Completing the Triple Crown in One Year – Preparation & Planning

Editor’s Note:

Jeff Garmire wrote this story before he left on his Appalachian Trail thru-hike. He completed the AT and is currently hiking the PCT. We are excited to see how his plans progress as he attempts to become one of the few people to complete all three major thru-hikes in one year.

Introduction – Completing the Triple Crown in One Year

Preparing for one thru-hike can be daunting, to say the least; preparing for three back to back to back excursions can be nothing short of chaotic. In February, I began hiking the Appalachian Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail will follow, rounding out a year full of walking. With only a firm start date for my first step onto America’s long trails, I have analyzed everything from the benefits of flexible plane tickets and frequent flyer miles to the towns I will be resupplying in versus mailing resupplies to.

Food

The majority of my meals will come from my dehydrator with some commercial freeze dried company meals mixed in as something to look forward to. I count every calorie that goes in and then spice up the meals when they come out in the attempt to make them edible. The majority of my homemade meals are made up of dehydrated beans and spaghetti.  I supplement them with various nuts, bars, and Snickers. With only two weeks until the great adventure begins, I focus on having the first half of the boxes taken care of and then passing the Chef’s hat to my support. In total, I will be creating 41 boxes across over 7,500 miles of trail. My thoughts regarding buying vs. mailing center around knowing exactly the makeup and breakdown of what I can eat each day before I set foot on the trail.  This allows me to avoid living off crackers and chips for multiple days. In the past, for a single thru-hike I have had no problem and quite enjoyed living out of convenience stores, but in this case, I need to be more cautious of both my health and the food that is fuel I put in my body.

Gear