The Base Camp

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Russell Steen

01:46

@Ryley -- We appreciate you following us around. There's so much "information" out there on hiking the AT that it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaffe

Ryley

02:20

agreed... i think what happens is that people are so nervous about their hike before they start hte AT

Russell Steen

That would describe us. I'm up for it, but I don't want to be one of the 80% who drop out.

Ryley

so there's a lot more talk than experience out there :)

well, here's what I'd say about that:

read enough journals to get a realistic picture of what the AT is and more importantly, what it's not

and reflect on whether that's something you really want

dial in your gear as light as you possibly can

and once you start hiking, commit to it. stubbornness is a key trait of successful thru-hikers :)

Russell Steen

I definitely appreciate the advice

we've been trimming gear pretty solid

we're down to 23lbs and 18lbs for me and the wife respectively, with food and water

but i know well that 23 lbs feels like a lot more after days on the trail

Ryley

that's excellent

Russell Steen

but... so much... it never occurred to me that i'd need multiple sets of gear. Once it's brought up it makes perfect sense but....

Ryley

02:28

considering what I hear from other people, horror stories of starting with 70lbs of gear

Russell Steen

O.o

How... does .... anyone even start like that

we have a high precision kitchen scale and a fish scale

Ryley

honestly, that seems to be the norm

you'll be a "freak" on the AT

Russell Steen

we weight every peice of gear on the kitchen scale

and the full pack out on the fish scale when it's all packed

Ryley

that's perfect :)

so necessary... you never realize how heavy some things are (stuff you've carried forever and never thought about) until you weigh it!

Russell Steen

Absolutely!

My knife that I've used for years weighed a TON

we used to have over a pound in pots and pans... now we have a .7 liter titanium cup

Ryley

02:31

I was surprised by stuff like my rain pants (which I almost never wear, but weigh a lb)

Russell Steen

yeah, i could cut on rain gear

but man the stuff i got at the thrift store was cheap ;)

Ryley

yeah :) mid-summer, carrying rain gear might be silly - just get wet, if it's 75F, does it really matter? :)

Russell Steen

I've read several article lately of people advocating an umbrella instead of raingear

Ryley

I've started using "wind" pants and wind shirts instead of rain gear

Russell Steen

interesting

Ryley

02:33

a lot of people swear by the umbrellas... I've never tried it so I can't comment... but it does seem to be thru-hiker-friendly, definitely met some fans on long trails

I like the wind pants - cut the wind, and yeah, I'm wet, but I never get cold

Russell Steen

yeah, once it's summer I don't worry

Ryley

anyways, that's a pure personal choice from tons of experience in my local weather

Russell Steen

I don't care how wet it is, 75F won't give you hypothermia

Ryley

yep

exactly

and rain gear will just make you even wetter at that temp - sweat to death :)

Russell Steen

so you're in canada?

Ryley

02:37

yeah, west coast - rain rain rain :)

Russell Steen

Thanks, was trying to place the weather ;)

Ryley

we don't get that crazy humidity out here though.... when it rains it does get colder here

but rain jackets never keep the rain out... it always gets through eventually

I'm glad you guys are considering the AT... it's the start of a dangerous obsession :)

Russell Steen

Hiking is basically our life

We go all the time, usually every weekend

if it wasn't for the need to have food and housing, we'd go more

Ryley

hehe, that's always the trick :)

Russell Steen

02:53

@DavidLozy -- I've rewritten your question and reopened it. I'm sorry for taking such a liberal editing stance, but it was the only way I could find to get it into a more answerable format.

@Ryley -- Honestly the trails are so well marked on the AT that I intend to cheat just a little

because I consider it safe to assume I'm not going to get lost and so (for instance) i'm carrying my UL knife instead of a real one

Ryley

03:19

hah, that's not cheating at all :)

I call that perfectly reasonable

I thought you meant not following the trail, i.e. taking alternative routes

2 hours later…

Russell Steen

05:09

That'd be crazy

Outdoors

Q: Is it safe to camp in the desert without a tent?

I'm looking to hike the Grand Canyon (found out that as a single I do have a good shot at securing the permit!), and now I'm trying to make sure I carry as little as possible on said hike. First thing I'm thinking about ditching is a tent. I figure in May, its definitely not going to needed fro...

camping

Q: How can I keep my iPhone going on a multiday hike?

Taking a five day hike, and I want to take a bazillion pictures. It would be nice to have the compass & GPS functionality too, and I want something really small. The obvious choice is my iPhone. As everyone knows, however, an iPhone sucks juice like a baby waking up from a night's sleep. ...

electronic-gear

11 hours later…

Ryley

15:50

@Kevin - what's a better wording than "radio antenna" to get across the idea of turning off your phone service, but not GPS :)

i.e. my phone has switches to turn of 3G and Edge, but you can still receive calls

and airplane mode turns off all that and GPS

when I jailbroke my 3GS, I got the ability to turn off the whole Phone portion but leave the GPS on, which was ideal for hiking

Kevin

@Ryley Cell service? Cellular antenna?

Outdoors

Q: Mountaineering / glacial traverse: rope-up or go it alone?

When crossing a glacier (or other mountaineering activity for that matter) I've heard that roping everyone together without having a fixed anchor is falling out of fashion since more often than not if someone takes a tumble into a crevasse then end up pulling their partner(s) in with them. What i...

safety mountaineering rope

Ryley

@Kevin, Cellular antenna, I like that :)

Outdoors

16:24

Q: How long does mayonnaise last unrefrigerated in the back-country?

Yes, mayonnaise. It is sold unrefrigerated, and is an essential component of any back-country sandwich. Has anyone reached its limit and had it spoil on them? (I haven't. Of course, I've never had a bottle last more than about 6 days...)

safety food mayonnaise

5 hours later…

Outdoors

21:03

Q: Tent and sleeping bag, pack in to pack or strap to backpack?

When I bought my pack, we were told to always pack the tent and sleeping bag in the pack. Since then I have seen a lot of articles and hikers doing the outside. What are the benefits on packing the tent and sleeping bag in vs. strapping the tent and sleeping bag to the outside of the pack?