For AT class 2005

imported
#1

I’ve been reading a lot of the questions on this forum all year from the new class coming onto the AT in 2005 and I’d like to share what little I have to offer.

the #1 issue is always about gear. Get the best advice you can, and keep a few hundred extra dollars cash handy because by NOC you’ll hate at least half of everything you are carrying and you want new stuff. It doesn’t matter what you bought or who you listened to.

#2 EAR PLUGS

#3 EAR PLUGS

#4 EAR PLUGS

#5 if you have a deadline you are behind. Chances are this will be the most amazing thing you will ever do in your life. Does it really matter if you miss a maildrop?

#6 Slow down for the hard stuff. 3 foot snowdrifts in the smokies, waist-deep virginia flood plains, isn’t this what you came out here for? enjoy it, no one you know will really ever understand when you try to explain it to them.

#7 when the chit really hits the fan and you are really low find a town, hunker down, call your family. go home for a SHORT time if you have to but DONT GIVE UP. You will regret it. For a long, long time. You havent decided to do the AT for status, if you have then disregard all previous advice and go home. Otherwise, call everyone you love and talk to them, they are your best guidance, they know you better than you do.

#8 what are you trying to prove? and for whom?

#9 party REALLY HARD every chance you get! don’t worry you’ll pay for it the following day!

#10 this should have been #1 but everyone says it so here goes… unless youre rich or a moron or an addict you are gonna try this just once. The AT isn’t for you. you were mistaken in thinking you’d come out here and be safe. There will be nights when have to sleep drenched. and cold. Or in a shelter and the Sultan of Snoring lies by you. earplugs.

I made it only as far as NH in 2003, hope to run into y’all this comeing year!!

swift

s.w.i.f.t.

#2

did i mention earplugs by the way?

s.w.i.f.t

#3

That sounds like good advice to me, did he say party every chance you get, and it’s ok to take a zero day in pearisburg if your hung over from drinking wiskey. Enjoy , see ya’ll sometime between next year and 2010, plan on doing a thru, made it to waynesboro and funds were low this year. Lumber will definitely be back, and “Keep It Lit”

lumber

#4

swift’s right about the earplugs. not only do hikers snore a lot, they generally sleep fart more than anyone else on the planet. probably more than nathan’s world record holder for hot dog consumption. but, i guess that guy’s probably a hiker anyway. buy those little orange foamy ones cuz they’re really light and they feel all squishy.

never plan any further than the next day unless weather or food supply is involved. you’ll just be miserable.

i know i shouldn’t talk, but try not to set your pace for other hikers. if a friend hikes on out of range, you’ll meet another friend within a few days. unless you meet your future spouse, just get their number and move on.

don’t “hike to maine”. just go out and walk around for a while. the most direct route to miseedthepointland is from point a to point b. and never, under any circumstances, mention the word october. ever.

if you keep a trail journal, and if it’s at all candid, don’t even think about activating your guest book. in those broken moments of fatigue and pain, a rude entry has the power to make anyone cry. any opinions you’ll value will be a phonecall away, so you won’t be missing much. just keep this experience for your own, without public influence.

stay at miss janet’s.

don’t bring pepper spray.

and most importantly, if burn posts on this thread, don’t listen to anything he says.

grace

#5

:eek: Good advice. Thanks. Read a number of 2004 trail journals - looks like untimely breaks and strains will delay more than a few.

Comments refer mostly to nobo…anyone considering sobo? Rich

Rich

#6

Things To bring on a thru-hike.

  1. A Good Attitude — You will have great days, good days, and days that are lacking both of the above. You will be wet. You will be tired. You will be cold. You will be miserable. But… there will be more good and great days than the others day. Learn from them and take pleasure in the knowledge and experience that you gained from it to lessen the impact the next time it happens (and it will).

  2. A tolerance for pain — There will be pain. Pain is a part of life. You will feel both physical and emotional pain. Neither can stop you if you do not let them. They may slow down your journey, but you, if you choose to, will persevere.
    As a good friend once told me on the trail, “as long as the pain moves around each day and doesn’t stay in one place you’re alright”.

  3. Good mental fortitude — A thru-hike is more mental than physical. The trail will get you into the condition you need to be in to hike your hike. It is up to you to be mentally willing to endure and continue on day after day after day.

  4. The ability to hike you own hike — It is your journey. You will meet only as many people as you allow yourself to meet. Make your own goals and decisions. Stay where you want, when you want. There is a lot of trail gossip and trail gossip trashing of people of where to stay and not to stay, which towns are hiker friendly this week and which are not. Your presence and attitude is what truly determines how you are viewed and in turn how you view others. One individual may not change one persons opinion from bad to good, but how one person acts can change it form good to bad when that last straw is met.

  5. Earplugs— If you plan on sleeping in shelters and you don’t snore, bring earplugs. My snoring has yet to keep me up all night. Option B - Tent/tarp, Enjoty the great outdoors.

Navigator

Navigator

#7

I will be heading south from Katahdin around June 1st. Might not need earplugs early on in my trip but I plan on having plenty of bug protection. :eek:

stan johnson

#8

If you use the shelters by all means bring earplugs! Also bring a flexable attitude and it will all work out.

Yo-YO