50 Miles and 5 Days on the Appalachian Trail – Part 1

The Plan: Get off work at 5 pm, meet up with the guys, and book it to the Amilicola Lodge that’s 7.5 hours away, putting us there at around 1 am. Then wake up early eat breakfast and hit the trail.  Hike 50 miles over 5 days and drive back.
A super simple plan.  Easy peasy.

10 Days untill the hike.

I laid out all my gear on my dining room table.

What do I need to keep, what can I get rid of? What are essentials and what can I leave?

The first time I hiked the Appalachian Trail my pack was close to 42lbs with food and water. It made for a very tough hike. That’s a lot of weight to carry for 5 days. Your ideal base weight should be about 20% of your body weight. Being that I am 150lbs, I should be at about 30lbs. I was 12lbs over. That’s a lot of extra weight to be carrying day after day, mile after mile.

This trip I looked for so many ways to shave down on weight. I mean, that’s part of the fun right? Picking through gear, refining, replacing existing equipment with lighter versions.
First, I saved a few pounds by switching out my pack. I had originally bought a Kelly Pawnee 55 on clearance at REI. It was an impulse buy and it was rather cheap.. I should have gotten properly sized and fitted.  It ended up rubbing my lower back a bit and I ended up with a soar spot on my back.  I realized my torso was a bit too short for this pack. (Should have gotten sized). Also, the pack was 3lbs 8oz. For comparison, my new pack is 2lbs 8oz.  I save myself a whole pound.

Second, I needed to pack my food better. I packed way more food than I needed on my last trip. I only ate through about half. This time I planned my meals and used a lot of mountain house freeze dried dinners. I also switched out my water bottles from two Nalgenes to two 1 liter Smart water bottles. This probably shaved 1/2 a pound at least. I then went through my first aid kit and got rid of a bunch of crap I didnt need. Emergency candle? Gone. Family size band aid kit? I went down to two bandaids. The last thing I upgraded was my stove. I went with a MSR pocket rocket.

But I still needed more help.

A couple of days later I went over to One More Miles’s house and we laid out our gear. We started putting things in zip locks and compared gear. We pack and repacked, sampled snacks, and tested our water filters. We even made a quick trip to Walmart for a few last-minute items. I got my pack down to 28lbs. OMM was at 23lbs.

We were ready. I think.

Day 1 – The Drive

That Wednesday was the longest day of my life. Or so it seemed, lol. I could not wait until 430.  The seconds turned into minutes and the minutes into hours. I had a few work calls that day and I found myself checking the clock often. I just wanted to go.  I couldn’t wait!

Finally, 430pm hit. I kissed my wife and kids goodby and loaded up my gear. I drove to the local gas station to fill up. Guess what? They happened to be doing some road construction. Not only would I have to wait forever to u-turn, but I would also have to drive 10 miles out of my way to get One More Miles (OMM) house.  Uhggg.

35 mins later I finally pulled up to OMMs house. He was rearing to go as well.  He threw his stuff in the back and we headed over to The Tusken Raiders house, another 20 min drive. I just wanted to get on the road. We pulled up to The Tusken Raiders house and all loaded into his car. I called back seat so I could take pictures and video and possibly pass out. Ha, who are we kidding, I was way too excited to sleep. Finally, we were on the road! Appalachian Trail here we come. I could not wait to introduce the boys to the trail. I desperately hoped they would get hooked and I would have some new hiking buddies.  I couldn’t wait to see their faces when we summited Blood Mountain or when we came into Mountain Crossings and drank ice-cold cokes and ice cream sandwiches.  I was so excited to show them everything I had done 5 years before. I knew how much fun I had and could not wait for them to have the same experiences as well as new ones. I was so pumped to see this new adventure unfold.

We finally arrived and the Amilicola Lodge at around 1:30 am. We were so amped up and excited that it was hard to sleep. The next day was going to be the start of something incredible.

Day 2 – Amalicola Falls to Stover Creek Shelter.

We woke up at 8 am. I don’t think I slept. I don’t think I could. I was way too excited. We headed down to the restaurant for one last meal before the hike. If I had my way we would be on the trail at 5 am but we had to check-in at the visitors center to get our parking pass and they didn’t open till 9 am.  FYI, I highly recommend getting the breakfast there at the lodge. I had bacon and eggs with toast and orange juice. They guys polished off a pot of coffee. I asked TTR if he wanted to make a visit to the restroom before we left. He had never dropped a load outside before and wanted to wait as long as possible. I don’t blame him, the first time pooping in the woods can be a bit scary. I actually have him a list of positions to try haha.
We checked in and got our parking passes. I tried to do a final weigh-in but they were painting the building and had taken down the scale. We did a few stretches and headed out. Now there are two routes ok the first mile of the approach trail. You can go straight up the waterfall on some stairs that switch back and forth. I don’t think it’s a good idea to blow out your knees in the first mile. Besides, I did it last time and did not care to do it again. So we went the other route,  a side trail that met up at the top of the falls. They both start at the famous archway behind the visitors center, so we stopped there real quick and took the obligatory “Start of the Appalachian Trail”
And then we were off!