Date: 2011-06-06
To: First Things
Miles today: 0.0

In a month I will start hiking the Appalachian Trail south toward Georgia, beginning at the northern terminus of the trail, on Baxter Peak, Katahdin, near Millinocket, Maine. This is the third time that I have seriously planned for an A.T. hike. The other times -- 25 and 16 years ago -- I never got to the point of a departure date. I hope that third time¢s the charm.Several months ago I cleared the first major hurdle: my family¢s support for an extended period away from home. Thanks, Marty and Julia; this adventure would not be possible without your encouragement! As I began the preparation process in earnest. I came to two initial realizations. First, to lessen the strain, and wear and tear, on my knees, occasionally irritated upper IT Band, and lower back, I had to travel as lightly as possible. The less I carry, the less pounding all of these areas will have to endure. Second, none of the equipment that I have used in previous backpacking trips -- all now in the distant past -- would serve the purpose at hand. In another words, start over. So after some preliminary research I learned about Winton Porter at Mountain Crossings, Neals Gap, Georgia. http://www.mountaincrossings.com/Winton is an apostle of light backpacking and an expert on the Appalachian Trail. His shop is actually on the trail, in an old CCC building about 35 miles from Springer Mountain, the southern terminus. He sees thousands of A.T. hikers each year and they often come in for his pack deconstruction. He takes everything out and gives advice about saving weight -- often many pounds -- and hiking smart. He has written a book about his experiences, Just Passing Through, and appears in the National Geographic Appalachian Trail film as well as on UTube, throwing excess gear into boxes that he will ship home. He is willing to give personal consultations with would-be A.T. hikers on what to carry and how to efficiently hike the trail.On my birthday in February, Marty and I visited his shop and had the seminar for the better part of a morning. He preaches thinking of equipment as six systems: pack system, shelter system, sleep system, clothing system, hydration system, and food preparation system. Put all of them together and one has the base weight -- all that you will carry without food, water, and fuel. Keep the base weight under 16 pounds and you¢re traveling light, was Winton¢s advice. And add only a few more pounds with clothing worn.This was a revelation to me. My former pack weighed at least 6 pounds by itself and my solo tent weighed over 4 pounds. Clearly backpacking equipment had experienced some of the same technological leaps that we all see in many other areas. Of course there are compromises. The ultralight equipment is made from thin materials and not much of them. So while I still have and can use the tent I bought in 1975 for a summer in the U.K. and only recently tossed the 6 lb. pack, the new stuff would be lucky to last the length of the A.T. Heavy and durable versus light and fragile. On my next post, I¢ll review my equipment deliberations and decisions. This may be of interest to someone in the early planning/dreaming stage, who is starting from scratch.So now with 4 weeks to go, I have the equipment, reservations in Baxter State Park for several nights, maps and guidebooks (mostly in electronic form on my iPhone) and a rough itinerary. I have been training by trail running and hiking with a loaded pack to further prepare. I can say that I am both excited about starting my hike and anxious about all of the possible confounding variables.