2013 CT thruhiker, going again in 2015 (pictures and gear video)

[Daniel Fisher]

In 2013 I hiked the CT, or well, most of it. I learned a lot and loved the experience. Here are some pictures from my journey:







This summer, I'm doing it again. But this time, I'm bringing my dog. If anyone has any questions or input, feel free to share. Thanks

Here's my gear from last time:

[Landon]

Daniel,

Enjoy the hike! Let us know if there is anything we can do to help. We will be all along the trail starting in late June to July. Check out: ctsupplyline.com

Hope to see you out there!

Thanks,
Landon

[Daniel Fisher]

Daniel,

Enjoy the hike! Let us know if there is anything we can do to help. We will be all along the trail starting in late June to July. Check out: ctsupplyline.com

Hope to see you out there!

Thanks,
Landon

I'll be headed northbound.... Durango to Denver. I hope to run into you guys.

[Coffee]

Amazing trail. I hiked Denver to Durango last year. Would like to do Durango to Denver someday starting late August.

[Daniel Fisher]

I forgot about this video from atop Mount Elbert:

[Ercoupe]

I use a klymit torso airpad under a full z-lite sol for the extra cushion. Easy to inflate 3 breaths, no need to pump up. Heavier than a solo x-lite pad, but I like having the z-lite to sit on. Only place it works for me is under the pad, not in the bag or directly under the bag. May have to dot with silicon in the big agnes. Great trail have fun.

[Daniel Fisher]

I managed to snag a Mountain Hardwear ghost whisperer down jacket and a ghost whisperer anarok from Sierra Trading Post for quite cheap. They were my top picks for gear back in 2013 and now I've got them.

Now only if I can convince the misses to let me splurge on a zpacks sleeping bag... Hey its only $500...

Does anyone have experience with dog backpacks? I've tried the Ruffwear Palasides but didn't like it... I've got the MountainSmith k-9 2015 model coming in and I'm eager to test that... anyone have any suggestions?

[booya]

Hey Daniel - how did you keep your phone charged?

[Birdogsid]

Booya, I'm not Daniel, but let me suggest the Astro E7 External battery. I have used the Joos Orange, and the Brunton Hydrogen reactor. The Joos was 28 oz and had to have special cords. Too heavy. The Brunton Hydrogen reactor didn't work worth a crap, so it was dead weight. The E7, however is my choice from here on out. 20 oz for at least 10 days of full charge on your iphone. I pasted the review below. I am sure there might be a troll out there that will be annoyed at hijacking the post, but this might be useful to someone. Best of luck on the trail!


I bought this for a thru-hike on the Colorado Trail. I am a bit of a gram geek, but this thing will give you at least 10 days worth of full from zero charges on an iPhone 5. I am in the process of killing my phone and charging it back from 0 so that I can leave feedback on the amount of times it will charge from 0. I will update in a couple of weeks once the Anker Astro E7 External battery dies. I use my iphone 5 for my GPS, music, maps, cell phone, guide book and camera as well, so I can justify the added weight of the external battery.
I have recorded the weights here:
The unit itself (Anker Astro E7 External battery) weighs in at 481g or 17 oz (1lb,1 oz)
The Anker charger is 46g or 1.625 oz.
The anker charging cable is 17g or .625 oz
The apple 1m "lighting" charging cable is 17g or .625 oz
The black bag that comes with the charger is 12g or .375 oz
I am going to use a ziplock quart bag (6g)

Total weight for the charging package is 568g or 1lb 4 oz or 20 oz.

The Anker charger will work charging the iPhone 5, so you can eliminate the apple charger from your pack.

The external battery has a small LED on it that can be used for light in an emergency. I would not eliminate my headlamp, though. There are 3 USB slots on the charger, so you can charge a friends phone too if you are feeling generous with your amps. All in all, so far--I would suggest this charger if you are going to be on the trail-outside of towns for an extended length of time. I have had 10-14 days between overnight hostel stays, so I believe this will be a great addition to the pack. It will take a good 12-16 hours to recharge the battery pack using the dedicated 10w charger. I would suggest purchasing the wall charger and not relying on one that you have laying around the house. The casing is slippery and will smudge up pretty easy, but if you are hiking 15 mile days and haven't showered in a week, smudges aren't at the top of the concern pyramid. I have included a couple of pictures that show the blue charge lights, the LED as well as the size of the battery.

Update: I got 9.69 full charges for the iPhone 5 out of one full charge of the Anker Astro E7 external battery. I say .69 because my daughters iphone 5 was on 31% when she plugged it in one night. I plugged it in at 6:30am this morning and as of 7PM this evening the battery is flashing the 75-100% range, so what this says to me. I hike for 9 days and then choose to stay the night at a hostel or in a hotel, take a zero day, I can charge the battery and hike for another 9 days and continue running my battery down to 0. Realistically, if you put your phone on airplane mode, you wont run it down to zero in 1 day. Probably not even 3 days. But that is another story. Yes, I would suggest this battery.

[StubbleJumper]

One cheap option to keep a phone charged is to purchase a cheap Android phone with a replaceable battery. My hiking phone is a Samsung Gio so I can buy cheap replacement batteries from EBay for about $5 each. So, I just carry a spare battery with me when I hike, which enables me to easily get a week of use out of my phone (but I do keep it turned off most of the time), The spare battery weighs less than an ounce, so it's both cheap and light.

[Hot Flash]

Another vote for phones with replaceable batteries. I've got a Samsung Galaxy S5 and two spare batteries. Plenty power to last several days in between town visits.

[BDWren]

Daniel,

I hiked about 1/3 of the trail with my large dog last year, segment 18-Durango, through those amazing San Juans. I've posted my thoughts on hiking with Buddy at my short journel of the event on http://postholer.com/journal/viewJou...entry_id=47670 which is to say in short that it was great hiking with my dog and I bought him a new Wolfdogs pack, and it was worth the investment. Buddy carried 20lbs (he's big) and this pack rode him so much better than his old REI pack. http://wolfpacks.com/products/dogpacks/banzai.html the Banzai. Their service at Wolfdogs was excellent.

Well, that's my two cents. We're returning this year, too. Going to start at the end of Segment 17 and go easterly to Denver. It was just too much fun to not do more! Maybe see you out there.

Ranger Bill and Buddy Dog