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Can anyone offer an opinion on the Tarptent Notch? I have a big agnes fly creek UL 2 and I would like to save a few ounces on solo trips on the AT.
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Jan 20, 2013 21:39
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AquaMira and gravity filters are fine for good fast moving sources, but come July in Pennsylvania you will be wishing you could suck water out of some mud hole as opposed to sinking your container into it food an ounce or two at a time. Still, as was said no system is perfect. For a stuff sack for my fly creek I used a Smallish granite gear stuff sack with compression cords. Got it down to a blob about 7" across. Not a good plan for long term though. Poles rode next to my water bottle.
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Feb 18, 2013 18:31
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Mishra posted:So I'm assembling a kit for 2-3 day backpacking trips along the AT here in VA. I'm looking for a good food prep kit. Though I'll usually go with other folks, light enough for solo treks would be awesome. I am a big fan of the snow peak 0.9l titanium pot and a Etowah alcohol stove when on my own. A jet boil should suit you well too. Uglyducklett: Check out postholer or whiteblaze.net. White blaze is mostly AT focused but has sub forums for other long trails.
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Mar 2, 2013 13:09
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I did the at with my wife in 2011 and have no regrets, just that we cant do it again any time soon. I have had the thru hike fever bad since we finished and we are now making plans to move away from the DC area to live closer to the mountains. Find a way to make it happen, it is a truly life changing experience. I cannot over recommend it. I am looking for a good 7-9 day hike on the East Coast, right now the Mountains to Sea Trail east from Clingman's Dome is looking interesting. Anyone here done any of it? Another option is part of the Long Trail, but as my window is probably in May I don't think that is a good idea weather wise..
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Mar 5, 2013 23:40
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BeefofAges posted:Start slow! Try to keep it under 8 miles a day for a week or two. There's no rush. I would take a tent ground cloth/footprint for one additional reason. The AT has lots of shelters and lots of em have nails and splinters on the floor. We used our tent footprint in the shelter under our neo air pads and had no punctures. It's worth the 4 oz or whatever in my opinion. Unless you are the "I don't shelter type" in which case your tent will get that much more use and benefit from a footprint more. Especially at trail days. Lastly, like beef said, hike your own hike.
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Mar 9, 2013 15:19
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Akion posted:Lot of folks on the AT using Tarptents. The wife and used the same on our AT thru in 2011. We were very happy with it, but are short people at 5'2" and 5'7"
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Mar 11, 2013 23:02
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amenenema posted:I'm 6'1" and the wife is 5'7". I'd love to get our 35lb Border collie in there too. Double rainbow too small for that? If the dog slept in the vestibule maybe in an emergency, but your gear will have to be out in the open. Odds are it will anyway though, the weakness of the fly creek in my opinion was the vestibule, its not that big. Still a good and light tent though.
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Mar 12, 2013 00:27
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Akion posted:Welp! Today is the day. I leave for Springer in about 6 hours. Get a lovely microwave pizza at Neels Gap.
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Mar 15, 2013 21:30
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Excited to get out of town finally. Doing a week on the AT SoBo, somewhere in SW Virginia. Hope spring makes an appearance though.
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Mar 31, 2013 16:49
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BeefofAges posted:Might have to take me off the hiking list for a while Ouch. Sorry to hear. I am getting out so early due to scheduled surgery for a hernia, so I understand. Can you bike at least?
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Mar 31, 2013 20:13
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PhantomOfTheCopier posted:My chronic pain (18-21y/o) was always better every time I went backpacking, and I guess I was pretty busy the first year after having my hernia surgery, but I do recall being relatively active within a couple months of having it. Keeping your core in generally good shape seems to help in the years after these surgeries; I always find that any "swiss cheese abdomen"-related pains seem to go away the day after finally remembering to do the 50lb situps. On the other hand, you still have to be careful with lifting. I'd say the bulk of the annoyance post-hernia-surgery for me has been entirely digestive: Food eaten the day before a hike, timing, and the existence of restroom facilities near the trailhead seem to be a lot more important to my successful hike than they ought to be. Yeah, I think holding in a massive fart gave me my hernia. Doc told me I can continue to run and hike, just I would have to deal with pain till the surgery. Once you hit 30, it's like owning an old car, one thing after another fails and needs attention.
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Apr 1, 2013 22:58
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Was driving through the smokies near Clingmans Dome and saw several cars pull over to look at a junior bear (maybe 50 lbs). People were getting out of their cars and running at the bear with their iphones held in front like some sort of charm. The bear wandered off in short order.
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Apr 4, 2013 20:47
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I just got off after a 5 day, 92 mile section of the AT in SW Virginia. It was hot, and the winter gear I brought was excessive, however last Thursday it snowed a foot. The AT is weird like that. I will try to follow up my post with my packing list. I was ready for temps into the 20s at night, and was able to handle the 80s I experienced with no problems. Total pack weight with 2 liters of water and 5.5 days of food was about 23-25 lbs. If you are planning a mid march start time I would be ready for temps into the teens. My basic clothing was some convertible pants, a merino T-shirt, trail runners, exofficio boxer briefs and smart wool running socks with dirty girl gaiters. For colder times I had a long sleeve merino top, a mont bell down puffy, a wool hat and my rain shell. Layer up as needed. Most people have a winter sleeping bag and a summer one. My two were a western mounteering 20 degree and a Mont bell 50 degree. Even the 50 degree bag was too hot in June through mid august.
