[at-l] Questions for Former Thru Hikers

[sloetoe at yahoo.com (Sloetoe)]

 -- Carol Donaldson <carol1944@brmemc.net> wrote:

> 1- Did you use zip up jacket(s) or would zip-neck
> pullover have worked as well?
### Zip up for shell, zip-pullover for fleece. Would
rather have had bi-directional zip for both, as it
means I have more flexibility about how much
insulation/exposure is available to cool/heat my
trunk.
 
> 2- What was your most treasured piece of equipment
> during your hike and why?
### Next to my backpack ("Betsy" -- haven't had a
named piece of equipment since...), it would have to
be my parka shell -- what a WONDERFUL garment -- did
what it was designed to do. Gore-Tex, excellent hood,
pit-zips, FUNCTIONAL pockets you could actually use in
the rain.... a marvelous piece of equipment -- and
lighter than a pound. With only outdoors use, it
lasted until May'03 (the year I ran overnight down Mt.
Rogers to Damascus in what became a sleet/ice storm --
well, and as I really learned: I had not ever
seam-sealed it, and it was complaining, was all.
Still, it almost kilt me. But I apologized to it, and
we're all good now.

> 3- Fleece or fill for a jacket or pullover/zip neck?
### I have been a fleece person forever.... you laugh
at rain...... My SECOND most favorite piece of gear is
still my "300 weight" AT fleece from 1979 -- used it
two weekends ago to run a gnarly 50k on a blustery wet
sneauxie day. Lots of hypothermia DNFs, but not yours
truly. STILL, fill can be awfully lite; but fleece
lasts.

> 4- How did you treat water?  Iodine, Aqua Mira,
> Filter (what brand)?  Would you change for another
> Thru Hike?
### I treat my water with respect. With over 5,500
hiker miles between my own miles and my kids', I would
be afeared to change what is light, simple, always
reliable, quick in times of bugs, rain, wind, awkward
legs, etc, and dang cheap. I fill my bottle, and I
walk.

> 5- Did you take a vest as well as a
jacket/pull-over?
### Depending on the time of year, I have taken lots
more. For an early April NOBO departure, I'd ... ...
I'd... I don't know. I don't think it matters, between
a slightly thicker vest (100 weight) and a shirt of
lighter pile (microfleece)... I'd think the shirt was
more flexible (as you can roll up the sleeves without
stopping your walk). But a puffy vest that fills out
your slack shell garment is worth it's weight in gold
for warming your trunk (which means keeping your
entire body warm as a result). Ultimately, then, this
is a whole-system question.

> 6- Did you use two sleeping bags?  One for spring
> and fall and one for summer?  If so, when did you
> send back your spring/fall bag and when did you get
> it mailed back to you?  Also, was it down or fill? 
> What did each bag weigh?
### I used a 3.2 pound North Face Cat's Meow (still
around) synthetic, supposedly good to 20*F. HA! Two
mornings in particular (Ice Water Springs and VA600),
I FROZE, with ALL my clothes on, only to find the temp
at 20*F. Holy cow.
### What I would do now is a 20*F bag til past Mt.
Rogers, a Western Mtn. Highlite (1 pound) through
North Woodstock NH (maybe even Gorham), thencely back
to the 20*F bag. In the middle of summer, I might even
get nutty: I have an 8oz down elephant foot half-bag
that'd work fine for those 8 week 80*F/80%H stretches;
I've used it down to 50*F.

> 7- What is the least expensive item that you'd never
> be without (doesn't have to be most treasured) on a
> Thru Hike?
### $5 hiking pole (bamboo). $5 compass. $5 Grease
Pot. $5 Waterbottle holster. $1 mesh laundry bag
velcroed to my pack's daisy chain as a catch-all
pocket. $8 doctored el-cheapo 100 weight fleece hoodie
with extra slash-pouch pockets on front and an
interior 1 quart waterbottle pocket for winter use.
Shoot, Coosa, most of my gear qualifies as "least
expensive.".....

