new hiker

“hey everyone my friend pamela refferred me to you guys
i'm going on my first long distance hike in 2 weeks on the 19
i will be hiking the AT north from NJ to Maine and back i have only $133 and the following gear list

3 pair pants 1 wear 2 packed
3 t- shrits
1 long sleeve shirt
1 fleeze
1 hooded sweatshirt (wool)
winter jacket (wool)
4 pair socks (wool)
3 pair underwear (cotton)
2 pair of thermal underwear top&bottom
wool cap w/ear flaps
ski mask
gloves

sleeping bag
tent 4 season
cooking pot
a peice of srceen( to cover the pot for a strainer)
alumin foil
cup
spoon
rope & string
toothpaste/brush
deodorant
soap
head lamp with extra batteries
nootboke/envolopes/stamps/3 pencils
raingear which consist of a real cheap plastic poncho and 3 heavy dutty contractor garbage bags also gonna bring 3 extra bags
1 knife
first aid kit W/ ace bandage/icy hot/ 2 heat patches
homeade alcohol stove w/fuel
tp
waterproof matches
small shovel
hatchett
tarp6x10 & 4x10

3lb bag rice
2lb bag egg noodle
gravy mix (beef flavor)
4lb bag orzo pasta
dry mix sause
jar of peanutbutter
jelly singles
coffee and sugar
1lb bag of peas
a bag of homemade trail mix
one a day vitiams
and for my frist night i'm spluging with chopmeat and sausage with spagetti and bread

pack weight 55lbs without first night dinner

any advice you guys can give would be great also looking for any info on work for stay/food places along the way that offer it
thanks
chris”

“http://www.whiteblaze.net/?s=34bad35fcb2bd27752f6145a53ee9425&

THESE are the folks to ask...not that we don't have qualified peeps here...but the folks who post on Whiteblaze seem to specialize on the AT.”

“lose the hatchet and the big tarp. The fleece and the sweatshirt/hoodie seem redundant to me. Why so many extra pants and shirts? I'd just rinse one out, thus needing only one extra.

Just my first impressions.

Have fun!”

“Go down to 1 pair of pants, 1 t-shirt, 1 long sleeve shirt, one set of long johns. If you want the ski-mask, lose the wool hat and roll up the mask. Leave the sweatshirt.

Leave the hatchet and tarp.

Repackage all that food into individual meals to cut out the excess. That is a LOT of food weight you have there.

Get a guidebook and determine if you can resupply along the way to further reduce weight.

Pack extra Advil. ;) Have a great time!”

“You don't need the deodorant or the soap.

Ditch the ski mask unless you are planning on mugging someone on the trail.

How heavy is that tent? I am guessing at least 8 pounds. You don't need a 4 season tent. Borrow a small 3 season tent and shave off at least 5 pounds.”

“Everyone always assumes that people want to reduce packweight.”

“On some freezing nights I wish I had some type of face mask.

Is that all your first aid kit has?

Do you have a repair kit?

Water purifier?

Don't rely on matches alone.

Will that food really appeal to you after a few days?”

“first outfitter you come to, pick up a copy of one of the guidebooks, preferably wingfoots

and its a little (and by a little i mean a lot) late to go from nj to maine. in a little over a month from now, katahdin (the northern terminus) will be closed except for the rarest occasion of good weather

i would suggest to do it southbound in that case, but due to your extreme inexperience, DO NOT DO IT. the 100 mile wilderness is not a place for newbs.

my advice: start at new jersey and head for georgia. you dont have time to make it to the northern terminus before it gets really bad weather. think about it. do you really want to be in the mountains of maine, at 6000 feet, in november and december? and youre too inexperienced to do a maine-nj hike. so do a nj to georgia hike (or however far your funds will last (123 dollars probably wont last til springer OR katahdin)
last edited: 9/11/07 7:12:28 AM”

“No sleeping pad? That's gonna make for some interesting sleep.”

“if youre dead-set on doing jersey to maine, wait til next year. i get the impression youre really doing this half-assed and spur of the moment. i think you need to learn some more about the trail and more about backpacking before you do this massive undertaking”

“i dont mean to sound so negative. i am by no means any kind of daniel boone. but when its already mid september, and youre talking about being a complete newbie and going from nj to maine, that really sets off alarm bells in my head. i thru-hiked in 04, and i finished about the same time youre talking about starting, and from 2-3 months away, depending on how fast you are. september is when ppl are finishing. you needed to have started back in july, not now. im sorry, but i think you need to change your plan, or be prepared to be disappointed”

“Get a guidebook and determine if you can resupply along the way to further reduce weight.

