Date: 2011-03-13
From: Tampa Fla

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We all carried a pack. There are alot of optional pieces of gear on the trail, but you've got to carry a pack. I started with a ULA Circuit (which i loved), and switched out to a Gregory Baltoro 70 when the weight in my pack got to heavy as the winter came. Everybody carried a pack. Reset carried a big ol' North Face expedition pack. 90 liters in that sucker. He also carried a guitar, and a huge Amish straw hat. His pack was so big he was just looking for extra things to carry. Until New Jersey where he bought a smaller pack forcing him to drop the guitar and hat. The rest of the fellows carried sensible packs. Mostly Osprey Atmos packs in our group, but you see a little bit of everything out there. Everyone carries a pack. Sometime they are heavy with food and water and treats from town. Sometimes you just can't resist that big bag of starbursts. Sometimes they are heavy with intangible things. The burden of a mountain, fatigued legs, homesickness. The weight inside your pack isnt always the single factor of how heavy it will feel. Sometimes we carry alot more than weight.Everyone needs something to sleep in. Whether it is a sleeping bag, a down quilt, a sheet. We all carried sleeping bags. There are a million different kinds. There are synthetic ones that cost less but weigh signifigantly more and are much larger than down sleeping bags. Than there is the issue of rating. What temperature rating do you go with? I carried a Mont Bell super stretch #2. Its pricey, but well worth it. That sucker stretches out with your body's movements and offers alot of comfort and warmth for a very small and light bag. The other fellas had a variety of bags. Mikey had the same one that I did, while stoker and wolfman had synthetic bags. Reset had a warmer weather version of my bag. He also found a bag on the trail and carried that one for a while as well. You've got to have a nice bag. It will become your happy place. Especially when the weather gets cold.....your going to need a happy place when the weather gets cold. You daydream about the moment you will get in your bag where all is warm and you can comfortably daydream about home and fireplaces and hot chocolate. You also need a sleeping pad. I started with a Z-rest, but swithed out for a big agnes inflatable in New Hampshire. Never regretted that decision for a second......so comfy. There is an equal mix of cheap roll up ones and the more expensive inflatable kind. Wolfman had a Thermarest Neo air which is a super light and compact pad. But its made of this lightweight material that is very loud and you can hear it rubbingg against the floor all night. That combined with his snoring made for quite the treat. Sleeping pads are especially important when it gets cold. You gotta have some insulation between you and that ground.We all carry something to put water into. Mostly gatorade bottles, some use nalgene bottles, and we all had some type of larger water bladder for convenience sake at home. Geo carried maps....lots of maps. He never hiked a section of trail without a corresponding map for it. He likes to see the countours and the water and the mountains on a map. He also carried a bible. During the day he carried the bible verses in his head that he had memorized the night before. Dread carried a grudge. Well not really, it just seemed like he did. Thats why we called him dread. Mikey carried the dreams and hopes of a wedding that had been planned for this year. He carried his ambitions of a fulfililling wedding night, and we teased him about this often. Reset carried his letters from Lauren. They met at christian summer camp before he came out to the trail, and had already fallen in love. They decided to communicate through letters only, and Reset would willingly walk miles and miles to ensure he made it to the post office to get his letter from Lauren. He also carried a natural leadership ability. It needs alot of harvesting, and he may not know it yet, but he's got it.Wolman carried a blow gun. He bought it at Cabelas and though he'd hunt some small game.....yeah right. It sure did provide some fun though. He also carried a barnes and noble nook like I did, and read alot of books. He carried an Avocodo once in Virginia, but that he cut his hand instead of it and had to go home for surgery. When he left we all carried the memory of Wolfman. We all carried a knife off some sort. Not big rambo knives (only weekend hikers carry those"), but small practicle pocket knives. I carried a bench made griptilian. Best knife ever made in my opinion. We used are knives for small practical things. Spreading peanut butter or cream cheese, slicing blisters, defending myself from attacking moonlight.Stoker carried a wind chime that he was making for his girlfriend Ann. He also carried Wilson, the wood creation that we deemed the "knower of all things". He's a goofball of guy and has God given hiking/walking ability. the kid can just walk as fast and as far as you can imagine.We carried stoves and pots and pans and eating utensils. Some of us fooled around with alcohol stoves for a while but we all stuck with our trusty and reliable cannister stoves. I carried a snow peak giga power and a trek 700 titanium pot. It did the job for me, but most people opt for something a bit bigger. I carried tabasco sauce. Usually two bottles of it.....I love tabasco sauce.We all carried a tent of some sort. We hardly ever used them, but we carried them. You've got to have shelter. Even if you plan on sleeping in shelters almost all of the time, you need to have a tent. It can, and quite possibly will save your life.One of us carried a gun. Not for the whole hike i dont think, but for the beginning portion. One of the most common questions asked about hiking the trail is "are you going to carry a gun"?. It is really not needed and probably over kill, but it makes you feel comfortable, I say go for it. I would highly reccomend you check the laws. Even with a concealed carry permit, there are probably some states in the North East where it is still illegal. And if you go into a federal building (ranger station), that would be illegal as well.I carried a green army leaders book which i used as my journal. I carried a set of rosary beads that I had given to my Mom Mom from the middle east. She asked me to carry them and return them when I finished. She died when I was in New Hampshire, so I never got the chance. I carried a rock from Mt Katadin with the intention of putting it on Springer Mountain (which i did). I also carried a small American flag which was worn on the sleeve of my BDU's while serving over seas. It was symbolic of "My American Dream". I left it on Springer as well. We carried the hopes and dreams of being thru hikers, and the individual burdens of what it takes to earn that title. We carried ambtions for the future, and memories of our past. We carried the inner peace that comes only from a journey of this magnitude. We carried thoughs of our loved ones back home, and thoughts of eachothers loved ones who we either met along the way, or felt we knew vicarously through stories we heard. We carried everything that we needed on our back. We all carried a shared dream.....the kind in which we were standing on that plaque on Springer mountain. We all made that dream a reality. But only becasue at an early part of our hike, we each realized that sometimes.....we would need to carry each other.