well we started our trip at the Washington monument in Maryland again but headed the opposite way from our first trip. we didn't intend to finish the entire state of Maryland but we couldn't find parking any closer than the Pennsylvania line. it only adds about 3 miles to our trip but mean we have to walk 13 miles tomorrow. today we made to the Pine Knob shelter. it was about 4 miles in 2 hours. a nice hike other than the heat.
we finally got the shelter to ourselves for the night. no one else came in till about an hour and a half after us. him and one other backpacker came along with a boy scout troop. we're only sharing with one other guy so it's not so bad. I can finally say I've slept in an AT shelter!
I need to figure out a new pillow situation too. clothes work but they just aren't comfortable. that's the next thing on my list. oh, and uncle tom finally called a truce with his sleeping bag! he was fighting with it every night the last couple trips. "be one with the bag!" we say it every night before bed.
it's supposed to rain tomorrow during our long 13 mile hike. should be an interesting second day.
Monday, December 9, 2013
trip #2: journal entry
so where to start! at the beginning we realized we forgot our hoagies in uncle lee's trailer though, thankfully, we hadn't made it out of big meadows yet. so we stopped at the amphitheater and uncle tom had to run back and get them. we also realized that is a full moon tonight. not only do we have bears but werewolves! wonderful! while walking we didn't come across any bears but a black dog gave me quite scare. we had been discussing bears (casually, of course) when uncle tom says " oh! look, there's one now!!" pointing ahead of us. it was just the right size and color so naturally my heart skipped till I realized it was just a dog (or possibly a werewolf, I still haven't decided which).
a little while later uncle tom's left arm started to go numb twice. we joked that if he has a stroke on the trail then i'm doubly obligated to finish. he didn't fall this time though so that's a plus! he tripped a few times (or running from bears, as he likes to say). thankfully, no bad problems for me yet. my leg got a little sore but I think I just pulled a muscle or something.
once we got to Bearfence Hut we bot took some Tylenol and just chilled for a bit before dinner. I tried the noodles and chicken dinner which was basically chicken noodle soup but it was good.
we did about 8 miles today in around 6 hours so we made decent time. this trip was by far easier but the weather was nicer and my pack was much lighter. who knew 14 pounds could make such a difference? tomorrow we head back to the car (with an uphill to start our day) and I head back to Jersey. should be a good day!!
a little while later uncle tom's left arm started to go numb twice. we joked that if he has a stroke on the trail then i'm doubly obligated to finish. he didn't fall this time though so that's a plus! he tripped a few times (or running from bears, as he likes to say). thankfully, no bad problems for me yet. my leg got a little sore but I think I just pulled a muscle or something.
once we got to Bearfence Hut we bot took some Tylenol and just chilled for a bit before dinner. I tried the noodles and chicken dinner which was basically chicken noodle soup but it was good.
we did about 8 miles today in around 6 hours so we made decent time. this trip was by far easier but the weather was nicer and my pack was much lighter. who knew 14 pounds could make such a difference? tomorrow we head back to the car (with an uphill to start our day) and I head back to Jersey. should be a good day!!
trip #2
this next trip was a little different. my other uncle was staying in an RV right on the AT. so we decided to start from his camp and only be out for one night. the trip was around 18 miles long and the first day we were out we had WAWA sandwiches for lunch. we were doing 8 miles the first day and 10 miles the last day. this was supposed to be a nice easy trip but as i'm coming to find, nothing is easy when it comes to backpacking. I realized that I forgot my camera on this trip so there won't be any pictures up of this trip and I apologize for that. this trip took us along the Skyline Drive in Virginia. the drive is a section that is a bit rougher than the trip in Maryland. the drive has more ups and downs in the trail. the next post I put up is going to be my journal entry from the first day of the trip. I thought it might help to put the trip into perspective if I wrote a few of my journal entries into my posts. so I hope you enjoy!!
trip #1 cont'd
the second day of our trip started with a 1000 ft incline pretty much right off the bat. we started walking at about 9am and maybe a mile into the trip uncle tom fell flat on his face. I tried not to laugh but it was kind of funny. he looked like a turtle that couldn't turn over, it was a backpack with arms and legs sticking out. this started the contest of seeing who would fall more during these hikes (currently we're even at 1-1). we walked about another mile and hit the bottom of the incline. we breaked here for a minute to get our bearings before jumping up this mountain. one thing I will say about Maryland's section of the trail is that it is unbelievably rocky. we spent the entire walk up tip-toeing over loose rocks and boulders. I was surprised we didn't fall more going up this hill.
