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How much food should i carry if Im trying to stay out of towns as much as possible? will i need a sleeping pad? what degree of a sleeping bag should i get? should i carry a tarp and a tent/
How much food should i carry if Im trying to stay out of towns as much as possible? will i need a sleeping pad? what degree of a sleeping bag should i get? should i carry a tarp and a tent/
Regardless of when and where you are hiking - you need a sleeping pad. Temp rating of your bag depends on you. Are you a cold sleeper or warm sleeper? Everyone is different. Pick one - either a tarp or tent but you don't need both. I'm just a lowly section hiker, so I'll let others advise on your food.
Good luck on your hike!
Jack Tarlin
12-22-2010, 19:18
Reds:
Welcome to Whiteblaze.
1. You will almost certainly want a lightweight sleeping pad of some type.
2. The type of bag you bring depends on what time of year you leave,
whether you travel North or South, etc. Most folks who leave Georgia in
late winter or early Spring start with a bag rated from 15-30 degrees;
switch to a lighter-weight "summer" bag later in the trip (i.e. SW Virginia)
and then switch back to the warmer bag for the completion of their trip
in Northern New England. But some folks go all the way with a bag
rated around 30 degress. You'll figure out what works for you.
3. There's lots of info here in the "Articles" section of Whiteblaze that deals
with food, Re-Supply, where and how to get stuff, how much to carry,
etc. You may find it useful to check this stuff out.
Good luck with your planning and trip!
It sounds like what you need is some experience. Go get some weekend hikes under your belt (in fair weather first), expand those to week-long hikes, and you'll learn what you need to know.
StormBird
12-22-2010, 22:03
You have to go into town every 2-5 days depending on availability of town stops. Normally you carry 1-2 pounds of food per day. Carry high calorie foods to cut down on weight.
YOU WILL NEED A SLEEPING PAD! Even if it's a cheap piece of foam from walmart. You loose a ton of warmth from the ground and air.
I carried a 15 degree bag when it was cold out and a 30 degree during the summer. Really, in the summer months you could get a cheap fleece blanket from walmart. (i knew alot of hikers that did that). my 30 degree bag was a pound, so I wasn't too worried about weight even though it was over kill for summertime.
Either carry a tent or a tarp, don't carry both. Don't forget that there are hundreds of shelters along the trail to sleep in.
Have fun planning your adventure!
Serial 07
12-23-2010, 00:26
reds...you'll need a sleeping pad...do a little research on here...find jack's resupply breakdown...all shall unfold with proper investigation...
4eyedbuzzard
12-23-2010, 00:37
How much food should i carry if Im trying to stay out of towns as much as possible? will i need a sleeping pad? what degree of a sleeping bag should i get? should i carry a tarp and a tent/
Start here (http://whiteblaze.net/index.php?page=content). Read the articles - the links are on the left. Then post more questions.
Thanks for the advice everyone it realy did help
rapchizzle
12-27-2010, 15:22
I plan to start with my 20 degree down bag and switch to a 45 degree synthetic bag for the hotter parts of the trip. and I for sure will be carrying a sleeping bad with me.
If you're going to thru-hike the AT northbound, make sure you don't swap out for your warm gear at Damascus, VA -- on my thru-hike it was about 20*F at Thomas Knob shelter a couple nights north of Damascus on May 22nd. Probably Pearisburg, VA is the earliest you'd want to be looking to get your warm weather gear (about milepoint 670 or so).
Further north, plan to pick up your cold weather gear around or before Glencliff, NH which is around milepoint 1777. The windchill was a balmy minus 19*F when I went up Mt. Washington on September 16th and it gets cold in The Whites and northward from there.
Datto