Originally Posted by
MuadDale
I slacked off the rower for a bit because of some work travel and a small vacation to Bryson City NC where we checked out the NOC, AT and SMNP, but was able to complete the Summer Solstice half-marathon challenge on June 21st. It was my longest row by far and I'm pretty proud of that certificate I printed out even though it took me 1:40 to complete lol. There's another challenge in August (row 10k, 20k, 30k, and 40k in each successive week) that I think should take care of itself because I'm entering the big distance weeks of the BPP just now.
I'm prepping and slowly equipping for several weeks NOBO from Springer in early '21 when I retire from the Navy. As much as I'd love to try to make it a full thru-hike, I'm not sure I can afford the time off over and above the saved leave I'll be using up during the hike. Things may change, we'll see. My leave starts early February and I'm trying to talk myself into (or out of, depending on the day) of a mid-February start lol.
I went the Warbonnet Outdoors hammock route and will stay in their ecosystem for the rest of my kit, but I really don't think any of the well-known cottage vendors make a bad product and from what I've gathered all their customer service is top notch.
This is a wonderful website for info, and I'd also recommend whiteblaze.net for more AT specific stuff, they get WAAAY in the weeds about the trail. You won't find much hammock stuff over there though, they all direct people back here for that (justifiably so).
Choices of equipment are legion, and your mind will spin from all the information and options. We're lucky in that the gear available to us today is light years ahead of what was available just a couple of decades ago. I think just making an informed decision about what you need and committing to it is much less stressful than trying to find the perfect thing every time. Perspective helps, Grandma Gatewood hiked the trail with a canvas shoulder bag and a pair of Keds at 67, 72, and 75 years of age for crying out loud. She had this to say about modern backpacking gear:
Total badass!
Don't let the perfect get in the way of the good enough. Gear snobs have their place and can be useful, but at the end of the day just make a decision and go hike!
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