[at-l] Thru-hike prep/schools/tents

[Mara Factor]

Attending someone's workshops or a "school" for thruhiking will give you one
person's take on what worked for them when they were hiking the Appalachian
Trail.  Whether or not their opinions and suggestions based on the
experiences they had will work for you is entirely another matter.

In the meantime, you will have paid them for opinions that you can probably
glean from other sources for free.

Since you've already done some hiking and overnights, I recommend you just
expand on your experiences.  If you've only been out for one night at a
time, try doing some three day trips and maybe a week long trip or two.  It
sounds like you've got another whole year to test gear and otherwise
prepare.  Joining a local hiking club can make some backpacking trips easier
and you'll get to see what works for other hikers, too.

Email lists such as this one, forums such as those on Whiteblaze.net, and
groups such as the Yahoo BackpackingLight group are good places to ask
questions.  Yeah, you have to wade through all the "noise" but after a
while, you get quick on the delete key and learn to only spend time on those
topics you're interested in.

If you've been out in a variety of conditions and have been happy with your
tarp, you may just want to continue using your tarp.  Reasons why you might
want to consider using a tent include bug control, temperature, and campsite
conditions.  There are places where you might otherwise need to rig bug
netting under your tarp.  Tents can also be warmer.  If you are truly
thinking about starting in February, a tent can be 20 degrees warmer than
the outside air.  You don't get that benefit from a tarp.  As such, with a
tent, you may be able to travel with a lighter and smaller packing sleeping
bag than with a tarp.  And while you should pick your campsite with care
even if you are using a tent, you may be able to get away with a bit less
care in a tent than you might otherwise with a tarp.  Bathtub floors on
tents can protect you from unexpected floods, anthills, etc.  The concept of
critters crawling into your tarp to sleep with you is mostly more fiction
than fact.  Sure, it can happen and has happened, but it is rare.  And
besides, that can happen in a tent, too.  A mouse chewed it's way into my
friend's tent and in the enclosed environment couldn't get out fast enough
when my friend woke up and went after it with his boot.  LOL  Keep in mind,
that only happened once, to one hiker, during my entire thruhike.

Mice in shelters, on the other hand, are a completely different story.
Almost everyone who has ever slept in a shelter will have mouse stories to
share.  When you let them bother you or not will likely help determine
whether or not you choose to sleep in shelters.

By the way, is there a reason why you are thinking about starting as early
as February?  A March or April start still gives you plenty of time for a
six month thruhike, a long enough period of time not to feel rushed along
your hike.  And the later start means a much smaller likelihood of extreme
cold and snow when you start.

Mara
Stitches, AT99

Visit my Travels and Trails web site at:
http://friends.backcountry.net/m_factor


On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 8:32 AM, WILLIAM D VINCENT
<vincentw at bellsouth.net>wrote:

>  This site is great and as a newbie I appreciate all the responses (Winter
> closer of GSMNP).  So your next challenge>>>>
> I have hiked and over nighted extensively in middle Tennessee (snow, 20
> degrees and hills not mountains).  I am a competitive long distance runner
> at 60, recently fininshed 16th in a national championship.  So here is my
> question:  I plan on retiring in Oct. 10 and want to thru hike the AT
> beginning Feb or March 2011.  What will I gain by attending one of those
> "schools" for thru hikers?  Be brutal, nothing but honesty will help.
>
> And... I'm a tarp hiker, what are the virtures of a tent?
>
> _______________________________________________
> at-l mailing list
> at-l at backcountry.net
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/at-l
>
>
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