Current Mileage: 28.2mi

setting sun over woods hole shelter.

Zombieland rule 1: Cardio.  

I should have done more of that.  Hindsight is 2020 I guess.  Nothing quite prepares you for climbing mountains except climbing mountains.  Especially with a 35 pound pack stuffed to the gills with too much food.  

For those of you wondering what I'm eating, here's a small sample: 

mid morning snack. 

Mmmmmmm.  Sugar.  Delicious.  I snapped this picture before I threw in a snickers for good measure.  

Tomorrow I'll be pushing through Neel Gap to the next shelter.   

cb

Made it to the top!  Hawk shelter tonight!  

Has Colin been eaten by a bear yet: No.

After being delayed for a day due to ice, rain, and snow I'll be heading out tomorrow morning.  Although this Hiker Hostel bed is comfortable, it's time to get going.  I'm going to miss my hostel buddies Olive and Maggie.   

Maggie enjoying the afternoon.

See you on the trail!

cb 

Made it to GA and the Hiker Hostel.  Phenomenal facilities and great bunkmates.  

See you on the trail!

CB

Left for the trail a few days ago headed down to GA.

Sitting in a Starbucks in Raleigh, NC enjoying the day.  

Hiker Hostel in 2 days!  See you there! 

+CB

T-MINUS 7 DAYS

Exactly 1 week from now I'll be packing up the car, driving down to Georgia with Mark, and starting the trail!  

Bags are coming together and now it's mostly just planning some food.  

I have a terrible habit of under eating when hiking, but I have a feeling that will change.

All,

A few of you have asked if you can donate to my trip.  I am fortunate enough to have what I need to hike the trail.  Please keep it and spend it on something worthwhile.  

Thank you!

C

T-MINUS 16 DAYS.

“...the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry...”

— Robert Burns, 1785

16 days until I pack up the car and head for Springer Mountain, GA.  It's frightening.  So much to do, so much to still plan, and so much to prepare.  After my last update I was set on certain choices.  Well, about 10 seconds after posting it, I changed something.  The AT is all about adapting to what it throws at you.  Sure you can plan out the first 30 days, but by day 3 you're probably going to go off track.  

Planning can only get you so far.  Eventually you'll just have to face your fears, jump in, and do it.  At this point, I have locked in nearly 99% of what I can.  Some things just can't be planned.  Right now, I've planned out the first 10 days to give myself a solid footing and from there I will figure it out as I go.

At this point, my good friend Mark with be driving down to GA with me over the course of a week making stops in a few cities and seeing a few people.  

eighty two.

Eighty two days until I leave for the AT.  Oh shit.  A mild panic has set in. It's actually a little mind boggling.  In some ways, I still can't believe I'm doing it.  It's surreal.  Anyway, with the hike coming up so soon, I've been making some big decisions on gear, timing, and everything related to the trip.  It's definitely time to stop researching and actually buy things.  (To mom: sorry about all of the packages.)

The past few days my debit card has been hiding from me.  I think it's scared.  After a few large purchases, I've purchased nearly all of my gear minus a few tidbits here and there. Nothing a few stops to....REI...can't fix!  (I am so so sorry ellie.) Give me those points!  In order to clearly organize my gear, I've created a Lighterpack.com page that contains everything I'm bringing, including weights and quantities.  In this format it is much easier to read.  Below you can find a cool button to take you to that page.  It's still a work in progress, but it seems to be the best choices I can come up with right now.

The past few weeks have been full of constant decisions.  This or that?  1 or 3?  Do I really need that?  Maybe?  Is it heavy?  Do I reaaaaaalllly need that?   Lots of research, second guessing, and asking strangers on the internet for help.

After determining that I need to get off the trail sooner rather than later, I've decided to move up my start date to February 15th or so depending on weather.  In September I look forward to participating in an Outward Bound Instructor course in the PNW.  In order to give myself maximum recovery time, I need to be off the trail ASAP.  Decision made.  Whew!

