I went hiking on the Appalachian Trail this past weekend.  The weather was great and I had a good time, but there are a few things I'd like to remember: 

1.  Sandals are good to wear at the camp site, especially if there's water around.  It makes it easy to walk around and get your feet wet without having to take off your shoes and put them back on repeatedly. 

2.  Clif Shot Bloks, fruit leather, and other fruity/sweet yet healthy food is better to eat during physical activity than Clifbars, Powerbars, or Snickers Marathon bars.  Hiking food all seems to follow the same path:  chocolate and nuts.  While I'm a fan of both, I don't really prefer either of them when I'm doing physical activity on a hot day.  On a sidenote, beef jerky covers over a multitude of sins. 

3.  It's nice to have a warm, relatively large meal at night.  In the middle of the woods, there are two viable options:  MREs and freeze-dried meals.  MREs come with chemical heaters so you don't need any extra tools or equipment.  But they weigh about 13-18 oz each.  This isn't much, but it's mostly water weight, which seems like it excess weight should be avoided if necessary.  The alternative is a freeze-dried meal like Mountain House.  These packages of food weigh next to nothing, and all that's needed is some boiling water.  But that presents another problem:  Where/how do you get boiling water?  One method is a thing called Jetboil, which is a lightweight thermos-like container that can easily attach a burner and propane tank to boil water.  It weighs 2.6 lb, but it's a great tool. 

4.  A sleeping pad is most likely worth the extra cost, weight, and ego hit. 

5.  Gatorade is the nectar of the gods.  Maybe I'm brainwashed from all the advertising, but Gatorade seems to do some amount of good during physical activity.  It might be a good idea to bring two bladders:  one for water and one for Gatorade. 

6.  Maps are hard to find online.  They're available at outdoorsy stores.  An abbreviated copy of the Appalachian Trail Thru-Hikers' Companion is available online. 

7.  Motives are good to settle before starting the hike.  Should you cover as much ground as possible in as short a time as possible?  Or should you take it slow and enjoy nature?  Or should you do something in between those two options?  Nothing is wrong with any of these choices, but it's good to get the whole group to agree to a goal before the hike starts. #sports