2015 AT Thru-hike

[MStudt]

I may have ot use this soon!

I have this on my bucket list - was going to do it about 2 years ago but had some issues come up - I'm hoping that one day my wife will sign up for me or both of us to go!

It's been on ours for some time now. Figured we might as well get to it this year. If all goes well on this trip we'll hopefully be on the PCT a couple years after. Plus I think a break for all the drama in the real world is needed.

 

[MStudt]

A couple more sponsors to add today.

40 Below

• Insulated Bottle Cover
• Overboots- new model not yet available that we'll be trail testing for them

Enlightened Equipment

• Sleeping Booties

TurboPUP

• Bacon
• Peanut Butter

Kahtoola

• MICROspikes

 

[1engineer]

I have had several friends, including my neighbor, who have made the complete hike. I don't know what your age(s) are but my neighbor Pete did it when he was 63 year old. He is now 70. He did it in about 150 days but did not start until February to keep the temps up for camping. His wife coordinated food drops and equipment upgrades throughout. Pete had no special gear other than standard stuff. He did train for it by running 5 miles a day for a year beforehand. Good luck! I live pretty close to the trail and cross it every now and then on my bike down in VA when riding down there.

 

[MStudt]

I have had several friends, including my neighbor, who have made the complete hike. I don't know what your age(s) are but my neighbor Pete did it when he was 63 year old. He is now 70. He did it in about 150 days but did not start until February to keep the temps up for camping. His wife coordinated food drops and equipment upgrades throughout. Pete had no special gear other than standard stuff. He did train for it by running 5 miles a day for a year beforehand. Good luck! I live pretty close to the trail and cross it every now and then on my bike down in VA when riding down there.

The age is nothing to worry about, at least not for us. We're both in pretty good shape, and have been running for years. No matter how much you run, you'll still not going to be use to the constant pounding on your feet from the extra weight. We do have a lot of nice gear that's fairly lite. Once we get through the first 2 months we'll be set! March will start bringing warmer weather and we'll be able to swap out a lot of our winter gear at that point. I know zero degree bags and warmer clothing is going to a few extra pounds.

 

[4RnR Grl]

[MENTION=98153]MStudt[/MENTION]

I'll be following your updates. I plan to do a partial section next fall. The sponsor list is great as I will be bringing a dog as well. Also as a sidenote... I LOVE Ruffwear! Great stuff.

 

[MStudt]

[MENTION=98153]MStudt[/MENTION]

I'll be following your updates. I plan to do a partial section next fall. The sponsor list is great as I will be bringing a dog as well. Also as a sidenote... I LOVE Ruffwear! Great stuff.

Ruffwear has treated us very well! I have nothing but good things to say about them, and their products.

 

[MStudt]

Here's an update on gear from one of our sponsors. This is our update sponsored list of gear from them. For a very small company they sure are helping us out.

40 Below:

• Camp Booties
• Bottle Boots
• Overboots

 

[MtnT4R]

^ Man those boots look awesome. Lamilite is amazing stuff, I've got my eye on a Wiggy's arctic bag insulated with Lamilite that will make -40 temps seem like a pleasantly brisk camping trip.

 

[MStudt]

^ Man those boots look awesome. Lamilite is amazing stuff, I've got my eye on a Wiggy's arctic bag insulated with Lamilite that will make -40 temps seem like a pleasantly brisk camping trip.

But so heavy! I haven't need anything more than my zero degree and liner yet. Hopefully that'll be enough for this trip as well.

 

[MStudt]

One more sponsor to add.

Goosefeet Gear:

• Down pants

 

[MtnT4R]

But so heavy! I haven't need anything more than my zero degree and liner yet. Hopefully that'll be enough for this trip as well.

Oh yeah you should be plenty comfortable with your setup. Those bags would be more for overnight winter trips above 10k feet. I think they're about 6-7lbs with liner, if you bring it you better really need it haha

 

[MStudt]

Oh yeah you should be plenty comfortable with your setup. Those bags would be more for overnight winter trips above 10k feet. I think they're about 6-7lbs with liner, if you bring it you better really need it haha

We're slowly getting there. All this new down gear is really dropping our base weight pretty quick. Hiking in the snow shouldn't be an issue either with the overboots we'll be getting. That's one less thing to worry about. There's nothing worse than hiking in the snow all day, and having to put on frozen boots the next morning. We still need to pick up a couple poncho/pack covers, and and some good waterproof glove shells for the winter rain. I'm looking into the OR Versaliner gloves for those days.

 

[Andy in Pa]

Awesome trip!! My wife and I have been discussing doing this as well recently. Not the whole thing, but pick out sections in Pa to complete. I am curious about a few things though, so may hit you BC with some questions.

