Appalachian Trail

[Wolf Larsen]

Hey all, just recently stumbled upon this site, and thought it was a good place to ask for help. I'm an avid outdoors-man, been hunting, hiking, and fishing, ever since I can remember. I'm only 25 but my dream has been to hike the Appalachian Trail, and if I keep putting it off I'll never do it. I personally know one person who completed the entire trail in 5 months, and the longest I've been out on a hiking trip, is 9 days so that might pose a problem. I have no idea where to start with something like this, I keep reading up on it and see all the problems people have on the trail and I ask myself "Am I really ready for this?" I would just like some suggestions or insight, maybe any equipment/supplies I'll need. I have my FID, hunting permits, fishing licenses, I've taken map reading courses, all the basic survival mumbo jumbo. Thank you for your time.

[pete lynch]

First off, I have never hiked the AT except for (very)short parts of it in Virginia at Shenendoah NP, Maryland near Mount Catoctin and Pennsylvania at the Delaware Water Gap.
There is a widely held belief that you start the hike in April and try to arrive at the northern end before October. Otherwise you may not reach the end. It's a high trail that gets socked in with snow on a big portion of it's length. Also it helps to do it while there is no hunting seasons. And while there is fishing allowed in places, harvesting wild game on a National Scenic Trail is not. Get a good guide book like AWOL's trail guide and read through that. It explains alot of stuff in detail. HTH.

[balendor]

I have also hiked short parts of the AT in Tennessee and North Carolina and spoken to several who were attempting to do it from start to finish, it seems that most train for the AT for about 3 months continuously before making the attempt and barring injury running out of food seems to be an issue for some of those that do not make it. here is a tip research the type of critters you may encounter learn how to set up a bear bag for your food, the snakes that you may encounter, and I believe that grey wolves have been reintroduced in the some places.

[kyratshooter]

I did the southern half of "the trail" back in '01.

The best advice I can give is that one needs to engage in a strong conditioning program for 6 months to a year in prep for the AT. It is straight up and down and takes the difficult path everywhere just to avoid contact with civilization, which is always just at the bottom of the hill. There are days when you will make elevation changes of 3,000 feet two or three times in the course of an 8 mile leg. A person that can do 15 miles a day on flat ground will find that 8-10 miles is a push on "the trail".

In addition, the trail shelters are at about 8 mile intervals, meaning that if you want to push for 12 miles there will be no shelter. Ignoring the use of the trail shelters will force one to carry a tent. Using the shelters will allow one to skip the weight of the tent and use a simple tarp shelter as emergency cover.

Equipment is about the same as for any backpack expidition, only you will strip down to the real essentials. Most hikers on "the trail" wind up stripping their packs down to about 35 pounds by the end of the first week, often at the end of the first day. If you have not used something for two or three days it is viewed as a nonessential and useless weight. You could start a sporting goods store with the gear left up at shelter 1 atop Springer Mountain. If you were a local or out on a one week hike. you might tough it out and haul the gear back home, but you are not doing that, your hew home is that pack and will remain so for 5-6 months.

Forget "surviving" or living off the land while on the trail. The trail is a trail, not a huge chunk of property reserved for wilderness life. In many areas the dedicated property for use as trail is only 50 yards wide. As soon as you leave the path you are on private property. The path is worn smooth from use. Carry the food you need ad do not burden yourself with excess food gathering gear that you will never have a chance to use. You will travel through 20 states with 20 different sets of regualtions and each one will demand an out of state hunting/fishing liscense. You could buy a new pack or a good pair of boots for that amount of money. Leave the "big chopper" at home. You will not need it and it weighs as much as a day of food. A good SAK is enough knife for the Trail.

Although I did not carry a 'big chopper" I did carry my CCW gun and I carried it concealed. Inside waist band holster and NEVER flashed the pistol. May of the hikers are liberal tree huggers and simply would not accept such behivior, until a bear chased them onto a shelter roof! Then they start screaming to shoot the SOB! Fortunately I never had to shoot a bear, though I was tempted on a couple of occasions.

