The Ranger Codex

Introduction

As the time for my thru-hike is quickly approaching, I continue my efforts to prepare for the hike. During this past weekend, those efforts were focused on safety and physical wellbeing preparedness. To that end, I signed up for a CPR and Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course. The course was being held at the wonder FOLC Farm and taught by Catherine Jean. I registered for the course on their website and opted into camping on the farm as the location was a couple hour drive from where I live. I also took Friday and Monday off from work for this weekend in preparation.

Preparation

In my ongoing attempt at getting into shape for my upcoming thru-hike, I have been working on getting my pack weight down. With my bear can, my base weight is around 19 lbs. For those unfamiliar, base weight refers to the pack weight with just the gear and not consumables like food, water, and fuel. I am thinking of switching to a bear bag instead because it would save me about 2 lbs of weight, but the bag hasn't arrived yet. So, for today's hike, I loaded up my pack with all my gear including the bear can. I even loaded about 3 days worth of food into the can and filled both 1L water bottles full of water. I then weighed my pack using a luggage scale and got a pack weight with consumables at 29 lbs.

Introduction

When it comes to the great outdoors, there are many ways to enjoy it. And so many options for gear, it will boggle the mind. Most people are probably familiar with car camping where you drive right up to the campsite and setup the tent that was purchased at some sporting goods sport or the outdoor section of the local mega-mart. Backpacking, where you carry all of your gear in a pack on your back, and hike to the campsite, presents it's own challenges and requires lighter gear. The general advice is to focus on the Big 3 first as these will have the biggest impact on your pack weight. For this post, I will be focusing on the shelter I am going to be using for my upcoming Appalachian Trail thru-hike.

Preparation

I woke up with the thought to push myself and prepare for my upcoming
thru-hike. As I live in a very flat area, I can't properly train for the
mountains that I will experience along the Appalachian Trail, so I had to
opt for more mileage instead.

To this goal, I decided to hit up one of my favorite local trails, the
Tenoroc Public Use Area trails. The area use to be a phosphorus mine, so
it actually has a decent elevation gain for this very flat state. The trails
are also only a short drive away and cost $3 for entry, although it does have
an annoying setup for the check-in/check-out.