Will $133 total be sufficient for resupply for that length of trip. It seems really low from the reports I have heard. Might be able to be done... but how effectively.

There is no winter hiking gear there. Would crampons be advisable for winter hiking in the Whites? I'm thinking there could be some really nasty weather up there. What about snow shoes? If the winter is hard and the snow deep in Maine it is gonna be real tough postholing through that stuff. Miane can easily get snow in October and if you start start from Jersey the end of September you ain't getting to Maine in a week.”

“ive heard of ppl doing incredible things with very little money. hes starting out with a lot of food, but all that rice (3 pounds!) and noodles are going to get old quick

theres always yogiing (the fine art of begging without begging). good point about the snowshoes and crampons. unfortuneately, a pair would eat up just about all of his budget. and the whites are no place for a beginner in bad weather, which he will surely have by the time he gets there in october or november. forget maine, the whites could very well be unpassable to the average or beginner hiker”

“Everyone always assumes that people want to reduce packweight.”
Sarge

He gave us his gear list and asked for advice!

AS ST mentioned, check out whiteblaze.net and do a search for gear lists. You will get some good ideas on how to reduce your packweight and work for stay/food. $133 won't get you far. I have read you need an average of $1 - $3 per trail mile.

Have a great hike! And welcome to TT.”

“No, that isn't enough $...but he should do more research.

He'll make it to CT I think. ;)”

“what kind of sleeping bag do you have, newjersey? if youre going to do this anyways, youre going to want a good synthetic or down-filled bag before you head into vermont. i suggest one with a 20 degree or lower rating”

“Everyone always assumes that people want to reduce packweight

55 pounds is an EXTREMELY heavy pack for late summer in new jersey, especially if hes going to be doing this for several weeks. i dont care if he wants to or not, he NEEDS to reduce his pack weight, or the rugged rocky and steep hills of new england are going to kick hiss ass and make the whole thing totally unenjoyable. and theres not any point if you cant enjoy it
last edited: 9/11/07 7:54:33 AM”

“Shoot, at 55 lbs he will quit down the bottom of NY.”

“55 pounds is almost half of me!”

“alot of that winter gear that you wont need right away, you can mail it to yourself. mail it to general delivery and write on the package "hold for hiker ETA (whenever you think you will arrive)”

“Pay attention to what Crash Bang says.
He did all of the AT.”

“I have to agree with Crash. It's getting late in the season and hiking over the Presidential Range during an October snowstorm is not a good time to find out you are ill prepared.

I think you'd be better off starting this trip next May and taking the time to get more experience and save up some more cash for food and gear.”

“wow i didn't except to get some many reponses on this thanks to all unfortunitly i already set up a few work for stays and have been plannning this for 2 weeks already so i put all this into going north i cant change now with only 9 days left
i know its gonna be extremely rough going north at this time but i can only hope for the best and that i'll get a few nice day when i reach maine
as far as winter gear my tent is a single person 4 season tent and my sleeping bag is rated for -20 degreaes F as far as snowshoes, crampons and an ice axe i dont have them and really cant afford them i plan on looking for work along the way so i can purchase some winter gear.
as far as the stuff i'm bringing i feel i would need all of it on my trip
plus i dont have anybody to mail me resupplies
can anybody tell me the likely hood in trail towns to find work”

“Does Greyhound go anywhere in the NE for 133?”

“Creek Dancer - I know, it's just that some people I know purposefully don't reduce their weight for strength training, that's all.”

“Not likely.

Good luck there jerseynewhiker. If you don't already know where the trail towns are you're in for an interesting couple weeks.”

“you can mail yourself a package to post offices along the route. The mailman will hold it for you. This is pretty common practice and will save you from carrying a lot of food you don't need for a couple of weeks.

likewise with clean socks and that sort of stuff.”

“minus 20 bag? youre going to be roasting for awhile

bm brings up a good point. how you getting home?”

“Why are you taking 2 tarps and a 4-season tent?”

