Last night I went over to my best friend, Lauren’s house and her fiancé, Jacob, helped me with this blog of mine. He was able to clean it up, make it easy to read, and get rid of all the random weird stuff that came with the “theme” of the page but wasn’t needed. He also set up the comments and the subscribe option so you can enter your email and be notified when I post. I find it kinda funny that anyone would be interested in reading about my journey, but here we are 🤣 Oh, and another biggie-he secured the site-whatever the hell that means. I really would have thought Xanga and MySpace prepared me better for this. Clearly not..
When I got home, my friend David let me FaceTime him and do a pack shake down. David hiked a big chunk of the AT a couple years ago, and he’s helped guide me tremendously.. with gear choices and motivation. With his help last night I was able shave off 2 pounds! That sounds like nothing, but when you’re carrying it on your back, trust me it’s huge. Haha. I plan to post my official gear list sometime within the next week, as I’m still dialing it all in. Stay tuned 🙂
As far as training goes, I’ve been a pretty busy bee since I’ve gotten home from my last covid crisis contract. I’ve hiked 5,6,8, & 10 mile days all while carrying my pack or Jacob’s weighted vest. The vest was 27lbs, with my camelback on top of it while Lauren and I walked 10 miles on the silver comet trail. The other days were just my pack, weighing in at 24 pounds prior to David’s shakedown. Today I knocked out another 6 miles carrying my pack at 22 pounds, but I added some weight from the vest to it, plus 2 liters of water, so it was around 30lbs total. Honestly, it felt good. I’m so ready to start my thru hike! The people at Kennesaw mountain were looking at me crazy with my big ‘ole pack while they’re just carrying a desani bottle or nothing at all.. lol
Anyway, thanks for following along. The more of you that subscribe will probably cause a feeling of necessity to keep my journals up to date while hiking.. and motivate me to succeed completing the trail. I have a weird sense of unnecessary obligation, and creating this one almost feels like a safety net to push me forward.. to not allow myself to quit out of mental weakness. So, do me a favor.. subscribe already 😉
Alrighty. Here goes.. this is everything I plan on taking on the Appalachian Trail with me. It’s currently totaled at a base weight of 20.9lbs (total weight without food or water).
First up: my backpack that’s going to be the holder of all the things. I learned a tough lesson when hiking the JMT: weight matters, including the actual weight of your pack when it’s empty. My JMT pack was 6 pounds by itself 🤣 Rookie mistake. This one only weighs just under 3 pounds. Wahoo!
I’ll be carrying my old trekking poles that I got off of Amazon in 2016. They’ve treated me well all these years, and unless one breaks, I don’t see the need in replacing them. They weigh a pound together, with duct tape wrapped on them, but that weight isn’t included in the total pack weight since they’ll be in my hands. I’m also bringing an umbrella-which happens to be my luxury item, haha! When my friend Andrea and I hiked the Camino de Santiago (550 miles across Spain), my most glorious possession was an umbrella during the relentless pouring rain. You vastly underestimate how wonderful it is to not have water constantly dripping in your face for hours and hours on end.
My tent is single heaviest thing I’m carrying (4 lbs). It’s a MSR hubba hubba 2 person tent. I know it’s not cool to have a stand alone tent, but to be honest, I hate having my tent rely on me to stake it perfectly to stand up.. lol
My sleep system adds up to a total of 2.9 pounds.. that includes my REI Magma Quilt, a sleeping bag liner, a pillow (princess remember), the stuff sack that holds all of that, and my sleeping pad that comes with a little air bag to help inflate it quicker. I also have a 3 ounce emergency bivy to keep warm on super cold nights. All of these things will stuff down in a trash compactor bag with my clothes bag to make sure that my clothes and my sleep stuff always stay dry.
The food “gear” I’m bringing includes everything that isn’t actually food or water. It all adds up to 15 ounces. This includes the 35L dry bag, cord, caribiner, and rock ditty bag to hang it, a jet boil to cook my food with, along with a fuel canister, a lighter, collapsible bowl, spork, and titanium mug, as well as a water filter. My knife is larger than you’d technically need, but it’s also for protection and will be on my person when I’m hiking, and I’ll have a little thing of pepper spray, too.
My electronic ditty bag has my Anker battery pack for charging all the things, Garmin InReach, headlamp with an extra set of batteries, my charging cords for my iPhone, garmin watch, battery pack, and InReach, headphones and AirPods. All of this (not including my phone or watch, bc those will be on my person) weighs in at 1.8lbs.
