Not sure if you guys have heard about this, he is walking from Oceanside, CA to NY to lose weight.
I hope it works out for him. Thruhiking the AT is certainly a good way to lose weight… I thruhiked in 2001, and went from 205 lbs. to 174 lbs. in my first 45 days.
-Mark Rebuck, http://www.markrebuck.com/
The backpack he is carrying wieghs 55 lbs. I have no idea what’s in it, but it sounds hard enough doing it with out carrying anything.
It won’t be 55 pounds for long. Packs weighing more than 35 pounds are the AT equivalent of a triple chainring on a triathlon bike. My guess is that he dumps 20 pounds from his pack by Damascus, VA. The AT is a trail which easily supports the “fast and light” form of hiking.
-Mark Rebuck, http://www.markrebuck.com/
I think this guy is great, but I agree he needs to get rid of a lot of stuff!
This dude goes for the opposite extreme: http://www.ultralightbackpacker.com/weights.html. His total pack (not including food+water) is 9lbs, 6oz! And he is pretty well equipped. Some folks carry that much on a 2-hour bike ride.
t won’t be 55 pounds for long. Packs weighing more than 35 pounds are the AT equivalent of a triple chainring on a triathlon bike. My guess is that he dumps 20 pounds from his pack by Damascus, VA. The AT is a trail which easily supports the “fast and light” form of hiking.
It has been said that you can start the AT with an empty pack and pickup enough gear to complete the thru hike from people who have lightened the load. Personally my base gear is about 26 ibs plus food and water lighter if warmer out but no heavier no matter what.