AT Prep

A few nuggets of dehydrating gold from AT prep

There are still 7 days left for adventure preparations. Our projected start date is currently 8 March 2015; depending on the weather, which is looking promising as of right now.  The next week will be spent on packing the resupply boxes and "split-training"my March Drill for the National Guard (paper work in the military moves as fast as mud... on a 18 degree day- i.e. dirty ice. Ice does in fact move, just a time-lapse camera is needed to see the movement...I digress. I've been watching too much Frozen Planet while cutting up vegetables to dehydrate).

Anyway, the picture below is one of the main reasons I've been watching too many nature documentaries and have had to cut up so many carrots.

1.2 pounds of fresh carrots dehydrates down to 2 oz. sandwich baggie full

Luckily some food items take very minimal prep but yield an exemplary result. One of the golden rules of back packing is to keep food weight LOW while keeping calories HIGH.  A good rule of thumb when it comes to choosing calorie efficient food is to try to stick with 1 oz. to every 100 calories or better. Most/all of the food I'm dehydrating fits this category but corn is by far the champion, with lentils coming in a close 2nd place. 

6 servings of frozen corn (600 calories) dehydrates down to 4 oz.

Last days of AT prep

After all the denatured alcohol (tin-can stove fuel) has been purchased. After all the apple slices have been dipped in lemon juice (which keeps the apples from turning brown during the dehydrating process).  After every potential item in my backpack glared at and interrogated ruthlessly if it is actually worth it's weight to lug up mountains, there is nothing left to do but get packed (and go in for split training because YEAH ARMY!!! -_-). 

I have 21 resupply boxes that will hopefully find their way to me along the Appalachian Trail (1 box about every 100 miles). 

Contents of one resupply box: 

3 bags of dehydrated apples

3 bags of dehydrated lentils 

3 "backpacking alfredo"

2 bags of dehydrated carrots

1 bag of dehydrated corn

4 Q-tips

1 roll of toilet paper

1 "hippie soap" (only in 7 boxes)

14 dehydrated baby wipes (just normal baby wipes that have been dried out)

2 granola bars

2 grits

2 oatmeal

1 razor (yes, I'm going to be that vain. Only planning on letting my legs reach fuzzy kitten status, NOT wooly mammoth status)

Out,

-Mullins

You Can’t Take it [ALL] With You

Appalachian Trail (AT) Prep- Resupply/Dehydrating (~ 14 days until the start)

Resupply on the AT

Shy of starving to death, there are two main ways to resupply while thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail: “mail drops” and “buying on the go” in trail towns. Both of these methods have pros and cons.

Mail drops- are predetermined locations that a thru-hiker (or a thru-hiker’s support team) mail packages of food and supplies to ahead of time. These Mail Drops can be post offices (which will hold mail) or privately owned businesses such as hostels or outfitters (with permission).

Pros:

  1.  Not having to buy bulk items in town when in reality the hiker only needs small amounts (like toilet paper, duct tape, q-tips, ect.)
 2.   Knowing exactly what supplies are waiting just ahead and where

  3. Some control over dietary habits

  4. Able to receive letters on the trail (added to a drop box by the support team)

Cons:

  1.  Requires major effort to plan ahead, pack, and coordinate timing of drops to match the appropriate hiking speed

  2.  Packages can get lost in the mail 

  3. The locations packages are sent may close early, for the weekend, or unexpectedly

  4. Pre-determined stops aren’t as flexible with changing hiking itinerary

  5. Dietary needs or cravings can change while on the trail rendering the contents of the mail-drops as obsolete and a waste

Buying Food and Supplies “on the go” in trail towns:

Pros:

  1.   Extremely flexible stopping points

  2.   Easy to accommodate changing dietary needs

  3.  Minimal effort required before the start of the trail

Cons:

  1.  In recent years this has become a favored method of resupplying. There is a risk of all the hiking food staples (ramen, instant mashed potatoes, instant rice, Lipton sides, ect.) being completely cleaned out by other hikers in the smaller trail towns.

  2.  Dietary needs (especially for vegan or gluten-free hikers) are not guaranteed 

Dehydrating

For my journey I will be using both methods of resupplying. The mail drops will be used mainly for diet supplementation and small amounts of items bought in bulk ahead of time. The main focus for the food in the resupply boxes has become food that is high in nutrients and calories but are mainly water based, making the food heavy (not good for backpacking) i.e. I need to dehydrate the food ahead of time if I am planning on carrying it across mountains. 

This past Saturday marked the race against time to get all my food dehydrated in time to pack my resupply boxes, which will be done next week. The four foods I am focusing on are: lentils (high in calories, fiber, iron, and protein); apples (high in calories, vitamins, some fiber, are extremely light after being dehydrated, can be eaten without re-hydrating … and they just taste good); sweet corn (high in calories, carbs, and can be eaten without re-hydrating); and carrots (high in vitamins, minimal calories, can be eaten without re hydrating in a pinch).

