NICK JOHNSON aka J-MAN ~ THRU HIKING GEAR & TRAIL WISDOMS

 
HIiking Thru Podcast Quote Nick Johnson.png
“Don’t take yourself too seriously, you’re out there to have fun, don’t compare yourself to anyone else’s hike & if someone’s being an asshole, just slow down or speed up & don’t worry about it. ”
— NICK JOHNSON
 
 

GEAR

FEET

SHOES

GAITORS

LAYERS


PACK


SLEEP

• Massdrop x Enlightened Equipment Revelation Quilt
VIEW PRODUCT

TECH

NAVIGATION & MESSAGING APPS

CAMERA & FILMING EQUIPMENT

MISC


WISDOMS

TECH

  • iPhone 7 Plus. It was pretty brand new at that point so I got the 256 GB one with
    just like a tonne of storage and I was able to shoot on that.

  • iMovie; I just used that to edit.

  • I was able to shoot, edit and post all on one device which was definitely nice on
    trail in terms of keeping everything charged.

  • iCloud storage for backing up my footage .

FOOD

  • Lunch - I really got into the little terrible open tuna packets with mayo for protein.

  • Avocado - I always try to buy a ripe avocado and then a very unripe avocado
    to kind of last. Having something green is nice.

  • I usually start the day with either carnation good start drink mix stuff,
    a small one of those,

  • Oatmeal

  • Coffee

  • Hot coco mix

  • Another real popular trail meal is the ramen bomb, which is just ramen
    with mash potato or what ever thrown in on top of it

  • Snacks are really hard core throughout the whole thing in terms

    of beef jerky, sour patch kids…

  • Cold soaking in Talenti Ice-cream containers.

  • So that was kind of like my dinner, it would always be a summer sausage and cheese. If we could get a fire going kind of melt that get it all heated up. I would just buy big things of mayo and then dump mayo on that and that was usually pretty good.

  • I would always try to have a little bit of hot chocolate and whiskey at night
    too, which is nice.

THRU HIKING

  • Its not the best idea to do some of the snowy mountain passes late in the day
    when the snow has become mushy and melted through, that kind of limits you.
    Try to hit your pass early and get to the next pass or just below it, set yourself up for the next day so, unless it’s snow free that kind of limits your Sierra mileage.
    I feel like that was the main factor for us I think.

  • There’s the PCT and the AT and all these major established trails that have not only blown up in popularity, they have such a support system built in. All the trail towns, locals know, you can jump onto a PCT thru hike with not that much planning in terms of logistics and be ok. Obviously there’s physical dangers but just logistic wise, I don’t think you don’t need to do that much planning any more.

  • A lot of the trail towns have a hiker hangout spot that’s usually free or next to
    free, whether it’s a church lawn or backyard or whatever the trail angel
    of the area you are in.

GEAR

  • I think all the gear I pieced it together over like 2 years so it never I
    never really felt that hit of buying all together.

  • I was just kind of like buying one big piece of gear a month just to keep it with
    everything in budget.

FEET

But the Darn Tough’s are nice, just cos they have a lifetime warranty on their socks
so a lot of places re-supply. If you have a hole in your sock you can just turn it into
the re-supplier and they give you a free pair.

RE-SUPPLY

  • Yeah, the whole re-supply thing is like a double edge sword, whether you want to re-supply boxes versus supplying in town. I would definitely recommend doing boxes if your vegan or have any dietary restrictions, but if you don’t, I would recommend not going the box re-supply route, except for maybe a couple of spots in the Sierras

  • There’s always trail chatter coming up on spots where “Oh there’s a 30mile waterless section here or there’s no food coming up for a while”. You’ll hear about it in town, so just talk with other people.

SLEEP

  • 20 degree, Enlightened Equipment quilt with hydrophobic treated down so its not completely useless if it gets a little moisture on it. That’s one of my favorite pieces of equipment. I still have it; its super warm, it packs down to almost nothing.
    Its pretty much the first thing I put in my bag and everything that goes on top compresses it down even more, that’s the biggest way to save space,
    getting a down sleeping bag or quilt.

MINDSET

  • A lot of people like to go stove-less but I love hot coffee. I think that warm meals and drinks are a big morale booster out there, so I definitely carried a little stove.

  • Don’t take yourself too seriously, you’re out there to have fun, don’t compare
    yourself to anyone else’s hike and if someone’s being an asshole, just slow
    down or speed up and just don’t worry about it.

 
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