Notes From The Trail
Springtime is a reawakening. Flowers stretch up toward the sky, black bears crawl out from their hibernation and the Appalachian Trail becomes alive with hikers who are just beginning their 2,000 mile trek to or from Mt. Katahdin. Along the way they’ll eat, sleep and live under the open sky and carry everything they need on their backs. Knowing what to take and what to leave behind can make all the difference. As Earl Shaffer put it, “Carry as little as possible but choose that little with care.”
If you’ve already made the decision to hike the Appalachian Trail, the prospect of shopping for your new adventure can be exciting! Take the time to research the best items to suit your personal needs and ensure your success in completing a thru hike. In this blog we‘ll cover the ten most important things you need to take to make it the trek across 14 states.
Happy Halloween! We hope that everybody has had fun decorating their yards, and is looking forward to trick or treating with their little ones. This time of year makes us think of some of the fun spooky campfire stories that put us on the edge of our seats while we roast marshmallows.
This is my tale of hiking in the 100-Mile Wilderness and up (and then down, because, well, once at the summit, you have to go somewhere!) Katahdin.
I have been section hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) in small bites since 2010. I was a latecomer to the hiking party. I am a 23-year retired Air Force pilot who then flew for an airline, so big chunks of time were hard to come by. Even though I grew up in Virginia, I had zero knowledge of the AT until my son started skipping class to go hiking while he was at VA Tech in his senior year, 2006. Being the straight-A student he was, my wife and I didn't yell at him and I thought, "How cool." So the seed was planted in my brain, but as I was just starting my airline career, the time wasn't right.
With the sun shining bright, everybody is back on the trails. We take pride in the fact that our shirts make taking on your favorite trails in spring and summer heat a little easier with their lightweight feel and moisture-wicking capabilities, all while being eco-friendly. You’ll stay cool and dry on the trail for hours, but that’s not the only thing you have to worry about when you want to just keep trucking.
Everybody knows the anguish of a good blister, and they can be serious buzzkills. That said, there are some remedies and methods you can practice to mitigate the effects of these annoying sores. We’ll tell you a few of them today so you can barrel on up the mountain comfortably and pain-free!