“All my bags are packed. I’m ready to go. Standing here outside your door…”
All my resupply boxes are out of the house and on their way to their destinations. I have already realized a couple of things that I forget to put in the boxes. Luckily nothing that will end the trip early. At least that’s my hope. Let’s also hope that the hiker barrels are filling up as I write this, just in case.
I laid out all my gear on my living room floor the other evening. It was depressing to look at the mass of gear assembled before me. I felt like there was no way it was all going to fit in my pack. I slowly started to fill up the pack on commercial breaks. I tried to slim down my load once again. When I compare my gear list to that of others on the web, it seems like I am taking a lot more. I
read a great comment on Eric the Black’s website. It is not necessary about being ultralight, but rather about being able to comfortably carry all the you bring for as long as you want each day. I am not sure that I am there yet, but I will give it another go and see what else I can leave at home.
I had planned on trying to get at least a single overnight trip in as a shake down before I leave, but that is not going to happen due to various reasons. I did get out for a day hike today with my pack loaded with a 95% of my gear, and without a full food load.. My initial thought while climbing uphill… I have to lighten up!!! On the way down the pack felt great. I will spend some time tomorrow going through the pack once again to see what I can get rid of. What I really need is a local thru-hiker to give my pack a good shake down. It is hard to know what I can comfortably do without, with never having done a hike of this length before. I am erring on the side of too much rather than too little. Rookie mistake I know but I can always donate to the hiker barrels!
