a third challenge, and that is the logistics. Every three to five days you need to re-supply with food, do laundry, get a shower, etc. Sometimes this is convenient if the trail goes through a “trail town”. Duncannon is a trail town, the trail goes right down the streets. But there are only a few of these like Damascus, Virginia; Hot Springs, North Carolina; Dalton, Mass.; to name a few. Sometimes the trail goes near enough to the towns so you can walk to them. But other times you rely on getting a ride by calling a trail angel, or hitch hiking.
Need to get back to the trail and wrap this hike up.
Happy Trails,
“Izzy” Jim
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