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demiu5
humans, lol


Registered: 08/18/05
Posts: 43,948
Loc: the popcorn stadium
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For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail
#6056737 - 09/13/06 10:57 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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I'm not giving this serious thought yet, but it's been reocurring more and more.
Is any real hiking experience required before setting out on this journey? I know it'd be good to have some, but is it really necessary?
What sort of training would be good to do and how long prior to starting?
-------------------- channel your inner Larry David
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debianlinux
Myconerd - DBK



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Posts: 8,334
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: demiu5]
#6060236 - 09/14/06 10:03 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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My many experiences on the trail have been my training. I can't foresee ever having enough time to actually commit to doing the whole thing... at once.
If you intend to go the full route you would need serious training just to learn to pack a proper camp. Depending on the season the weather can be extreme.
The trail is very long and diverse. In my opinion it is best sampled in pieces. It helps that I have always lived in areas surrounding the Trail.
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Jim


Registered: 04/07/04
Posts: 20,922
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: demiu5]
#6060263 - 09/14/06 10:18 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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You need to be in top mental and physical condition... its a long fucking walk...
-------------------- Use the Fucking Reply To Feature You Lazy Pieces of Shit! afoaf said: Jim, if you were in my city, I would let you fuck my wife.
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demiu5
humans, lol


Registered: 08/18/05
Posts: 43,948
Loc: the popcorn stadium
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: Jim]
#6062491 - 09/14/06 08:12 PM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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These are things I realize and would not go into it unprepared. I would take time out to start hiking/camping more, training and learning. Additionally I'd be reading books on it and trying to talk to people who have done it.
-------------------- channel your inner Larry David
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Shroomism
Space Travellin


Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: demiu5]
#6062828 - 09/14/06 09:30 PM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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One shroomerite (Adom) recently walked 90% of the trail, I'm sure he can give you some tips.
Though this thread would probably last longer in the Outdoors forum.
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demiu5
humans, lol


Registered: 08/18/05
Posts: 43,948
Loc: the popcorn stadium
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: Shroomism]
#6067646 - 09/16/06 12:36 PM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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Feel free to move it if you have the ability...I didn't even know we had an outdoors forum
-------------------- channel your inner Larry David
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Shroomism
Space Travellin


Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: demiu5]
#6067956 - 09/16/06 02:43 PM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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Yes we do.. not many know of its existence...
Go back out to the Gathering Forum and look at the top of the page
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Corporal Kielbasa

Registered: 05/29/04
Posts: 17,235
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: Jim]
#6072506 - 09/17/06 10:38 PM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Jim said: You need to be in top mental and physical condition... its a long fucking walk...
yeah for real!!! Now i am going to spew out some stuff.. For the sake of doing so.
You need to have boxes of food and gear ready to mail out with your family. You need a list of towns on the trail. So you can have those boxes shipped out. or already mailed out prior to you leaving.
the less gear the better. You will really understand why every time you put your pack on. Really you don't need a big bag. you need a good fitting light one. get used to power bars and GORP. blocks of cheddar and a stick of salami is the tastiest meal ever after a while being on the trail.
Bear hangs are key. 15 feet off the ground and far from the trunk. Rope tied to another tree near by so that the bear doesn't cut the line.
Stretch!
Drink at least three or four nalgens each day. Purify water. Collect water from slow pools verses fast current. The faster the current the more bacteria are flowing along with. In slow water the critters sink down. A couple drops Of Iodine will do the trick. Though it tastes like nurse.
ay book of cool quotes is cool to have so is a journal.
trekking poles. good light fast drying shoes. boots for the cold times. but you wouldn't want to carry them both.
nylon cord. compression sacks. head lamp candles good stove rolling pappers 
Adam, I haven't seen him in a month or so. but as the Ism said he has done like 90 % of the trail.
And from that i would also tell you to drink a lot of milk.
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Adom
Totally Nude

