Date: 2013-03-01
To: Adventures in Gear Prep
Miles today: 0.0

Finally making the decision and committing to the AT was definitely scary (and exhilarating and awesome and so very soul satisfying/gratifying), but prepping the gear has been¢¦SO FUN. In the span of a month¢s time, I¢ve managed to make nearly every day feel like my own personal Chrismakkuh, birthday, Valentine¢s day¢¦and any other holiday that one might look forward to receiving gifts. I¢ve been purchasing gear that I¢ve wanted for years, but as with the AT itself, kept saying could wait until next year. That being said, although this trip has been in the works for 10+ years, this was not THE YEAR until very recently. Thus, funds are definitely lower than expected. As an avid hiker for years, I have amassed a sizeable collection of gear over time and I¢ve tried to be careful not to toss out ¢tried and true¢ despite the impulse to buy shiny new things. It¢s been fun to rediscover gear too (including cutting apart an old quick dry towel so I now have wash cloths, dish cloths, snot rags, etc.).Here are some things that have happened since I started playing around with gear new and old: 1. I ordered a tent on a Wednesday and it arrived at my door by Friday. There it sat, pretty and compact, waiting to welcome me home from a long day of work. I had already warmed up at happy hour with co-workers and immediately headed back out the door for a night full of amazing live music. When I finally returned to my apartment around midnight it, of course, seemed like a logical (and brilliant!) idea to pitch my tent in the middle of my floor so I could complete my first ¢shakedown.¢ In went my ThermaRest, my summer bag, my head lamp¢¦and admittedly 2 giant pillows and my stuffed pup (I might as well enjoy some creature comforts while they last, right?). Saturday night, sans happy hour and live music, I genuinely thought another night in the tent seemed like a good idea ¢ so in I went again (I even put the fly up the second time around). By Sunday, I had to dismantle it. I live in a shoebox sized studio, and my teeny tiny solo tent was taking up most of my floor space. Still, a success!2. I got new boots and a pair of green Superfeet. I¢ve had the same hiking boots for the past six years ¢ they¢re clunkers that have taken me up and down all of my 14ers and most other places in Colorado¢¦and given me monstrous blisters on just about every occasion. I have taken to carrying moleskin, second skin, medical tape, and duct tape on every foray. When 2,180 miles loom near in my future, it seemed like a worthy expense to ditch these boots that have never broken in/fit properly and all the excess weight of my foot care first aid kit. In addition to my sad boot scenario, I¢ve spent the better part of a year nursing plantar fasciitis in my left foot, which has already cost me a new pair of running shoes, hours of rolling my foot over a frozen Coca Cola glass bottle, walking with my Crocs on at all times work shoes are not, and some level of achy awareness nearly all the time. Bummer. I¢m hoping insoles (and some upcoming PT sessions AND some super ibuprofen from the doc) will do the trick!With new footwear acquired, on an otherwise nondescript Wednesday night, I put on workout clothes, laced up my boots, and headed to the stairwell in my building. For 30 minutes, I ran/huffed and puffed up and down the six flights of stairs at 645 Congress. I kept waiting for someone to bust open a door on some floor and yell at me for my obnoxious tap, tap, tapping, but this never came to be. Instead I just passed a few unknown neighbors, who were probably weirded out by my sweaty red face, but otherwise unperturbed. 3. More shakedowns: I wore my intended gear, loaded my pack (with the exception of food) and headed north a few weekends ago. I went to Bradbury Mountain with the expectation of making a few loops around, no biggie. 1) The trail was a sheet of ice, making only the Northern Loop possible (read: incredibly easy, mostly level terrain) 2) I didn¢t do multiple loops, 3) I justified this to myself since it was so icy and I didn¢t want to get injured, 4) I don¢t think I would have done more than my 2 mile loop even if the weather had been ideal. Ah well. Baby steps? My gear held up well with the exception of my trekking poles ¢ I bought these years ago and they are screwed into place rather than clipped. In cold weather, the threads don¢t catch and/or don¢t stay in place. I ended up carrying these out rather than using them. I¢ll now keep them in my apartment rather than the car, and know that they¢ll work fine when the temperature is above freezing. Only one woman questioned why I was walking with such a large pack ¢ it was fun to receive her barrage of questions and she urged me to walk ahead of her, wishing me luck on my journey.4. I¢ve already shed one layer (a long sleeve polypro shirt) and discovered I was still warm enough at 28 degrees with a wind chill of 10-15mph, so I¢m getting rid of some weight before I leave (yayyy!). I walked Back Cove, which is a pretty flat loop, but is 3.5 miles and barren which leaves you at the mercy of the wind. Everything held up well again ¢ also, no need for a Balaclava, just my hat, down jacket hood, and rain jacket hood. I was nice and toasty while I walked ¢ definitely chilly when I stopped moving, but daytime temps really should be higher than 28 for the most part. If it IS that cold and I¢m not walking, I plan to be snuggled in my sleeping bag and tent. As I stuffed my pack back into the car, with snow flurries starting to come down in earnest, a runner next to me asked what I was training for. When I told him of my AT scheme, he said, ¢Wow, well I¢m already impressed, but good luck!¢ I am loving the positive energy and curiosity this trip generates in others and it¢s making me feel even more confident and excited about this journey ahead.5. I¢m cutting weight down wherever I can. Although I¢m not willing to shell out the big bucks to go ultralight, I do think there¢s something to be said for attempting to keep the ¢Big 3¢ as light as possible (sleeping bag, tent, and backpack), as these are the heaviest items besides food and water. My 2:2:2 ratio, looks a bit more like 3:3:3 as a result, but I¢ll take it.In other words, my old six pound pack had to go. Originally intended to take me on the Long Trail 10 years ago, it has instead taken me to Europe and scrambled around Colorado as my trusty companion. But its heft when empty made me a bit nervous, and it was downright bulky when I filled it up. The thought of shaving a few pounds off simply to shave it off is great, but if you know me at all, I¢m thinking three pounds less of backpack equals three pounds more of FOOD. Nom, nom, nom.I stopped at the massive EMS store in North Conway on a late Monday evening driving back from VT to ME via 302*. I spent over an hour in the store trying on packs with a super helpful associate, and ultimately got a new Deuter pack. She¢s blue, beautiful, and even came with some fake flower bling. Sadly, I¢ve heard I should dismantle said flower, as bees are still apparently attracted to its bright color. Ha! *A side note about 302 - the AT passes over 302 in NH and I stopped to take a picture of the crossing sign. I even took a few steps onto the AT, but got creeped out by the darkness, the dense snowpack, the silence, and the coldcoldcold. From up here in New England, it¢s still hard to believe that there are hikers on the AT right now down south! On that February evening, it seemed admittedly daunting, but I know it will be a sight for sore eyes this summer.