Kyle Peltier and his gear for the 2,200 mile hike.
Peltier is adding a tent to his gear because of East coast weather for hiking the Appalachian Trail, although he prefers "cowboy camping" without a shelter.
Kyle Peltier of Seeley Lake is embarking on the Appalachian Trail April 8 after completing the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in 2021. While nearing the end of the PCT, Peltier began thinking about another through hike, either the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) or the Appalachian Trail (AT). The three trails comprise the Triple Crown of thru hiking.
"I wasn't really keen about doing the Appalachian Trail because of all the rain and snakes and stuff on the east coast," said Peltier. "One of my PCT tramily (trail family) suggested doing the CDT last if I wanted to do the Triple Crown, so I could finish in my back yard at Glacier National Park. That made sense to me, so I'm doing the AT now."
After starting the PCT with a 55 pound backpack, Peltier lightened his load by sending home non-essentials such as books and extra clothing. His AT pack has a base weight of 17 pounds, before packing food, fuel and water when it should top out at 35-40 lbs.
"I always tell them I'm comfortably light," said Peltier. "I have everything that makes me happy that will get the job done."
Hiking through the Appalachian Mountains will give Peltier more frequent chances than the PCT to stop and resupply with food, call home and do laundry. Despite frequency of civilization, Peltier shipped boxes to strategic places along the trail to have new shoes and socks waiting for him. A pair of the trail runner shoes he hikes in will last 500-700 miles. On the PCT four pair of Darn Tough socks got worn out.
A camera is a new pack item. For wildlife and scenery photography and video journaling, Peltier is carrying a 1 ½ pound Canon SX 540. He plans to journal as regularly as possible to experience the hike in a different way. Being able to write things down helped Peltier process the mental strain of the expedition on the PCT, and he plans to continue the practice more intentionally on the AT.
Although the highest point on the Appalachian Trail is Clingman's Dome in Great Smoky Mountains State Park at 6,625 ft, the original trail designers had no experience with switchback trails and all the trails go straight up and down the terrain. The total elevation Peltier will have climbed after completing the AT will be 464,464 feet, within 25,000 feet of the PCT trail through the Sierras, according to REI.
Thru hiking is the name for a backpack trip that starts at one trailhead, and is completed at another. A thru hike is defined as 100 miles or more in a continuous hike by THRU-R, an online backpacking community. It could be a day trip, weekend, week-long or five months and one day, as Peltier spent hiking from Mexico to Canada on the PCT.
The Triple Crown for thru hikers is comprised of three hikes going longitudinally across the United States PCT, CDT and the AT.
The AT covers 2,200 miles of the nearly 8,000 miles of the Triple Crown.
The AT is the oldest of long distance trails in America. It was first hiked in 1948 by Earl Schafer, who hiked it in 124 days and was featured in National Geographic. The AT goes from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine, along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains. Peltier anticipates spending six months on the trail to finish the AT.
"I'm 22 once, and I haven't done anything to show that I've been 22 at all. So I decided I'm going to hike the Appalachian Trail," said Peltier. "I'm scared as hell, but bring it on."
Peltier will be sharing updates on Instagram @wildshooter1, Facebook and at Seeley Lake Elementary
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