[at-l] Thruhiking - Are you ready?

[Owen <jrowen@ibm.net>]

Seems like there are some future thruhikers on the list, so I'll try to
do something I haven't done for a while - talk specifically  and
directly to those who want to thruhike the AT.  This will be the first
in a series of posts on thruhiking - specifically on preparation for
thruhiking.  I'll start with the basics and we'll see where it goes.

Most people have the same basic problems in planning a thruhike -and the
solutions aren't really all that hard.  I may not give you a lot of my
answers, but I will give you a lot of questions for which  you'll need
to find your own answers - my answers won't necessarily work for you. 
If you can learn something from me, that's cool.  If not, that's cool,
too - but in that case, go find someone you CAN learn from. 

As a beginning, I'll go back to where I started on this list about 3
years ago - to the fact that a lot of people talk about the rewards of
thruhiking the AT -- but you rarely hear anyone talking about the price
or the consequences. So I'll  start with some straightforward questions
that you'll need the answers for if you're gonna successfully thruhike
the AT.  And you'll need YOUR answers. I found my answers a long time
ago - and while some of them might fit you, I'll also guarantee that
some of them won't.  So - let's start with the most basic questions -

1.  Do you really want to hike the AT?  ---  Do you really want to spend
4 to 6 months being hot, sweaty, dirty, wet, tired, smelly, lonely,
sore, muddy, cold, hungry and thirsty   - sometimes all at the same
time?  Do you really want sore feet and shoulders, chafed hips and
shoulders (among other body parts), blisters, heat rash, poison ivy,
sunburn, strained muscles and tendons, possible stress fractures, blown
knees and shin splints and guaranteed muscle pain and aching feet?  Do
you really want to eat the same boring food for 6 months?  Or have to
put on that "toxic" T-shirt every morning?  The "toxic" T-shirt is the
one you have to hold your breath to get over your head - because if you
smell it too closely you'll lose your breakfast. :-)

2.  Do you REALLY want to hike the AT? ---  Do you really want to give
up your job, family, lifestyle, retirement - supposedly for 4 to 6
months, but with the possibility that it might be permanent?  Are you
really willing to accept the reality that if you finish (and maybe if
you don't finish) you WILL change?  Do you understand that there's a
real possibility that you might change so much that you might not be
able to go back to the life you knew before?  Some of us really can't go
home again.  ;-)

3.  How long do you want to spend on the Trail?  --- Some people are
constrained by school - they have 3 or 4 months. Others are constrained
by work - maybe by  a leave of absence.  And others make their own
schedules, whether they want to do a 6 month hike or 10 months - or 50
days.  You need to make this decision early because the length of time
you spend on the Trail and the time of year you intend to be there will
also affect the equipment choices you make.  If you'll be starting
February 1, you'll need to carry winter gear for at least 3 months and
possibly longer.  If you're not starting until mid-May, you won't need
winter gear until you get to the Whites.  If you want do a 50 day hike
in mid-summer, you won't need winter gear, but you will need some heavy
duty support.  I don't really encourage the 50-day option - but it is
YOUR hike.  

4.  Which way do you want to hike?  --- North to South?   South to
North?  Maybe starting in Harpers Ferry and going south to meet all the
thruhikers and then back to Harpers Ferry so you can finish with  them? 
Or maybe a flip-flop of a different sort?  Or maybe by sections?  There
are an infinite number of ways to walk, run, crawl, cruise, or meander
along the Trail.  But again, how you want to do it can affect your
equipment choices, schedule, mail drops, support requirements, etc.  

5.  How do you want to do it?  -- Do you want to be a purist or a
blue-blazer?  Or maybe a yellow-blazer?  Are you willing to slackpack or
do you want to carry your pack all the way?   Do you want to do 15 miles
per day - or 30 - or 10?  Will you spend a lot of time in towns - or
will you avoid them except for resupply?  Will you be out there to
thruhike -- or to party?  Just remember that town time and partying are
expensive.  

These questions are basic - and a lot of people start the Trail without
even knowing what they mean.  But they're questions that nearly everyone
has to answer at some point - and the answers you come up with will
determine the character of your hike.  It's surprising how many people
make those decisions out of ignorance.  For example, most thruhikers
blue-blaze at some point.  But if you start by blue-blazing Blood
Mountain because you're afraid of wet rocks, what will you do on Albert
Mt. in the snow?  Or on Moosilauke in the fog?  Or on an ice-coated
Katahdin?  It makes it just a little easier to blue-blaze Mt Albert, and
to take the Virginia Creeper Trail out of Damascus, and ………… the list is
endless. Once you start blue-blazing, every blue-blaze decision after
that is a little easier - and when you've finished, will you have really
walked the AT?   If you yellow-blaze or blue-blaze the "hard" parts of
the Trail you'll miss the best parts as well - will you really be happy
with that?  That's not my call - but it's something to think about. 
There are a lot of people who spend a lot of time going back to hike
sections of the Trail that they blue-blazed the first time.  There are
some repeat thruhikers who are out there because they weren't happy with
the results of their first thruhike.  Conversely, there are also some
who are out there because they WERE happy with their first thruhike.   

The bottom line here is that YOU are the only one who has to be happy
with what you do on the Trail.  Why not decide what will make you happy
NOW when you have the time to think about what you really want - rather
than being surprised and having to make instant decisions when you're on
the Trail and someone offers you your  first slack - or your friends
decide to take a blue-blaze and you have to decide instantly whether to
go with them or not. Or your friends are 3 days ahead because they're
faster than you - and you're trying to decide between hitching ahead to
join them or continuing to hike your hike with the knowledge that there
are other fun and interesting people that you'll meet along the Trail. 
Just remember - if your friends are ahead because they're faster than
you - they'll still be faster than you when you catch them.  And then
you'll have to hitch ahead again - and again - and again.  That doesn't
sound to me like a great way to hike - how much of the Trail are you
willing to miss like that?  When did your purpose change from
"thruhiking the Trail" to  "hiking with friends"?  It's nice to hike
with people you like - but if their hiking speed/style isn't compatible
with yours, you won't be hiking YOUR hike.  And they may not be hiking
theirs either.  Remember why you're out there. If you're out there to
thruhike the AT, then suck it up and hike. If you're out there to hike
with friends, you may be doing something other than thruhiking.  

Notice that I didn't ask "Why do you want to thruhike the AT?"  I doubt
if one thruhiker in ten could give a real answer to that question.  We
all have what we think are good reasons, but if we really examine them,
most of us find that they don't really make sense - there's no logic to
them.  Most of us hike for emotional reasons - and sometimes we even
discover what those reasons are.  But that usually happens during or
after our thruhike - not before. 

OK - end of Episode 1.  We'll try for Episode 2 of this soap opera on
Monday or Tuesday. 

Walk softly,
Jim
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