If you were to go Ultralight for your shelter on the AT for 5 nights . What would b your shelter choice ?
If you were to go Ultralight for your shelter on the AT for 5 nights . What would b your shelter choice ?
My wife and I always hike together, we now carry the ZPacks Triplex. For a solo trip, I would probably go with the Solo+ or the Duplex.
“He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.” –Socrates
Where on the AT on when. July in NJ would have a different answer than March in GA.
enemy of unnecessary but innovative trail invention gadgetry
I just got the Packs Altaplex last week, one week after ordering it. I'm very frustrated that I won't be able to use it until Spring. We're getting 8" of snow tonight and I doubt I will see bare ground up here in NH for quite a while.
8x10 silnylon tarp with line and 4 stakes, ground cloth (a pound or so total) maybe an 8 oz bug net. Alternately, a hammock with the above, a pound more.
"It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss
I'd have to check the exact weather first. For such a short duration trip I could really dial in the shelter to maybe a bivy sack cowboy camping the entire time. Maybe spend a night in a lean to.
Making it complicated for you to get an answer but April in the mid Atlantic states is perhaps one of the most pivotal finicky weather months of the entire yr. Weather can range widely. I base my shelter choice knowing what I expect weather wise.
ZPacks Duplex for me. Perfect for one, usable for 2 in a pinch.
It depends on how the 5 day is being approached. I don't approach every hike the same way in the same mindset. Sometimes, the approach is 10-15 m days where I might be doing something like fishing 1/3 of the on trail time maybe a 5 day being only 6o-80 miles. At other times the approach is 25+ m avg days going as fast and light as I can in thru-hiker mode from the get go with a 130-150 mile hike laid out.
When I'm in HF my mindset isn't just about hiking on a hike because hiking is not just about hiking. Hiking around and through HF means to me a journey that includes taking in the history, the views of three states, walking across a bridge, train access to Washington DC, stopping by the ATC to let many know they are appreciated and recalling friends that have passed and the potential life changing journey that the current ATers have/are experiencing, rafting or paddling, C&O canal history and where the canal path leads, watching for raptors, stopping by the outfitters, and the confluence of the Shenandoah River and Potomac Rivers where I know many a fish are just waiting. The confluence always makes me think of Shenendoah NP too.
Likely my silnylon poncho-tarp - 6 oz for combined shelter and rain-gear! . . . not counting stakes and guy-lines. Wouldn't use it if I was expecting horrible weather, but if the forecast was only moderate rain, I love my poncho-tarp.
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
None would be pretty light.
AT has shelters to sleep in, all you need is light tarp or bivy just in case if thats your plan. 5 days...good forecast....a large piece of polycro would suffice for just in case.
I carry a solplex, I don't do bugs!
Zpacks Soloplex.
Find the LIGHT STUFF at QiWiz.net
The lightest cathole trowels, wood burning stoves, windscreens, spatulas,
cooking options, titanium and aluminum pots, and buck saws on the planet
3-season CONUS
Just me- Zpacks Altaplex
Me and a partner- Zpacks Triplex
3 adults or 2 and my dog- Tarptent Cloudburst 3
MLD Patrol shelter+ borah gear bivy+polycro ground sheet.
The lightest shelter I own is a poncho tarp but I prefer to sleep in a tent.
The last two years my trips have been with my daughter.
Lightest option that I own that will sleep both of us is our Solong 6.