I am thinking about dreading my hair before i hike this year. Other fem’s please some advice on long hair. Are the dreads worth it? has anyone else done it on a thru hike? Pros? Cons?
Sunshine
Dread Locks? - Appalachian Trail
system
#2
Sunshine,
Go into the Appalachian forum, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on page 6. There was a whole thing about dreads / looking after long hair.
Ross
Ross
system
#3
Sunshine, check out Poetry (in Motion) and Pushing up Daisies journals on here from 2002. They both have dreads, you can email them through their sites. Also T-bird from this year (03) has dreads, but I don’t have her email, I gave her a ride to the Gathering. If I didn’t have a professional job which would disapprove of this I’m sure, I would have considered it, as taking care of my hair on the trail, while not as time consuming as I thought, could have been easier.
Bluebearee
system
#4
Hey there sunshine. Yeah as Bluebearee said I just hiked with my full head of Dreds. It was fine. My dreds are getting quite long these days and I found them getting a bit unruley during the hot, sticky months. But I love my dreds and I’m glad I stuck it out and didn’t cave and shave my head. But if you are just starting your dreds they probably won’t be as long and heavy as mine unless you’re hair is already wicked long. I found that I had to wear my dreds in two buns, princess Laya style, and that worked the best to provide ventilation thru the top of my scalp. Don’t forget to rip your dreds apart from time to time to keep them from all dreding together. It’s easy to let it all go when you’re hiking. If you have any more questions don’t hesitate to contact me. tarynitup@alumni.union.edu
Peace,
T-Bird.
T-Bird
system
#5
T-Bird’s Dreads Rock! 
Sunshine - I say go for it! I dreaded my hair a month before my attempted 2002 thru hike and never regretted it. It was great to be able to tie it back in a ponytail and go - no laborous morning brushing ritual.
One thing that worried me though was getting my dreads wet. If dreads stay wet for too long, they will get moldy. I carried a shower cap to cover my dreads in the rain. If you have lots of hair, get the biggest one you can find.
In the summer, it will probably be a bit warmer then just having your hair pulled back in a ponytail due to ventilation to your scalp (as T-Bird said). There were a few people that cut their dreads off in 2002 and in 2003 cause they couldn’t take it anymore. I am also glad I stuck it out.
And for after the hike, don’t worry about the whole job thing. I have worked at several professional type jobs ( including with my local school district) and they excepted me with dreads. Keep them clean and neat in appearence and it shouldn’t be a problem. It is something to consider, but not something to be worried about in my experince.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Pushing Up Daisies
system
#6
Of course I’m a guy, and I don’t have any other genetically viable hairstyles available to me. But I must say, that the cue-ball look beats the by gone days when I was out there trying it in shoulder length hair. Will keep you nice and cool, and requires no special attention.
3D