The toiletries and Med kit coming with me weigh in at 21 ounces together. The toiletries include a hairbrush, hair ties, a few Bobby pins, a folding toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss (my hygienist will be so proud), tweezers, a little hair groomer/trimmer (look, I can’t handle the idea of my unibrow making a comeback), qtips bc I have sensitive ears lol, chapstick, face sunscreen, earplugs, spray deodorant (it literally weighs an ounce AND keeps my underarms from chaffing-I could care less about smelling.. but I cannot handle raw underarms. Deodorant weighs less than body glide-so that’s how that decision was made), and a couple tampons. I have a roll of toilet paper and a thing of hand sanitizer, along with a few disposable masks and a baggie of baby wipes that will all fit in the “brain” of my pack and are easy to get to in a hurry (the brain will also have my little wallet with my ID, cash, & credit card, plus a little notebook and pen to write in if my phone is dead). The meds I’m bringing are a 3 month supply of my birth control, ibuprofen, Tylenol, Benadryl, Imodium, and in case I get sick I have a packet of Azithromycin (ZPack) and a medrol dose pack (steroids). The medical “kit” has bandaids, moleskin, tape, super glue, water purifying tablets, triple antibiotic ointment packets, alcohol swabs, and a couple sterile needles in case something looks like it needs to be popped (aka a blister or whatever 🤣)
And last but not least: the clothes!I’ll have a rain jacket and rain pants, a tank top and shorts to hike in, plus a long sleeve hooded top to hike in during colder weather. 2 sportsbras, 3 undies, 3 pair of socks (one pair will be specifically to sleep in). I’ll have a tshirt and a pair of leggings to sleep in, a pair of warm gloves and a pair of sun gloves, a warm headband that covers the ears, a regular headband and a full size buff (covers the neck to protect from the sun), sunglasses, a little camp towel, a pair of hiking sandals that I can wear with socks (I’m super cool, I know) and are also safe for water crossings, and finally, a pair of trail runners.
And I think that’s everything! Well, besides a 2L water bag and a connector for it so I can filter a larger amount of water at a time once I’ve made camp for the night.. I’m still waiting on Amazon to deliver it 🙂
Not pictured: masks (3 disposable), pepper spray, connector and 2L water bag that hasn’t come in from Amazon, and my waterproof iPhone case, credit card, debit card, ID, cash in a tiny wallet
Start: Harper’s Ferry-ATC (AT mi 1025). Stop: Rocky Run Shelter (AT mi 1041.6)
Today was.. everything id hoped it would be. And then just a little bit more. As I sit here writing this out, my water is gravity filtering into my smart water bottle, my feet are tired, my tent is up, and my God I am simply elated!
Day one was a success by any measure of the word! I woke up around 6:35am and took my sweet time getting ready, making sure everything I needed was there. Around 8, a friend of mine, Kevin, came and picked me up. I met Kevin a few years ago at a Ragnar Relay Race in Colorado. I joined a random team that was asking for runners in a Facebook group, and I’ve been friends with most of the folks on that team ever since, Kevin being one of them (who says social media doesn’t have its perks?). Kevin and his incredible ultra Marathon crushing wife, Jennie live in West Virginia, very close to my starting point.. and luckily for me, Kevin knows the area AND the AT pretty dang well. We ate an awesome breakfast, ran me by CVS to grab some smart waters (the bottles fit my water filter very well), and then the post office to mail home Lauren’s blanket I finished last night.
Lauren’s Crochet Llama Blankie
Then it was off to the Appalachian Trail Conservatory in downtown Harper’s Ferry to start the trail! Kevin got some pictures of me at an awesome overlook. We went down through town and across the bridge that crosses the Potomac River. Seeing the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers collide together is a seriously stunning view.
Potomac River (left) meeting the Shenandoah River (right)
We meandered 3 miles on a flat path that definitely made me feel more confident than it should have.. because afterwards came my first climb of the day, which was roughly the same as going up Big Kennesaw Mountain 3 times 🤣🥴. That’s when the “oh hell” thoughts started rushing in.. and even in between the ragged breaths and short pauses, I knew this is exactly where I want to be. I have to get rid of all weight I gained carb loading for the last year somehow! Haha
At somewhere before the 7 mile mark and right about noon, we ate lunch (left over pizza from last night for me). After a good 10-15 minutes, while I was still resting my feet, Kevin and I said our goodbyes and he headed back the way we came. I sat there a little longer and then headed north on the trail.
By 2pm I came across the area I was supposed to set up camp. My feet were tired, but I knew if I stopped there for the night I’d end up being bored out of my ever loving mind.. so, I called and chatted up mom while propping my feet up.. then got right back at it. The last 5 miles were definitely slower than earlier in the day. I knew I was getting tired, but a new plan had already been made and I was committed.
Day 1: 194 lbs 🥴😳 (Gathland State Park)
As I started to round up the final descent into the area I was hoping and praying to see the shelter I was aiming for, I kept stubbing my shoes on the jagged rocks. I laughed at myself, knowing good and well that if I keep that up, soon the laughing will be cussing.. and it’s too early in the game for cussing.. LOL While I’m entertaining myself with my all over the place thoughts, I remembered Kevin telling me about Jennie trail RUNNING this area! My silly self can barely walk it and stay upright, and she’s out here running it! Damn impressive. Hopefully I’ll get to meet her when I return to WV to go southbound.
Kevin & I in HF
I made it to camp. I set up shop close to the stream, hoping the weather forecast is accurate, although it would have to seriously flood to have water reach my tent.. I just couldn’t talk myself in to pitching my tent UPhill when the water was downhill and surrounded by flat perfectly sites. I am a little disappointed that no one else is down this way-yet anyway- because most of the other hikers i saw are staying at/in the shelter, but oh well, at least I know I’ll have one night without hearing some stranger snoring.
The plan for now is to cook & eat dinner (maybe a Mac & Cheese Backpackers pantry meal), hang my food bag on the bear pole, do some stretching, and probably be fast asleep before the sun fully sets! I wonder what tomorrow will bring? Hopefully more than just the rain..
