rjhouser
05-14-2011, 15:36
My dad and I are planning an overnighter this week from Carvers Gap to US 19 E. I am relatively new to hiking, although I did do a 21 mile overnighter in the foothills of the Uwharries back in March. I have done maybe a days worth of mountain hiking, none of which was on the AT. I'm planning my thru for next summer after graduation, semi-ultralight. I know our trip this week is only a little over 13 miles but we plan on taking our time.
I'm looking for any type of advice at all, gear related or not. If anybody is familiar with the hike I would love to hear about it. I have heard it is popular, and sometimes "crowded". How low of temperatures do we need to be prepared for this time of year and at above 5,000 ft? I know it varies widely but we are expecting some rain and I read somewhere that a group was doing this hike in July once when it rained and got down to 40 degrees.
We are not trying to go out and drop a ton of money on this trip, I know I will somewhat be doing that for my thru but for now we want to keep the spending a minimum. So what would you consider vital for an overnighter? My gear now is as follows:
Sierra designs lightyear 1 tent
Golite Quest pack
Small thermarest ridgerest
Eureka silver city 30 deg. bag (planning on upgrading to a lighter, warmer down bag soon, but my dad had this already so I decided to make it work for now)
My dad's gear list is more old school and traditional camping style, so I'm trying to decide what he needs / shouldn't bring. He doesn't have any synthetic clothes. We do have ponchos, would this be fine for him if he wore cotton shirt / pants? I know sweating is still a problem. Also, I was thinking he might like a hammock as opposed to using his old foam mat but he has never tried sleeping in one and is worried about using one for the first time on the trail. Also, about bear canisters: I have heard it has been years since a bear has been spotted on this hike, but we plan on hanging our food regardless. Is using a bag to hang it OK or is a canister style better to keep out rodents etc? Is their a cheap form of container that can be a substitute?
As you can prob tell, I'm a newbie. I have done a decent amount of reading but my experience is lacking. I want this trip to go well and only fuel my desire to thru in '12 even more. Any advice is welcome. Thank you,
Ryan
I'm looking for any type of advice at all, gear related or not. If anybody is familiar with the hike I would love to hear about it. I have heard it is popular, and sometimes "crowded". How low of temperatures do we need to be prepared for this time of year and at above 5,000 ft? I know it varies widely but we are expecting some rain and I read somewhere that a group was doing this hike in July once when it rained and got down to 40 degrees.
We are not trying to go out and drop a ton of money on this trip, I know I will somewhat be doing that for my thru but for now we want to keep the spending a minimum. So what would you consider vital for an overnighter? My gear now is as follows:
Sierra designs lightyear 1 tent
Golite Quest pack
Small thermarest ridgerest
Eureka silver city 30 deg. bag (planning on upgrading to a lighter, warmer down bag soon, but my dad had this already so I decided to make it work for now)
My dad's gear list is more old school and traditional camping style, so I'm trying to decide what he needs / shouldn't bring. He doesn't have any synthetic clothes. We do have ponchos, would this be fine for him if he wore cotton shirt / pants? I know sweating is still a problem. Also, I was thinking he might like a hammock as opposed to using his old foam mat but he has never tried sleeping in one and is worried about using one for the first time on the trail. Also, about bear canisters: I have heard it has been years since a bear has been spotted on this hike, but we plan on hanging our food regardless. Is using a bag to hang it OK or is a canister style better to keep out rodents etc? Is their a cheap form of container that can be a substitute?
As you can prob tell, I'm a newbie. I have done a decent amount of reading but my experience is lacking. I want this trip to go well and only fuel my desire to thru in '12 even more. Any advice is welcome. Thank you,
Ryan