Hiking Appalachian trail

Maybe walk from one side of the state to the other. Up, down, all around.

 

When you start looking and buying equipment I would suggest going to EMS ( eastern mountain supply) or other stores like it to see what is on the market and to get information. My experience is that most of the people working in those types of stores have the experience and know how to help you get started. IE: fitting a pack to your body size. What gear to take and what to leave home. Maps of where you plan to hike Etc. A lot of people over pack or do not take the right type of gear for the trip.. Even the type of clothing makes a huge difference . Leave your bluejeans at home as an example. They are not the best to use.

 

It's Eastern Mountain Sports. Though I prefer REI, if one of their stores is near you. But wait, those stores aren't likely to be open, and if they are, the staff will want to keep their distance and not have long conversations. If you're starting from scratch, this probably isn't the year to be learning everything about long distance hiking.

What I've heard people say is that the major concern is how efficient your system can be at turning food into work--some people just can't pump enough calories through their body. And then you have to have a physique that lets you haul a pack over hills, day after day, without some part failing. And you have to have the kind of personality that makes you keep walking, even if it hurts, and you're bored, and the weather's bad, and you're sick of peanut butter.

 

Sure, you can do that for a day or so. But it's simple physics--you can't run the engine unless you feed it fuel. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has a page about food, and they say that about 2lb of food a day is right, and that would be low-moisture high-energy food.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy - Hiking Basics Food Water and Gear

 

I would love to walk the AT, it has been a dream of mine for a while but I never thought that it would be a possibility until I read "Grandma Gatewood's Walk." After reading it, I now know that no matter how old I get, someday, when I have the time, I will absolutely walk the entire trail. It is an amazing story about a woman who walked the AT, alone, at the age of 67, then she did it again at 72 and one more time when she was 75 but that time she did it in sections. She had no actual camping gear and she wore Keds instead of hiking boots. I'm not suggesting you do what she did but the book was a really good read, very inspiring.

 

Thru-hiking the A.T. is mostly a matter of finding that sweet spot in life where you have both the physical ability and requisite free time to make an attempt.

So what you usually find is pre-career/family and post-career/family folks following those white blazes from Springer to Katahdin. Have probably done 150-250 miles of it in bits and pieces just as part of my normal activity but want to thru-hike it sooooooo bad. Missed the opportunity on the young end of life but see it as a possibility in another 10 years or so when my youngest is all grown and my wife is sick of me.

 

The fine can be as high as $500 dollars for littering, but if there's no park service officers or rangers around to write you a ticket
people just get lazy





The Knife Edge in Maine

 

Before setting out you really should see this movie.......

 

That movie was a joke, and so was the book it was based on. See it for fun, but don't take any of it seriously.

And yes, the mental part is as important as the physical part. Except in Maine, there are enough road crossings that you can be off the trail and home in a few days. So, will you keep walking?

 

Now THAT is some hilarious stuff right there. It reminds me of an old saying:

Anyone who says they never worry about the little things has never spent a night in a tent with a single mosquito.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It sounds terrible but from my experience mosquitoes are synonymous with camping and hiking which is why mosquito repellent with DEET is a must along with mosquito netting.