Date: 2011-11-20
From: Greenwood Lakes, NY

To: Greenwood Lakes, NY
Miles today: 116.0

We are back home in NY now, having ended our 2011 AT hike on November 20th. We hiked over 1800 miles and have another roughly 370 miles to go. We are happy to be inside where it is warm and dry for the winter but will be ready to return to the trail to finish up next year. Until then, we¢ll plan our adventures for 2012 and review our 2011 trip. I¢ve found it very helpful to read others reviews of their gear after hundreds of miles. So here¢s some impressions of some of my gear / clothing that worked very well on the AT. Hopefully this will be helpful for future AT hikers.Merrell Moab VentilatorsThey were very comfortable right out of the box with wide toe box for bunions, if needed. Many hikers wore Moabs this year. Lasted almost 700 miles until the Maine mud did them in.Osprey packsI used a 44L Hornet since Hot Springs, NC, about 1500 miles so far. Was comfortable with loads under 25 pounds. Only problems were hip belt pockets that were too small and mesh side pockets that ripped easily and needed repair occasionally. Washed it twice to help with odor in the VA heat and dried overnight. Mountain Hardware clothingOne day on the trail I noticed that my favorite clothing was from Mountain Hardware; windshirt, Epic rain pants, and shorts / pants. My MH windshirt was ounce-for-ounce (4 oz) the most versatile and warmest piece of clothing I carried. The Epic rain pants developed some 1¢ vertical rips along the inside of the ankles, probably areas of most wear. But they continued to be water repellant the entire trip. I will probably replace my Marmot Crystalline raincoat with an Epic raincoat from MH. Cocona fabricI wore a short sleeve t-shirt made of cocona fabric for 1600 miles daily, often both day and night. It had NO ODOR, wore well and dried quickly. PolesWe used trekking poles that helped prevent falls, sprained ankles, wrist fractures, and slides down rock faces. Although I didn¢t use poles in 1978 when I hiked 800 miles of the AT, somehow now they seem like required equipment.SteriPen water sterilizerWe were able to buy replacement 123 batteries at $1 each online which reduced the cost of use. Two batteries lasted about 10-14 days for 2 people. We were able to sterilize water at the source and camel up which allowed us to carry less water. Sometimes we had to dry the contacts between sterilizations but otherwise the SteriPen worked flawlessly the entire trip.I-pod NanoUsed this most nights over the last 800 miles for local FM radio stations or podcasts. The battery charge didn¢t last the 24 hours as advertised, but did last up to 5 nights before recharging at the next town. Ipod Nanos offer a lot of entertainment for less than 1 oz. Some outfitters, lodging and restaurants that I would strongly recommend:Lodge at Fontana Village- Fontana Dam, NC- offer deep discount for AT hikers.Bennett¢s Pit BBQ- Gatlinburg, TN- became a BBQ lover here. Bluff Mountain Outfitters- Hot Springs, NC- excellent pack fitting and selection.Homeplace Restaurant, Catawba, VA- all you can eat home cooking.Bears Den Hostel, Bluemont, VA- friendly innkeepers in beautiful stone house setting.Teahorse Hostel, Harpers Ferry, WV- new spotless reasonable hostel.Green Mountain House Hostel- Manchester, VT- Teahorse and Green Mountain are the cleanest hostels on AT.Inn at Long Trail- Sherburne Pass, VT- hiker discounts for historic inn with great Irish pubDartmouth food coop- Hanover, NH- one of best food resupplies on trailWhite Mountains Hostel- Gorham, NH- very helpful innkeepers with great breakfast.Little Red Hen Diner- Andover, ME- reopened this year, excellent home cooking, best blueberry pie ever, friendly owners and patrons.Great Northern Lodge- The Forks, ME- excellent accommodations and pub.Dalton Restaurant, Dalton, MA- excellent homecooking.Maria McCabe, Salisbury, CT- only one Maria, she loves her hikers.The other folks who stand out are all the Trail Angels who helped without any thoughts of compensation. We met several women who picked us up while hitchhiking, who had never picked up a hitchhiker before. Or strangers who offered meals, showers, rooms in their house after only a 5 minute conversation. Hopefully we all enriched each others¢ lives. And day hikers of all ages, who upon hearing we were thru-hikers, immediately asked ¢Do you need any food?¢ and seemed ready to empty their packs of all sustenance for us. We must have looked hungry. Hopefully we can do the same in the future for other adventurers. Thanks to all our family, friends, trail angels, fellow hikers in this adventure of a lifetime. Good luck to all on your own adventures. We'll be back in 2012...