the nice thing about the AT though is that most of the trail is along the ridges of the mountains up the east coast. this means that once you get back to the tops of the mountains you generally stay there and don't have to walk up and down a whole lot. we reached the top of the mountain and had about 8 more miles to walk to reach our final stopping point for the night.
this was our first full day of walking and it was definitely trying. with my pack being too heavy and uncle tom trying to get a better feel for the maps and landmarks, we were dragging ourselves a little bit through the day. as we walked we ran into a lot of dayhikers and stopped to talk to a few to see if we could get a better idea of where we were at that moment. this is when we learned to never trust dayhikers! they will undoubtedly tell you that you destination is " just over the hill." or " you're really close, maybe 20 minutes away." this was always wrong. the hill would last for an hour and then there would be another hill in front of you before you ultimately reached your goal. and that " 20 minutes" they promised you usually turns into about 45 minutes. so my advice to all you rookie backpackers is never take the word of a dayhiker seriously. a minute or two of chit-chat is about all you can get from them.
when we finally made it to the shelter we were staying at that night we were very relieved to have made it before dark. we were hoping to be able to sleep in the shelter that night but it was taken up by a boy scout troop. so we found a camp site close to the shelter and set up camp and changed for the night. we made our dinner which we found a trick to heating the water quicker. we had a wind screen that would help the heat stay contained and boil the water faster. more hikers had come into the shelter and had started a really nice warm fire. my uncle and I decided to head down for a bit of socializing and warmth before bed. the other people were also backpacking and all around 23-25 years old. we got some really good advice and tips from them. I first heard about the hammock tent from these guys around the fire. I had heard of them before but they were all using the hammock tents and had nothing but good things to say about it.
the final day was only about 5 miles. since we were already on the ridge, most of trek was down hill. it was a nice reprieve from the day before with all uphill walking. overall the trip was a good first trip. in total we walked about 17 miles in 3 days. it taught us a lot but not nearly enough to say we know it all.
the nice thing about the AT though is that most of the trail is along the ridges of the mountains up the east coast. this means that once you get back to the tops of the mountains you generally stay there and don't have to walk up and down a whole lot. we reached the top of the mountain and had about 8 more miles to walk to reach our final stopping point for the night.
this was our first full day of walking and it was definitely trying. with my pack being too heavy and uncle tom trying to get a better feel for the maps and landmarks, we were dragging ourselves a little bit through the day. as we walked we ran into a lot of dayhikers and stopped to talk to a few to see if we could get a better idea of where we were at that moment. this is when we learned to never trust dayhikers! they will undoubtedly tell you that you destination is " just over the hill." or " you're really close, maybe 20 minutes away." this was always wrong. the hill would last for an hour and then there would be another hill in front of you before you ultimately reached your goal. and that " 20 minutes" they promised you usually turns into about 45 minutes. so my advice to all you rookie backpackers is never take the word of a dayhiker seriously. a minute or two of chit-chat is about all you can get from them.
when we finally made it to the shelter we were staying at that night we were very relieved to have made it before dark. we were hoping to be able to sleep in the shelter that night but it was taken up by a boy scout troop. so we found a camp site close to the shelter and set up camp and changed for the night. we made our dinner which we found a trick to heating the water quicker. we had a wind screen that would help the heat stay contained and boil the water faster. more hikers had come into the shelter and had started a really nice warm fire. my uncle and I decided to head down for a bit of socializing and warmth before bed. the other people were also backpacking and all around 23-25 years old. we got some really good advice and tips from them. I first heard about the hammock tent from these guys around the fire. I had heard of them before but they were all using the hammock tents and had nothing but good things to say about it.
the final day was only about 5 miles. since we were already on the ridge, most of trek was down hill. it was a nice reprieve from the day before with all uphill walking. overall the trip was a good first trip. in total we walked about 17 miles in 3 days. it taught us a lot but not nearly enough to say we know it all.
trip #1
so the first trip began in Maryland around Washington monument on st. Patrick's day weekend. we were only out for 3 days and 2 nights but it was our first trip out so we had a lot of tweaking to do afterwards. Friday afternoon we started and went about 2 miles into Dalgren Backpacker's Campground. we started the trip easy to kind of give ourselves time to adjust to walking with packs and such. this was the trip where my mom packed my pack and I ended up with way too much stuff. so needless to say this was a trip of learning.
