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
I’m so giddy today I can barely stand it. Like, I literally keep busting out into fits of laughter. At Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. At the very least, it’s helping other travelers to keep their distance from me! Ha
Yesterday was spent with Lauren, at my house, cleaning and packing and working on a blanket.. I crochet (I find it comforting somehow) and I’ve been working on a detailed llama Afghan for Lauren’s birthday (which was back in March 😬 LOL).. I’m so close to being done that my crazy self packed it up this morning, too, to bring with me to Harper’s Ferry.
I’m not set to start until tomorrow, and I’ve already mailed my gas, pepper spray, and lighter to the motel, so besides stopping at a gas station to get some smart water bottles, I really have no “actual” errands to run once I get to Harper’s Ferry, and maybe having this task to complete will make sure I actually wait to start the trail tomorrow instead of hopping right out there today. I get antsy. I like to be moving or doing or something. Sitting and waiting really isn’t my thing. So, now, the plan is to check into my motel, eat some dinner, rest up, stretch and finish Lauren’s blanket. Then, in the morning I’ll walk to the post office in town and send it out before going for breakfast and hitting the trail.
Last night, I went to my last dinner with my mom, Uncle Keith and Aunt Kathy. Then mom and I watched a movie while I crocheted. Then I unpacked and repacked while showing her all the things I’m taking. With food (but not water) I’m sitting at 32 pounds for my pack. While it sounds heavy, it’s actually not as bad as it could be, and now I’m super grateful for the recent practice hikes.
This morning, mom, Uncle Keith, and Aunt Kathy took me to breakfast. We ate at 1911 Biscuits & Burgers in Smyrna. Pretty great little place, next to Chick-fil-A. If you’re nearby, you should definitely try it out. After we said our goodbyes, mom ran me by the thrift store across the street and I bought a garment bag to stuff my pack into so the straps wouldn’t get caught in the conveyer belts when I checked it for the flight. Things to think about when deciding to do a flip flop instead of getting dropped off at the trailhead at Amicalola State Park! Anyway, I paid $11 and shoved that 32 pound baby in.
After hugs and tears, I said goodbye for now to my most favorite person, my mama.. walked inside and checked my pack and the small duffle holding Lauren’s blanket and my “stuff” to work on it with.
As for now, I’m sitting at my gate, full of energy.. waiting to start lining up to board this flight. Thank you to all my friends and family that have reached out yesterday and today. Y’all mean the world to me and I am beyond grateful for your love and prayers.
Y’all. It’s happening. My 5 year dream has literally started. It’s here. And I am SO. DAMN. HAPPY.
