Doing it again - Appalachian Trail

imported
#1

I’m a section hiker of the PCT and am trying to get as prepared for a thru AT.

Most that have thru hiked have said that they wouldn’t stay in shelters as much and would leave later.

So taking into account that i will not leave untill late March and would rather not rely on shelters, i come across this question.

Yes, the Hammock seems like it would be by far the way to go other then rain, and we know it will rain. So then we get to the tarptent. Why should i spend another $200 on a tarptent when my tent is almost as lite?

Will a tarptent (squall) keep me as dry as my tent in the bigger storms? Once out there will i thank myself for buying the Squall???

If you did i again what would ya do?

frey

#2

Well, Im not a thru-huker… but Ive completed some lengthy section hikes. I really enjoyed my Squall quite a bit. I did a mix of shelters and the Squall. I found both to be a different differnet experience, yet both enjoyable. I try to go as light as possible while hiking, so I would definately point you towards the Squall. I havent been out in a huge, wind-blowing/driving all night rainstorm in my Squall… but I would imagine it would hold up quite well. Ive had mine in normal rain and snow without any problems.

Ive yet to see any tent thats the same weight as the Tarptent. Montbell makes a solo tent thats pretty close in weight, but still just a bit heavier, not so mention much smaller than the Squall.

guru

#3

In March, in Georgia (assuming that you’re northbound), a tarptent will work great.

However, by the time you get to New England, there’s going to be thick vegetation almost everywhere. (If you’re imagining Sierra-style, spotless forest floors, think again!) This makes a tarp sort of problematic, because it can be hard to find a bare patch of ground that isn’t a heavily-impacted, bowl-shaped site… meaning that water will flow in under your tarp. (If your site is on a slight rise, then you can weather a downpour. But if your site is in a slight bowl, then moderate showers will wet you out.)

I did go the whole way with a tarp. But a tarptent is even more challenging in terms of site selection; you can’t really let vegetation spend the night under the tarp with you without losing your bug protection. So you need a tarp-size bare patch rather than just a person-size bare patch.

So the bottom line is: yes, I’m pretty sure you can hike the AT with a tarptent, but you’re going to have to work at site selection a little bit.

I’d carry a tarp / bug-bivy combination. Something like the GoLite cave/nest combination, but I’d probably use the Spinshelter tarp from Gossamer Gear and home-make a bug-bivy out of Tyvek and no-see-um netting.

Eric

#4

You might not want to completely rule out shelters. While we mostly used our tent (not near shelters), shelters were wonderful in rain and snow storms. We were glad they were there and took advantage of them. So, usually you would not need to worry about how well your tent, tarp, or hammock does in bad weather (the “bigger storms”), just stay in a shelter on those nights (when you can predict). Have a great hike!
-GA>ME 2003

Cobra

#5

I actually quite liked the shelters. In the beginning, yes, they were pretty crowded, but it was mostly fun. Later on when the bugs came, I was glad I had my tent. I couldn’t stand sleeping with the bugs. Sometimes, if there weren’t too many people in the shelters, I would rig my tent as a kind of bug net around me inside the shelter.

Jukebox

#6

I agree with your philosophy of staying away from shelters. I started early and hung out when I wanted to during the day. My hammock stayed dry for 800 miles except on Tray Mt and right before roan mt. There was no one dry even in shelters on those 2 nights. Hammock rain flies dry in 10 mins or so when you take a break.

Tarp folks changed back and forth to tents depending on what they were using at the time. Test drive your gear and go with what works for you. If you can find a really rainy night, set you hammock up in the wind and rain and see if you can live with it.

When in doubt, go in a RV like the slack packers did this year. hehehe

burn