and the learning began almost immediately after starting. my uncle had decided to bring a fanny-pack that also held 2 water bottles. now most backpacks will have a waist strap that will just about where a fanny-pack's strap would hit. so from beginning to end my uncle was fighting with both his pack and his water bottle holder. now my uncle's pack was quite old so he had a lot of rearranging to do in order to get all of his stuff to fit comfortably. another issue he had early on in the trip was getting his sleeping bag secured to outside of his pack without it swinging back and forth. first he tried just tying it on using a bit of rope he had. this caused the sleeping to swing crazily every time he took a step. next he tried using Velcro but he took maybe 2 steps and it came undone and fell of his pack entirely. he ended up tying to his pack in 4 different places just to get it to stay steady.
we finally arrived at the campground and had to set up our camp. we were sleeping in a tent that night so we had a little 2 person tent just big enough for the 2 of us to fit in it together. that is one thing about backpacking tents, they're small but incredibly light. we had the tent set up and we changed into the clothes we were going to sleep in so now it was time for dinner. we only had a little Colman one-burner stove to share. the water was taking forever to boil so while we waited we decided to start a fire. it had rained a few days before so most of the available wood was either wet or too green to burn. it was probably the most pathetic fire I have ever seen. but since our water wasn't boiling on the stove we decided to try to get hot by putting it on the fire. we still couldn't the water to boil but it got hot enough to rehydrate our food. the food was lukewarm but edible.
it was about 9 o'clock when we were getting ready for bed. as we were standing by our pitiful fire talking before bed we heard people walking into the campground. it was dark so we were a bit confused as to why such a big group was coming in so late. now most backpacking campgrounds and shelters have these poles called "bear poles". they have hooks that hang your pack out of reach of bears if they're in the area. generally you would want to camp as far from the bear pole as you can get. well not these people. they got into camp and immediately started setting up their tents in a semi-circle around the bear pole. as they were setting things up we heard one them say to the other " Hey, I found the instructions for the tents!" at this point, my uncle and I decided we had to stay up to watch this. it took them a half hour just to set up one tent which is pretty silly considering a backpacking tent only consists of two poles that criss-cross to stand the tent up. they had 3 tents to set up that night. so we ended up getting a late night that night. watching this group set up camp.
and the learning began almost immediately after starting. my uncle had decided to bring a fanny-pack that also held 2 water bottles. now most backpacks will have a waist strap that will just about where a fanny-pack's strap would hit. so from beginning to end my uncle was fighting with both his pack and his water bottle holder. now my uncle's pack was quite old so he had a lot of rearranging to do in order to get all of his stuff to fit comfortably. another issue he had early on in the trip was getting his sleeping bag secured to outside of his pack without it swinging back and forth. first he tried just tying it on using a bit of rope he had. this caused the sleeping to swing crazily every time he took a step. next he tried using Velcro but he took maybe 2 steps and it came undone and fell of his pack entirely. he ended up tying to his pack in 4 different places just to get it to stay steady.
we finally arrived at the campground and had to set up our camp. we were sleeping in a tent that night so we had a little 2 person tent just big enough for the 2 of us to fit in it together. that is one thing about backpacking tents, they're small but incredibly light. we had the tent set up and we changed into the clothes we were going to sleep in so now it was time for dinner. we only had a little Colman one-burner stove to share. the water was taking forever to boil so while we waited we decided to start a fire. it had rained a few days before so most of the available wood was either wet or too green to burn. it was probably the most pathetic fire I have ever seen. but since our water wasn't boiling on the stove we decided to try to get hot by putting it on the fire. we still couldn't the water to boil but it got hot enough to rehydrate our food. the food was lukewarm but edible.
it was about 9 o'clock when we were getting ready for bed. as we were standing by our pitiful fire talking before bed we heard people walking into the campground. it was dark so we were a bit confused as to why such a big group was coming in so late. now most backpacking campgrounds and shelters have these poles called "bear poles". they have hooks that hang your pack out of reach of bears if they're in the area. generally you would want to camp as far from the bear pole as you can get. well not these people. they got into camp and immediately started setting up their tents in a semi-circle around the bear pole. as they were setting things up we heard one them say to the other " Hey, I found the instructions for the tents!" at this point, my uncle and I decided we had to stay up to watch this. it took them a half hour just to set up one tent which is pretty silly considering a backpacking tent only consists of two poles that criss-cross to stand the tent up. they had 3 tents to set up that night. so we ended up getting a late night that night. watching this group set up camp.
tips through experience
so as I explained before this is all an ongoing journey. i'm still learning more every trip and the next phase of my tip sharing is kind of going to be through telling some stories from my trips and the written journal I keep while on the trail. I've learned a lot just walking and maybe you'll be able to pick out things in my stories that I haven't and if so please feel free to comment and let me know. I like getting other's perspectives and views on situations.