Typically I just dehydrate everything for the same amount of time at the same temperature (135 degrees for 15 hours). I ran some experiments in early December and all four of the foods seem to dehydrate completely with this setting as long as the trays are switched around halfway through the process. This method worked well when I was working full-time becuase I could dehydrate 2-3 different foods at a time; for example if I didn't have time to slice a full 6 trays of apples in the evening I could just make two of the trays sweet corn (which was always on hand in the freezer). But now I have access to two dehydrators (thanks Nicole) and 8 lbs. of sliced carrots! Yes, my life is exciting … 

One shopping trip worth of food to dehydrate for the resupply boxes 

(minus the cat obviously, he fell in love with the carrots for some reason)

I will probably need to repeat 4x for the corn and carrots to meet my end goal, the apples and lentils are pretty close to making the quota already.  

Out,

-Mullins

A Farewell to Normal

Quick Facts 

Appalachian Trail: a 2180+ mile foot path stretching from Georgia to Maine (through 14 states) envisioned by Benton MacKaye in 1921. The exact distance of the trail is constantly changing every year due to re-routing in certain sections. Currently, according to the 2015 AWOL guide the trail is 2189.2 miles long.

AWOL Guide: One of many Appalachian Trail guide books that gives details about water, landmarks, and trail towns

Trail Town: A town on or close to the Appalachian Trail that sees a huge influx of thru-hikers looking to resupply and have some modern amenities during the hiking session

“Thru-hiker”: someone who hikes the entirety of the Appalachian trail in one year (normally from March-October).

Mail Drop: Sending resupply boxes through the US mail system, boxes can contain food, basic supplies, warm or cold weather gear 

Zero Day: A day when no miles are hiked, typically this day takes place in a town and is used for a resupply day as well

A Farewell to Normal

Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) sounds like a nice break from the tedium.

I have made some poor decisions in my life; fortunately most could be rectified with minimal effort or simply the passage of time. In high school I wanted highlights in the front of my hair, which turned out to look like a skunk stripe coming out of my forehead.  Recently, I chose to live in a travel trailer for two months in the dead of winter in Maryland; I now understand why the older generation migrates to Florida every year. Presently, I have yet to find out what consequences my latest decision will yield. The recent decision in question is leaving the working world and scampering off into the woods to become a hippie (or an elf, one of the two)… at the tail end of a recession.

 I am well aware that because of my decision years from now I might end up homeless in an alley somewhere complaining to my future pet alley mouse Mr. Munchies, “Mistakes were made!” But life isn’t about trying to be as boring as possible.  Today marks the start of an adventure long in the planning. Yes, planning. For as much fun as it sounds to have a pet mouse named Mr. Munchies I have no intention of the future Mr. Munchies and myself living in an alley (a tent on the AT, maybe).

"Last Hike before the AT"

And so it Came to Pass…(the basic motivation and beginning prep for the AT)

The realization came last November (2013). I was searching for overnight hikes in Virginia and happened upon a blog of a 2013 thru-hiker. After reading all of her submissions in the matter of a day I realized that thru-hiking the AT might actually be feasible. In high school (almost everyone in Virginia vaguely knows about the AT) the skunk-haired me had initially ruled out the AT adventure, because heaven forbid I would have to PLAN AHEAD for anything, let alone start planning a year ahead of time. Now however, with 5 years of life and college behind me, the challenge of the Appalachian Trail is seen as an exhilarating test rather than revolting drudgery. 

The planning for this trip started last December (2013). On the knowledge/ experience front of this excursion I researched the Appalachian Trail to death; books, articles, blogs, forums, anything that had “Appalachian Trail” in the title or text. I contacted many past thru-hikers to ask questions and syphon advice. In the summer I forced my perspective-hiking-partner out into the woods or mountains almost every weekend to “practice” for the AT (a.k.a. getting some semblance of backpacking experience).  Needless to say the trail became a slight obsession. 

On the tedious, corporeal part of the AT prep I’ve been dehydrating food consistently (at least 5 times a week) for my resupply boxes since December (2014). The hiking season ended a bit earlier than expected so I took to wearing my hiking boots to work; blisters are a huge issue on the trail for thru- hikers, well broken in boots are the first step in avoiding this problem. The hiking boots probably were not the most professional looking shoe… but I wore a nice blazer… so in my mind the professionalism balanced out in the end. 

What it feels like to wear hiking boots to work. 

(Potential awesomeness is about to ensue… but you will feel quite derpy in the moment)

 

Out,

-Mullins