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The smell is usually a giveaway

That brook is the coldest water I experienced on the trail. Even if you don't stay at least stop by for a nice cold drink :)

The one I stayed at also had decent size rocks on the platforms. Not going to get it too tight and won't hold up in real wind but it's something.

Also, hi Pom-Pom!

Can the shoes you want to wear be purchased on Amazon with Prime delivery? If so, that's the easiest solution. Order them in one town and have them shipped to the next town (or 2 towns ahead if...

Generally, you have a lot of stuff. There is opportunity to simplify and reduce




You have two pairs of gloves - one for rain, one for winter. Just get waterproof winter gloves. When it's...

I'm going to assume it does. 26lbs is a very reasonable weight, especially in the summer. Getting down to low 20s in the summer is not uncommon.

30lbs of food and a 60lb pack are crazy numbers. Firstly, you don't ever need 6 days of food so that cuts down your weight. Even with 30lbs of food, your pack shouldn't weigh another 30lbs. Cut back....

Canadians don't play football. Lies :p

As far as food goes, I'll relate what happened to me last year. I started off with my food bag weighing around 10lbs for 3 days. I dropped 20lbs within the...

If you're only packing 12lbs of food you won't be 290 for very long :) Are you a power lifter?

It's not that you won't need 11lbs of water throughout the day but why bother carrying it up and...

Just keep in mind that water is the heaviest thing you can carry and is readily available on most of the trail. You can still drink a lot without carrying the water with you. Your 5+ liters of water...

Is this on the AT or for other trips? That's a whole lot of water to carry on the AT.

Think about what you are going to need and in what order you are going to need it. Clothes and sleeping system are probably not going to be accessed much during the day. If it isn't convenient to get...

Thanks! Me too :)

I wondered if you finished! Congrats! The last time I remember seeing you was leaving Neels Gap on that lovely rainy day.

I put together this slideshow from the pictures I took during my thru this year. I'm not super thrilled with all of the music transitions but it was fun to do and lets you see the whole AT in 30...

When are you starting? Do you need pants? I think I wore mine 2-3 times on the trail, both times when stopped at camp after it was cold and rainy all day. Since I was in camp I could have just...

Wordpress is great. Lots of customizability if you want it and easy to use. Lends itself well to mobile use, even for posting. I wasn't a fan of their actual app but there have been several updates...

Coverage isn't that good. You get it right out of Monson, then on the tops of the Chairback and White Cap ranges, then it kind of goes away until you get high on Katahdin from what I remember. Maybe...

There was a lot in that article that I won't touch, but I would say that guy who made the call on the remote summit was behaving rudely, remote summit or not. I will caveat this with my view that...

It's lighter and can be cheaper than a SPOT, allows 2 way communication, and is the first thing a loved one is going to think of calling if there is an issue. In the mountains even GPS based devices...

My opinions:

1) Boots vs trail runners - normally I'd say trail runners without gaiters but starting in Feb is a little different. I'd say wait and see what the winter is like before making the...

Truth. A suggestion I was given to help with using a phone as a reader is to switch the app from black text on a white background to white text on a black background. Takes a little getting used to...

I know one person from this year who should be back out there to finish next year but I don't think she's starting over as a thru. She made it through Shenandoah, jumped ahead a bit into PA because...

Nice! Glad to hear it!

I would actually say it is a bit foolish not to carry one. Whether you use it or not while you're in the woods is up to you, but I'd say everyone should have one. Hikers talking on the phone on the...