Journal Entries

Our first snack break, feels great to be on the trail again. We have beautiful weather in the forecast, this is starting to look like a fabulous weekend to be spending above treeline.

New Hampshire, here we come. So excited to be on the trail today!

Footwear decisions... Do I take my trusty Merrell Bare Access Trail shoes - the same ones I used to finish my AT thru-hike, or do I give a go at sandals? I have a pair of Luna Osos as well as a pair of Xero Umara Z-Trails. I may bring the shoes and the Xeros since the Xeros are pretty light and might make good camp shoes even if I don't hike in them.

Food is ready! For me at least, my son has yet to get his in order.

When we thru-hiked the AT, I was the one responsible for buying the food for the family. My strategy for ensuring we had enough food for all of us was to shop by weight. In the beginning we satred out at 1.3 lbs per person per day. We then gradually increased it as our appetites grew to 1.8 lbs per person per day.

At the end of a multi-day stretch, I would tally up the leftovers to see where we were at. If we were running on fumes bu the end, I would increase the per-person weight. At some point things levelled-off and 1.8 lbs seemed to be the magic number for us.

For this trip, I am packing 1.5 lbs per day for myself, and assuming 2.5 days of actual hiking which makes a target of 3.75 lbs of food in total for the trip. My son will probably need more, as he is consuming tons of food at home right now. Thankfully, he also gets to carry it :-)

Broke out the Excalibur this morning to dehydtate some veggies. It has been a while since I have used this thing, but when I do, I am so happy to have it.