As my screen name suggests, I am in Pa, on the SE side. I am not far from quite a bit of the AT. I would be willing to help out if you guys need anything. Hit me BC if you don't have a "Plan B" yet for that section of the AT, and I'll give you my contact info.

Also FYI... Cabelas isn't too far from the AT in Pa if you have any gear failure in that area. Not close enough to just wander in along the way, but could be part of a "Plan B" scenario should you need it.

 

[MStudt]

Awesome trip!! My wife and I have been discussing doing this as well recently. Not the whole thing, but pick out sections in Pa to complete. I am curious about a few things though, so may hit you BC with some questions.

As my screen name suggests, I am in Pa, on the SE side. I am not far from quite a bit of the AT. I would be willing to help out if you guys need anything. Hit me BC if you don't have a "Plan B" yet for that section of the AT, and I'll give you my contact info.

Also FYI... Cabelas isn't too far from the AT in Pa if you have any gear failure in that area. Not close enough to just wander in along the way, but could be part of a "Plan B" scenario should you need it.

We may hit you up for a ride if need be. I'm hoping our gear lasts up the trip, but I know that's wishful thinking. Most of the items that can break we'll have replacements of that can be mailed to us. Feel free to send me a PM with any questions you might have.

Mike

 

[MStudt]

I think we're just about finished with the sponsor stuff. I still have a couple requests out there that I need to keep following up on. Here's the latest one the I picked up last night.

I've ordered boxes to do some mail drops along the way, and need to find some kind of bomb proof box for a bounce box. This box is going to contain our valuables, and things that we don't want to carry. Things like charges, hair clippers, maybe a tablet, and some town stuff.

I'm pretty pissed about my tent situation at this time. I had sent the owner from Big Sky International close $700 for an awesome 2 person tent. I haven't been able to get a hold of him for months now. He wasn't returning my emails or phone calls. Today I logged onto my Paypal account to find out he refunded my money with no explanation as to why. Now it looks like I'm going to purchase a North Face MICA FL 2. I'm not a big North Face fan at all, and I really don't like their products. However, I'm finding it very difficult to pass up the 2 person tent with 2 doors that weighs 3lbs!

 

[MStudt]

We're down to our last 45 days in St. Louis, and only 47 till we hit the trail. I've been tracking the weather for the AT for a couple weeks now. Seems like over the last couple days its been getting hit with snow in more of the Northern parts, and contact rain in the Southern parts. Temps aren't looking bad at this point, but I think that's all going to change pretty soon.

Weather

I received our new North Face MICA 2 tent yesterday. We've been using a 3 person tent for long I don't know how I'm going to get used to using a 2 person tent. This thing is tiny, but weighs in at 46oz! We've only got a couple things left to pick up. One of which is a new watch for myself, and I'm leaning towards a Suunto watch.

 

[vandert]

Im at the trail the last 4 days been freaking awesome, will post you some pics for motivation when I get back tomorrow! Clingmans dome etc! Had a blast and it's very nice here perfect for hiking you doing a south to north I'm hoping starting that early right?

 

[MStudt]

Im at the trail the last 4 days been freaking awesome, will post you some pics for motivation when I get back tomorrow! Clingmans dome etc! Had a blast and it's very nice here perfect for hiking you doing a south to north I'm hoping starting that early right?

I'm heading north, and hitting the trail at Springer Mountain on 12/30. We're going to skip the Smoky Mountain section since we'll have our dog with us. Plus we've already hiked that section of the trail within the last year or so.

 

[MStudt]

In 39 days we'll be starting our hike. We're starting to get things dialed in a bit. Need to buy a couple more small items, our food, and some dog food. We're going to be depending on mail drops for the first 800 or so miles. With starting in winter we have the challenges of finding rides to towns, lodging, and much more when most places are still closed. Plus, packing dehydrated foods in the early months will cut our food weight down since we'll be carrying more gear for the winter.

Speaking of gear, we're all set there. My base weight is 14.1lbs right now, and my wife's is 18.4lbs. We still need to figure out the base weight with clothing, and that should add another 3-4lbs. My wife's base weight is a bit more than mine since she's carrying the sleeping gear. Mine is a bit lighter right now, but that'll change once we figure in our food, dog food, and dog gear. I'm thinking she should have a starting weight around 25-30lbs, and mine should be around the 30-35lbs range. That's not bad considering we're starting on 12/30.

Makes me really think about what our weight is going to be like when April-May rolls around. We'll be able to ditch the 4lbs sleeping bags for ones that are a little under 2lbs.

 

[BettysNephew]

A pal of mine did the AT last year and used Trail Journals, Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail & More - Backpacking Hiker Journals to keep us updated. He posted some pix and did a daily update of how it was going. If you choose to use this please post a link. It was interesting for us old broke down guys to live vicariously through his adventure.