The journals are starting to get me down. Every thru-hike seems to consist of a few days on trail, a couple off, a few days back on trail, a week off because missing hubby/boyfriend/girlfriend/all three. Back on trail for a few days, off to New York for a shopping spree…
Honestly, these thru hikes don’t seem thru. They seem like several longish hikes over several months.
Maybe the PCT is what I should be reading. (And considering doing.)
Jane
Jane
Well, the PCT has to been done rather on time as the window of hikable weather is rather narrow and the trail longer. You could do the AT in one non stop run but besides the punishment on the bod some sleep and reflection is nice. There is also the social aspect. Part of the fun is sitting in a hot tub after a long day into town followed by another long day in the hot tub in town.:cheers
Bushwhack
Our hike in '01, woo-hoo!, we took a day off in Fontana due to bad weather, one zero in Hot Springs, a week in Pa with damaged parts and a day at the Inn at Long Trail. Maybe one or two others, I forget. Not bad for five and half months. It’s hard unless you have no strings to just go and not stop. Stuff happens. Here’s the B+B journal for an on trail look. www.trailjournals.com/rudolf
Bushwhack
Hi Jane,
For the most part the Appalachian Trail is hiked by connecting dozens of small 3 or 4 day hikes between towns. Going an entire day without crossing a road is uncommon. Seldom is an AT hiker ever more than one day from a motel or restaurant. Even the so-called 100 mile wilderness in Maine is done in sections by most hikers with stops at either Jo-Mary campground or White House Landing.
Even so, it takes exceptional fortitude to complete as a thruhike, and remarkable determination to complete as a section hike. There are plenty of places to go hike if you’re looking for more solitude or wilder surroundings. It’s the community, fellowship, and shared experiences that set the AT apart from other trails.
If reading about the hikes of other’s is putting you off - stop reading! Your hike will be your own if you let it be.
TJ
I too read the journals and a lot of thim do take excessive zero days but thats not the case all.
Personally when I’m on a trip of 18 days+ I’ll plan on one a zera pre week.and rerly stay in a motel or eat at a restaurant.
Pole Break
Jane the AT is a free for all in a lot of ways. As others have said the social aspects of the trail are as prevalent as the endurance associated with it. But your hike is your hike. Nobody is keeping score so you have only yourself to stay true to. As far as how far between town stops, it is up to you and how much food you are willing to carry. I know last year I did mostly things like go into town for a mail drop, maybe to pig out a little and then back out the same day. I also did some of what I called half zeros, in town by one or so, stay the night and then out the next morning. But to answer your question, yes some people hike straight thru. Last year I took two weeks off in Cherokee, NC due to a shoulder dislocation on Clingmans Dome but other than that I think I took, other than maybe eight half days, about four or so complete days off. But the aim of my hike was to enjoy myself and stay true to what I perceived as my thru-hike. My definition of which was every blaze with my pack on in only one direction within a year in a continuous matter. But that is how I defined my hike before I started.
Two Scoops
Jane,
My journal may have been one of the ones you are talking about. Im currently hiking the Trail (1356 miles from springer). No im not taking a shopping trip in NY rather but visiting home for a few days. Yes its common to take days off and small side trips. Bushwack began to touch on it, but after awhile these rest stops become a neccessity for your mental and physical health. Its almost impossible and also no fun to hike for 150-180 straight days. I take far fewer days off than most-went 510 miles since my last day off, 388 before that, but find I need to not hike for 24 hours just to experience some down time.
I wouldn’t say that most aren’t hiking “real” hikes anymore because they take days off and stay in town. We’ve had one of the wettest springs ever and i’ve been walking through rain almost every day for over a month now, no exaggeration. Doing 20 miles each day with wet feet and blisters and insect bites and all the other fun stuff can become hard after awhile, i suggest you try it.
And yeah, the social aspect is there too. Im not a big party type, but its nice to be able to give your Trail friends a place to sleep or vice versa at home.
