Saturday, January 31, 2015

"You will do what you most want to do."

In life, there are always obstacles. Whether those be physical, mental, or financial, there's always something that will get in the way of the things you wish to achieve.

However, I'm a strong proponent of the idea that if you want to do something badly enough, then you will. Today, I saw my thoughts echoed in an I Run Far article about Heather Anderson, the PCT record holder.

“You will do whatever it is you most want to do,” she says, without a lick of hesitation. “That’s what I say when someone says they can’t do something because of their commitments. If you really, really, really want to thru-hike, or go on some extended trip, or do anything, you will make it happen. You will have to make sacrifices. There’s never going to be a time where the stars align and you’re suddenly debt-free and commitment-free. That just doesn’t happen. You have to make it happen. Nobody’s life is so complex that they can’t make their dream happen, it just might require more sacrifices than they’re willing to give. You will do whatever it is you most want to do.”

This is true for all things in life. Not just hiking, backpacking, or running. Achieving goals requires sacrifice and sometimes we're not willing to make that sacrifice. And in the end, all we can say about it is that we didn't want it bad enough.

I don't want to say that I didn't want it bad enough. I don't want to go home with my tail tucked between my legs and have some excuse about why I wasn't able to finish my hike. When I'm cold, hungry, and miserable and want to give up, I want to ask myself, "How bad do you want it?" Because in the end, you will do what you most want to do.

And right now, at this very moment, I most want to hike the Appalachian Trail, and I won't be satiated until the summit of Katahdin is under my feet.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Synthetic VS Down Insulation

Being vegan means that we abstain from the consumption of any and all animal products (or byproducts). But how does that affect our gear choices? In one simple way: we opt for synthetic fibers rather than animal fibers like down or wool.

If you don't pay a whole lot of attention to your gear then you're likely to find animal products hidden in there somewhere. Likely your lofty insulation layers (puffy, sleeping bag/quilt) are made of down and your beanie, gloves, socks, and base layers have some percent made of wool if not all. Your shoes may even contain leather or suede, but most long distance backpackers will have already made the decision not to wear leather because of its weight and water retention.

Let's start with insulation.

Down is popular because it's highly compressible and lightweight. Pound for pound it's the warmest insulation available. Unlike synthetics, however, it loses its insulating properties when it gets wet and takes a long time to dry out. Down tends to cost more since there's relatively more labor required in producing down. It's also near impossible to clean and requires special care; most cleaning practices will destroy down's loft.

Synthetics, on the other hand, are somewhat water resistant and dry out extremely fast. A really important quality to have if you'd like to not freeze to death in the winter on the AT. Synthetics are still extremely light, especially as insulation technology increases, and not all that much heavier than down. For example, the Montbell UL Down Jacket weighs in at 7.6 ounces, while the Montbell UL Thermawrap weighs in at 8.4 ounces. That's a weight difference of less than an ounce for the same insulating capabilities.

What is down exactly? Contrary to popular belief, down is not "made from feathers". Down is actually the fluffy undercoating that ducks, geese, and other waterfowl depend on for warmth. Most conventional down practices are abhorrent to say the least. Force feeding, live plucking, and eventual slaughter to become foie gras (food made from the liver of a force fed duck or goose). Nonconventional down is somewhat less bleak, but still tragic. Patagonia's statement on "100% Traceable Down" is completely transparent, stating:
The eggs produced at parent farms are transferred to other farms, where hatchlings are raised for their meat. We audit these farms to ensure sound animal welfare practices. Down is a byproduct of the food industry, and the down we buy comes exclusively from slaughterhouses. After the down is collected from geese that have been killed for their meat, we follow it through washing, sorting and processing facilities to ensure proper traceability and segregation from untraceable down. We continue our audits all the way to the garment factory, where we make sure our down is kept apart from that of other brands, and used only in our clothing. It’s a lot of work. But this is how we ensure every bird whose down we use has been treated humanely.
In the same paragraph that they use the words "animal welfare" and "treated humanely", they reassuringly explain that "down is a byproduct of the food industry, and the down we buy comes exclusively from slaughterhouses". I won't go into too big of a tirade, but I will never understand how slaughter can be "humane". Read the entire statement here.

It might weigh less and compress more, but even in the best of scenarios, down cannot be acquired without the slaughter (and possibly, torture) of animals. No thanks, I'll stick with synthetics.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Resupplies (First Draft)

As we hike, I'm going to document and blog specifics about our resupplies including what city we resupplied in, what stores, what we got in those stores and what else they had available, how accessible they were from the trail, and how much food we bought to last us to our next resupply. Until then however, this is a very rough draft of our potential drops and resupplies. Scroll to the right for mileage and notes.



Notes:

- I listed more resupplies than I needed to, especially towards the end. We won't end up using all of these resupplies and I imagine we'll send ourselves about 15 to 20 drops.
- All of these are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances on the trail. Like, you know, maybe a pack of wild squirrels acting in unison will steal all of our food, and well have to hitch into the nearest town to 1) resupply and 2) avoid reencountering the hyper intelligent mutant squirrels.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Vegan on the AT

Hello folks.

It's the first month of 2015 and spring is just around the corner. We're currently living in Asheville, NC (Colton, Stevie, and Cheyanne), but that won't last, as come April, we'll be on the Appalachian Trail.

That's right, the AT. Granddaddy of all thru-hikes.

Anyhow, needless to say, we've been organizing and planning and scheduling, and to say the least, the internet has been an amazing resource on every subject related to thru-hiking the AT possible. Well, besides one big one.

You see, we're all vegan (and I myself, Colton, am gluten free as well). This makes hiking the AT a little bit more of a challenge for us. And to tell you the truth, there isn't that much information about being a vegan thru-hiker out there, and that's just a damn shame. I'd like to change that. The information that we have gathered has mostly come from Backpacking Vegan which is has been a great resource and more than anything, a huge motivation boost. White Blaze is also a great resource, but it's not very specific about the food available at resupply towns and shops.

As far as I'm concerned, this might be the first time a group (there's three of us, that makes us a group right?) of vegans have attempted to thru-hike the AT together. That puts us in a place to be the first to talk about our experience doing so.

We're going to post an incredibly detailed account of this particular experience of our hike, including but not limited to: where to resupply, where to eat, what cities are most vegan friendly, what companies are vegan friendly, who will sponsor your hike, etc. I hope that this blog will not only demonstrate that vegans can thru-hike (and be comfortable doing so), but also eventually serve as a guide for fellow vegans (or anyone else really) for eating on the Appalachian Trail.

Up soon will be my experiences with planning resupplies and my luck (or lack thereof) of getting sponsorships from vegan friendly companies.

Signing off,
X Colton X