Starting in February brings new challenges, including the possibility for snow, ice, and frigid temperatures.  In order to combat the cold, I will be bring extra warmth and gear to begin the trail.  Somewhere around Virginia or before I will begin dumping winter gear in favor for warm weather gear.  This will easily save me pounds of weight off of my back, something critically important when you are carrying everything up and down mountains for months.

Things are finally coming together.

As I sat down a few weeks ago to write this post, I figured it would be a breeze.  I'd write a few sentences, maybe talk about my gear, where I've come from, but every time I sat down to write it, I stared blankly at the screen until I tabbed to reddit or netflix.  It's not like I had writer's block or anything, I simply had no way to phrase what I wanted to get on to paper.  This is a measly attempt to do so.

Three years ago I hit a plateau. Motivation level: -10. It was early in the semester of my senior year, a few weeks before the holidays and winter break. I was 90% to my degree with nothing but time and a thesis between myself and graduation.  Senior year was supposed to be stress free.  A time of relaxation, cooking classes, and beer classes to fill credit requirements.  It was anything but.  But let's rewind back to freshman year.

Freshman year.  Figured I knew everything already.  Typical freshman behavior.  I knew what I wanted to do.  I enrolled as a Forensics Science major.  First class: Criminal Justice 100.  The absolute, most boring class I have ever taken.  Don't get me wrong, Danny Maxwell was a pretty fantastic professor, but the material.  Oh jeeze.  I slept more in that class than I'd like to admit.  Combined with 4 question multiple choice "tests," I hated every second.  Fast forward a few weeks, a couple days of asking myself, "what the fuck am I going to do?" and you end up with the decision to move to Marine Biology.  I thought I found my calling.  I loved the ocean, the sea, the smell of salt water, and mud.  This, this was my calling.  Yea, well, apparently not. Damn. Fast forward back to senior year.

It's senior year, thesis deadlines approach, winter break is approaching, and I have less confidence in my life choices than ever before.  A few beers later I decided my fate.  I was going to graduate school and that was that.  I would get a Master's and start working.  I quit my Resident Assistant position to concentrate on getting into graduate school.  Three years of Reslife and I had had it.  A workplace filled with backstabbing and brown nosers. Better to concentrate on my future instead of the current. Hundreds of dollars later, the GREs, and a few more beers, my applications were in.  Months roll by.  Constant waiting.

I withdraw all of my applications.

 I decide I don't want to spend my life writing papers, hoping funding will come through and I won't be fired or let go.  Time ticks and it's 4 months to graduation.  A few friends, Kristina and Andrea (Thanks guys!), recommend I check out AmeriCorps.  I apply for a traditional Corps Member position.  It seems right up my alley.  Outdoor manual labor combined with a team environment.  It's a plan. It's now July, I'm waitlisted, and mom's nagging me about my future.  "I'll figure it out, I always do."  First week of July, Beth calls and offers me a FEMA Corps Team Lead position.  It's not what I wanted, but clearly I can't decline the leadership opportunities.  

FEMA Corps is a whirlwind.  11 months of Logistics Support has left me with more knowledge and leadership than ever before.  Mom asks, "going to get a real job yet?"  "No."

I move to Denver, CO and take a position with NCCC as a Support Team Lead.  11 months absolutely whizz by and I finally have a single idea of what I'd like to do.  Probably the 10000 time, "So do you have a plan yet?"  "Yes, yes mom, I do."  I lay out my plan.

"You want to do what?" Mom asks.  "Why?"

My dad sits there smugly, having hiked large portions of the AT.  

"I have a plan, I'm going to thru hike the AT."

And here we are.  To answer the question, "Why?"

I've always been interested in the outdoors.  The leaves, the sounds of the oceans, the big blue sky, the rain.  It's always fascinated me.  It's the reason I moved to marine biology in the first place.  Sometimes you follow a tangent and it doesn't work out.  Sometimes it does.  I'm hiking the AT to follow a tangent.  