A-Train
A-Train
“Almost impossible and also no fun to hike for 150-180 straight days.” No fun for you perhaps. Some people might find it LOTS of fun. I’m sure I would not be one of them, but there could be some out there that do. Anyway, my point to everyone is…WHO CARES?? Seriously…HIKE YOUR OWN HIKE!! You don’t like the way another person hikes? So what…someone else doesn’t like the way YOU hike. And both of you are being ridiculous for even CARING how the other hikes. Care how YOU hike. Care if you are reaching YOUR goals. There are no set “rules” for hiking…only guidelines. Just like life. Judge not. I think that’s all for now.
C-Giddy
Yes, at every road crossing the Police check to see that you have only been on the trail for a week. If you have been on longer, they force you into town. I, myself, was able to evade capture and took few actual zero days. The Zero Police also patrol the PCT. I think you have to go to Tibet, but I’ve heard people also relax there.
Blue Jay
Jane, the zeroes just happened for us. You get to town and it is Sunday and you can’t get your mail drop until the Post Office opens. I wore our 3 pairs of boots. When you loose the sole off of a boot in PA, you have to stop and find an outfitter. A friend of ours fell and broke her arm and flame had a cousin that lived in the town where they did the surgery, so we were off for a few days (we still slacked some trail near Palmerton, PA until she was OK to hike.) We didn’t take a full day off from VT til we reached Katahdin. Flame was on crutches for 5 months afterwards. We should have stopped some. Your body and the trail will tell you, you have to stop. But, it is the trail, the people and the towns that make the hike. It is my opinion, if you leave out one of the three, you’ve miss an important part of hiking the AT. Good luck and hike your hike.
Papa Smurf
Jane, try it first before you criticize how others hike their hikes. If you do, you’ll probably find yourself taking time off too. For most of us, hiking 10 hours a day day after day after day gets to feeling like a job after a while, and you start looking forward to some time to rest, watch a movie, read a book, etc. Some of the best days on the trail are the days off the trail – rafting at Natahala, playing tourist in Washington, doing nothing at all. I love to hike and I love being in the mountains and spending months at a time in nature, but the breaks are what make it possible to keep going when the body wears down and the desire to continue wears thin. And town time is not all that restful, if you only take a few hours to take care of business. There is shopping, mail, phone calls, email, laundry, shower, repairs to gear, taking care of the 1001 little things that go wrong either on the trail or back home, and most importantly, stuffing in as many calories as possible to make up for the weight lost while hiking. Town time can be exhausting. A few times I have been packed up and ready to go and I decided that I needed one more day, just to do nothing but rest. Extra days have been necessary to deal with equipment problems (48 hours to ship in a pole to replace one that was broken or a water filter) another time we had to wait two days for a maildrop that was delayed that had money and medicines, injury (a broken smashed finger for me once, phlebitis, tendonitis and bad knees for my husband. Sometimes weather can force time off - we spent 26 hours in a tent due to a blizzard in Colorado, and stayed in town another day or two because of other snow storms. On the AT, a lot of folks end up going to town for a few days because of snow, hurricanes, etc. That’s often the intelligent choice – not risking your life unnecessarily. I’ve been lucky on off trail family issues, but many go home to attend weddings, graduations, funerals, etc. (Life goes on, even while hiking, and you don’t want to miss out on the important events in your family’s life. You do have to go home eventually.) And sometimes you take time off to stretch out the hike as long as possible – I don’t want to go home in four months if I can stretch it out to six! Anyhow, try a long hike yourself and see how you feel. Maybe total immersion in the pseudowilderness is what you want (and that refers to the PCT as much as the AT) – in which case, get in and out of town as quickly as possible, and it is possible. But maybe you’ll find that you want to enjoy the trail and the community as much as possible, and that will include some time off. You get to decide.
Spirit Walker
I agree with everything said above. I had my fil’s death and my mother’s 80th birthday that I left the Trail for, some idiot weekender in the Shennies had the nerve to diss me for this, he told me the way to avoid that was not to call home until I got to Katahdin!! Guaranteed I was speaking to a single and/or divorced man!! I missed my husband, what? there’s something wrong with THAT?
btw, my friend Garlic Man from the AT last year is now on the PCT and just took 5 zeros @ Agua Dulce - so you might not want to read those journals either. They get bunched up out there too, waiting for the snow in the Sierras to melt.
