[at-l] Re: Shelly's Questionnaire

[jtwilkins at gmail.com (Josh Wilkins)]

I think it would be great to have wannabe AT hikers and all read
completed hikers give answers to the questionnaire.

On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 20:55:34 -0400, Shelly Hale
<shellydhale@earthlink.net> wrote:
> When are you planning to thru?
2007 when I will be done with Grad School

> Will you be SOBO or NOBO?  Why?
North Bound because of the trail culture, more available resources, time window

> Will you use mail drops?
Some but not exclusively. I am vegetarian so most likely I will have
stuff prepared and a helper to pack and ship food items if needed.

> What kind of pack do you use?
golite speed

> What is your overall weight at right now?
Under 14lbs for cold but non-snow michigan weather. Less in summer.
 
> What kind of boots, trail runners, or other footgear do you use?
New Balance 804

> What kind of clothing right now?  And, when you thru?
I'm 6'5'' 270-280lbs so I patch my clothing system together using layers.

> Sleeping bag?  (mummy, down, synthetic)
Western Mountainearing Megalite down bag, with a nice trash compacter
bag to store it in.

> Preferred shelter? (tent, tarp, shelter, hostel, motel, RV?)
Plan on carrying my Tarp and using shelters. Looking into shire's cloud burst

> Water purification system?  (filter, MIOX, Aquamira)
Sweetwater / Polar Pure  with Aquamira on order

> Personal protection...knives, guns, slingshot, pepper spray, hiking stick or
> KellyGoVols when she's really ticked off?  ;-))
Am I hiking in Detrot??
> Favorite trail food?  Most hated trail food?
Too many to list. Strict Vegetarian though. Most hated... maybe
oatmeal, "energy" bars

> What (other than mucking around on the at-l) are you doing for preparation
> for your thru?
Hike, Hike, Hike, Read Books, Hit up ALDHA, Hike More, Weight Loss,
Save Money, Hike Some More

> What's in your wallet (make sure you carry a Capitol One card...I hear that
> if you don't Vikings will come chase you down...LOL)?
Will most likely do cash/debit/credit/travlers checks. Will have home
base support if any problems.
By 2007 there will be more or better systems.

> Cell phone (for or against?)  <<<gasp....I can feel the heat from that
> one>>>?
Looking into SideKick to be able to do email and such.  Again by 2007
tech will greatly change.


> Want to provide a list of gear for a thru and let the list do an "online
> tuckerization"?  OB and Mira as well as many others from the list are really
> awesome tuckerizers.  I just haven't worked up the gumption to go under the
> blade yet.  :~))
I'm pretty happy and experienced with my gear currently.  I am at base
about 14lbs. I can do 9 days in cold weather with no resupply
including water at about  35lbs or less.

> 
> I'm sure there's many more questions I could ask...but I'll take a break
> right now.
> 
> Shelly Hale

More questions: 

What Stove:
Up in the air right now. Stove tech is getting better and better every
year. If I left tomorrow it would be Alcohol or Esbit.

Hiking with Partner or Solo?:
With my wife who is my hiking partner. We hike all over together.

Thru-Hike, Flip-Flop, Section Hike?:
Were going to go for the straight thru-hike North Bound.

Best Hiking advice or infor learned this year?:
The Owen's CDT workshop.

SimpleHiker
JTW