I talk about AmeriCorps a lot.  It's something tangential to where I am today.  After choosing to not go to graduate school, I thought I'd be stuck.  I thought I'd lead to terrible things.  Instead, I found NCCC.  AmeriCorps taught me a lot.  Independence, leadership, perseverance, stress management, and how to make cheap food.  All traits critical to a successful AT thru hike.  It was during my time in AmeriCorps that I discovered something: I hated school.  It wasn't the classes, it wasn't the people, it was the automated feeling of the whole thing, start to finish.  You go to school, graduate, go to college, get a degree, then find a job.  We don't teach to learn, we teach to pass exams, standardized tests, and move through the system.  Critical thinking, leadership, independence, completely ignored.  It's 2015 and students don't even know basics such as how credit cards work.  But back to the point.

If I could do it all over again, I probably wouldn't go to college.  While I don't regret any of the friendships I've made or the life lessons I've learned, I regret following a tangent I had no further interest in.  And that brings me back to the AT. We strive the learn and teach each other.  I want to get people outside.  To explore the outdoors, the wilderness, and the peace and quiet of a mountain top.  The AT is my way of getting there.  That's why.

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.”

— Robert Frost

First off...what a hiatus...
Between finishing AmeriCorps, moving, working, procrastinating, sleeping, and eating, I really dropped the ball on this.

Anyway, despite not posting to the blog, my research never stopped.  Today, I'm going to be covering a part of my sleeping system, the sleeping bag/quilt and the ground pad.  Both are crucial to staying warm outdoors.  

The sleeping bag/quilt and pad work in conjunction to reduce heat loss and trap heat inside.  Looking back to freshman physics (which I may have been sleeping in), heat is lost through 4 main channels: conduction, convection, radiation, and evaporation.  The ultimate goal of any sleep system is to keep the warm stuff warm, and the cold stuff cold.  Contact with cold ground saps heat through conduction.  A pad will keep the body off of the ground and away from the cold ground.  The sleeping bag, or quilt in my case, minimizes heat loss through convection, radiation, and evaporation.  The quilt prevents cool air from puling heat away from the body though convection. It also traps radiated heat and holds it inside, and finally minimizes evaporation from the skin.  The goal of any sleeping system is to trap air and keep it as a buffer between a warm body and the cool outdoors.

The Enlightened Equipment (EE) Enigma, a lightweight, down quilt. 

So, what's the difference between a quilt and a mummy style sleeping bag?  Will I'm glad you asked!  Well, let's start with the familiar. A mummy style sleeping bag continues up past the head, zips tightly closed (usually leaving just the face exposed), and like quilts, comes in many sizes, shapes, weights, and ratings. The primary difference between the two is the lack of insulation on the bottom.  The theory is that due to the weight of the person inside, the insulation on the bottom of the bag is merely wasted due to compression of the fill.  Therefore, designers sought to remove the bottom, save weight, and reduce material.  In either case, a ground pad is present to reduce heat loss through the bottom.

In addition, the quilt ends at the neck and leaves the bottom of the bag nearly open.  Clasps and straps allow the bottom of the quilt to be closed as desired.  Although the quilt provides less insulation around the neck and head, this can be supplemented by warm caps or clothing.  Nothing will replace a good mummy bag in the winter, but for 3.5 season camping, it should more than suffice.

The next thing I considered was down fill vs synthetic.  Synthetic bags rely on spun materials like polyester to provide loft.  Synthetic is a phenomenal insulator, even when wet, but is terribly heavy and packs down poorly.  Down is ridiculously light, packs down to a fraction of its lofted size, but is completely useless when wet.  In addition, down can lose loft (and therefore warmth) when dirty (sweat, dirt, oils, etc.)  Despite this, down is the obvious choice due to it's weight and packability.