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 10,877
Loc: Way Up North
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: demiu5]
#6073799 - 09/18/06 11:44 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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The trail is 95% mental and 5% physical.
I walked from Springer, GA to Bear Mountain, NY this year from March 26th to June 30 (1,388 miles). Along the way I walked with people 90lbs overweight, 70 year olds out for a 1000 mile walk, doctors, lawyers, bums, hippies and everything in between. Seriously fit people in the first few hundred miles were rare.
I was attempting a thru hike but failed due to poor diet and poor financial planning(.. I spent $2,000 in my 1,300, my friend spent 5,000$ on the entire trip), I thought I could travel cheaper than I did. After a few weeks with out regular showers, soft drinks, real food, etc. I found I couldn't resist everything modern civilization had to offer once I hit towns. I also forgot a very a important aspect to my diet, calcium. I started off drinking lots of powdered milk and found I couldn't stand the stuff I gave it all away and never bought it again after I entered Virginia. I did take a multi-vitamin but it didn't do the trick, I'll carry calcium tablets when I head back out to finish next spring.
Due to my poor diet I suffered a very painful stress fracture in my foot while ascending the mountain the lemon squeezer is located on. I was also walking in Salomon Amphibians which wasn't probably the brightest idea in retrospect. I suffered trenchfoot(which was my trailname) most of the way and they gave me feet the most air so I stuck with them after 500 miles in heavy raichele hiking boots. I had also gotten up to 25-35 mile days which may have been a bit much for the calories I was consuming. My mother and father were alarmed at how skinny I was when I returned home. I can't express the need for a proper diet enough, calcium and protein are very important and probably the hardest to get enough of.
Pre-hike I tried to get in shape but most of my running and weight lifting didn't seem to mean much when I hit the mountains of Northern Georgia. Most hikers don't train. Just plan to do 8-12 miles daily in your first weeks, expect to be soar from the waist down for a couple weeks. After week 3 you'll be feeling better than ever and by week 6 you'll be surprised what you can do.
You'll be able to hit towns every 3-5 days in most areas so food isn't much of a problem and hitching to town is extremely easy south of the mason-dixon line.
Pick up yourself a copy of the thru-hikers companion or wingfoots thru hikers handbook. They give details on what towns offer post offices, how to get there, water sources, shelters, camp grounds and just about everything you need to know about the trail. I'd say wingfoots book has more information but some it may also be wrong(this is a touchy subject on the AT so this is all Ill say).
I'll recommend some gear but who knows who will listen, I sure didn't when I started and that's one thing that broke me, I couldn't stop buying lighter gear. Think in ounces not lbs.
pack 2800-3500 cubic inches (myster ranch makes my favorite pack now, go-lite and granite bear also make some nice ones)
a hammock or tarpent something 1-3 lbs, no need for a 5 lb tent.
2 sleeping backs, no matter north or south you'll need something 0-20 degrees depending on how warm you sleep for cold weather and a warm weather bag around 45-55. Some discard there bag in the summer for liners, I also recommend having a bug net for the summer to sleep because black flys suck!
a sleeping rest, thermarest are nice but heavy. Think z-bar or some other half sized sleep pad. Your shoulders and hips are really the only area that needs padded.
I only had the clothes on my back in the summer months along with a wind-breaker raincoat and a dry pair of shorts for sleeping. In the early spring were I seen 30 degree temps I carried a set of poly pro long johns and zip off paints. I also carried a camp coat, hat and gloves. It was rarely cold enough to hike in these but I sure enjoyed them in camp. The were sent home in Daleville, VA in mid-may.
I recommend an alcohol stove because they are light and fuel easy to find on the AT. They are also free(or really cheap) if you can make your own http://www.pcthiker.com/pages/gear/pepsistove.shtml or http://www.antigravitygear.com if you can't.
You also want some sort of aluminum or titanium cookware, I only carried a spoon, cup and 1 liter pot with me and I don't think I ever seen a fork out there, spoons can do it all.
I recommend some sort of rain gear but I don't have any advise here, I've never been happy with my marmot precip.
Some sort of water proofing should be done to your pack, pack covers are a joke, the aren't really water proof and water can get in them in all directions. I recommend a heavy duty trash bag as a liner inside the bag and keep your sleeping bag(and anything else that would make you miserable if wet) in a dry lock stuff sack.
Water, you'll need to purify, pumps are heavy and inefficient and I'd use 2 drops of bleach per liter or purchase aqua-mira, a chemical treatment and probably the most popular thing on the AT. A lot of places have piped springs that come directly form the mountains I never did anything to these and most others don't, I don't recommend it but many people walk the entire trail with out ever treating water. I recommend a camel bak or some other hydration system for hiking, a liter or two platypus for camp and a gatorade bottle for juice. A 3 liter capacity is plenty for most of the trail, NJ-NY you may want a bit more. Just pay attention to your body and know the signs of dehydrations, keep it clear not yellow.
Headlamp, if you like night hiking don't skimp here, buy a big heavy lamp that lights up the woods. Princetontech is my favorite.
25 feet of rope for bear bags
I found duct tape to be useless (except in giving it to others) and after 500 miles I tossed all mine.
Leki trekking poles, I recommend this brand because they are the best IMO and they will give you new ones if you break them.. Most outfitters will service them for free also.
Get fitted for your feet by someone who knows about long distance hiking or you'll be buying new shows at Neels Gap. I recommned trail runners and nothing water proof, your feet are going to get wet, deal with it. If you get gore-tex wet you'll have wet feet for days. Salomon makes my favorite shoe, and it's the softshell.
You'll need a family member or friend to mail you stuff, you also will need to find a point to mail home your winter gear and collect your summer gear.. Daleville, VA was mine, I would of also got my gear sent back to me before I entered the Whites in New Hamshire had I made it that far.
I'm sure I forgot some things so feel free to PM me or ask away in this thread if you have any questions.
Sweeeett Destination... This was a hiking parter and friend I made on the trail... the lower one is my life-long friend who I started the trail with.


