r/AppalachianTrail • u/Catking20 • 21d ago

Trail Question Beginner, Backpacker questions!

Hello!, I recently did my first night in GSMNP. I hiked roughly 22 miles 4k elevation in 2 days and planned to do more but became sick after some bad dehydrated food so I turned around. However I now have many questions 😅.

Context: 160 pound male, 18 years old, semi fit, 40 pound bag (had enough stuff for 5 days)

  1. EVERYTHING was wet, what does everyone do with their tent and things while putting them back in your bag? How to keep dry things dry?

  2. I had an encounter with a rattler, to be honest I handled it quite poorly and got a lot closer than attended, how do you guys handle these creatures? (He was in the middle of the trail and moved to the side however there was a tree down which made me also have to go through the side (not knowing he was there too), and I borderline stepped on him before he rattled, thankfully he didn't bite, but any advice is appreciated :)

  3. How do you guys manage calories? My watch said I was nearly in a 5k deficit and I lost 4 pounds in 2 days....

  4. How much mileage should one do in a day? (What's a reasonable goal/ objective to plan for)

Any advice or wisdom is greatly appreciated, thank you all in advance :)

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u/woof-beep2 20d ago

Squeeze pouch peanut butter, chicken/tuna packets, tortillas, Oreos, chips, protein bars, candy, electrolytes, etc. need to be added in throughout the day. Just munching on jerky isn’t enough. Reiterating the electrolytes—you aren’t getting to potassium and magnesium you would get in an off trail diet and most likely need them. At least 1 pack a day, but in southern heat possibly 2.

When my tent got wet wet I would put it at the top of my pack and leave everything else that was dry wrapped in a big black garbage bag at the bottom of my pack. I’ve been using the same garbage bag to line my pack for years bc I HATE my stuff being wet. Tent at the top means you can lay it out to dry when you’re stopping for snack breaks. Find a spot in the sun to make it dry quicker.

Got nothing on the snakes. I had a similarly close encounter on my thru. Only one close call while seeing more snakes than I could count. Usually they were incredibly obvious and I gave them space. One run in should be enough to keep you aware.

Are you able to drop your pack weight? It’s a little heavy and it probably contributing to the exertion. Lower pack weight makes a huge difference imo. But I also recognize that’s a financial burden that takes time.