How I Lived Out of a 24-Liter Backpack for 84 Days on the Appalachian Trail

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The moment we were all waiting for! Here’s a complete list of all the gear I used on the trail for my second and personal fastest hike on the Appalachian Trail. This is my fourth hike of at least 2,000 miles, since my first AT in 2018. In seven years of hiking, I’ve perfected my gear and lightened my pack weight by almost half. Much of my gear is stuff that has been with me for many years, but a lot of it is new.

The only survivor of four walks

I only have one piece of gear that has lasted me on each of my hikes: my MSR Pocket Rocket camping stove. Highly recommended! This thing is so reliable that I have never had a single problem with it and it continues to turn on night after night and heat up water for delicious hot meals at the end of my hiking days. And an added bonus: I often find full fuel canisters in hiker boxes along the trail, so fuel tends to be free.

My kitchen setup

One of the most common questions I get when people see my relatively small backpack is whether I carry cooking gear or cold soak food. The answer is: I cook! I love a hot meal at the end of the day. Also, I’m a vegetarian and a bit picky when it comes to mountain food, so No I prefer foods that No require hot water (cold ramen, tortillas with peanut butter or tuna packets, mashed potatoes, etc.). The extra bulk and weight of carrying a stove, pot, and fuel has been a sacrifice I’m willing to make for food I like. There are many uncomfortable aspects of hiking, and this is one way to get some comfort on the trail. Some of my favorite foods are Peanut Butter Ramen, Annie’s White Cheddar Shell Mac and Cheese, and Couscous. I also enjoy freeze-dried backpacking meals, but they are expensive, so I usually only take them if they are given to me as a gift.

My Absolute FAVORITE Freeze Dried Backpacking Food

My clothing system

It’s pretty simple: I wear the same outfit every day. On this hike, 99% of the time it wasn’t cold enough for me to wear anything but my basic clothes while hiking. This includes my hoodie, sports bra, shorts, socks, hat, and trail shoes. When I got to camp, I would put on socks, tights, and an Alpha Direct sweater. This way, my hiking clothes would be the same ones I would have to put back on every morning, dirty and sweaty, and my sleeping clothes would stay dry and a little cleaner for a nice night’s rest. I am very satisfied with this system. My only complaint: When the weather was particularly hot and humid at the beginning of my hike, the long-sleeve hoodie seemed like too much fabric. On the other hand, I really liked having a long sleeve to wear on cold mornings without having to put on a sweater or waterproof jacket. And the long sleeves and hood protect my skin from the sun when there is little to no tree cover.

The only other clothing I wear is my raincoat. I’ve only worn my raincoat a few times and I mainly use it to sit on when I’m on the ground. My rain pants are very old and torn, I found them in a hiker’s box in the CDT. I mainly use them to keep warm on very cold mornings or in the city when I wash the rest of my clothes.

Also, shout out to the HOKA Mafate Speed ​​4 shoes. This is the first hike I have completed without blisters on my feet. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I give a lot of credit to these comfortable and durable trail runners.

my backpack

When I initially decided to try the Pa’lante Joey backpack, I wasn’t sure I could fit all of my belongings inside its 24-liter space. To put it in context, in last year’s CDT I had used the same brand’s V2 package, which was 31 liters. I often had extra room in that backpack. So between downsizing my gear even further for this hike and not needing much cold weather gear, I thought I’d give the 24L backpack a try. It worked like a charm.

The main concern with a backpack this size was making sure I didn’t carry too much food, or it would be really uncomfortable. Luckily, there are so many towns and places to buy food along the AT that I never had to carry more than four days worth of food, and it was usually only 2 or 3 days. If I had had to carry more than four days’ worth of food, especially once my hiker hunger had really kicked in, the weight and volume of all that food wouldn’t have worked well with a backpack this size.

The Joey has no hip belt and uses runner vest-style straps to stay on. I found this design very comfortable. I felt like I had more freedom in my movements and never craved a hip belt.

It’s also a frameless backpack, which meant I had to be more intentional in how I packed my gear inside, to make sure nothing stuck out over my back when I wore it.

My sleep system

I loved my sleep system on this hike, it was very cozy and warm. And such a drastic contrast to what I wore seven years ago, on my first hike. In 2018, I used a non-inflatable Therm-A-Rest accordion style foam pad. I also had an old synthetic sleeping bag that seemed to give me a cold sleep if the temperature was below 40 degrees. During that previous hike, I entered Smoky Mountain National Park in early March. Several of those nights dipped into the single digits, and not having a warm enough bag or air between me and the cold ground was not a good combination. I had to sandwich myself between members of my tram to keep warm, and all too often I would stay awake shivering for hours. Nothing fun.

I have learned my lesson since then. Now, as a more evolved backpacker, I use the Therm-A-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT sleeping pad. I used to stay away from inflatable mats because I didn’t think they were that comfortable, I didn’t want to have to inflate them, and I had heard about a lot of problems with air leaks. But I realized that the insulation provided by the air space creates a warmer system and I have adapted to its comfort. Plus, with my ultralight sleeping pad pump, I don’t have to do the work of inflating it myself.

I used Western Mountaineering’s Astralite 26 Degree Quilt for this hike. This product was very warm, almost too warm for many of the nights, and stayed extremely high at all times.

This was my second hike with my Zpacks Duplex Lite tent and it exceeded my expectations in how well it held up. I can set it up in about two minutes, I have stayed dry on rainy nights and have barely needed to repair it.

Packing it all

Honestly, I think one of the keys to selecting a smaller backpack for a hike is to just pack everything in intentionally. It all depends on how you approach your packing job. Every morning when I pack my belongings, I follow a particular order. Between each item, I use my fist to pound the equipment as far into the bag as I can. I don’t store my sleeping pad in a bag so it molds to the shape of the backpack and fills the air spaces. It is important to flatten it as much as possible to eliminate any loft. Once everything is inside, I use my knees and all my body weight to squish everything inside the backpack bag, which acts as a vacuum seal. Then I remove the bag and continue packing my bag of food and rain gear.

Final thoughts

I’m super happy with what I brought on this hike. As someone who definitely didn’t start ultralighting at the beginning of my backpacking career, I feel like I’ve come a long way. I now have a base weight of 7.1 pounds. There are so many things that I used to do think I needed it years ago, but now I know I can live without it for several months. That is an empowering feeling. For example, I used to keep a small journal to write in, because I enjoyed writing by hand and having something tangible to remember after my walks. On my most recent hike, I found that it didn’t detract from the experience at all just using the journal app on my iPhone to log my days.

My backpack in 2018: notice the size difference!

I don’t carry anything I don’t use. My most luxurious items are my inflating mat and my stove, just because they don’t necessarily need them. I have learned from experience that the less weight I carry on my back, the easier it is on my body. It really makes all the difference to me. I’d like to point out that I’m not saying ultralight is the only way, or that there’s anything wrong with carrying heavier gear or more luxurious items. This is just what has worked for me. Top of the line products can also be extremely expensive, which is why it has taken me so many years to finally have the exact pieces I want.

It can be overwhelming to analyze all the information and opinions that exist about equipment. If you have any questions about anything I brought on my hike or gear in general, I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to comment below or visit my Instagram page.