Unlimited Money. what would you do?

[Doc Mike]

Ok for starters I'm not in this category, but assuming you had an unlimited amount of money to outfit yourself for a thru-hike. What equipment would you buy, to include everything for the hike so big four plus clothes etc.

For example would you get the best gear and a sherpa to carry it, or a llama, or goat? Sorry i thought the goat part was funny until I read more about pack goats.

Thanks
Doc Mike

[kayak karl]

Ok for starters I'm not in this category, but assuming you had an unlimited amount of money to outfit yourself for a thru-hike. What equipment would you buy, to include everything for the hike so big four plus clothes etc.

For example would you get the best gear and a sherpa to carry it, or a llama, or goat? Sorry i thought the goat part was funny until I read more about pack goats.

Thanks
Doc Mike

if i had unlimited money the AT is the last hike i'd go on.

[Doc Mike]

What would be the first and why since this would be the last out of the 100's world wide?

doc mike

[Roughin' It]

Zpacks Hexamid solo tent w/screen
therm-a-rest NeoAir
A nice FeatheredFriends or WM sleeping bag
ULA CDT pack

I guess those are all the things I want that cost more money than I have right now.

[Roughin' It]

and yeah I would spend the money to go hike all over the world after the PCT and CDT

[wnderer]

Bikini Babe Sherpas

[Toolshed]

i'd invest it.

[ChinMusic]

Buy a lot of rounds?

[Manwich]

I'd have Warbonnet make me a WBBB / Tarp in CubenFiber, Ultralight ZPack and cubenfiber parka of sorts

[tlap]

I wouldn't mind a sherpa...who was also a licensed massage therapist...and a gourmet cook.

I would also have a personal assistant to meet me at my town/resupply stops, with clean laundry and wholesome food already taken care of. Then I could spend my zero day exploring the town and having fun. I obviously couldn't keep this assistant busy full time, so s/he could do trail magic for a lot of people along the way.

[Luddite]

Yeah get yourself a sherpa and have him carry you a wall tent and a cot. Forget that ultralight nonsense.

[Sierra Echo]

I would hire my exhusband to be my pack mule and then I would proceed to swat at him with a switch the entire way!

[GalHikingTheGap]

Just read that some of the Ivy League guys who did the early work on exploring and summitting K2 had porters carry brass bed frames, and sherpas would "beg for the honor" of laying out sir's toiletries, removing his shoes...!

Baby D

[Luddite]

I think I read something about that in that book The Adventurer's Handbook.

[Bear Cables]

Unlimited funds? Probably the gear I carry now but replace my sil nylon tarp with a cuben fiber one. Everything else is great. Oh ... but I'd probably fly out west more for a second hike of the year.

[leaftye]

First, I'd hire a blimp to provide shade and rain protection.

Next would be eye surgery because it sucks missing wildlife and having to put on eyeglasses and wait for them to defog to confirm that there is indeed a mountain lion 10 yards away.

My shelter would probably be a Big Sky Mirage 2P breathable cuben tent with carbon poles...unless I can build an inflatable cuben fiber version of my Black Diamond Lighthouse tent.

Pack would be a Titanium Goat external frame pack or something similar with cuben fiber bags.

I'd see if Kookabay or EnLIGHTened Equipment would build me a cuben down air mattress and a cuben fiber bivy.

I'd keep my cuben fiber down quilt, GG LT4 trekking poles and Bearikade Expedition.

For clothing, I'd make a shirt like my Ecomesh, except with wool fabric. I'd add Ecomesh pants. I'd love wool underwear, but I prefer a 9" inseam in my boxer briefs and UnderArmour is the only company that currently makes this. I have plenty of Fox River liner socks and over half a dozen Inov-8 shoes,. I'm considering Inov-8 Evoskin sandals for camp shoes and water crossings. Suluk46 titanium crampons might replace my Kahtoola crampons. I'd keep my Fugu down jacket and add a breathable cuben rain jacket.

I might even do a few more custom things if I can find people to make them, for example, a breathable cuben fiber down jacket.

[nufsaid]

" I'll tell you what I'd do, man: two chicks at the same time, man."

Lawrence from Office Space

[Danielsen]

Well, first I'd buy a nice low-maintenance rental property and hire an accountant. Then find some nice responsible renters, and shazam, long-term income source that I don't have to personally attend to.

Next would be corrective eye surgery. Can't wait to get rid of these glasses.

Gear would probably be something like a ULA CDT, cuben lightheart solo (if I can get her to make me another!) to swap out with a Hennessy Adventure Racer hammock, a good down quilt, and I guess I'd try a nice inflatable pad. I'm a big fan of being able to cut a cheap blue foamy into whatever shape I want, so who knows. Clothing would probably involve some montbell; I've been lusting over their down jackets for a while. I suppose I could have my pick of the market as far as rain gear, as well. My feet would be treated to the 5.10 Savant for less rugged conditions and the 5.10 Exum Guide when I need something with mid ankles and a durable leather upper.

Next, of course, are plane tickets. I really need to hit the Annapurna circuit before it gets paved. And then there are the long foot routes in Europe, the inca trails in peru, and Mount Roraima in Venezuela, as well as the Parque Nacional los Nevados in Colombia which I have vowed to return to. But obviously I've got to get some of our fine north american hikes underway sometime, so here's my plan: get on the North Country Trail near my hometown of Fredonia (just a little north), take it northeast through the Adirondacks to its terminus. Connect with Vermont's green trail, take it to where it meets the AT and head south along the AT. Where the AT meets the ADT, hang a left and head west. When it meets up with the NCT in Ohio, take the NCT up into North Dakota and then roadwalk the Lewis and Clark trail to the trailhead of the Pacific Northwest trail, and take that over to the PCT. Head south again, until you come to the other end of the ADT, and hang a right to head east. Follow it to Ohio once again where you meet up with the NCT again and take it back up to where you started in southwestern NY state.

Get it? It's a giant X that crosses in Ohio. It also bags a thru of the NCT, PNT, and ADT while logging some miles on the PCT and AT. You could probably shorten it by using the CDT as the connector instead of PCT, but whatever.

By the way, I really don't like Ohio.

[earlyriser26]

The funny thing is I have the money to do all these things and have thought about doing any of them.

[Trillium]

I wouldn't mind a sherpa...who was also a licensed massage therapist...and a gourmet cook.

I would also have a personal assistant to meet me at my town/resupply stops, with clean laundry and wholesome food already taken care of. Then I could spend my zero day exploring the town and having fun. I obviously couldn't keep this assistant busy full time, so s/he could do trail magic for a lot of people along the way.

I like the way you think!