Down is measured in Fill Power, which is a measure of a down's loft (or ability to trap air).  A down with a higher fill power will loft more than a down with less fill power with the same amount of total down.  A higher fill power means having the same warmth with better compressibility and lighter weight than a down with less fill power.

The quilt.  I chose the Enlightened Equipment Enigma for a few reasons.  I wanted a quilt with minimal weight, down-fill, and able to be highly customized.  The Enigma comes with three choices of down fill, down treatment, temperature ratings, length, width, and many colors.  For my trip, I chose 850 fill treated down, 20 F rating, regular length, wide width, and some funky colors.  

The Therm-a-rest NeoAir XLite

Just like the insulation in your home, different ground pads have different R-values.  R-value is a material's resistance to conductive heat flow (in this case, loss).  The TaR NeoAir Xlite has an R-value of 3.2, moderate on the scale in terms of pads.  Some pads have R-values >6, but are significantly heavier and overkill for the AT.  This model gains its R-value from from trapping air.  Other models may use foam or a combination of the two.  In addition, the thickness of the pad provides a nice reprise from the hard ground.

There's nothing worse than being terribly cold when sleeping, as many of my AmeriCorps friends can attest to while using those terrible sleeping bags.

“Water is the driving force of all nature.”

— Leonardo da Vinci

Water. Critical to life.

Finding water on the trail is typically quite easy.  Streams, springs, spigots, and other places offer an abundance of almost clean water!

So, now you have water.  But where has it been?  Maybe a bear pooped in it upstream.  Maybe there's human waste from poor hiking practices.  There's just no way to know.  Waterborne disease on the trail is a quick way to misery and possibly ending or delaying a hike on the trail.

There are a few considerations when thinking about water filtration and what method works best:

1. Clarity/Turbidity: is there a lot of slit or particles in the water?  Is it visibly dirty?
2. Pollutants: Does the water have a funny smell?  Are there contamination sources around (roads, etc.)? 
3. Organisms: protozoa, bacteria, and viruses, oh my!

Perfect.  So now you want cleaner water.  There are a myriad of solutions when it comes to water treatment.  Water treatment falls under 4 general categories:

1. UV or Ultraviolet
   1. UV treatment can range from natural methods to using devices such as a Steri-pen.  Using the sun, while free and abundant, can require anywhere from hours to days to purify water.  Not very useful on the trail where water is constantly needed!  Steri-pens are small, pen shaped devices with a UV emitter on the end.  While decent at cleaning up water, the devices require batteries and are somewhat fragile. In addition, UV does poorly with heavily silted water and does nothing for pollutants and particles. Example: Steri-pen
2. Filters (Extensive-type)
   1. Extensive large-type filters are aimed at being harder working and more durable than those of the small-type.  While there are no distinct qualifiers between the two types, feature sets are the biggest difference between the two. Large-type filters generally contain active-carbon filters in addition to multiple other filters which remove some pollutants and improve taste.  In addition, these filters are able to process more water than smaller filters.  These filters cover clarity, pollutants, and most organisms except viruses.  The major downside of these filters is weight.  Example: Katadyn Hiker Pro
3. Filters (Lightweight-type)
   1. These filters are similar to their larger brethren, but are aimed at lightweight hiking and contain fewer features. Generally speaking, these filters contain a single filter, which excels at cleaning up clear water.  These filters work optimally with clear water which only requires microorganism removal.  Unfortunately due to their small size and single filter, these filters get easily clogged with heavily silted water and must be back flushed frequently with dirty water. Again, like their larger cousins, these filters are unable to filter viruses. Example: Sawyer Mini or Squeeze
4. Boiling
   1. Boiling is the simplest method to water disinfection.  Boiling requires nothing more than heat and time. Although boiling is free, creating heat in the backcountry requires fuel.  Boiling requires a minimum of 60 seconds, which means using critical fuel supplies, whether that is canisters, alcohol, or tabs.  Although wood is free and abundant, building fires can be time consuming and can leave permanent scarring on ground cover.  In addition, boiling requires 1 minute extra per 1,000 ft of elevation gained.  Boiling will kill microorganisms including viruses, remove some pollutants (depends on their boiling point), but won't clear up turbidity. 
5. Chemical
   1. Chemical disinfectants come in many shapes and sizes, but Chlorine Dioxide has become popular in recent years.
      1. Chlorine Dioxide: Chlorine Dioxide, is a powerful disinfectant that uses oxidation as its primary method of disinfection.  In addition, ClO2 leaves no taste.  The primary downside to ClO2 is that cold water and turbidity reduces the effectiveness of the chemical. Example: Aquamira
      2. Iodine: Old school halogen style disinfectant still widely used, but leaves a terrible aftertaste.  Still a popular choice, but maybe have gone away from it simply because of taste.  Example: Portable Aqua
      3. Chlorine: Simple chlorine bleach can be used in a pinch, but can leave bad aftertaste.  Two drops of 5% bleach can clean about a liter of water.

