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Week long AT trip July 2014- First time out!!

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    • Week long AT trip July 2014- First time out!!

      I'm back!!! :D ..Sorry I disappeared!!! :rolleyes:

      So yes! I did make it out to the AT back in July!!! My sister had a training at Harpers Ferry, so My dad, 3 sisters and myself all drove out there!! We had about a week out there and I was thinking at first that we'd hike about half that time and then turn around and hike back, but!!! As it ended up, we wanted to see my sister who was taking the training almost everyday.. :huh: ^^ SO! We basically hiked for the day, camped and then hiked back to the car. Then the next day we'd drive out to another entrance to the trail and hike THAT for the day and repeat the process. :P We're weird.
      Got a tale to tell..
      The FIRST night out, we didn't realize that the little trail going down was indeed the shelter and campsite area, we had differing opinions and we were all getting tired and crabby. SOOOO, we decided to keep walking awhile and see if the REAL trail to the shelter was a little farther.. Well, it wasnt. And it was getting dark, and guess what, thunder.. So we hurried back to the little trail. The thunder kept increasing and it was getting dark quick. JUST as we got to where we'd set up our one of two tents, it started POURING down rain.. LOL! And I meaning POURING!!!!!! By the time we got the one tent up we were SOAKED and the tent had a good 3 inches of water in it. My dad, two sisters and I just sat there in the standing water a moment. Silently I think we all contemplated whether we should just go sleep in the car tonight.. My dad was the on who vocalized it, but we were all like NOOO!!!! Its okay!! We just gotta get dry!!! :D :P So we moved the tent to higher ground, dried it out(thank goodness I took some of your alls advice and had my clothes, sheets, pillow and such in a plastic trash bag, so all was dry there!!! THANK YOU!!!! <3 )with wettish clothes and a sheet, got ourselves dryish and in dry clothes and snuggled together with dry warm sleeping bags... ^^ It wasn't the warmest, or best nights sleep, but considering.. it was great. :)
      Funny, right? :P ^^ ..Well thats only have the story. :( :D
      The next day of course all of our stuff is wet. We dried the tent off and out as best we could again and packed it up. All of our wet things went into one of the black plastic bags. Well two of them, we filled two.. We didn't know what to do with all of our wet stuff so we decided we'd make our way back to the car and visit our sister in town as well as find a laundromat and dry stuff.. Ahem.. My dad.. wore the huge billowing trash bag full of wet clothes.. on his head. 8| 8| 8| And a down the trail we went! ;( ;( ;( LOL! :rolleyes: We definitely got some looks. :D But nice "Hello!"s too!!! :) :thumbsup: I held the other billowing bag in my hands.

      So tell me!!!! What do thru hikers do if everything is sopping wet?? We had a few people and a probably over packed for it, but say like for when you wash your clothes? How does a thru hiker dry their clothes? Or do that skip that step??

      Another thing we got some experience on is packs... We had one Gregory, but otherwise our packs were just cheap ones and by the end of one day I had a bruise the size of a softball on my back.. Planning to get an Osprey before my next trip.. I'm glad we got the experience though!!! We'll, there was so much we got!!!! Tents, packs, clothes, etc, etc, etc!!!! Now I have first hand knowledge of the truth though. And I believe it completely. ^^

      My sister who took the training didnt hike except for one night after her stuff was done, BUT! She stayed in Harpers Ferry at a hostel and fell in LOOOOVE (I believe thats how she puts it??..) With the hikers and hiker atmosphere that was there. :) :thumbsup: And our family has a thing for challenges.. SO!!!!! Two of my sisters(the one who'd went to the training, and another that had stayed home from our trip in July) and myself are planning to do a thru hike in 2015, going SOBO!!!!!! 8o 8o 8o 8o :D

      I have a bunch more clearer pics, but need to get them off the camera still...




      Not sure if those pictures worked??
      "You've got what it takes. But it will take everything you've got."

    • That's awesome! I've got a big smile on my face right now :). I can't answer the wet clothes question but on my short hikes I take one set of clothes to hike in and one to sleep in. If the hiking clothes get wet, I put them under my sleeping pad for the night and wear them the next day. They dry pretty quick. I keep my sleeping clothes down in the trash bag with my sleeping bag.

      There's something weird with ipad's and photos...don't worry, Dmax's are sideways too.
      Lost in the right direction.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Traffic Jam ().

    • WaxQueen,
      My AT hikes now are in the summer and regardless if for a week or 5 weeks I basically take one pair of shorts and a shirt that I wear and another set in my pack that I sleep in each night. When I get in at night I change into my sleeping clothes. If it has rained I hang the shirt, shorts, underwear, socks up hoping they will dry. Although they usually do not, at least I am sleeping in dry clothes. In the morning I put my hiking clothes back on, and even if still damp (or even wet) they do dry out as I start walking. I do bring 2 pairs of socks in addition to the pair I am wearing (if not raining I hang them off my pack to dry during the day). If out for over a week, I actually do bring a another backup pair of shorts that weigh only 4 oz that I just use for doing laundry (wear with my rain jacket), so I can wash everything else at once. FWIW, I usually hit a town or hostel every 5-7 days.

      As far as gear the key (at least to me) is just getting out there. The more you go out the more you can tweak and invest in better gear. My base weight in 4 years of section hiking has gone down from 35 to 14 pounds. Started out with stuff I already owned and just continued to evolve each trip buying new gear and leaving what I really did not need at home the next time. Yes better gear can make things a lot easier on you, but there is the tradeoff of cost. It is something you just have to work through based upon your own needs and resources.

      Congratulations on getting out there, and just keeping learning and having fun as you go! :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • Glad to hear that you did get out.
      The rain is just one of the many experiences that the trail is going to give you.
      As for what do with wet clothes, well, you just put them back on the next day.
      As others said, 1 set of clothes to walk in and 1 set to sleep in.
      What they didn't tell you is there's 1 more set, Rain gear.
      If you carry both a rain jacket and rain pants you can wear them in the Laundromat while your other clothes are getting clean+ dry.
      Oh, and you can wear them in the rain too :D

      As you get ready for that thru hike make sure and come in and keep us up to date. Also feel free to ask any questions that you think of.