[at-l] Top Ten Clues To Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail forPlanner Types

[zach1235 at yahoo.com (Zach)]

Planning for 2004?!? Jeez man, I'm planning for 2005,
have been for a couple years now. Here's my planning
philosophy. Plan everything down to the absolute
minute and gram. I know precisely when and where I'm
doing what and why, and how I'll be doing it. I plan
and plan, and plan some more. Then, when it's time to
execute, I toss all those plans and expectations out
the window and start planning to improvise. Planning
becomes a hobby in itself to keep me mindful of my
goals. You should've seen me when I traveled Europe,
Rick Steve's ain't got nothing on me. 30 days, 6
countries, all with one (small) backpack on my back!

walk softly, carry two poles, Godspeed

--- Datto <datto_atl2@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Well it's about that time again. About time for
> advice for
> those of you who are planner types thinking of
> thru-hiking
> the Appalachian Trail in 2004.
> 
> Everyone has their own opinion and I can only tell
> you what
> works for me and what I have observed that has
> worked for
> others. You know, some people have just shown up at
> the
> beginning of the Appalachian Trail with no clue at
> all and
> have made it the whole way to the other end. The
> entire
> 21xx miles! So what does planning do for you if
> people can
> just show up and make it the whole way?
> 
> It makes life a little easier, particularly during
> the
> critical first thirty days when many
> good-intentioned
> thru-hikers drop out. And it makes it more likely
> you will
> complete your thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.
> 
> So...without further adieu, I give you:
> 
> DATTO'S TOP TEN CLUES TO THRU-HIKING THE APPLACHIAN
> TRAIL
> FOR PLANNER TYPES
>
*****************************************************
> 
> Number Ten -- Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail is
> far more
> a mental challenge for most than it is a physical
> challenge. Believe me, it doesn't take a great
> physique nor
> aerobic capacity to wake up every morning for a
> dozen
> consecutive days, pack up your stuff into the home
> on your
> back and step out into the pouring rain (again!) to
> hike
> through the rain all day long. And if you're going
> to
> thru-hike the Appalachian Trail, you're going to
> face many
> consecutive days of hiking all day long in the rain.
> So if
> you're a planner type and wanna get yourself as
> ready as
> possible, you need to get out onto a trail this year
> and
> hike in the rain for multiple days in a row. That
> way, when
> you've hiked in the rain for three consecutive days
> next
> year on the Appalachian Trail and you've changed
> both pairs
> of socks already -- yeah, you can either wear the
> wet pair
> today or the other wet pair today -- it's not such a
> big
> shock to your psyche.
> 
> Number Nine -- There's a great deal of difference
> between
> being in shape and being in 'trail shape'. You will
> find
> the weakest part of the human body is the mind...and
> the
> second weakest part are the knees. See, there's this
> thing
> called a backpack and you strap it onto your body
> and add
> about, oh...25-40 lbs of swaying to and fro. Those
> knees of
> yours? Yeah, they like to move in the
> forward/backward
> plane just dandy but that backpack you've strapped
> on makes
> them go in the sideways/sideways plane too. "Knees
> to
> Brain...send pain signals pronto so this moron stops
> before
> this gets out of hand!" 
> 
> Then there's the trail in say, the Smokies where the
> treadway tilts badly to one side for miles. So one
> knee
> gets the brunt of the load and gets wasted until you
> wind
> past that mountain and up over hill and dale to the
> next
> mountainside that tilts the other way and your other
> knee
> all of a sudden starts having a hissy. Over the
> course of
> time the knees strengthen (or you get used to the
> pain and
> it doesn't bother you as much or...you leave the
> trail and
> go home because your knees just hurt too much).
> 
> You know how you can tell from a distance the
> thru-hikers
> from the locals when you're in town? The thru-hikers
> are
> doing the thru-hiker shuffle. That old-man kinda
> hobble
> where it looks like they're in agony just to get
> themselves
> moving in a forward direction down the sidewalk to
> the
> laundramat.
> 
> Speaking of being in shape, I hiked with a girl in
> New
> Zealand last year who'd run 10 miles every day over
> the
> last couple of years (and enjoyed it if you can
> believe it
> -- what a nut). She had been training to run
> marathons and
> had actually run some! God, that is certainly not up
> my
> alley. She arrived in New Zealand fit as a fiddle
> and
> strapped on a thirty pound backpack for the first
> time. We
> started hiking up and down cragy, uneven trails and
> Yesiree, it just about killed her. You'd never have
> heard
> more moaning and whining and complaining and crying.
> About
> like I'd sound if I had to run a marathon. You know,
> I
> don't think her intestines lasted 30 miles and her
> knees
> didn't last 40. That put a hiatus into the daily
> running
> schedule of hers.
> 
> So, the point is you need to get out and get that
> backpack
> strapped on for several multiple-day, overnight
> hikes this
> year. Prior to starting my thru-hike I'd usually
> hike a
> couple of weekends per month from July 1999 through
> the end
> of November 1999, then usually one weekend per month
> over
> the winter and did a hike in Arizona just before
> starting
> my Year 2000 northbound AT thru-hike. Sure made a
> great
> difference for me during the first thirty days of my
> thru-hike. Those first 30 days weren't a breeze but
> I was
> way better prepared than most.
> 
> Midwesterners...you want a nearby trail to go hike
> for
> multiple days and get a feel for what the
> Appalachian Trail
> is like? Hike the length of the Knobstone Trail just
> north
> of Louisville, Kentucky. Georgia won't seem so
> difficult.
> 
> Number Eight -- Pretty much everyone who's still
> thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail after thirty days
> of AT
> hiking is going to be in similar trail shape. The
> most
> difficult terrain on the Appalachian Trail is during
> the
> first thirty days of hiking starting at either end.
> Yeah,
> if you're from someplace like the Midwest or central
> Texas
> or Florida...the first time you gaze up from the
> bottom of
> the approach trail at the Amicalola Falls Visitor's
> Center
> and take a gander at that bridge up toward the top
> of the
> mountain, you are gonna think 'whoo doggies that is
> way the
> heck up there'. So, for you flatlanders who wanna
> get in
> some kind of shape and don't have a mountain
> handy...strap
> on your fully-loaded backpack, get on the treadmill,
> put
> the incline as far up as it will go (at least 12% --
> better
> 
=== message truncated ===


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