AT 500 mile section hike

You have got to explain the box turtle.

Is it the equivalent of "no brown M&Ms" ?

nothing to add..have a great trip JJ

I am not even going to ask about the box turtle.

That looks like a great list. The only thing that I would suggest is to drop the SPOT, but if someone would finance my hiking, I would carry the 7.5oz too!

BTW: What is the yellow crayon for?

I hope you have a great hike!

Wow – awesome list.

Only one thing I could think of…
+ NIX one or both of the canteens – plenty of water on the AT, no need to carry 4Ls.

Otherwise, great list & enjoy the turtle's company!!!!

Peace, James.

I think you have way too much clothing for this time of year up here. I'd ditch the vest, the rain wrap, and the long underwear.

Rain jacket + dry bags + umbrella seems excessive.

You can resupply every 3-4 days on this stretch of trail. Why carry food for 5-7 days? Also you should plan on around 2 lbs. of food a day (3000+ calories) unless you want to lose a ton of weight (and even if you have the weight to lose, this isn't good for your body).

If you weren't joking about the box turtle, leave it at home. They're officially endangered in Massachusetts and you can get in trouble for just possessing one (not to mention the risk that your turtle will spread disease into the wild population). Don't bring it.

Is it a lemon flavored crayon? Crayons make great emergency rations! Mmmm…. crayons!

yeah, i think you should shorten up on that spectra cord leash, – those box turtle things sure can move, you dont want it to get away on ya, i would hate to see another hiker get savaged.

if it does have something to do with brown m n m's, then disregard this post, thanks

I see items on your list that I used to carry on the AT, but no longer do.
Umbrella, 3 L bottle sand a pillow. Umbrella spent too much time just carrying, plus trail is narrow and branches catch. I did pass an umbrella hiker last week who believed her umbrella kept her feet drier, however!
I used to start out carrying two liters which would last me the day, then fill up with tree liters at night. Now I just carry a one liter platypus. Drink 1/2 liter at a time, and drink up at stream crossings. At night one liter gives me enough for dinner with some left over.
With a full length pad, a pillow s not needed, or i stuff rain gear in an emty stuff bag and that is enough pillow.
Omit your MLD dog tarp. Too much trouble for a small rewards convenience.

Add to first aid, more stuff for blisters, eg. moleskin, 5 day 2nd skin blister pads. Apply Tinactin, or anti fungl cream before you get athlete's foot. Occasionally apply first aid ointment to the feet, too, for preventative care. For socks wash a pair, pin to bag to dry as you hike, wear a pair and keep one pair only used at camp in the evening. I like to remove shoes and socks to dry out in the sun at mid-day during a break. Remove the foot beds at night.
I had a box turtle once. It loved Japanese beetles!

Carry only the maps you need for a section, rip pages out of your guide book rather than carry the whole book.

I, too, would keep the long underwear for awhile longer. I live in MA, today 60 felt chilly. Send the warm stuff home, soon, however. I, too, might cary a couple of extra days of food rather than have to walk 2 miles to a town. Save re-supplies for the towns that the trail passes through or very close-by.
I like to mail drop clean socks and undies and mail dirty ones home.

Have you coated the cotton balls with vaseline? To ignite with a spark, pull the fabrics out in thin stands to catch the spark. (Vaseline is good on the feet at night, too.) Use you knife to split sticks for your fire especially if the fuel is wet. Look for the ends of pine branches still on the trees to collect your first layer of kindling. Cooking with wood fires is fine, but you need patience.

With 500 miles you will have plenty of opportunity to fine tune your gear list. Have fun. Tired of hiking? Catch an early morning bus from Delaware Gap and spend a day in NYC! The bus depot (Port Authority) is only a few blocks from Times Square.

Head lamp?

I like your nylon footie idea!

These ;ittle funnels fit on the tops of platypus bottles. put the screen (nylon) over the top and you have an easy aim filter system. A piece of no-see-um bug netting works, too.

aaaahahahaha, my turtle Fluffy is a feisty little guy/girl, box turtles don't eat much, take up very little space, likes rainy conditions, doesn't bark or damage gear, best of all carries it's own shelter.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, they're all worth considering. This will be my third 500 mile section on the AT, every year I refine my gear list and getting lighter. At this point I'm very happy with my sub-10lb weight

two wide mouth 1.5L canteens-
sorry I wasn't clear, I don't carry that much water all at once, it's for camp use, cooking, cleaning up, washing socks and undies, one trip to the water source at the end of the day is enough for me. When I said I could fit the 1.5L in my side pockets, what I meant and didn't say was, if I cross water on the way into camp I will fill up then, walk to camp rather than coming back for it. While hiking I drink from the 1L Platy that I keep stored in a side pocket, filling as needed, as someone said water is plentiful on the AT, yes it is, however I like having plenty for camp use.

food resupply-
I dehydrate much of my food in order to meet my dietary needs, resupplying in local stores is hard for me and usually doesn't work out in a positive way, resupplying every 5-7 days saves a lot of time and fewer trips to town.

5×5 dog tarp-
been using it a lot this year, extremely nice to have the extra room at the end of a rainy day, cooking is easier and safer. But, this is the open piece I'm not fully committed to taking.

extra clothes-
I sleep on the cool side, being warmer means a good nights sleep for me, so the insulation stays until I'm comfortable with not needing it, then will ship it home

umbrella- rain jacket- rain wrap-
After reading Jardine's book and how he used a brella it made perfect sense, so I gave it a try this spring while hiking in GA and really liked it, had only minor problems with it catching on limbs. Yep, my feet stay dryer, and I stay cooler, will still keep the rain jacket for when it's too windy to use the brella, rain wrap, kinda need to wear something when doing laundry in town and I find the wrap is multi use, jacket is good to wear while setting up camp in the rain and if it's cool at night I have a l/w layer

maps and or guide book pages-
yep, I already removed what pages are needed for each section, they will be shipped in resupply boxes, same for maps

Russ the yellow crayon is lemon, just right for drawing sunny faces in the trail registers and curving hunger :^D

I'll post a trip report when I finish, including how my gear choices worked out or not.

You may want to consider having some backup shoes available to bounce ahead – PA can kill footwear.

If it was me I would add an extra pair of socks and ditch the Dog Tarp.

Have a great hike.