Tomorrow I’m heading out to hike Old Rag and around the area for some training. I noticed on my spring break trip that my coordination and footwork was lacking, especially on the downhills. After growing up on trails, to hesitate on downhills and stumble on rocky terrain was pretty disappointing. No amount of running in Norfolk and treadmill hiking can prepare me for the variety of terrain that I will encounter on the Appalachian Trail. I’ve tried to make it out to the mountains often but school does a decent job keeping me close to my books. But after a biochemistry exam this morning, I’m taking the opportunity to hit some big miles out in Shenandoah National Park for the next couple days. Continue reading Old Rag reflections
Tag Archives: Fastpacking
How a Buff helped me drop 2 ounces from my pack
I may be delving into the realm of ridiculously lightweight but if that’s your thing, you may find some good ideas here. The original Buff® truly is multifunctional headwear. Previously on my trips I carried a bandanna as a pot holder, sweat wiper, rag, mud cleaner, napkin, and towel but a Buff acts equally well as replacement for all those uses. Additionally, while a stocking cap is certainly warmer than a Buff, it only serves one single function. The Buff, however, can be manipulated into a balaclava, can be used in warmer temperatures to keep sweat out of my eyes, and can protect the back of my neck and forehead on sunny hikes.
Continue reading How a Buff helped me drop 2 ounces from my pack
Appalachian Trail self-supported thru-hike
What an epic trip. The goal was to hike the AT/BMT north loop in four days. Unfortunately I had one slow day and had to leave the trail early to get back to studying. But I managed 138 miles in 3 days, 6 hours and can’t be disappointed with what I learned and accomplished. 42 miles on the first day, 32, 44, then 20 out to the road on Wednesday. I wanted to travel further, faster, and more efficiently than I ever have and I think I accomplished that. Going into the woods with only 7.8 pounds (3.5lb base weight), I managed to sleep decently comfortably through the three nights I was out there despite low temps in the high twenties. I learned a lot about my gear and my body, notably that on the second day when I was moving slow, there was absolutely nothing I could do to press my stubborn legs to move faster. And then on Tuesday I learned about my body’s resilience and easily cruised to a 44 mile day. The next morning I woke up again feeling fresh but unfortunately, with a looming immunology exam this upcoming week, had to abandon my adventure and return to the stressed studying I so desperately had needed a break from. Continue reading Appalachian Trail self-supported thru-hike
BMT/AT north loop gear list
I’ve posted several theoretical gear lists over the past few weeks and just wanted to post an update of an actual gear list that I’ll be using on a trip down in the Smokies this upcoming week. I just got done with a string of five exams in the last two weeks and with my first med school spring break having just begun, I am stoked to be getting out in the woods for a short fastpacking trip. I’ve laid everything out and with low temps in the low 40s, think I can get away with a base weight of just below 3.5 pounds, FSO (from skin out) base of 5.74 pounds. The trip is the 170 mile North loop of the Benton MacKaye Trail/Appalachian Trail in Great Smoky Mountain National Park starting from Twentymile Ranger Station near Fontana Dam, heading north on the BMT, resupplying at Davenport Gap, then back south on the AT. The theoretical total was 8.7 lbs. but it ended up coming out to 7.8 with 2 days with food and 1L water.
Odesza – Say my name
This is an epic video that my friend Scott put together of some of his adventures this past year, including beautiful footage of our thru-hike of the JMT and some free-diving down in the Florida Keys. Enjoy!
Yosemite National Park, Day 0
We were two miles from the end, practically prancing down the trail with excitement heading for Whitney Portal, nearly done with a 220 mile thru-hike of the John Muir Trail, having started in Yosemite National Park eight days earlier. We turned around for a last look at the towering summit behind us, now with a cap of deep ominous black clouds settling on its summit. It was a Saturday on one of the most popular hikes on the west coast and I hoped the crowds we had seen on the way up had good enough judgement to be off that summit and be racing to get back below tree line at this point. I imagined them hiding under boulders, the masses of them doing anything they could to escape the storm. Continue reading Yosemite National Park, Day 0
Updated: Summer pack list
This is my updated gear list, still a work in progress but getting more refined. My base weight is 3.9 pounds and with 1 liter of water and 5 pounds of food (2.5 days worth) it brings it up to 11.1 pounds.
Big Four:
Pack: Salomon 10+3 (15oz)
I tried the 14+3 first and simply couldn’t fill it. Even with the most food I plan to carry, the expandable compartment was unnecessary and with the minimum amount, the pack was soft and flimsy. Everything fits comfortably in the 10+3. The pack feels incredibly comfortable and I am excited to try it out. I’ll likely have some modifications to fix the shoulder strap in place (they are adjustable) and remove some extra inessentials to drop another ounce or two. Continue reading Updated: Summer pack list
Summer pack list
I’m working on compiling a new pack list for an upcoming summer backpacking adventure. I wanted to get it out there to hopefully bounce ideas of some other people. Everything is weighed and listed. The tally puts it at 11.5 pounds total with 1L of water and 2.5 days of food (2lbs/day). Outside the pack, I’ll have my socks, shorts, and shirt, but will also be using Black Diamond Ultra distance trekking poles, and am 100% unsure of what shoes I will use. Any tips on comfortable, durable, lightweight trail running shoes would be much appreciated.
| 2 MSR carbon tent stakes | 0.423 |
| 3.6sqft. cuben fiber tarp 80 in | 3 |
| Neoair x lite | 8 |
| Cuben fiber rain jacket | 2 |
| Salomon 14+3 pack | 15 |
| Sleeping bag | 15 |
| Salomon .5L collapsible bottles | 2.1 |
| Bleach | 1 |
| Hygeine | 1 |
| Bandanna | 1 |
| Spoon | 0.3 |
| Food bag | 0.3 |
| Phone+wallet | 4 |
| Spot | 4 |
| USB/batteries | 2 |
| Black diamond ion headlamp | 1.7 |
| Long sleeve shirt | 5 |
| data pages | 1 |
| lighter | 0.5 |
| Platypus 2L bottle | 1.3 |
| Pack liner | .5 |
| Water | 35.2 |
| Food 2.5d | 80 |
| Total: | 179.023 |
Euphoria: Thru-hiking the John Muir Trail
I’m lying in the bed of a pickup truck. I’m lying on my neoair, or as my hiking partner, Scott, called it while acknowledging its limitations, a yellow balloon. He had popped his while laying on granite shards at the base of one of yosemite’s large cliffs. And it is of such a strikingly un-outdoorsy shade of yellow that I claimed the Thermarest fabric supplier must have had a sale. When his sleeping pad had popped a week earlier, he wasn’t even mad. It had been a long day and it was almost expected that something else might happen. The worst face of Murphy’s law. Continue reading Euphoria: Thru-hiking the John Muir Trail