Drying off? - Appalachian Trail

imported
#1

Do I need to bring a towel for showers, or do the hostels provide them. Other reasons for packing one?

Yeeeeeeeee Hah

Texan

#2

If I recall correctly most hostels have towels but some charge extra for the use of one. I do know that the NOC does not have towels. I used a bandana. It did work. Dry a little, wring and so on. So for me there was no point of a towel. I carried two bandanas. One for daily sweaty use and one for clean up. I did fine with that but it is really a personal thing as most things are.

Two Scoops

#3

A small pack towel weights 1.5 ounces. Handy at times when you don’t want to dry off in the sun.

You might want to use it after swimming in a pond or stream, or after the outdoor shower at Falls Village.

Peaks

#4

We carry 1 1/2 towels, those fleece like “camp towels”, from Kelty I think. I, BW, have a square on my pack strap as a face wiper since I sweat like pig and we dry off after water sports with the other. If you dry them by the fire they ARE very flammable, one cinder and they go poof.

Bushwhack and Bramble

#5

I carried a full lenght terrycloth bathrobe. It had my name monogrammed on the back. I liked it a lot except when it got wet,then it weighed about 20 lbs.:lol

Virginian

#6

I only ran into one time I wish I had a packtowell. Fortunately I had a 4x6 inch scrap that was soiled with food scraps that worked well enough. It was at the free shower at Fontana Hilton. I would not bring one in the future as I did not last year.
TB

TurkeyBacon

#7

Bring an extra-large packtowel and use it as a ground pad in your tent (you wouldn’t want to use it in a shelter, too dirty) instead of a thermarest. Not as much padding but great for insulation.

Or maybe bring one of the ultralight, ultraflimsy open-cell foam pads and put the towel on top of that. Combined, they’re still lighter than a thermarest.

Then you’d actually be saving weight and getting multiuse out of it. It is nice to have a towel at hostels, or after a dip in a pond, or even to dry off after your GoreTex fails in the biggest rainstorm of the season.

Bachelor

#8

I have the Aquis microfiber towel and cut it in half (about the size of a large wash cloth). Works great for me and is light weight.

Sparky