
Dawn Webster
Dawn plans to end a 5 year "optimistically quarter-life crisis" with a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. This journey has already included becoming a physician of acupuncture, herbs, and traditional Chinese medicine and traveling throughout 40-ish countries, often with trumpet in tow. Why not reintroduce myself to American culture with a walk in the woods?
Posts
Thru-hiking with food sensitivities- a rough guide
On August 16 I finished my hike of the Appalachian Trail. 4.5 months of near-daily intense physical effort, that required a goodly amount of fuel. Alas, I am one of those people who over the years has developed food sensitivities. I knew I would want to be feeling well while hiking so just eating the typical hiker foods wasn't going to work for me. So I came up with a plan involving maildrops, dehydrating a lot of food, and using my e-charm via e-mail to score some sweet snack donations.
UL Thru Hike Gear List and Review
I suppose I'm rested up a bit and ready to start on all these writing projects I've had in mind for some time. First off is talking about my gear for the AT. I had a base weight of just under 9 lbs. I think I only met 5 other people hiking sub-10 which is what people consider "ultralight". I really liked having a low pack weight. I have a history of back problems so it really makes a big difference to me. Even if I carry more water during a day, the next morning I can get spasms or even have difficulty getting up. Having a low weight makes for a much more enjoyable experience for me.
Two months in: What works, what doesn’t
Hot mess @ ATC HQ Currently reporting in from AT HQ here in Harper's Ferry. So far things have been going pretty well and there's not a lot of
One month on trail: What worked, what didn’t
Well, it's been a solid one month on trail for me. I hiked out from Springer on March 31 and got into Damascus yesterday May 2. Lots of hiking and not TOO much else. I thought I'd do a little summary of what's been working and what hasn't.
6 Trail mix recipes to get you excited
Trail mix is a great option for the ultralight backpacker. Here are 6 recipes to tempt your palate.
Travel hacking the AT: Adventures in grocery hacking
This is not ultralight. It's getting closer to D-day and that means it's getting real out here in Everywhere Else, where I live. I finished the
Travel hack: Earn 3 Hotel Nights in AT Towns for Under $50 Total
The largest number of cash blown by hikers on the trail occurs at town stops. According to some figures, an average amount is well over $1000 for a
Things I’ve learned from a summer of shakedowns
So, unlike most prospective Appalachian Trail hikers (well, at least from what I can tell) I haven't been slaving away at eighteen jobs trying to
Travel hacking the AT: Part One- Intro
One reason (admittedly not the strongest) I never thought I'd hike the AT was that it cost a lot of money. As I looked into it, REALLY a lot of