Speaking of bears, I did not spend a single night on the trail that was "bear free". The trail is theirs. They know where the shelters are and they know food is at the shelters. That makes you bear bait. The stories I could tell!

Aslo be aware that there are four types of hikers on the Trail: through hikers, day hikers and section hikers and "Trail Trash".

Through hikers are making the push for a full trip or a half hike. They are stripped of gear, making time and tend to form small groups, that travel at the same speed, for motivation and protection. I have seen husbands and wives seperate for the trip due to differences in hiking speed, with each traveling with a different group and communicating through the shelter journals.

Day hikers are locals who pop onto the trail at one access point, hike for the weekend and someone picks them up at a set point on Sunday afternoon. They are normally preppy, cheerful and clean. They also bring news of the real world. If you befriend one of these happy day trippers and hike with them for the weekend you will often score treats when they leave for home. Peanut butter, canned meats, candy or other things you would never consider carrying long term. They tend to unload their packs before going home.

Section hikers are longer term hikers on the trail for long jaunts of a week or more. Many of them have specific goals of doing the entire trail 100 miles at a time. Many are hard core hikers, know the ways of the trail well and have been on their quest for decades. Many of these people use the trail as their annual vacation. One thing I noticed about "section hikers" was that they tended to hike against the current of the trail. They liked to go north to south rather than south to north, which is the normal through hiker direction. You bunked in the trail shelter with them for one night and they were gone. Perhaps I simply never had one hit the trail with my group and there were hundreds ahead of me or behind me. One never knows on the trail. They were exceptionally good at giving trail information concerning changes in water supply, condition of the trail and the shelters ahead and that sort of thing.

Trail Trash are the dropouts from society that are using the trail like Hobos use the railroads. Many are dodging warrents for various crimes. I was not a week into the trail before a NC park ranger, who looked like any other hiker stopped for the night at a trail shelter, flashed a badge and arrested one of the hikers on a murder warrent out of Atlanta, GA. I had been a bit leary of the guy but never suspected murder! On another occasion our group turned in a pervert we found at a shelter and latter got word he was wanted on sexual assualt charges. It is not all fun and games and you need to keep your security awareness up.

My small hiking group included one young woman who attached herself to us for safety. She obviously felt more comfortable hiking with us "old guys". Plus she found out that we were historic reenactors and she was from a reenactment family and knew we protected our own. She hiked with us for over a month.

Get a good trail guidebook! The trail guidebooks are detailed trail notes, and will save your bacon. They spot the exact location of water sources and shelters. By exact I am talking about specific instructions like:

"At mile 173 1/4 look 50 feet down trail for the big yellow rock and turn left. 25 yards up the slope will be a spring, watch out for the slick mud."

All in all I found the AT to be mostly myth and endurance testing. I have hiked better trails elsewhere.

[karatediver]

If I lived on the East Coast I would be severely tempted to do it in sections each year. Sounds like a lot of fun and a great personal challenge.

[boo]

My wife works with a man who walked the trail.
His biggest problem was his feet. Blisters.
Choose your walking shoes and socks carefully.

[Geek]

I have hiked on short sections of the trail and thought about doing a through hike when younger. First let me point out that in several of the states the trail passes through, carrying a firearm is very, very, illegal and you can forget about getting a permit in those states. In NY state I believe it is a mandatory 3 year prison term.

Supplies will be needed along the way, so you need to figure out where to get them. There are some stores that service "through hikers" and you should check into the Appalacian Trail Association. If you Google terms like "Appalacian Trail Association", "Appalacian Trail through hikers", etc. you should be able to find a lot of information.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a through hikers forum somewhere.

[Daniel Nighteyes]

Supplies will be needed along the way, so you need to figure out where to get them. There are some stores that service "through hikers" and you should check into the Appalacian Trail Association.