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Apr 13, 2013 21:22
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EPICAC posted:What kind of water treatment do you guys recommend? All of my backpacking to date has been during the winter, and we melted snow for water. I spend most of my time in the White Mountains in NH. If you have flow and a better source than a stream in a pasture full of cow poo poo, than Aquamira is fine. Cheap too.
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Apr 17, 2013 21:04
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Anyone else goin to trail days this year? I am looking at a Hyperlite Mountain Gear pack as well, can anyone offer an opinion on it? I have heard the material does not deal with abrasion well.
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Apr 26, 2013 16:12
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I find while backpacking that in colder weather I can go as far as 10 miles per liter, while in hot maybe as little as 2-3 per liter. Like BeefofAges said, cameling up prior to leaving a water source helps a lot. Extra water carried to me is not as bad as extra gear. You can always share it, or use it in camp and running out of water can suck hard far faster than forgetting a dinner.
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Apr 27, 2013 18:08
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I am currently in Damascus va for trail days. Some hikers in the parade were hit by a car. There is a helo on the ground now and another overhead. Hope this not too terrible.
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May 18, 2013 19:52
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I just got home and have some time to post. As was said, all things considered, it could have been a lot worse. I did not see this, but some friends were right there and almost hit. Just a bad accident I think. Seeing a mass casualty however minor is never good. On the positive side,I bought a new pack.
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May 20, 2013 01:14
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My wife and I were very religious on filtering all our water during our 2011 AT thru hike. Sometimes we would use Aqua Mira if we were not worried about waiting, and when I am soloing I use Aqua Mira cause the weight cant be touched by a filter or UV magic wand. In spite of all our care, including purell before eating, we both got Giardia within about an hour of each other while in NJ. The wife had it worse, but we were both laid up puking and making GBS threads all over this nice lady's basement until she took us to the hospital. In total we were off the trail for 10 days and I lost about 8 lbs in the first three. The treatment (Flagyl) is no joke either and left both of our stomachs a mess for a few weeks. I just figured there are more ways than water to get beaver fever.
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Jul 18, 2013 22:26
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My wife and I did a thru hike of the AT in 2011. We are both outdoorsy and I spend most days doing something outside. We just had our first kid a month ago and we are both stressed out for the usual reasons when you have a newborn tossed into your life. We are eager to incorporate the little guy into our life and I was hoping there may be some other parents on here. Does anyone have any tips or advice on taking little ones back packing/day hiking/biking/outside etc? We live in the mid Atlantic area if that makes any difference.
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Aug 5, 2013 17:26
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Levitate posted:My brother-in-law just finished his AT through hike today, must be pretty weird to go back to "normal" life after all summer on the trail I hike 2 years ago, he is probably in for a period of depression and mopieness while he realizes that the real world sucks compared to the trail.
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Aug 25, 2013 22:18
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Hiked up the Priest last weekend, wandered over to Crabtree Falls, back up to the Priest, slept on the top then back down the next morning. 3100 feet up in 4.5 miles, good climb for central VA. Today the wife and I took the kid up to Humpback Rocks then back down Via the AT. His first AT trip at 3 months. He was a champ and lasted 3.5 miles in the carrier.
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Oct 8, 2013 21:55
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In a densely wooded area is a person that much more of a target than anything else though? I would think a tall tree, well grounded and full of water is a better lightning target than a 5-6 foot tall person in rubber soled shoes. I can understand crouching on a bald or in the desert though.
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Oct 9, 2013 18:53
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Fuzzy Pipe Wrench posted:I'm looking for a day hike in the Appalachians (tennessee preferred) with a really great summit view. This'll be in November. We're fairly experienced hikers so we can tackle trails at a good pace. Any suggestions? Max Patch, but you can drive up it most of the way. The Smokies have nice stuff, but November means likely snow up at the 5-6k feet points. Grayson Highlands are really pretty (in VA near Abingdon) and very open. Mt Rogers is there but no view at the top. Snow also may be a problem. Thanks for the elaboration on lightning info too. Mercury Ballistic fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Oct 10, 2013 |
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Oct 10, 2013 03:09
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Fuzzy Pipe Wrench posted:Snow as in trail is closed or just "hope you have snow gear"? Depends. I have heard the smokies can have several feet at a go. AT hikers this April mentioned having to do days of knee deep stuff in TN. Also with the shutdown the Smokies are closed.
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Oct 10, 2013 13:59
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I too agree. Roan Highlands are great. You can park on the N side of Roan Mtn at carvers gap. Go N on the AT and get off at 19E. With two cars it would be a easy A-B hike of 15 miles.
