Re: [at-l] hiking partners?

["Coosa" <coosa@fox21.net>]

Hey, Ben, if your Mom is willing, I'd be more than happy to talk with her --
chat or icq 45181962?

Dear Mom, I'm a 55 Year old Trail Angel in North Georgia. The AT is not like
the PCT, it's 3 to 7 day hikes broken up by wonderful Trail Towns where the
Community of the AT congregate.  Although everyone's hike is individual, the
Community is like a Big Family and they take care of each other.  Few of the
people who start out as hiking partners (and of the 3000 plus who hike each
year, less than a third have arranged for a hiking partner when they start)
end up with the same hiking partner when they get to Katahdin or Springer.
Everyone has his or her own hiking style.  Even married couples have to
change their hiking style in order to stay together on the Trail.

There are Trail Shelters and other campsites with fire rings on the AT.
Hikers who end their day at a certain milage point (usually with a fire
ring, there's just something about sitting around a small fire and chatting)
talk and become friends and often start out hiking together the next day.
Sometimes two people find that their hiking styles are the same and continue
on their way more or less together.  Then one will decide to spend an extra
day in a Trail Town, or go home for some important reason, or even drop off
the trail for a time, and the other will join another campfire ring and
maybe find someone to hike with or maybe not.  Doesn't mean that the hiker
will be 'alone' on the Trail.  For the first half of the Trail, there are
quite a few hikers hiking North each day.   Of the 3000 or more who start
out in a year, roughly 300 (or 10%) make it all the way to the Terminus.
Southbounders do go 'solo' for longer periods of time, yet this past Dec 18,
about 30 of them ended up hiking into Springer together, having all caught
up to each other on the Trail.  (Similar phenomenon happens on Two Lane
Roads -- the only two cars on the road will be traveling together, one right
behind the other.)

It takes a very special person to hike 2160 miles in 4-6 months.  Your child
wants to be one of those   If it's his dream, he needs his Mom to hug him
tightly and then release him to follow it.

There are a lot of books on the AT -- I like Ed Garvey's, myself.  His
Appalachian Hiker 2 is my favorite.  It would be good if you could read some
of the books so that you'll understand the AT and the Community of hikers.

ALSO -- head over to http://www.damascus.org and read up on Trail Days --
and make reservations to be there.  You'll love it.   You'll meet loads of
Thru Hikers, Trail Angels, Friends of the Trail, and have a grand time.

Believe me, your baby won't be the only one out there 'alone' and yet not
alone.  I just took in a 24 year old girl from Ohio (picked her up freezing
and slightly hypothermic) at Hog Pen Gap and kept her overnight at my home
(for free and that's what Trail Angels do) and helped her lighten her load
by 7 pounds.  She is hiking alone.  Yet, there is a group she's been hiking
with and will catch up to at some point.  So, she's not really alone.  And
there are more thru hikers starting out daily -- so there'll be someone
hiking behind her, should she get in any trouble she can't handle.  Thru
Hikers help each other out.

This evening, I picked up an older hiker, Brother Jude, at Woody Gap and
took him to a campsite at Suches so he could pick up his mail drop tomorrow.
He's hiking alone.  There was a group of Thru Hikers at the campground --
all hiking alone, but all together for the night.

So, you don't need to worry too much about your boy -- you can give him a
calling card and have him call you every 3 to 7 days to 'check in' -- and
you can come meet him on the Trail every so often -- and meet his new Hiking
Friends and do some 'Trail Angeling' yourself.

I hope you'll encourage your young man to follow his dream.

Coosa
coosa@fox21.net
Trail Angel, Flatwater Kayaker, AT Section Hiker, and Nana!


>so i finally got around to telling my family that i'm quitting work, hiking
>for two months, and then going back to school.  totally supportive, except
>my mom was REALLY concerned that i'm planning to go solo.  she wants me to
>find a partner or "tour group," in case there are any problems.  i love my
>mom, and i respect her concern, but the hike's also a really personal thing
>for me.
>-BEN
>misanthropy foiled by
>familial obligation, or,
>dare i say it?  love.
>curses!
>


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