Back when I still lived in Dixie, I helped a friend operate his small hiking/camping/backpacking store from time to time. Shortly after SWMBO and I moved to SoCal his National Guard unit was activated & deployed for Desert Shield/Desert Storm. His long absence caused his store to go belly-up.

Anyhoo, he had quite a few customers who had done at least part of the AT. One thing that was true then, and may still be true now, is that you could mail packages of food and supplies to yourself, in care of General Delivery, to the various small-town Post Offices along the Trail.

These days, assuming that you can get a signal on the Trail, I suppose you could use a smart phone or pad to order stuff over the internet and have it shipped to you at the next town you're coming to.

Equipment is about the same as for any backpack expidition, only you will strip down to the real essentials. Most hikers on "the trail" wind up stripping their packs down to about 35 pounds by the end of the first week, often at the end of the first day.

Yup, 35 pounds or one-third of your body weight is about the maximum weight recommended for folks walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostella in northern Spain, which we are planning to do in a year or so. Overall the Camino trip is similar to portions of the AT, though the terrain is less challenging.

[pgvoutdoors]

Very good evaluation Kyratshooter. It is worth saying again that you must do two things to get ready to thru-hike the AT; get in top physical condition and learn how to be a ultra-light backpacker.

You need to get out and hike, do as many work-ups as possible to get your body and mind prepared for the demands of the trail. The better shape your in, the more you will enjoy the trail.

Ultra-light backpacking takes some thought and practice, you must have the appropriate gear and skills to take care of your needs. Traveling light will make your trip less stressful but you must be prepared to go without many items you may normally use on a regular backpacking trip.

[Aurelius95]

Check out trailjournals.com. They have online journals of hikers on all sorts of trails. I'd say the most popular is the AT.

[balendor]

Elevation changes can be tough on the trails I remember a hike in the Joyce Kilmer National Forest the trail went up 500 ft in the length of a football field. On long hikes the group would walk for 50 minutes and rest for 10 minutes every hour, you can cover quite a bit of ground in this manner without overly taxing yourself. Foot care and rain gear are essential on long hikes, and you would be surprised how chilly the air can get in mountainous areas when your under the shade of trees, proper clothing can make a difference to how comfortable or miserable you are from day to day.

[kyratshooter]

Through hikers generally do not carry excessive clothing or rain gear. The through hikes are spring, summer events. Kataden closes down in Sept due to weather and that is your goal, so you are always pushing against that mid-Sept deadline. You may have a jacket when you start but it gets ditched of sent home by first of May. You have what you are wearing and one change. Often the extra outfit is washed in a creek to dilute the stink and dries draped over the pack as you walk.

Rain gear? You get wet, then you dry out. Rain gear is dead weight. If it is a prolonged storm you walk wet and put on dry when you stop for the night. Any time after mid-April is frost free on the southern leg and low temps are not a real issue. High temps ARE an issue! You will be doing a lot of hiking in 90+ temps and areas of extreme humidity.

Were I doing the AT again I would buy three pair of good boots and break them in during the conditioning hikes. I would start off in one pair, have another pair waiting up around Pisqah NF, along with new clothes, and another pair/more clothes just before hitting the PA/NJ/NY section. Breaking in boots in advance cures a lot of problems. Most foot problems and blisters are due to bad fit and prebreaking in the boots will reveal any problems before you are on the trail.

Do not figure you will just tough it out with minor boot issues. If the boots make hot spots or cause any problem at all ditch them and get another pair broken in! You want perfect boots on the AT. You are out there for good, there is no one to come pick you and your blistered feet up and if ther boots caused blisters today they will cause more blisters tomorrow! If you are forced to stop and let your feet heal up for several days before you can take another step you are going to run out of food. That is going to force you to drop off the ridge and hitch a ride to town and most people that do that never get back to the trail. They will head home before they stay in a motel for a week to heal up and start walking again.