In the case of my hike, I will be using a combination of two methods, a small-type filter (Sawyer Squeeze) and Chlorine Dioxide (Aquamira).  I chose these two methods for two reasons.  First, the Squeeze can provide instant, nearly clean water and can be used like a straw to drink if necessary.  Second, sometimes Norovirus can appear on the trail, which the Squeeze cannot handle.  Aquamira can chemically treat and mitigate the virus.  Day to day I'll use the Squeeze, but may likely use the Aquamira when I don't want to sit around and filter water.  

There is a phenomenal article on wikipedia detailing water purification that can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_water_purification

Let's face it, we all need to eat.  Food go in, energy comes out, rinse and repeat, day after day.

Long distance hikers eat a lot.  Pretty much anything in sight disappears.  If it's out, somebody will eat it.  

Food preferences on the trail are as wide and diverse as there are stars in the universe.  There are junk food junkies, honey-bun lovers, natural food noshers, and pretty much everything in between.  I think I fall into all of those categories.

Let's be real, we would all love to eat a gourmet meal 5 times a day on the trail, but that's simply not possible.  There are few key issues when dealing with food on the trail that must be looked at:

1. Weight: Water is heavy.  Extremely heavy.  8.34lbs per gallon to be exact.  Unfortunately nearly everything we eat on a daily basis is chock full of water. Minimizing water weight is critical.
2. Calories: Long distance hiking burns far more calories than the average day at the office.  Consuming enough calories is a major issue for anybody hiking long term.  
3. Nutrition: Sure, honeybuns are delicious.  They're full of sweet, sweet calories, but they're awful for you.  400+ calories of pure fat and sugar.  Delicious.  But again, awful for nutrition.
4. Packaging: cans are heavy, packaging can be bulky, and old trash smells awful.

Considering the points above, there are many options that I have for eating on the trail, but all of the options fall under two categories:

1. Buying as you go
2. Regular resupplies

Both options allow for great food diversity, but there are advantages and disadvantages to both.  First off, buying as you go requires no partner back home to mail your packages or really any outside assistance, and minimizes the risk of missing a package at a post office or location holding your package.  Disadvantages are that you must properly buy enough food for the time between stops, you may find a market has a less than optimal selection (like eating nothing but junk food until your next stop), and the risk of carrying foods you'd regularly not take.  Receiving packages at regular intervals allows for consistent food resupplies, minimizes the risk of running into less optimal food options, and allows the hiker to receive anything else they may need on the trail from a home base.  Of course there are disadvantages to this method, which include getting bored of the food being sent, missing a window to getting a package (post office/motel closed, missing a delivery, etc.), and above all, it requires a partner to send packages on regular intervals.

For my hike, I still haven't decided.  I thought I wanted to do resupply boxes, but I'm not sure anymore.  Freedom on the trails seems pretty nice.  Plus who wants to eat clif bars and trail mix for 5 months...

