From the category archives:

How to's

Addy’s guide on how to survive making your own Coke can alcohol stove

February 25, 2010 How to's

Making your own Coke can stove

Step one: Go to the store and buy a six pack of root beer and a gallon of ice cream. That way, if you get really irritated while you’re making your stove you can have a root beer float. You’ll also have extra cans available in case you make a mistake and need to start again.

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Some tips on planning for a thru-hike

February 11, 2010 Gear

Geological marker on top of Mt. Katahdin

A lot of people skimp their first aid kits, but your mother and I both think that is really dangerous.

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How to use an emergency blanket

December 12, 2009 How to's

Patricia wraps up in an emergency blanket

There comes a point in most of my backpacking trips where I think, “Who’s stupid idea was it to going into the woods anyways?” For my friend Patricia, that point hit pretty early.
“I’m freezing!” she proclaimed. “Our water bottles are turning to ice and I can’t feel my toes. What are we doing out here?”
I [...]

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Trying out some new recipes for backpacking trips

December 10, 2009 How to's

Despite my affinity for mac ‘n cheese, I am now determined to healthier meals and more variety when I backpack. To that end, I have been experimenting with recipes from a great website called Trail Cooking.This site is really helpful because they have a built in calculator so that you can adjust your ingredient measurements [...]

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Backpacking basics: socks, fungus, and blisters

November 16, 2009 Gear

At the risk of being told I have a fetish, I’m going to write another post about feet for my next Backpacking Basics article.
Up this time: socks, fungus, and blisters
Socks
There are a lot of different opinions on how to choose socks, and here’s mine: let your padding come from your shoes and not your [...]

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Backpacking basics: Footwear

November 12, 2009 Gear

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had several people ask me what the beginning steps are for getting into backpacking. So I’ve decided to write a series of articles on the backpacking basics to help people get started.
First up is footwear. The main things to consider are: tread, stability, and waterproof level.
Tread
For some basic terrain, [...]

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Basic information on the Appalachian Trail

September 4, 2009 How to's

Northbounders (Nobo’s)- Hikers who go from Georgia to Maine. Most people head this direction.
Southbounders (Sobo’s) – Hikers who go from Maine to Georgia. Southbound represent!
Flip-floppers- People who go one way for part of the trail and then jump down and go another direction to finish it.
Trail names- Every thru-hiker chooses or is given a new [...]

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Instant pudding: win

September 3, 2009 How to's

As some of you may know, getting enough calories on the trail is very important. I told someone recently that now food is more like firewood to me, and I don’t care about the taste very much. One way backpackers judge which foods to bring is by caloric density–the ratio of weight to calories.
My favorite: [...]

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No one’s in the kitchen with Dina

August 31, 2009 How to's

I’ve decided to go no cook, which is to say that I have decided that my trail life should match my home life. No cook hikers don’t bring stoves and subsist largely on powerbars and poptarts. You can end up carrying more weight than other people because you don’t have the freeze dried dinners. But [...]

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How to climb a mountain in Maine

August 25, 2009 Favorites

I’m done with the state of Maine now, so I though I’d pass on a few tips. Hiking here can be challenging because there are no switchbacks. It is as if the creators of the trail said, “Lo, there is a mountain. You will now walk straight up it.” Often, the trail is actually a [...]

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Mountain House freeze dried dinners: win

August 22, 2009 How to's

Mango Mamma brought some freeze dried meals with her for our trip in Maine, and I have to say they won me over from being a skeptic. Normally, I hate to cook, in part because the most options for cooking are too much food for me and in part because I am lazy, but these [...]

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Cytomax first run

June 13, 2009 How to's

Ultimate frisbee team powered by Cytomax

I’m trying out a product I recently found out about through Philip Werner, the author of the blog Section Hiker (which is great, by the way). He recommends using an electrolyte replacement mix called Cytomax to speed recovery during exercise. You start drinking before your activity begins and then more regularly throughout the day.
I decided [...]

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Basic self-defense

May 28, 2009 How to's

Adelaide does self-defense

I’d like to be clear here–the Appalachian Trail is a pretty safe place for women. Incidents are the extreme exception rather than the rule. Still, basic self-defense skills are useful. If nothing else, they will help you feel grounded and secure in your ability to protect yourself.
I recently attended a great self-defense class with instructor [...]

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Wilderness School MBA

May 22, 2009 How to's

Last Fall, I attended TrackersNW immersion program, where I learned how to build a fire without matches, how to identify edible plants, and how to create a business plan. It’s an interesting mix of skills, but the facilitators of the program feel passionately that there are ways for people to pursue their love of the outdoors while making enough money to quit their day jobs…

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Planning food

May 20, 2009 How to's

A picture of the Appalachian Trail Food Planner

I’ve just finished reading The Appalachian Trail Food Planner. It’s a helpful little book with instructions on how to plan your food for the trail. Most people either have their friends send them food or they use a bounce box. A bounce box is a package filled with extra supplies, like food, batteries, undies, that a hiker sends to herself in one town, where she takes what she needs and then sends the remaining supplies to the next town. It’s a great way to avoid carrying too much weight.

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General Delivery: How to receive mail on the AT

May 20, 2009 How to's

I’ve been wondering about how to keep in touch and get mail from my friends on the trail, and I just found out one way. The post office offers a service called general delivery.
This means that if someone writes me a letter addressed like this:
Addy
c/o General Delivery
Small town near the AT, State, Zip code
I can [...]

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My trainer

May 7, 2009 How to's

Nikki Becker. She’s really much meaner than she looks.

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On being a Missfit

May 7, 2009 How to's

Adelaide lifting weights

As it turns out, playing Ultimate is not a good way to prepare for backpacking the Appalachian Trail. Who knew?

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