Zero days are absolutely mandatory, ask anyone who trains for an event, rest days are ALWAYS built into training regimes, although I was in the best shape of my life, a body needs down time. I always felt much better after a day off, and yes, town days are not always restful, one reason small compact places like Hot Springs and Andover are so welcome.
Bluebearee
I just finished a 3 day in NY and “met” a couple of thru-hikers. They definitely NEEDED a day off, if not many days off. They seemed intent on doing JUST miles and less intent on enjoying themselves. One in particulair “Braveheart” was so down I was surprised she was still hiking. All she did was moan and complain. One hiker who passed us “cakes” or “kakes” didn’t even have the decency to reply in kind when asked his name.
So I will tell you my complaint about thru-hikers. Some of them need to work on their people skills. Some (not all) remind me of computer plodders, sitting in front of terminals completing their “work”.
Here is some common decency skills for you hikers. When asked your name, respond with the answer and ask the other persons name in reply.
You don’t OWN the trail or the shelters.
Yes, SOME OF the shelters are run down. What the **** do you expect? You are in the friggin woods. AND THERE ARE FEW PRIVYS. **** IN THE WOODS PEOPLE!
If you don’t like the rain, the terrain or the food, etc, keep it to yourself or go home. STOP THE WHINING.
Finally, nobody cares but you how many miles you did that day. Tell us what you saw that day, what you experienced and how you are experiencing the trail.
If you are not having fun -GO HOME!
Jim
You oughta see them in Maine, Jim. I was SOBO from Katahdin mid August a few years ago. Most of them had heads down and would barely grumble a greeting. No smiling either. Miserable souls.
Wolf
Oy, geez. Well, look, thru hikers are people, folks. Some people are friendly, some aren’t. Some are more able than others to overcome exhaustion, pain, whatever might be dragging them down, to chat with OTHER people. Not all thru hikers are the same. So it’s not a thru hiker “thing” if someone isn’t friendly enough to suit you or doesn’t talk about what you want them to talk about. And, you know what? About the “fun” thing. Thru hiking is often fun. It’s often hard work. It’s as wonderful as it is frustrating. Thru hiking is a huge challenge we undertake for our own individual reasons. Not every day, every moment is rah-rah FUN. It’s not BETTER than section-hiking, weekend-hiking or day-hiking. Just a different experience, out there for months on end, experiencing some measure of discomfort, be it foot pain, knee kinks, bugs, heat, cold, rain, a sore back, you name it, on a frequent, if not daily, basis. But most of us who’ve been there, done that, I think would say we loved it! I dare say that’s not for anyone else to question, regardless of the fact they might witness thru hikers commisserate. (a/k/a “complain”) People undertaking the same challenge, experiencing the same discomforts, missing their families at times, for months on end DO tend to identify with one another and share those difficulties. That’s a wonderful thing about the A.T.–the camaraderie. Sure, some PEOPLE can be unfriendly or–and geez I hate this word–“elitist,” and some of THOSE people thru hike. I also think SOME people are far too critical and LOOK for reasons to slam other people. Ugh, I could go on all day. But about those thru hikers in Maine. Well, I was one of them a few years ago, and I must say I smiled and laughed a LOT. I wasn’t around miserable souls. SOMETIMES there’s some contemplation going on. Some reflection, as we near the end of a six-month journey. Sometimes bodies are worn out. Please don’t project that “miserable souls” thing on us. I believe the vast majority of northbound thru hikers are just the opposite of miserable when they get to Maine, or perhaps a little melancholy at the thought that what has become a way of life on the trail is almost over. Mixed emotions and a souring soul.