Both have their merits, but I'm not quite sure which way I want to go yet.  To be decided, I guess.  

Since the 1930's, over 15,000 thousand hikers have completed the Appalachian Trail wearing a multitude of footwear. Hikers have worn everything from sandals to sneakers to heavy mountaineering boots.  A couple of people have even done it barefoot! Personally, I've always been a traditionalist and a big fan of hiking boots.  In recent years, there has been a big push towards lightweight hiking shoes or trail runners, especially among those completing thruhikes.

---

Although I considered following this route as well, I decided against it for the time being.  Although trail runners are significantly lighter, they provide much less protection than a boot.  There are thousands of posts on the internet arguing both sides, but I will return to the saying of HYOH (hike your own hike).  The reasons I chose a boot were the following: ankle stability, waterproofing, durability, and protection.

---

And the search began...

Requirements for the boots:

1. As low weight as possible
2. Not leather
3. Ankle support due to repeated sprains
4. Waterproof or at least water resistant

After searching and researching for the perfect pair of shoes, I concluded that the Salomon Quest 4D II Boots met my full requirements.  In addition, thanks to a REI garage sale and dividends, I managed to snag two pairs for significantly less than retail.  (To the person who wore the size 11 boots once and returned them, I love you.)

Salomon Quest 4D II GTX Boots

The Salomon Quest 4D II Boots are mid-weight at 1540g/pair (including insoles), have a Goretex liner, ankle protection, and a generous toe-box.  Everything I have been looking for in a boot.  Although I would have loved to find a lighter pair of boots, these boots aren't terribly heavy.

Like I said before, there are disadvantages of wearing boots.  First of all, weight.  Each ounce of weight on my feet will require significantly more energy to move. The exact science isn't clear, but there is no doubt that a heavier shoe requires more energy to move.  This is the reason many thrus choose to wear trail runnings shoes as they are significantly lighter.  The second disadvantage is moisture management.  Feet hate moisture.  Blisters and many other issues are caused by walking with wet feet. Just look at the trench foot of WWI.  Boots, especially those made of leather or containing a Goretex liner simply take much more time to dry than those without.  Trail runners are much more breathable than boots and allow moisture to move easily through, but at the cost of waterproofing.  

Footwear is highly personal, and maybe down the line I'll switch over.  I'll figure it out, but for now, boots it is.

The first thing any hiker is told when asking for help planning for a trip is to HYOH, or "Hike Your Own Hike."  It's something that gets drilled into every hiker besides following Leave No Trace principles. Just because some guy did the AT carrying less than 10 pounds doesn't mean everybody has to. I'm sure as heck not going that ultralight and minimalist.  I believe in carrying what's necessary without excess or luxury.

I follow a few gear principles that have served me well so far:

1: Every piece of gear should have a distinct purpose, preferably many.  (In the words of Alton Brown, "NO UNITASKERS!")

2. Minimalist, without sacrificing comfort.

3. Plan for the reasonable

Sure, I'd love to carry a 4 person tent, fresh vegetables, an air mattress, my dSLR, and other comforts, but my back wouldn't survive the first 5 miles.  This isn't car camping!

Despite that fact that the AT does not have serious high elevation and is the shortest distance compared to the PCT or CDT, the AT has some of the most severe elevation gain/loss of the Triple Crown.  That's right.  Even the CDT which passes through the Rocky Mountains has less elevation gain/loss than the AT. I'm not saying it's any easier, but many people seem to pass over the AT as being easy or flat.  That is simply untrue, which is why my gear choices will be critical in the coming months as I prepare for the trail.  There will be a lot of ups, a lot of downs, and a lot of miles to come.

344 days until I depart.

Last week I picked a date.  March 21st, 2016.  

I'm still working on logistics on getting down there, but possibly driving.  

Who knows...