"Getting Strange Looks" A hugely important aspect of this kind of undertaking is being comfortable with your gear. The last thing anyone would want would be to get down to Georgia (some people travel across the globe to get to the starting line of the A.T.) and to not be familiar with the equipment that will not only be your home and possessions for the next 6 months, but also that can be life-saving in certain situations.
I had the day off on Sunday, and decided it'd be a good time to get more familiar with the gear that I have gotten over the past few months. The most important part of this gear being the MSR Hubba NX 1-man tent that my wonderful grandparents got me for Christmas this year*. This was my first objective for gear test day numero uno. The MSR Hubba NX is the newly revised replacement of the well-known Hubba 1P. The model series includes the Hubba, Hubba Hubba, Motha Hubba, and Papa Hubba (1 through 4 man tents, respectively). The one-man has a respectably light trail weight of 2lbs, 7oz. Set-up consists of a single pole that splits to a Y on both ends. Setting up for the first time on the living room floor took me about 2 minutes, which included moving a chair out of the way. This thing is a breeze! Tear-down took about as much time including rolling it back up and putting it back in my pack. After this fun activity came something even better! I packed up my bag with everything I'll be taking with me this April, and headed out for a local hike. In the interest of a "challenge" I also put in 2 extra full Nalgene bottles (~4lbs) and two 5lb barbells. Better to get used to it now, as the addition of food for the months of hiking will add roughly 10lbs to my pack weight.
I headed over to the Breakheart Reservation just north of Boston and did a good 2 hour baby-hike with a friend. Terrain isn't overly challenging, but it's certainly not flat. There are options of many miles of trails as well as a paved path around multiple lakes. We mainly stayed on the wooded trails, but when we crossed over the paved ones I certainly got funny looks due to my bright red Marmot rain jacket, and the large backpack strapped on to my shoulders. The good news is that everything is comfortably fitting.
I'll most certainly have to keep doing this kind of thing as my work schedule allows... hopefully even be able to head up to the NH White Mountains with my dad and do a more rigorous hike or two before April.
I had the day off on Sunday, and decided it'd be a good time to get more familiar with the gear that I have gotten over the past few months. The most important part of this gear being the MSR Hubba NX 1-man tent that my wonderful grandparents got me for Christmas this year*. This was my first objective for gear test day numero uno. The MSR Hubba NX is the newly revised replacement of the well-known Hubba 1P. The model series includes the Hubba, Hubba Hubba, Motha Hubba, and Papa Hubba (1 through 4 man tents, respectively). The one-man has a respectably light trail weight of 2lbs, 7oz. Set-up consists of a single pole that splits to a Y on both ends. Setting up for the first time on the living room floor took me about 2 minutes, which included moving a chair out of the way. This thing is a breeze! Tear-down took about as much time including rolling it back up and putting it back in my pack. After this fun activity came something even better! I packed up my bag with everything I'll be taking with me this April, and headed out for a local hike. In the interest of a "challenge" I also put in 2 extra full Nalgene bottles (~4lbs) and two 5lb barbells. Better to get used to it now, as the addition of food for the months of hiking will add roughly 10lbs to my pack weight.
I headed over to the Breakheart Reservation just north of Boston and did a good 2 hour baby-hike with a friend. Terrain isn't overly challenging, but it's certainly not flat. There are options of many miles of trails as well as a paved path around multiple lakes. We mainly stayed on the wooded trails, but when we crossed over the paved ones I certainly got funny looks due to my bright red Marmot rain jacket, and the large backpack strapped on to my shoulders. The good news is that everything is comfortably fitting.
I'll most certainly have to keep doing this kind of thing as my work schedule allows... hopefully even be able to head up to the NH White Mountains with my dad and do a more rigorous hike or two before April.
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