I wanted to give a little more background on the trip that I've done so far and the pictures will be up on shutterfly and possibly flickr in a day or two and i'll post the link if you would like to see some. this year my uncle and I started in march and finished in October. we went one weekend a month and walked 188 miles in total. we walked the entire state of Maryland and parts of Virginia along the skyline drive. we took off from walking in the summer months (june-august).
so now as this blog goes on it will be more stories than tips and hopefully you can take some thing away from this for your adventures.
I wanted to give a little more background on the trip that I've done so far and the pictures will be up on shutterfly and possibly flickr in a day or two and i'll post the link if you would like to see some. this year my uncle and I started in march and finished in October. we went one weekend a month and walked 188 miles in total. we walked the entire state of Maryland and parts of Virginia along the skyline drive. we took off from walking in the summer months (june-august).
so now as this blog goes on it will be more stories than tips and hopefully you can take some thing away from this for your adventures.
tip #6: choose your equipment wisely
so this kind of ties into my post on boots and priorities. with this though i want to focus more on your actual backpack. your backpack i would say is probably the most important piece of equipment you will have. it's also probably the most expensive. you can borrow backpacks from friends or family but make sure that they are around the same height and build as you. backpacks were made to fit the person so if they are built vastly different from you then their pack won't fit right.
so to give you an idea of how a pack should fit i'll give you some tips. first, pack fits differ depending on gender. for females you more than likely want most of the weight to sit on your hips. so you want a waist belt that hits high right on the curve of your waist. make sure it has good padding too, otherwise you might end up with rubs or bruises on your hips. for males, your upper body is where you'll carry most of your weight. guys typically have stronger upper bodies, like shoulders and arms, so you want to look at the shoulder straps. make sure the padding is nice and the straps are wide to help distribute the weight evenly across your shoulders, chest and back.
second, you want to look at the pack and where it sits when it's on your back. you don't want your pack to sit too high above your head, i would say about 6 or so inches above your head is as high as it should go. if your buying a backpack, try a couple on and see whats going to work for your height. if your borrowing a backpack, don't ask the person who is a foot shorter/taller than you.
your pack will fit a little differently once you have weight in it as well. so once you find a pack that you like and get it home you can put a little weight in it. you can use things like rocks, water bottles or your equipment etc. this will give you a better idea of how the pack is going to feel and whether the weight is being distributed properly.
you're pack is essential to walking. if you borrowing a pack it could work out nicely and you can have a better idea of what you want. the balance and fit of the pack is very important. make sure you try out packs before you go and buy one off the rack. packs can be expensive and you wouldn't want to buy the wrong pack after spending all that money. once you find a brand and fit you like you can go looking on the internet or stores for sales. you can buy used packs just make sure they're still in good condition. the pack will set the tone for your experience. if you don't have good fitting pack then you have a good time on the trail, but having a good pack will make your trip that much more enjoyable.
so to give you an idea of how a pack should fit i'll give you some tips. first, pack fits differ depending on gender. for females you more than likely want most of the weight to sit on your hips. so you want a waist belt that hits high right on the curve of your waist. make sure it has good padding too, otherwise you might end up with rubs or bruises on your hips. for males, your upper body is where you'll carry most of your weight. guys typically have stronger upper bodies, like shoulders and arms, so you want to look at the shoulder straps. make sure the padding is nice and the straps are wide to help distribute the weight evenly across your shoulders, chest and back.
second, you want to look at the pack and where it sits when it's on your back. you don't want your pack to sit too high above your head, i would say about 6 or so inches above your head is as high as it should go. if your buying a backpack, try a couple on and see whats going to work for your height. if your borrowing a backpack, don't ask the person who is a foot shorter/taller than you.
your pack will fit a little differently once you have weight in it as well. so once you find a pack that you like and get it home you can put a little weight in it. you can use things like rocks, water bottles or your equipment etc. this will give you a better idea of how the pack is going to feel and whether the weight is being distributed properly.
you're pack is essential to walking. if you borrowing a pack it could work out nicely and you can have a better idea of what you want. the balance and fit of the pack is very important. make sure you try out packs before you go and buy one off the rack. packs can be expensive and you wouldn't want to buy the wrong pack after spending all that money. once you find a brand and fit you like you can go looking on the internet or stores for sales. you can buy used packs just make sure they're still in good condition. the pack will set the tone for your experience. if you don't have good fitting pack then you have a good time on the trail, but having a good pack will make your trip that much more enjoyable.
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