A common statement that I am reading when I am researching all things Appalachian Trail is HYOH – Hike Your Own Hike. Don’t worry about what other people are doing, wearing, packing, planning. Don’t worry about the mileage of others on the trail, the length of their stride, the states they have already passed through. This hike is about you – your journey, your process, your experience.
Sounds lovely.
But, with a little over a year until our intended departure I have to wonder, how in the world do you PYOH – Plan Your Own Hike.
So, as any red-blooded American in 2021 would do, I hit the Google. And then scroll, and scroll…and scroll…
“7 Essential Tips for First Time Hikers (How to Prep & What to Pack)”
“Ultimate AT Gear List”
“Budget Friendly Ultralight Backpacking Gear – & Where to Find it”
“My Worst Thru-Hiking Gear Mistakes – And How You Can Avoid Them”
The articles are endless. As are the suggestions. People post pictures of their gear, perfectly laid out on their tent footprint. They offer the promise of easy shopping – just buy what I bought! I already did the work for you! &, act fast, you can save money if you shop early!
But every. single. list. is different.
Some swear by item X, dozens of others say it is total garbage. Item Y has a cult following, but scores on social media lambaste the product for being completely worthless on trail.
So my question is, how do you PYOH if you don’t know how to P?
Our family has been backpacking, albeit for a short 1.5 week trip with a jaunt to a town campsite in the middle (when we couldn’t find a campsite at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore). Matthew and I didn’t bring sleeping bags for the first 4 nights in the U.P. (seriously). We had way too much food but too little warmth. Our cooking gear was too cumbersome. But we brought mostly what gear we already had in our house. We bought a second (too heavy) “backpacking” tent and a gravity-fed water filtration system. This was a bit of a last minute trip (COVID cancelled our plans for Paris) so we brought what backpacking gear we had.
But a week and a half of bulky, not-quite-right gear is far different than 5-6 months of ill-fitting, ill-prepared gear.
Where to start? Goodness gracious. Here’s what I’ve done:
1. Opened 457 tabs (the one I am currently looking at is 10 Best Backpacking Sleeping Pads)
2. Started a Google Sheets document with our names & random lists of things I think we might need, already have, and should maybe consider because 2 people suggested it on Facebook
3. Handwrote a list from a popular youtube thru-hiker onto 5 small, yellow post-it notes and bound them together with a binder clip (she recommends a neck knife. I added it to the Google sheet)
4. Went into the basement and in the bottom corners of my drawers to imagine what we might be able to use that we already have. (too soon?)
5. Joined a few Facebook pages
6. Joined some buy/sell Backpacking Gear Facebook pages
7. Spent WAAAAAY too much time on numbers 1-6 above.
All leading to…INFORMATION OVERLOAD!!
Matthew doesn’t want to hear too much about gear or supplies right now. It’s a bit overwhelming for him as he plans for his sabbatical proposal. So I don’t know if the $180 sleeping bag is a deal we shouldn’t pass up…or if a better sleeping bag is on someone else’s ‘must have’ list. So, I mostly keep open the 457 tabs (& counting…) and continue scrolling right past the gear for sale.
PYOH – panic (about) your own hike. That’s about where I’m at right now. But, Matthew’s not worried. We’ll get there. In our own way.
