Big Bird's Adventures

It’s March the 25th and my original start date was March 8th. What am I talking about? Last year I did a big Bike About (Actually I did two bike abouts, one was just a week) across most of the country. I called it “Bike About 2025“. This year my plan was a big Walk About starting at the Southern end of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia and lasting as long as I want to keep hiking. Yes, I am guilty of procrastination, and yes, it was a pretty nice Winter for snowshoeing and so there were plenty of distractions. Also I have some personal things going on which require attention and I have been slow in dealing with all of them and that is the main reason for my delay. As I was getting a grip on those things a “Help Please!” plea came from daughter #2 in Bend Oregon. Apparently when Day Care mentioned that they observed the standard Spring Break, my daughter and son-in-law weren’t listening and they needed help looking after Roman during that week, which when the message came to me (Thursday) was the following week. So I delay further and write this now from Bend Oregon where I will be until this Sunday. I still have to pay my taxes, though the paperwork is mostly complete.

I decided at the end of February that I was going to make some additional investments. The first was to submit payment for a Hyperlight Windrider 70 liter ultra light backpack that comes in at just under 3 pounds thus shaving more than 3 pounds off my base weight. I was all set to go with my Osprey, but a couple of things bothered me. That bother was a bit of bother as well because I started with my super fill -20 bag which took up a lot of space, so that when I stuck my bear canister in, it just didn’t feel right. The Osprey is also 70 liters however that 70 is spread out between compartments whereas the Windrider is one giant compartment, and the Windrider has better capacity for things that don’t need to kept dry.

The second big change I made was I went to Enlightened Equipment and purchased their Enigma for someone my size. It’s the largest version, though I went with the 850 fill and not the 950. It really compresses nicely, and the straps are really nice to hold it down to the sleeping pad. I was planning to be on the trail for a month now, so the 20 degree bag would have been perfect. It will still be fine for some time, and will probably be more useable than my 35 degree bag and way lighter than my 0 degree synthetic bag. I packed almost everything, including food for 5 days and my pack weight was 30 pounds. More than tolerable.

The bear canister is a bit heavy, and so I may pack a hang bag as well and send the bear cannister home if it bothers me too much. I reduced the amount of first aid stuff in my kit to the bare essentials, and decided on near minimal equipment for hot water. My BSR is still working great, that and a titanium cup that the fuel fits into and a titanium handled cup for drink will be it. I’ll keep my folding spoon, and I will pack my leatherman knife which is overkill, but you never know when something like that may be needed.

While I can sit on my bear canister, I am packing a lightweight chair. I am a big guy so I can tolerate some extra weight and that seems like a decent piece of extra weight gear. I have a small ultra light umbrella as well, though I am really unsure just how useful a small umbrella is on the AT. I can see it’s use more on an open trail like the ones out West, but perhaps I can make use of it.

My Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL 1 did fine for me last Summer on the Bike About, so I picked up a couple of repair kits and set about making the necessary repairs to the stuff sack, rain fly and interior mesh. The stuff sack was in the worst shape and I do believe I have bought it enough time to cover this adventure. I am either packing the dry in a dry bag, or I am packing the fly. I think it makes more sense to keep dry stuff in a waterproof bag, than to store something wet in the same bag. The important thing is to keep the wet separate from the dry, and though the Tiger Wall can be assembled wet first and then adding in the dry interior, it is not as easy to do this as is the Durston setup.

For clothing I will go with the layers, most of which will be wool, and maybe a couple synthetics. The plan is to hike in my Kilt as much as possible but I will have some convertible pants for around camp and in town. Not that I don’t mind wearing the kilt in town. I will hike in my La Sportiva Nucleo High II GTX boots and not my Zambys. These are half the weight of the Zambys and should serve just fine for however many daily miles I eventually settle in to.

When it comes to hydration I am still on the fence. I bought into the Katahdin Be Free system a couple of years ago, but my most recent experiences with it were less than spectacular as both of my filters just don’t draw as well as they did when they were new. Yes, I rinsed them prior to each usage, and no, I didn’t rinse them in distilled water after each trip, but the draw was really really slow. Slow enough that I purchased a new Steri-Pen Adventure model, one that I used for almost 10 years before I went Be Free. I had considered just getting new replacement filters for the Be Free but damn MSR redesigned the filter, and all the reviews seemed to be of the flavor “If it isn’t broke then don’t fixit” or “No caps came with this”. They were all 1 star reviews, and I image if 0 stars was an option that is what they would be. The original filter was threaded for the same caps as smart water bottles since they seemed interchangeable to me. On the AT this time of year, water is running everywhere, so I think I will be fine with the steripen, and some extra batteries. With Nora on the loose, I like the idea of the Steripen better. At some point I may rethink this, but for now it will be the Steripen, 1 smart water bottle on the right shoulder strap, and two 1 liter Nalgene bottles that I will use around camp and carry empty.

Documenting the trip is also still a work in progress. I am not going to go full video on this, and I might not even go video at all, but that can be a work in progress. I am a photographer and not a videographer, and I don’t plan on hiring anyone to do my editting for me. I know I can get by with just my iPhone, but I always miss my micro 4/3 Olympus system when I don’t bring it. There is one main shoot that I do and that is composite panoramas, and the best ones come from my 4/3 system. Something that I usually do with my friends is daily portraits, and I think I might go for something like daily faces on the AT as an Instagram account, or I will just post them on my main account. I like to fill the frame. It gives you some insight into the soul of the subject.

There are other things, but the main thing is I have to get my affairs settled before I can leave. The sooner the better. When I do, then we will get this show on the road.

Tagged: Appalachian Trail 2026, Backpacking, Camping, The AT Walk About, Travel