Date: 2011-02-27
To: Final Gear Inventory 
Miles today: 0.0

Final Gear Inventory I just have to post a link to this fantastic video. This young lady is inspiring! She's obviously strong, capable, and confident, not to mention having a delightful sense of humor! AND she has a wonderful hiking companion.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEwI91x0YksI read a dismal statistic which is somewhat disheartening. Based on averages, there is a 10% chance that a hiker will quit his hike after 30 miles (I definitely won't be in this category), a 33% chance he will quit after 160 miles (I sure hope I can do better than that!), a 50% chance he won't make it to the half way point (if I make it half way I'll be delighted), and only a 25% chance he will make it all the way to Katahdin (who knows? Stranger things have happened.)I'm doing my final gear inventory this weekend. My list is scary long. I'd love feedback from any experienced hikers! Much of this gear will be sent home when the cold weather breaks, although I'll have to carry it again as fall approaches, if I stay on the trail that long. Here is my almost-completed inventory:Later...DARN! I can't figure out a way to share my list with you. Currently it's on an Excel spread sheet. After much research and careful consideration, I thought I had my equipment list completed. But this weekend, after carefully weighing each and every item, I discovered my pack and its contents weighed a whopping 41+ pounds! And that's before food and water! There's no way in hell a 5'1" tall woman like me is going to trek around with a load like that. Alas! So, out goes my sleeping roll (it was redundant because I have an inflatable), my Jetboil and associated fuel (ugh, that hurts! No hot meals or beverages for me on the trail at all), half of my wool underclothes, my vest, my camp / water crossing shoes, my cat shovel (guess a stick or my heel will have to do...or maybe I can train Tessa to dig a hole on command)), my lantern (a headlamp will have to do), my laptop computer and my Kindle (I am absolutely heartbroken at losing these two items. Nothing to read? How will I manage? No blogging on the trail? Devastating!)Harsh reality has set in. I can't pack all of the creature comforts I want and still be able to walk! So, I've shed nearly 10 pounds by sacrificing my "luxury" items, and I'm sure my feet will thank me. And I'll be wearing about 5 pounds of clothing each day, so that weight won't really be in my pack; rather, it will be on my body (although I'll still be lugging it around). My poles will be in my hands, too. Still, this is going to be HEAVY! And when the weather warms up, a lot of those heavier clothes can be mailed home in exchange for lighter stuff, until I make my way further north (if I should last that long). I think what I'm going to do is to mail my computer and Kindle to myself in a bounce box to enjoy during my town stops. I'll journal the old-fashioned way during my time on the trail, then enter it into my blog and send it to you on my Zero days (days in which I hike zero miles). And before you crack up at me even contemplating bringing a laptop, I want you to know that it weighs just 28 ounces so I thought it was in the realm of possibility. And my dear husband spent so much time researching to buy such a nice computer for me. Maybe I'll figure out a way to carry that laptop yet.I think that as I begin my trek and meet other, more experienced hikers, I'll probably learn how I can ditch even more gear, and hopefully get my Kindle and laptop back. We'll see...This has been a rambling and very dull entryy today, but as Pat said, perhaps if I'd found such a blog in my earlier days of research it would have helped me. Hopefully someone who is considering such a hike will stumble upon my blog and learn from my foibles.