By way of introduction, I am a history professor (the photo above shows me atop the walls of Istanbul earlier this year) who will set aside his books for the next five to six months to hike the 2,184 mile Appalachian National Scenic Trail, more commonly known as the Appalachian Trail, or AT for short. I will blog a couple times about gear prior to my May 3 kickoff, and then check in intermittently over the course of the summer.
What is the most important AT gear? Tent? Pack? Clothing? Sleeping Bag? First Aid Kit? Boots? Ask many a successful thru-hiker and they will respond with none of the above, but instead bring up what becomes a months-long obsession.
The dilemma lies in how to maintain sufficient levels of calories and nutrients while simultaneously avoiding a pack overloaded with food. My approach has been dictated by two critical decisions. First, given that the camp stove tends to be the piece of equipment that gets mailed home earliest and most often, I will not be carrying one. This eliminates many popular trail foods from consideration. Second, my primary resupply method will be mail drops to many convenient locations, most of which are not post offices but rather business on the trail which support the trail community. Here is the contents of a mail drop, which also includes several non-food items:
Thats 2 28 oz. jars of peanut butter, 2 16 oz. summer sausages, 10 Snickers bars, 10 chewy granola bars, 48 oz. of Gorp containing equal weights of almonds, peanut M&Ms, and raisins, and 10 oz. of Shaklee protein powder – enough food for five days on the trail while consuming 5,000 calories a day.
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