> 8- What is the most expensive item of its type (not
> necessarily the $400 sleeping bag but perhaps the
> $800 sleeping bag; not the $100 wrist watch but
> perhaps the $300 wrist watch; not the $250 tent but
> perhaps the $650 tent) that you carried on your Thru
> Hike?
### My first parka shell (Springer to Waynesboro) was
"first generation" Gore-Tex (read: "Didn't work"). It
was a piece o' crap, but it was ~$300 in 1979!!!!
### And since you just ruled out the $300 1 pound
sleeping bag (the only items next to boots worth
putting munny on)... HOLD IT! OK, outside of expensive
sleeping bags, I would put expensive SOCKS as MUST
HAVES and would throw in my all leather,
Norweigian-welted, oh-so-comfy Limmer Liteweight's
(~$250 -- I think up to $300 now)... and for their
size, I'd put $25 specialty hiking gloves in that
ridiculous-price-but-by-Gawd-I'll-pay-it! category --
WAY worth it. Golden.
### That said, most of the TarKWalgetMart stores stock
100% Cool-Max socks at $7/3pr that would work without
pain for most trail-runner users.

> 9- What items were usually in your Bounce Box?  How
> often did you Bounce and how often did you send
> items home as 'no longer needed for an enjoyable
> hike?'
### In my bounce box were items needed by me in 1979:
what would be in there now, if anything, ..... Dunno.
But I alternated between two cook pots and one cook
pot for a *long* time. Spare medical stuff, from which
on RARE occasion I would withdraw. My town clothes:
I'd shower, get into them, do laundry, and then pack
'em up and move 'em forward. Spare water bottles: I
carried as many as 5 500 ml water bottles, usually
just 3, with two in the box... Spare towelie, spare
undies (never used, but BOY did they look it when I
got home.....) Spare food (no "hiker box" back then)
Anyways, FWIW, I don't even know if I'd use a bounce
box at all nowadays. Too many "conveniance stores" and
such supply small items today that, even if expensive,
are still cheaper and more timely than buying in bulk
and sending forward intermindedly. Food, yes; shampoo,
no.
With all the miles (and PO visits) the boys and I have
had, we've never had call for a bounce box.

> 10- How many Zero Days did you have on your Thru
> Hike?  Would you have more or less the next time?
1 Neels Gap (lazy in pouring rain)
1 Fontana (real R&R)
10 Hot Springs (trapped by bad banking move)
5  Damascus  (toe operation)
5 Pearisburg (wet boots dried out and resoled)
3 Waynesboro (depression and Pizza Hut)

In Waynesboro, my too-expensive+didn't-work shell is
stolen, I got p-o-ed, and speed-hiked north trying to
catch the yellow-stripped, yellow-blazing s.o.b.
(Harold Thomas Prenzel, III. -- hope he's not your
stock broker). He got off in New Jersey, I kept on
north........

1 DWG (nearly electrocuted (lightning) on my birthday,
and I had to write to my future college to find out
when was the absolute drop-dead date to start classes
screw freshman rot orientation etc.
5 Kent (enjoyed 3 day party at parents, then did food
drops to Katahdin)
1 Gorham

WOW! 32 total, but roughly 25 in the first half, and 7
in the second.
Thusly, my zeroes were atypical. I don't believe in
them, in general, and try to stay out of town. Towns
are for refitment, *trails* are for relaxation. Zeroes
on the trail would be a whole lot more acceptable,
perhaps, but I have written often that
"Towns=Time=Money".

> 11- Did you blue blaze to the 'vista sights' along
> the Trail or did you just 'hike straight to
> Katahdin'?
### A blue blazer. Sometimes to add miles, sometimes
to add scenery, *never* to avoid sections. Ewwwwww.
(Once, in NH, to avoid AMC -- their earned rep was
much more faschista back then) [Once, in ME, a total
bushwhack -- wuz sooooooo much fun -- I ended up
trapped in a massive open raspberry bramble, bleeding
in the pouring rain while heading uphill, laughing
like a crazy man, cuz at that moment, I realized:
there is absolutely NOWHERE I'd rather be right now.
Still makes me smile.....]

