Date: 2003-03-31
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Well since I took a zero day today and did nothing very exciting except to see Slow Walker feeling 70% better (his words), I will make this my promised gear and food entry.First for the food. My pack is packed for tomorrow morning's departure so it's a good example of what I eat on a regular basis:Day 1: breakfast; Clif Bar, morning snack; Balance or other energy bar, lunch; stone ground crackers and foil packed ham, afternoon snack; energy bar and dinner at the shelter; four cheese mashed potatoes with the rest of the ham from lunch.Day 2: Breakfast; Clif Bar, snack; energy bar, lunch; Skippy peanut butter in a squeeze stick and stone ground crackers, snack; energy bar, dinner; Mountain House Beef Stroganoff.Day 3: Breakfast; Clif Bar, Snack; energy bar, Lunch; I don't have one because I expect to be in Fontana Dam by then, but I'm carrying an extra dinner and crackers so if it takes me a little longer it won't matter.I know the energy bars sound somewhat overdone, but there are as many different makes and varieties as there are days in the month so I'm always eating different kinds. I also would rather have the added nutrition of an energy bar over a Snickers but don't get me wrong, I eat them too occasionally!I had one of my most favorite meals of the trip yesterday coming down off the mountain in the snow. I don't usually cook for lunch, but it was so cold and I thought the hot meal would do me good so I made a MSR pasta dinner with green and red peppers. It was delicious! The line is all organic and pricy, but boy was it worth it that day.When in town I eat lots of veggies and fruit and of course take my whole food vitamins every day.I have learned so much from watching what other hikers carry and eat. Sharp cheese and one of those little bags of sliced pepperoni last me for days. It's amazing what a little preservatives can do for food!I drink lots of water everyday and usually make hot tea at night with dinner. Right now I'm out of tea bags but don't want to buy any because they are in my first food drop at Fontana. So in the morning before I leave, i'll try to get the restaurant to sell me a few of the black cherry ones that I had with dinner tonight.Now for my gear--------Golite Speed pack: I still love this pack and the custom shoulder and hip pads are working well. The bag is said to carry 30 pounds, but I don't think it's a good idea to carry over 25. It can get real uncomfortable over that. The pockets are the best part of it. I rarely see a pack with 5 outside pockets. I carry my day's food in the top left one. this way I don't have to go into my pack during the day. My rain gear is carried in the bigger pocket under that. In the top right pocket I carry my Aqua Mira and my tp and hand sanitizer. Lower right pocket holds my balaclava, gloves, and camera. I can get to everything I need, usually without taking off my pack.0 degree Western Mountaineering Puma sleeping bag: I'm happy that I switched from the much lighter WM Ultralite to start out. I was able to leave my expedition weight long underwear at home and use midweight capilene long johns to sleep in. I sleep in bare feet. I'm usually just right temperature wise unless a hot flash hits in which case I just unzip the bag for a few minutes. In the hostels I have been too hot so I sleep with the bag unzipped and just pull it over me if I get chilled during the night.Z rest pad: This pad is ok. I would be more comfortable on a Thermarest inflatable but would be carrying more weight too. On my back or stomach, it's fine, but I'm on the bony side so if I'm sleeping on my side, my hips and shoulders can get sore.Vasque Sundowner boots: I got these in case of bad weather and had 6 days of rain right out of Springer. Everyone was complaining about wet feet but mine stayed warm and dry the entire time. I've watched people come down off the mountain all day in trail shoes and no gaiters, talking about how miserable it was hiking for the last 2 days in cold, wet feet. The weight was worth it to me to have happy feet for the first 2 months. after I get out of the Smokies, I'll get my trail shoes for the summer.Patagonia Flash R-1 shirt, Fleece, capaline long johns, 2 oz. stretch gloves, super cell pants are all doing well. I've been very pleased with all if the Patagonia gear that I have purchased. Just keep it away from the flames and heat.Marmot Precip jacket: this has been a great jacket and I get a lot of wear out of it. So far it looks brand new.OR gaiters: I absolutely love these things. I have the short ones and have worn them every day but one. It was a dry day and I thought I'd see what it was like without them. Well my laces got all bogged down with pieces of leaves and I got a tiny stone in one boot and had to stop to clean it out, so I think I'll be hiking in them all the time. I like the way my boots stay relatively clean too. The gaiters go in the wash with my other dirty laundry.Komperdell hiking poles: I only hike with one and the other rides on my backpack and is used in my tent at night. One of the poles has failed already, but I use that one in the tent so it's not a big issue. I couldn't get it to tighten down so I had to duct tape it at night so it would hold my tent up. Then out of the blue it tightened down and wouldn't loosen. Night Fever used his strength to loosen it, but I haven't had the tent up since then, so I don't know what it will do next.I love the Esbit stove and tabs (except for the smell, which is not good) and will continue to use them. I know several people that have sent their heavy stoves home and switched to alcohol or Esbit stoves. There isn't anyone that is not cooking at all.My Aqua Mira water treatment is working nicely. Several hikers have sent home heavy water filters and switched to chemical treatment.I use an MSR T-Ketle to heat water for my meals. It is small and so I "cook" in quart size freezzer bags. It works great for me and while everyone else is packing up dirty pots or scrubbing them with leaves or sand, I'm putting away a nice clean pot.It's 8:15pm and I'm tired and have a big day ahead tomorrow, so I'm outta here for now. I hope I answered some of your questions.Thanks to all of you who take the time to e-mail me on my pocketmail, I really appreciate it! That's the stuff that keeps me going when the going gets tough.