“exactly. leave them BOTH at home. you got a 4 season tent”

“have been plannning this for 2 weeks already so i put all this into going north i cant change now with only 9 days left

BAIL ON THIS NOW DUDE. Seriously, people plan these kinds of hikes for months, not weeks. Bail now, it is better to bail now and hike again than to risk death in those areas. You _can_ change your plans. Maybe you don't want to but you can. This attitude is what gets people killed. Please..... bail now and join us on some local hikes. Don't get yourself into something that can truly kill you.”

“but hes not strength-training sarge. this is the game, not practice. he needs to jettison a lot of unnecessary crap”

“i agree with rev ram. these are questions you shouldve been asking weeks ago. its not so much the last-minute thing that bothers me (if you were starting in georgia in march or april or even may, i'd say go for it have fun), its that youre going to run out of funds and hikable weather rather quickly”

“to answer the question on how i'm getting back is i'm hiking back the money i have is resevred for food”

“If you have never experienced a deep New England winter for months at a time then listen carefully to those of us who have.

Nah.. last minute from Georgia in March... knock yourself out. Have fun. Learn by doing. The worst that will likely happen is you get to the point where you are not having fun and drop off the trail. The herds of through hikers will pretty much provide a safety buffer for you. Learn by doing is cool.

But in this case you won't have that back-up. You will very possibly be the only person out there because the South bounders are going the other way and have cleared by now, the north bounders are too far north for you to catch up with. The section hikers aren't going to be doing the northern trail in the winter. People die every year because they underestimated the winter in New England. Don't be a statistic.”

“And this is your first long distance trip?

It's seriously much.”

“You will very possibly be the only person out there because the South bounders are going the other way and have cleared by now, the north bounders are too far north for you to catch up with

that is very true. i was in new jersey (making up a section that i had skipped) the first week of october, and there were days i saw no one.”

“I'm with the Rev (us men of the cloth stick together). Big flashing warning lights are going off all over the place. Can you see them? Can you hear the bells, whistles and alarms? Bail, bail, bail...and I don't mean as in your neighborhood bondsman. Go on some weekend tt hikes and make your plans once you have a handle on what you're doing and what you're up against.”

“wow i didn't except to get some many reponses on this

im kinda surprised myself. its not like fuego is slow. people must really hate their bosses and are posting on the clock out of pure spite”

“im kinda surprised myself. its not like fuego is slow. people must really hate their bosses and are posting on the clock out of pure spite”
crash bang
10:41:03 AM
9/11/07

Hey, I'm on lunch break.”

“I am self employed.... and alot of my work is done second shift-ish. So nanny nanny poo poo”

“ok so what essentials do i need for what i'm about to face i lose one pair of stated clothing above lose one tarp i wanna keep one for trapping rain fall to get fresh water keeping the hatchett what else do i need please help me revise my list given my limited funds i'm really handy and can make alot of things so thing that you can purchase sometimes you can make. its just i'm kinda unsure of what i really need my friend pamela on myspace has helped me alot you should of seen what i orignaly started with lol so any help would be great. p.s. i apprecate the concern for my safety i really dont have anyone like that in my life but i do make good decisions and have good judgement so the way i look at is if the weather gets too bad i'll just turn around and hike home and thats why i'm here to get better prepared thanks”

“i wanna keep one for trapping rain fall to get fresh water

i seriously doubt youll need to do that. the section youre hiking has plenty of water sources. but youd know that if you did a little research

keeping the hatchett
why? out of sheer stubbornness? YOU DONT NEED A HATCHET youre not going to feel like making a fire most nights after awhile, and i REALLY REALLY hope youre not planning on cutting any trees down”

“I make it a practice to stop giving advice to people who obviously don't want my best suggestions. I wish you luck.”

“TROLL!!!!!”

“cutting down trees not happening its for cutting peices down to size for camp fire i love the outdoors and plan to leave no trace while camping as far as water goes i've done my research and also know that anything could happen and what if i got lost off trail and not near a a water source and its always nice to have a back up plan also note the hactett can come in use as a tool as well, via hammer, striker for starting fires (on certian rocks) can be used with rope as a safety achor if i come across and places where the terain is steep, it can come into use if i have to make snowshoes thats why i'm bringing it”

“If you're not a troll please post your real name. I'd like to say "ahhhhhh" when I read the recovery report”

“We could ask pamela..they're friends right?”

“The dude posted his myspace site on the profile. I found it very difficult to read but that may have been my own computer settings.”

“Yo, Pammie!!

>8^O”