They finished August 9th at 515 am... just in time to see the sunrise from Katahdin.
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Adom
Totally Nude

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 10,877
Loc: Way Up North
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: Adom]
#6073842 - 09/18/06 12:03 PM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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You could read thru my thread and see how different I approached gear after walking 1,000 miles with 40 lbs on my back.
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Krishna
कृष्ण,LOL


Registered: 05/08/03
Posts: 23,285
Loc: oakland
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: Adom]
#6096668 - 09/24/06 08:01 PM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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i've got to do that sometime in the next 10 years
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demiu5
humans, lol


Registered: 08/18/05
Posts: 43,948
Loc: the popcorn stadium
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: Adom]
#6107461 - 09/27/06 02:08 PM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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where is it located? I tried searching and didn't find it
-------------------- channel your inner Larry David
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oDin
Registered: 08/12/99
Posts: 5,789
Last seen: 10 years, 7 months
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: demiu5]
#6110030 - 09/28/06 01:56 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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right on adom
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Corporal Kielbasa

Registered: 05/29/04
Posts: 17,235
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: oDin]
#6114692 - 09/29/06 09:20 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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a hammok for sleeping is so great. you can make a light weight one out of a kingsized sheet and some cordage.
you can sleep on a mountain you can sleep anywhere.
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Adom
Totally Nude

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 10,877
Loc: Way Up North
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: demiu5]
#6157678 - 10/11/06 10:58 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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My other thread is on page 2 of this forum. I also forgot to add I had no experience hiking other than days and over nighters before I set out... I had done one 3 day hike in Illinois which counts as nothing but a party in my book. Experience isn't necessary but learning and patience is. I didn't make it but anyone with a bit of luck and determination can and will. See http://www.whiteblaze.net and http://www.trailjournals.com for a lot more experienced people than me. ...
I have to add if you are an experienced hiker seeking solitude I'd recommend either south bounding the AT late summer early fall or trying the Continental Divide Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail if long distances are what you are after. North bounding is awesome but you will fully understand it when you try it the AT is Foot Polished. A couple thousand people take off from Georgia between mid march and May 1st, 30% are gone before you see a stateline, another 50% leave mid VA when the sites leave and terrain mellows out, out of sheer boredom. By PA people are getting tired and hate the heat this will drop the hikers down to 25% of the starters before they hit NH, 10% get reealll tired or injured before Maine and 10-15% actually make the distance in any given year. This is a long walk and unless you are really moving it's going to take 6 months. All kinds of stuff in the real world can go wrong and send you home, it doesn't take quitting, getting injured or running out of money to send a guy home.
Edited by Adom (10/11/06 11:17 AM)
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Adom
Totally Nude

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 10,877
Loc: Way Up North
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: demiu5]
#6157790 - 10/11/06 11:34 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Oh yes, I almost forgot, if you hike the trail and make Virginia there's no reason to skip Rusty's, actually it's a place you can't miss, don't be a pansy and not hike 2 miles off the trail to see him. It's the best hostel on the trail and Rusty became one of my best friends in the 3 days I stayed with him, I'm actually driving from Iowa to Virginia in a couple weeks to go see him, we've been in contact ever since I met him. We are talking about a real charector here, if you go, GO.
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Shroomism
Space Travellin


Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: Adom]
#6158700 - 10/11/06 02:55 PM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Hey man where in Va are you going? Come visit me I'm not too far from the trail.. about an hour west of richmond.
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Adom
Totally Nude

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 10,877
Loc: Way Up North
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: Shroomism]
#6161202 - 10/12/06 07:32 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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Rusty's is on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waynesboro.
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Gr8fulJ420
strange but nota stranger


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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: Adom]
#6162995 - 10/12/06 05:16 PM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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I hope when I'm an older dude I can get away with having a wicked beard like Rusty's.
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Adom
Totally Nude

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 10,877
Loc: Way Up North
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Re: For those who have traveled the Appalachian trail [Re: Shroomism]
#6174663 - 10/16/06 10:23 AM (17 years, 3 months ago) |
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I want to leave right now but panic is coming to the midwest next week and the weather out there looks terrible.
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