Anticipation building!

Two months and a week to go till I fly to Atlanta to start the 2,181 mile Appalachian Trail.  My plan is to hike the Appalachian Trail in about 106 days.  That's a fast hike!  It has been done before by fast hikers like Andrew Skurka and Krudmeister.  They are fast, I move at a Penguins pace though.

The Appalachian Trail stretches from Georgia to Maine through the backbone of the east, the Appalachian Mountains.  Home of Southern accents, moonshine, dreams and ambitions, yet still plagued by stereotypes and the misconceptions.   Here's a highly detailed map of my route.

The only conceivable way to make a 106 day hike of the Appalachian trail feasible for me is to cut every spare ounce I can from my gear.  Zpacks offers several ultra light tarps and a line of packs that weigh mere ounces.  My current pack weighs just under 2 pounds, and tent is also 2 pounds.  The 3.2 oz Hexamid shelter combined with a 7.4 oz pack slips by at a mere 10.6 ounces, a weight savings of 3 pounds after adding a 4 oz Tyvek ground sheet.

The old stove that I have become accustomed to, a MSR Pocket Rocket is finally ready to retire.  This lightweight champ of a stove served me well and will always receive praises from me.   However a cat food can also functions nicely as a stove and is nearly weightless.  Here's a picture of one I made following the plans on Andrew Skurka's website.

I will whittle down my gear more as I approach the start of my hike, but till then I must strive to juggle 17 credit hours at Northern Arizona University, a job at Starbuck's, and some training to get in hiker shape.

Cheers,

Guino