Home Sweet Tent

Today I will be sharing information on my home for the next 5 months. When I am not staying in shelters along the Appalachian Trail, I will be staying in the most kick ass tent ever made in the universe! Not to mention a wonderfully warm sleeping bag, which is a good thing because I pretty much run cold all of the time; when it is 70 degrees in our house, I am wearing a sweatshirt while draped in a blanket.

Below is the break down of my shelter and sleeping system.

The Tent

I have the ZPacks Solplex Tent and ZPacks Ultralight Titanium Stakes.

• One person tent
• 14.6 ounces (16.2 ounces with stakes - that's one pound, people)
• bathtub floor
• bug netting
• only needs two trekking poles and stakes to assemble (set at 122cm and 81cm) 

It is made from cuben fiber which is lightweight, very sturdy and weatherproof. The design allows for plenty of airflow but makes sure those pesky insects can't get in! My favorite part is the "tarp overhang" near the door, giving me extra weather protection at a fraction of the weight. These door flaps allow me to put shoes and other gear outside of the tent while still being protected from rain. The tent is made for a 6 foot tall dude to be comfortable, meaning it's a 5 star hotel for my 5'2" shrimpy frame. The Solplex is very easy to put up and pack up. Once packed it is about the size of a Nalgene and saves a lot of space in my pack!

It is not necessary to use ground cover with this tent, but I have a lightweight, cheap polycro-type ground cloth - sold at Lowes for winterizing your windows.

For more information, pictures, or to see a video of how easy it is to assemble the tent go to

http://www.zpacks.com/shelter/solplex.shtml

The ZPacks Solplex is in the forefront. 

Trekking poles, tent, Nalgene for perspective, and ground cloth

ZPacks Solplex (extra points if you find the dog) 

ZPacks Titanium Shepherd Stakes

Sleeping Bag, Sleeping Bag Liner, and Sleeping Pad

Summer Bag (blue), Winter Bag (red), Sleeping Pad (silver, rolled), Silk Liner (green)

**Puppy not included**

Apache MF 

Apache Microfiber Bag (red winter bag)

The Apache MF sleeping bag is made by Western Mountaineering and weighs 1 pound 14 ounces. It has 17 ounces of some of the best 850+ power down out there, and has a conservative 15 degree fahrenheit rating. This is for the 5'6" sized bag, because once again I am short. 

Once the season warms up I will mail this bag home and pick up my summer bag.

Caribou Microfiber Bag (blue summer bag)

The Caribou MF is also made by Western Mountaineering and weighs 1 pound and 4 ounces. It is rated 35 degrees fahrenheit and is the perfect summer bag with 9 ounces of downfill. 

Therm-a-Rest RidgeRest Sleeping Pad

I know what you are thinking... why didn't you go with an inflatable sleeping pad? The answer is simple: I hate them! I know they are comfortable and get you a few inches off the ground, but I hate blowing them up, deflating them, and packing them up everyday. So I guess you can say I am lazy and that is why I have picked the Therm-a-Rest RidgeRest sleeping pad. You simply roll it up and voila, you are done! Also, I don't run the risk of it popping and or getting damaged by a random rock or stick. And it is lighter weight, with a good R rating (a measurement of insulating warmth). 

Sleeping Bag Liner

I have the Sea To Summit silk liner for my sleeping bag. It will basically provide protection from dirt - keeping my sleeping bag clean and functional through many nights of use. It will also be a great blanket when I check into a hostel that has no linens, or for those really warm summer nights. 

All laid out VS. All packed up!

And there you have it! My home, sweet home on the the trail! 

Poetic Inspiration for the Appalachian Trail

I recently learned that the first stanza of Walt Whitman's poem, Song of the Open Road, had been engraved into rock along the AT at the entrance of the Trailside Museum and Zoo. I vaguely remember reading parts of Whitman's work in high school and college, so I thought I would look up the entire poem. Below are only segments of the entire poem that prove inspirational to me as I prepare for the trail (read the whole poem if you get a chance)!

Song of the Open Road, by Walt Whitman (1856)

1

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.
The earth, that is sufficient,
I do not want the constellations any nearer,
I know they are very well where they are,
I know they suffice for those who belong to them...

5
From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master total and absolute,
Listening to others, considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently,but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.
I inhale great draughts of space,
The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.
I am larger, better than I thought,
I did not know I held so much goodness.
All seems beautiful to me,
I can repeat over to men and women You have done such good to me I would do the same to you,
I will recruit for myself and you as I go,
I will scatter myself among men and women as I go,
I will toss a new gladness and roughness among them,
Whoever denies me it shall not trouble me,
Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed and shall bless me.
6
Now if a thousand perfect men were to appear it would not amaze me,
Now if a thousand beautiful forms of women appear’d it would not astonish me.
Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons,
It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.
Here a great personal deed has room,
(Such a deed seizes upon the hearts of the whole race of men,
Its effusion of strength and will overwhelm law and mocks all authority and all argument against it.)
Here is the test of wisdom,
Wisdom is not finally tested in schools,
Wisdom cannot be pass’d from one having it to another not having it,
Wisdom is of the soul, is not susceptible of proof, is its own proof,
Applies to all stages and objects and qualities and is content,
Is the certainty of the reality and immortality of things, and the excellence of things;
Something there is in the float of the sight of things that provokes it out of the soul.
Now I re-examine philosophies and religions,
They may prove well in lecture-rooms, yet not prove at all under the spacious clouds and along the landscape and flowing currents.
Here is realization,
Here is a man tallied—he realizes here what he has in him,
The past, the future, majesty, love—if they are vacant of you, you are vacant of them.
Only the kernel of every object nourishes;
Where is he who tears off the husks for you and me?
Where is he that undoes stratagems and envelopes for you and me?
Here is adhesiveness, it is not previously fashion’d, it is apropos;
Do you know what it is as you pass to be loved by strangers?
Do you know the talk of those turning eye-balls?

9
Allons! whoever you are come travel with me!
Traveling with me you find what never tires.
The earth never tires,
The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first, Nature is rude and incomprehensible at first,
Be not discouraged, keep on, there are divine things well envelop’d,
I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell.
Allons! we must not stop here,
However sweet these laid-up stores, however convenient this dwelling we cannot remain here,
However shelter’d this port and however calm these waters we must not anchor here,
However welcome the hospitality that surrounds us we are permitted to receive it but a little while.

15
Allons! the road is before us!
It is safe—I have tried it—my own feet have tried it well—be not detain’d!
Let the paper remain on the desk unwritten, and the book on the shelf unopen’d!
Let the tools remain in the workshop! let the money remain unearn’d!
Let the school stand! mind not the cry of the teacher!
Let the preacher preach in his pulpit! let the lawyer plead in the court, and the judge expound the law.
Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?
 

Appalachian Trail 2015

Just doing some light reading about the Appalachian Trail. Oh, I haven't told you? Yes, I am preparing for an AT thru hike this year. Going NOBO. I first learned that the AT existed in 2005, but did not give it much thought at first. However, after thinking about it non-stop over the last two to three years, I have decided to attempt a thru hike starting in March. Only one in four thru hikers complete the 2,185 mile trail. I will have my work cut out for me until then. Stay tuned for posts about AT prep and backpacking in the near future. Wish me luck! 

For more information about the trail go to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy website.