> 12- Did you ever waver in your decision to Thru Hike
> while hiking?  If so, what did you do that kept you
> focused on Katahdin?  If not, do you have an
> explanation as to why you never wavered?
### I wavered pretty much every day from the Smokys to
Shenandoah. I wuz SO focused on Katahdin. I had LOTS
of setbacks (see description above), and just felt
like everything was stacked against me. What kept me
on the trail was the fear of shame: my Mommy offered a
bus ticket home to open arms. Whoaaaaa no. The next
day, the parka shell was stolen; then I went north on
a mission; I ignored Katahdin; I stacked big-mile
days; I ate better; I walked smarter. By the time I
got to DWG, I was totally set on Katahdin as the
ultimate goal, and totally set on miles as the day's
goal. Bingo. Once I had that, I was golden; neither
rain nor sleet nor moldering humidity nor drought nor
days upon days of New Jersey suburbs or anything
else..... could deter me.
SO: I always tell people:
"Get up every morning and say  'I'm not going to make
Katahdin today.' If you do that every day, and point
your feet north and walk, know that one day you will
be wrong."
The second thing I tell people is:
"Mind the miles and the smiles will mind themselves."
Which means, as long as you're getting your miles
done, turn your brain the hell off and let the thing
soak in....."
I have been thanked for these two things by
recipients, and that's sooooo kewl.

> 13- Describe hiking through the Presidentials --
> what is the terrain, elevation gain, etc like and
> what are the Huts like?
### No. Instead I'll say this:
a) make sure your socks are in good condition
b) make sure you pay attention to your rain gear and
your body core dryness and temp
c) separate your cooking (dinner/lunch) from your
sleeping, as you won't find water and a campsite
together that won't cost you

> 14- Describe Mahoosuc Notch and Mahoosuc Arm in
> terms that won't scare the beegeebees out of those
> of us just planning to Thru Hike in the next couple
> of years, but give us an honest evaluation of the
> conditions we'll be hiking in when we get there.
### Easy. Don't worry about it. The Mahoosucs are no
longer the hardest part of the AT, by far. The
NPS/USFS McTrail2000 program to level the AT and
prepare it for asphalt paving in 2020 is well
underway, and there are STAIRS leading into and out of
the Notch. (The Notch is not tough at all, it's just
slow; the Notch IS very entertaining, however, and
worth a build up for recreational value.) On a NOBO
hike, there are lots of ascents/descents before the
Mahoosucs that, in isolation or as a group, are more
difficult. Don't worry 'bout the Mahoosucs.

> 15- What were your thoughts as you topped Katahdin
> (if you can share them)?  What did you think as you
> touched the sign and realized your Thru Hike was
> over?
### Will I make it alive? (It was a very windy day.
{This from somebody who regularly operated an unfaired
motorcycle at 125 mph.}) I had a flash of true elation
-- "OHMIGODDDDDDD! I MADE IT!" -- then a slap of
guilt: my brother was being divorced by his first
wife. I offered my happiness right then if my
brother's marriage would stay intact. A definite buzz
kill; and of course it didn't work.

All these other thoughts were fleeting, though: my
mind was quickly back to "Will I make it alive?" Never
in my life have I experienced wind like that. Not even
like wind: more like some magnetic pulse. Picked me up
and threw me perpendicular from the trail, and far
enough that I had to guess its location. Once on top,
it picked up my loaded pack from behind a huge rock
and threw it 20' to where I was holding on to the
Katahdin Baxter Memorial. Windy day.

> 16- Describe one way in which your Thru Hike changed
> you from the person you were pre-hike.
### It grounded me -- set the example by which to
evaluate allll of life -- for the next 28 years.

> As usual, thanks, Coosa
### What fun questions. Thank YOU.

Spatior! Nitor! Nitor! Tempero!
   Pro Pondera Et Meliora.