What Did You Wear While Hiking The Trail?

   Back in 1980 it was quite an adventure hiking the Appalachian Trail. I already posted once about getting new boots. By this time the boots were well broken-in! The boots were actually a little bit big for me. That was by design. I wore two layers of socks. The inner layer was a polyester blend and relatively thin. The outer layer was very thick wool socks. Wool socks in the summer? Yes! The reason for wool was not for warmth, wool actually breathes pretty well. It also holds up well under a lot of pressure. Those thick wool socks gave a lot of cushion. I also had padded insoles that I put inside my boots. When a pair of these started getting worn out, I would put a new pair in and also keep the old pair for extra cushion!
   For other clothing, it was pretty simple. I had a pair of blue swimming trunks to wear. I cut out all the netting inside the swimming trunks and wore underwear underneath. The nylon of the swimming trunks was incredibly durable and also made them easy to rinse out and wash (which I did every couple of days). I had a short sleaved durable cotton shirt that buttoned up the front and had a pocket on the front. Quite honestly, once the temperature went up I usually hiked without wearing a shirt. I wasn't really worried about getting sunburned because the trail is mostly in the woods.
   The only other clothing I had was a long sleaved wool shirt, a pair of wool nickers (pants that ended just below the knee), and a pair of extra-long wool socks to wear with the nickers. That was my cold weather clothing. It came in handy back in the Smoky Mountains when we had snow. Now that it was almost summer, they were only used if it got cool at night or in higher elevations.
   I also had a strong nylon rain parka with a hood (that was the one I was wearing when I got caught in the storm on top of a mountain in the Mt. Rogers area). After several weeks of not wearing the rain parka I made a decision. I would need it later in the trip when I got farther North. That's why I mailed it to myself in Vermont and didn't have to carry it the entire trip. That's about 2.5 pounds less weight for about six weeks. I had a very thin "emergency blanket" also called a "space blanket" for emergencies. It only weighed a couple of ounces and looked like aluminum foil but it was extremely tough. I knew if it got really bad again, I could use it to keep warm and dry.
   Here in 2011 I keep trying to work on my weight. This morning I weighed in at 180.2 pounds. What I thought was a problem with my achilles tendon actually turned out to be part of the calf muscle. I soaked it in epsom salts and it took most of the soreness away. The rest of the muscles in my legs are still sore from the 5K race, but it will work out. Eat right. Exercise. Drink water. Don't give up!