Pack weight adjustment and it's repurcussions.

Hollywood has been getting grief about the weight of her pack. Among the things people talk about around the campfire is the weight of each other’s backpack. Melissa and Christina both have an average pack weight of 40 lbs.  Their ‘base’ weight; the amount your pack weighs before water and food was 30 pounds.  The discussion was had while in Hot Springs, and Melissa was advised by many people to go through her pack to find stuff she didn’t need.

So while they were in Erwin, Melissa pulled everything out of her pack and did a shakedown to see just what she has been carrying but never using all along. There were extra clothes, long johns, pieces and parts of the first aid kit, unused food, a book, and a whole host of other things that added up to 7 pounds that she didn’t use very much but she was hauling with her every mile of the trail. After trimming out the seven pounds, her clothing now comprised one set of trail clothes, town clothes, and rain gear.

I can imagine many of you can see the punch line coming. When they left Erwin, and got back to hiking, they were only eight miles in it when it starts pouring hard. Immediately Hollywood’s trail clothes were soaked through. They stop at 4:00PM because of the rain, and start to set up camp. It was at that moment Melissa remembered there are no longer any dry clothes in her pack.  Plus, she had sent home her book because they have friends now to hang out with on the trail and she hasn’t read the book in weeks.  Now she is shivering in the rain soaked clothes, with nothing to do until 10:00 which is her normal bedtime.

The next day she gets up very stiff from sleeping in her bag without warm clothes. She packs up, gets loose and starts hiking and is able to walk her clothes dry. But when they set up camp that night they find out that it was expected to be below freezing. Remember, she sent home her long johns. She anticipated another cold night of misery.

Here is where the bubble kicked in. Hollywood discovered that her rain gear worn around camp makes for a very warm experience. She slept nice and warm even though the temp dipped down to the freezing point. When I asked her if she wanted any of the clothes back in case this happens again, she said no. The positive of dropping the weight far outweighs the occasional night of chilly or boring camp due to weather or cold.

Seven pounds is a great amount of weight loss when you’re putting on 20+ miles a day. When she called me last night, May 8 2011, they were staying at the Vandeventer Shelter 431.5 NoBo. 

This is a typical shelter along the trail. You can see why Melissa prefers her tent. She had expected to be arriving here on the 12th. But made it on the 8th. I can guess two days of slack packing made all the difference.

Tonight, if the mileage stays steady, I imagine they will either camp at an off trail campsite at Double Spring Gap. 451.3 NoBo. Or the Abingdon Gap Shelter 454.2 NoBo. This shelter looks just like the one above. 

In tomorrows post, I'll go over the places they stopped from Erwin, TN up to the Vandeventer Shelter. After that will come a description and links to Appalachian Trail Days in Damascus, VA. It's kind of a Burning Man for thru-hikers. They will Double zero and I'll be sending Jordan a food drop there.