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Oct 11, 2013 01:14
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I have been caring for my 5 month old son for the last week as his mom goes back to work. I managed to salvage some of my old life in the woods by using my jetboil to heat some water to warm his milk. He gulped it down and we were on our way. If you need to just warm the water to tap temps the burner is only lit for maybe a minute. I have gone from lightening my weekend kit to lightening my kids kit. Every ounce helps!
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Dec 6, 2013 16:14
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Picnic Princess posted:Yeah, Mount Royal University in Calgary. My program is Ecotourism and Outdoor Leadership. Read Desert Solitaire by Ed Abbey before departing for the full experience.
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Dec 10, 2013 19:23
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Picnic Princess posted:Ooh, thanks. I'll suggest it to everyone else too. Abbey was a part time ranger in Arches in the 60s. He was a big fan of the US Southwest. Also, thanks for the heads up on the MSR Miniworks deal. I just got mine today.
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Dec 11, 2013 01:08
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Merino's dirty little secret.  To be fair this was after quite a bit of hiking. I love these shirts but they get holes after a few hours of use. Completely separate thing, but has anyone dealt with Mont Bell for warranty work? I sent off a down puffy almost a month ago and have not got any word back on the repair. I tried to email them using their website but no reply.
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Dec 17, 2013 14:19
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evil_bunnY posted:Did you get assaulted by bears with machine guns? I've got a whole bunch of merino shirts ( This is an icebreaker. Same result from a smartwool of similar weight. I wear them backpacking with a ULA Circuit pack. This one did half the AT so I expect some wear, but compared to a synthetic they just do not hold up. I get the first holes at the waist buckle, then the chest buckle, then the shoulder strap areas on my back. They are great for the warmth, smell reduction and drying speed, but durable they are not, at least for me. In icebreakers defense, they offered to replace it after the first holes appeared after about 2 days of use. I figured it was not worth wasting their time.
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Dec 17, 2013 14:52
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) and tshirts and none of them have this issue (after years of skiing and biking in them). What brand are yours?
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Time Cowboy posted:This is probably an ignorant question, but I don't know what resources exist online for snow questions; Google tends to turn up ski area reports. Do the mountains in Maryland and northern Virginia (like Catoctin Park or Shenandoah NP) tend to get and retain snow cover in January and February? My friend and I want to escape what looks to be a snowy winter here in NY/NJ, and I was wondering what snow-free options we could get to in a weekend. I live not too far from SNP. This time of year, it can go either way, but generally any snow cover will melt within a week with the exception of N facing slopes and valleys. Skyline Drive through the park is generally closed as they do not plow it, so to enter the park you need to walk in from the numerous trail heads on the periphery.
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Dec 19, 2013 13:46
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Time Cowboy posted:Thank you for the info! That sounds pretty awesome, actually. Do you have any recommendations for 7-10 mile loops with views worth an 8 hour drive? The default Shenandoah Hike is Old Rag. The most popular loop is south of Sperryville VA, nearish to Luray, VA. Since they closed the upper parking area, it is about a 10 mile loop. The way up is about a mile of bouldering and can get very crowded on weekends. A little north and much less popular is Duncan Knob, which is actually in the National Forest and has an access road that may not be plowed but is not closed. Both are pretty easy to find info on google. Edit:Duncan Knob is a good hike on its own, similar to Old Rag with a big pile rocks at the summit. Less popular but still worth it. Mercury Ballistic fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Dec 19, 2013 |
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Dec 19, 2013 20:47
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It does require constant back flushing in my experience. Also, it is better when shared in a large group. For one guy, it makes a lot of water, you could be better served by aqua Mira drops. Are your water sources seeps or streams? Slow and shallow sources are better accessed with a pump where the gravity ones work better with fast deep clear water. If using a pump, rubber band a coffee filter to the suction bell and it will preserve the filter much better. I own aqua Mira, a katadyn hiker and the platapus gravity as well as a free steripen I found. They all have their strengths.
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Jan 2, 2014 16:15
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Aqua Mira has almost no taste, and what is there is IMO much better than iodine. Can't beat the weight either, at maybe an ounce or so. Once again though, great for small streams, kinda lovely for slow seeps or ponds unless you are cool with drinking sediment
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Jan 3, 2014 15:45
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Mont Bell makes some slim fitting and light down jackets but they start around $200. Solar chargers for backpacking are not worth it yet. They take hours to do anything and odds are you are at camp with a low sun when you have the time to wait. If on a bike you may make it work with a generator powered by the wheel though I am not up to speed on that tech.
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Jan 3, 2014 19:17
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"I hike" is pretty fun. Lots of anecdotes from the PCT and CDT from a thru hiker.
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Jan 4, 2014 18:19
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Pro tip: Aqua Mira is not sold at REI, salesman said it had something to do with meth production. All the mom and pop outfitters sell it though.
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Jan 6, 2014 01:57
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The 2 near us don't then. Just get it online to be safe
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Jan 6, 2014 05:49
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 19:43 |
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I use a marmot precip over a down jacket, seems to work well but the precip is not really made for more than 2-3 seasons of use.
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Jan 8, 2014 14:12
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