New Gear for Christmas!

So, mom and I both had backpacking gear on our Christmas lists this year! I got the Campmor Goose Down 20 Degree Mummy Sleeping Bag Regular, Pacific Outdoor Equipment X-Lite Thermo 72 in. x 20 in. x 2.5 in. Inflatable Pad, Platypus BPA-Free 3 L Hoser, and a great aluminum water bottle with a sipper straw that I'll use on practice hikes (but I probably won't carry this on the AT). Mom got all of these things too, but she also got some rain gear and some clothes. I'm hoping to lose some weight before the hike, and I figured I'd get some clothes when the time gets closer. I also picked up a grease pot from walmart for boiling water for our food. We're going to try the freezer bag method of cooking while on the trail, so I hope this pot is large enough to boil all the water we need. My husband picked up a mini flashlight for me and got one for mom too, her's is a bit larger. He also got me a Light My Fire Mini Swedish Firesteel.

So, I think we are well on our way to collecting a lot of the major price tag gear that we will need.

Practice Hike #2 - Dunes

Well, mom and I did our second practice hike in November. We hiked trail #9 at Indiana Dunes State Park. It was a lot of hiking in SAND!!! I had forgotten my boots, so I had to buy new hiking shoes, which I actually love more than my boots. They are much more comfortable on my ankles. The weather was warm, especially for November. The sand took a toll on my body, I was exhausted and really had to push myself to keep going. We took some sweet/savory chex mix with extra raisins added in, it was good, but I think we can come up with a better mixture. We also picked up some jerky at Bass Pro Shop while I was picking out my new shoes. The Maple Ham jerky was AWESOME, and the traditional beef was good too. I think jerky will provided a good source of protein on the trail. When we got home, we made our first meal in a bag... Knorr Chicken flavored rice with a bag of diced chicken. We boiled water in our walmart grease pot, but on the stove! It was strange eating out of a ziplock bag, but I'm sure we'll get used to it. I think having some sort of structure, like a cozy, will help. Instead of a cozy, we used oven mitts! The rice could have cooked longer, it was a bit chewy and too watery. The bagged chicken tasted a lot like tuna, so I'm going to have to get over that. I think if the chicken tastes like tuna, I'd rather just have tuna! We're going to need to get a good idea of what meals we'll want to eat on the trail, so hopefully next time, we can try our alcohol stove and do some more cooking.