What did you drop at Neels Gap

imported
#21

It just goes to show, Big Boy, never trust what they teach you in the scouts. Are you sure you never had a boy scout tucked away in the base of the pack? :wink:

Rick

#22

actually; come to think of it; I think I had a Webelo house boy in my pack for a while. If you can handle the extra weight; its a great way for them to earn beads and for you to get your dinner cooked and items laid out for sleeping.
(as much as I wanted to ; I just couldn’t say I had Brownie in my pack. I am much too old for that.)

Big Boy

#23

Light Is Right

Yo-YO

#24

I dropped 10 lbs of stuff at Neels Gap but could have dropped a lot more. My wife came up with all my extra gear so I was able to swap out a lot of stuff. I actually went back to Neels Gap to exchange more gear from Hiawassee when a guy I was hiking with, Jaybird, yogi’d a brand new Tahoe for a few hours.

Dropped or exchanged at Neels Gap

  • Dropped 15 degree bag for an army poncho liner (this turned out to be a mistake)
  • Added a pair of camp shoes
  • Dropped a pair of socks
  • Dropped all rain gear
  • Exchanged Katahdin Hiker for Aqua Mira
  • Exchanged a heavy fleece jacket for long sleeve capilene
  • Exchanged larger Tyvek for lighter Tyvek
  • Dropped half of my tent stakes
  • Added Bug Bivy

This dropped my weight from 55 lbs to 45 lbs. I did the following later on in my hike to drop my weight to about 25 lbs fully loaded.

  • Exchanged Tyvek, Bug Bivy, and Tarp for 6 lb Mountain Hardware Approach Tent and even later exchanged that heavy tent for a 2 lb Six Moon designs Tent
  • Carried the right amount of food. My initial food bag lasted almost 3 weeks with only minimal additions. When I went home after a month I still had dinners I had been carrying from Springer
  • Exchanged my 7.5 lb Arc Teryx Bora 80 for 2 lb ULA P-2. This was by far the best exchange I made.
  • Quit carrying between 3-4 liters of water at the start of the day. I switched from a 100 oz camelback + 32 oz Nalgene to 2 plastic 1 liter water bottles. This made it much easier to get water (I didn’t have to unpack my pack to do it and wait around for the aqua mira to work). I was now able to get water on the fly.
  • dropped most of my first aid supplies since I was no longer getting blisters and had never used the rest of the supplies
  • Got a more sensible 40 degree sleeping bag instead of using a heavy 15 degree bag or the army poncho liner that I froze in each night.
  • Switched my boots that had been giving me a lot of foot problems to New Balance Trail Runners. This one switch helped me go from hiking 12-15 miles per day with dificulty to 15-20 miles per day with almost no dificulty.
    -Exchanged my Tiva Camp shoes with Waldies saving about 1 lb

Every time I got to a town I reevaluated what I was carrying and either sent what I didn’t need home or ahead when I would need it.

Sleepwalker

#25

That shiftless son of mine. Now he’s settled in there and thinks he owns the place.

Neels Pap