Bartram Trail Thru-Hike

[EZ-DOES-IT]

Hello all, it's been a while. How the heck are ya?

Anyway, I'm planning my first major thru-hike for this October, 111 miles from Clayton, GA up through Franklin, NC to Cheoah Bald on the Bartram Trail. Hopefully this will be an enlightening experience and will show me whether or not I'm capable of actually doing the AT some day.

I got a rough draft gear list together last night and want to run it by the forum for editing. I'm conservatively allowing myself 8 days to make the trip, that's between 13-14 miles per day, I figure 6 or 8 hours of comfortable walking each day. My list is below, with weights in oz.

Pack-84.7
Hammock with whoopies-19.45
Straps-7.3
UQ, TQ, and dry sack to store them in/use as a bear bag-41.15
Bugnet-19.45 (heavy, I know. I'm considering making a lighter one before I go.)
Tarp-20.45
Thermarest Neoair (in case I need to go to ground)-20.35
Pillow (a must for me in a hammock)-9.3
1 set of extra clothes (with 4 pairs of socks)-35.2
Water filter-14.65
Pocket Shower-5.2
Towel-3.05
Cookset (1 pot, alky stove, pot handler, empty bottle for fuel)-10.4
IMUSA Mug-2.5
Fat lighter-1.7
Knife (w/ firesteel)-3.65
Flashlight-3.55
100' extra cord-1.7
Trail Guide-1.75
Chacos (for stream crossings)-38.0
Thermal underlayer-19.7
Rain Jacket-13.5

Total=376.7oz or 23.54 lbs.

This does not include any food, water, or stove fuel. I plan on bring 20 oz of alcohol for fuel, 2 liter size nalgenes and packing enough food to make the whole 8 days. Does anybody see anything glaringly wrong? Am I overlooking anything necessary or taking anything unnecessary?

Ok so if you carry 8 days of food that's 16 pounds plus 2 liters of water at 5 pounds that comes out to roughly 44 to 45 pounds not fun at all there must be a way to resupply along your route.
Do you have the latest Thru-Hike book for the trail ?
I have done a Thru-Hike of the AT and I can tell you, you don't want to carry more then 5 days worth of food if you can help it.
Also depending on what kind of shape your in to go out and do about 14 miles a day I would say a least cut down to about 10 to 12 and don't kill yourself.
However with all that have a great time and wish I was going with you.

[Str1der]

I think a lot of these were covered already, but I'll give it a go. The ones that stood out the most to me were....

Pack-84.7
Seems heavy for a pack. If you can afford a smaller or lighter pack, I'd go for it.

Bugnet-19.45
Can go lighter.

Thermarest Neoair (in case I need to go to ground)-20.35
Ditch this altogether. If you insist on being able to go to ground, then ditch the UQ and keep this. Don't need both.

Pillow (a must for me in a hammock)-9.3
Pillow is a must for me too, but my HG pillow weighs 3.6oz. Either get a lighter pillow or use a fleece jacket for double duty.

1 set of extra clothes (with 4 pairs of socks)-35.2
For both shirts and socks, I bring 2 of each...one to hike in and one for sleeping. Hang up the hiking shirt/socks overnight and they'll be ready again next day. You probably don't need extra shorts/pants.

Pocket Shower-5.2 & Towel-3.05
Ditch both of these. I think someone mentioned the bandana already. It works.

Flashlight-3.55
Do you mean headlamp? I would definitely upgrade a flashlight to a headlamp. Night and Day difference (pardon the pun).

100' extra cord-1.7
Could probably be good with 50', but it weighs next to nothing so go for it.

Chacos (for stream crossings)-38.0
There are a lot of footwear options that can be used as a camp shoe and for river crossings that weigh much less. Crocs are one cheap and easy to find option.



Some things that I bring...HYOH

- Trash compactor bag
Inside my pack for all down as added protection.

- Water bottle
In addition to my bladder. A cheap 1L bottle is light, and I use it to mix my Gatorade or Emergen-C packets so I don't have to contaminate my main bladder.

-First aid kit
Everyone's is different.

-Bear Bag
I store my down loose in the compactor bag and then crush down that bag. Storing down loose helps it to fill all the little pockets in your bag and actually reduces the size it takes up in the pack. Plus, no dedicated stuff sack to carry. Switch that stuff sack over to permanent bear bag duty so you don't get food smell on your sleeping gear!

-Opsack odor-proof bag
I keep my food in one of these and then put that into my bear bag. I like the added protection of knowing nothing in my pack should smell like food, but it's optional.


Twenty-four pounds without food or water seems heavy to me, but maybe you're up for it. My base weight (EVERYTHING in the pack excluding food, water, and fuel) in the summer is a little under 14 lbs, and closer to 18 in cooler weather. I haven't backpacked in true winter yet.