[pgvoutdoors]

I've wore boots all my life, cowboy boots, work boots, military boots, and backpacking boots. These days, backpacking boots is all I ever wear. I prefer a sturdy pair of leather boots but for ultra-light hiking of the AT I would recommend a light-weight backpacking boot. Many footwear companies offer these kind of boots, they have a strong outer and mid-sole that is suitable for light-weight backpacking. The uppers are a synthetic and leather combination or all synthetic. Stay light on your feet!

[Daniel Nighteyes]

Do not figure you will just tough it out with minor boot issues. If the boots make hot spots or cause any problem at all ditch them and get another pair broken in! You want perfect boots on the AT. You are out there for good, there is no one to come pick you and your blistered feet up and if ther boots caused blisters today they will cause more blisters tomorrow! If you are forced to stop and let your feet heal up for several days before you can take another step you are going to run out of food. That is going to force you to drop off the ridge and hitch a ride to town and most people that do that never get back to the trail. They will head home before they stay in a motel for a week to heal up and start walking again.

Once again, a hearty "AMEN!" On the AT (and any other long trek), the two critical items are (1) footgear --boots, socks and related, and (2) load-bearing gear -- backpack, etc. If either of these fail to perform as needed/expected, you're in deep kimchee.

[balendor]

I did not thru hike I was a section hiker and while I can not speak as one who walk from start to finish I did over the years cover a lot of the ground through TN and NC , and came across many people that did not understand just what it was they started by taking on the AT. Sad miserable people who had given up, I also noticed that thru hikers tended to move at a slower pace than section hikers like myself, as for gear there are plenty of light weight rain coats and fleece jackets on the market and if your concerned about weight you can do a bivy bag instead of a tent, buying titanium cook ware can also help reduce weight, and while I agree a good pair of broken in boots are essential for your feet, going under prepared is just as bad as over prepared you have to find a balance.

[Rick]

Resupply is not a huge problem if you have someone you can trust to mail you packages. They can address them to Postmaster at predesignated post offices and the post office will hold the packages for a week. KY is correct on the boots. You will need at least two pair, broken in. Reserve one pair to be sent to you at some midpoint. Concentrate on dried foods whether it be dehydrated or freeze dried. It's all about light weight. The shelters will fill up quickly. If you don't get into a shelter early there may not be room for you and you'll get to sleep outside. If you don't have a tent or ground cover then you'll sleep on the ground. Some sections the wild hogs are worse than bears so keep that in mind and don't believe the myth that springs are pure water. If you've never seen anyone 4 days into Giardia you don't really know what sick is...or smells like. ALWAYS purify your water! The trip from the parking lot to the top of Springer Mt. must surely be just inside the gates of hell. By the time you get to the top you will have second guessed your intelligence and duration. Don't worry, it gets worse.

There were pay showers some place in Virginia. I don't recall where exactly. You could also pay to recharge your cell phone and I think they had land lines but not sure. I just don't remember.

Good luck. If you have specific questions just ask.

[kyratshooter]

Demascas, VA is set up as a hiker haven. Same for Harpers' Ferry. The trail cuts right through town. Food, hostels, library services for access to computer.

Damascas is also the half way point so folks doing a half hike either end there or start there.

[pete lynch]

Pine Grove Furnace SP is the half way point. It's in PA.

[kyratshooter]

That may be half the specific miles but Harper's Ferry has always been considered the traditional half way point. It makes a good end point or kick off point for the half hikers.

Sort of like saying the Mississippi River devides the nation in half. It is a phsycological division.

[pete lynch]

There is a "tradition" at the real half way point on the AT. It's called the Half Gallon Challenge.

For three decades, long-distance hikers arriving at the midway point of the 2,180-mile Georgia-to-Maine footpath have made it a tradition to stop at Pine Grove Furnace State Park in south-central Pennsylvania and eat an entire brick of ice cream.

Sounds traditional to me.