Ramkitten
www.DebraLauman.com
Ramkitten
Oy, geez. Well, look, thru hikers are people, folks. Some people are friendly, some aren’t. Some are more able than others to overcome exhaustion, pain, whatever might be dragging them down, to chat with OTHER people. Not all thru hikers are the same. So it’s not a thru hiker “thing” if someone isn’t friendly enough to suit you or doesn’t talk about what you want them to talk about. And, you know what? About the “fun” thing. Thru hiking is often fun. It’s often hard work. It’s as wonderful as it is frustrating. Thru hiking is a huge challenge we undertake for our own individual reasons. Not every day, every moment is rah-rah FUN. It’s not BETTER than section-hiking, weekend-hiking or day-hiking. Just a different experience, out there for months on end, experiencing some measure of discomfort, be it foot pain, knee kinks, bugs, heat, cold, rain, a sore back, you name it, on a frequent, if not daily, basis. But most of us who’ve been there, done that, I think would say we loved it! I dare say that’s not for anyone else to question, regardless of the fact they might witness thru hikers commisserate. (a/k/a “complain”) People undertaking the same challenge, experiencing the same discomforts, missing their families at times, for months on end DO tend to identify with one another and share those difficulties. That’s a wonderful thing about the A.T.–the camaraderie. Sure, some PEOPLE can be unfriendly or–and geez I hate this word–“elitist,” and some of THOSE people thru hike. I also think SOME people are far too critical and LOOK for reasons to slam other people. Ugh, I could go on all day. But about those thru hikers in Maine. Well, I was one of them a few years ago, and I must say I smiled and laughed a LOT. I wasn’t around miserable souls. SOMETIMES there’s some contemplation going on. Some reflection, as we near the end of a six-month journey. Sometimes bodies are worn out. Please don’t project that “miserable souls” thing on us. I believe the vast majority of northbound thru hikers are just the opposite of miserable when they get to Maine, or perhaps a little melancholy at the thought that what has become a way of life on the trail is almost over. Mixed emotions and a souring soul.
Ramkitten
www.DebraLauman.com
Ramkitten
Reminds me of a line in an article I read once – “if running is so good for you, how come so many runners look so grim?” Truth is, there is a difference between having fun and being happy. When non-hikers say, “Oh hiking a long trail must be so much fun!” I have to laugh. Yes, there are fun moments, but it is also really hard to hike all day every day. But I am never as happy as I am when hiking – a deep down total contentment – even when I am sore and tired and complaining about the weather or my swollen knees or how hungry I am. There is pride and joy in continuing, even when it is hard, maybe especially because it is hard. If it were easy, it wouldn’t be worth doing. In fact, that is what sends some hikers home – it all becomes too easy, and hence no longer a challenge, or a source of happiness.
My SIL read a journal from a two week hike in Colorado in which it rained every day, and we had problems with altitude and hypothermia. She said to me, “I’m sorry you had such a terrible time on your vacation.” I was shocked, “What do you mean, I had a terrific time. I can’t wait to go back.”
Spirit Walker
“Jane, Stop this crazy thing!!!”
Since, i’m hiking the trail in sections(i’m on the 20-year-plan!)…you might want to dis-regard this…but, its all about ENJOYING the trail, the hikers, the townspeople, the surroundings, the wildflowers, the experiences…
hike your OWN hike…one boot in front of the other…onward to Katahdin!
Jaybird
www.trailjournals.com/JaybirdandJigsaw
“Jaybird”
Jim, I have two things to say to you. One, I wasn’t there, but I love Whining. It is as American as Apple Pie. Americans will not vote but we love to whine and no one is going to stop our enjoyment of this sublime pleasure. Two, when I long distance hike I often look like I am not happy because often my spirit is 10,000 miles away from my body. Judging by your smell (soap, clean, bad) which I detected long before I saw you, I really have nothing to say to you. Is that polite, no, do I respond that way often, no. I usually try to yogi some food from you, but sometimes I’m just too tired to talk. Besides, I’d probably just whine anyway
Blue Jay
Jane, I’ve read a lot of non-fiction books on epic adventures and everyone one of them take time off for one thing or another. They may not go into town and the such, but they do stay in camp for a day or 2 or even weeks. Lewis and Clark did, as other great historic adventurers did. They had injuries, illnesses etc… You to will take time off.
Armchair hiker