Date: 2006-01-19
To: The Bounce Box
Miles today: 0.0

Besides working on my gear, I have been working on my bounce box.A bounce box is a small box that hikers send up the trail to themselves where they can pick it up about two weeks up the trail. The bounce box contains stuff that might be useful in town, or repair items, or spare gear. When the hiker leaves town, he mails it again to himself, a couple weeks further up the trail. In a way, he "bounces" the box ahead of himself (or herself, of course) all the way up the trail.In my bounce box I will have grooming items that will be used in town:   razor   deodorant   shampoo   laundry detergent   toenail clippers   baby powder   beard trimmer and chargerI will also have town clothes to wear in town and most bounce box retrievals will be in places where I want to take a zero day.   short sleeve cotton shirt   comfortable shortsI will also have ATC maps, guidebooks, databook/companion pages for the upcoming sections. I will take out the ones that I will need between now and the next time I'll have the bounce box in hand.   AT maps   AT Guidebooks   Databook pages   Companion pagesThere is a good possibility that I will not carry the AT Guidebooks, but will read them for the trail ahead each time I access the bounce box.Also in the bounce box I will have consumables that I may be adding to my pack as the ones I am currently using get used up. Some consumables I can buy in town, but rarely in the quantity (usually one each) that I want. Extras I'll keep in the bounce box. Right now, I think of:   trash disposal liner (for use as pack liner)   ZipLoc baggies, various sizes   chemical heating pads (early in hike in cold weather)   extra batteries   extra socks (I have very large feet)   moleskin and other first aid supplies   extra headlamp(I expect to lose at least 1 on the hike)Electronics:   cell phone charger   camera battery charger   cables to connect camera and keyboard to laptop   laptop   This last is a biggie. I have the lightest laptop I could buy without paying a lot of money. It is an Averatec, and weighs 4.1 pounds.I will be writing my journal on my two-pound Neo keyboard (see www.alphasmart.com) and uploading the files to my laptop when I get my bounce box. When I have the journal entries and pictures loaded on the laptop, I will then burn a CD and mail it home. My wife will then input the photos and journal entries. I asked her to enter one entry a day so that people can follow along the hike in real hiker time, rather than reading a slug of entries in a single day then waiting two weeks for the next slug.After this process, I will clear the photos from the camera and charge the batteries (I will carry two on the trail, as well as two memory cards.)I may or may not bring any kind of repair kit. I will bring silnet waterproofing for my tarptent, and glue for shoes:   silnet   crazy glueAnd of course I will need to have a marking pen and tape and even pre-addressed labels to send the bounce box to its next stop.   Packaging tape   marking pen   mailing labels Well, that's what I figure I'll need in my bounce box. Is it the right stuff? I'll bet it is close, but one thing is guaranteed: I will have stuff that I will never use, and I won't have stuff that I will desperately need.But that's part of the adventure, no?