Allagash, Jen and Phils 2023 AT Hike

We made a quick stop to get registered and pick up our 2023 hiker tags. Tomorrow we drop off the rental car and take a shuttle to Amicolola Falls. We will spend the night there in a cabin then hit the trail Sunday.

We have had a lot to do this week to get ready, but first I need to back up to the end of last week.  Allagash went to the vet and discovered she had Anaplasmosis so she on antibiotics and will be while in the trail!  She is feeling better already which is good. Monday Allagash got her spa day and all buffed and trimmed up for the trail. Tuesday Jen and I got our hair cut for the trail, sorry no pic. Today, Wednesday we picked up our rental car for the drive to Georga, always fun to drive a fancy new car! While down south we made one last run to REI to pick up a couple light weight fleeces as it sounds like it's been colder on the trail in Georga than typical.  We also got a Alli one for her, ugh more weight. We weighed our packs all in with food and full water and I'm at 31lbs and Jens is 33lbs..  UGH Other things today, lots of last minute things to do, clean out firdge, last dump run, check on mail forwarding, drop off our food ...

Boy looking at this picture it looks like I am bringing too much!  Will do one more repacking and double checking all I have packed is needed and I haven't forgotten anything.  Without water, my pack weight is 23.2 lbs. My food bag is 10 lbs, which is heavy, I have some extra stuff that seemed silly to leave so I will buck up and carry it until I use it.  We also made a dash to REI yesterday to get some light fleeces as it appears to be cold at elevation right now. We even got a base layer for Allagash so we will all be warm and dry. 

Allagash here, I'll be going by my trail name Squirrel which was given to me on our shake down hike last fall in the 100 Mile Wilderness, really don't know why. First an overview of all my gear, I have a red jogger lead to keep my person on the trail and behaving, it's stretchy so when they are not paying attention they don't pull me over. The maroon and green thing is my backpack, I like it cause when I want to take a scooch in a stream they can easily take my pack off of my harness.  Speaking of harnesses, the red bag I am told is a rescue harness, don't know why they bringing it as I will not need rescuing and I for sure can't carry either of them! Next is my rainsuit it's in the yellow pouch, Jen found it for me, not quite sure I like it, here's me in it. Last is my sleeping gear, the orange thing is my bed and it's comfy but theirs looks alot comfyier!  The blue bag is my quilt which I really like, it hooks to...

 Well we have all our equipment ready to go, have packed and unpacked it multiple times to verify we have everything.  We also have weighed our gear and food for the first leg of the trip. My base weight is 18lbs and Jens is 13 lbs.  Of my 18lbs is about 3lbs of Allagash's gear, she has a sleeping pad, a quilt, rescue harness and a raincoat. We also have been shopping and setting up several food boxes for a few resupplies we know doing food drops will be easier and better than the slim pickings at those towns! This is my gear: For now, Phil