We read books, Talked to many people and loaded and unloaded our packs hundreds of times.
We set out on a sunny March day and expected to meet relatives in Georgia in 12 or 13 days.Being young we over estimated, under estimated, and just plain had no idea how hard walking hundreds of miles would be.
We were as set up and prepaired as we could be for a long hike. We thought. We left litely loaded. We wanted speed and light packs to not slow us down.
Can you carry everything? No, but we were short on several key items.