GoldenBear

I'm about as far from an all-year hiker as you can find. I definitely don't long hikes in the winter, and I don't even like to backpack in early spring or late fall.
So how do I ensure that I'm ready for the rigors of The Trail after many months of avoiding it?


I presently have a three-step process to test everything:

Step 1) One night camping at a state park just a few hours from home. I force myself to use ONLY that stuff that I've placed in my backpack, even though I camp just a few meters from my car. Thus, even if I've done some REALLY stupid packing or preparation (forget my sleeping bag, bring matches so old that they no longer light), I'll just sleep in the car and remember to do things right when I go for a REAL backpack trip. And even if I get REALLY unlucky (unexpected rain storm causes flooding), I can always just drive home. This one night of "no harm, no foul" gives me confidence in my equipment.

Step 2) One night of camping at a primitive site that's a mere four miles, on level ground, from a parking lot. This is a test of my backpack (can it still carry stuff?) and boots (any blisters?) but also -- and most importantly -- myself. When I walk this, do I experience any pain in my joints, or have angina, or get short of breath? If nothing bad happens, then I consider myself ready to hit The Trail.

Step 3) A night or two on the actual A.T. It's one thing to walk on flat ground, it's another to go up and down, carrying a pack. If such a short trip is successful, then I'm ready for my wimpy, week-long section hikes.

As one could guess (and should certainly expect!), the first two steps went without incident. And I'm blessed to report that Step 3 went fine as well.

My choice was a part I thought I was going to do last year: within New Hampshire, from NH State Highway 25 (ie, Glencliff) to NH Highway 25A. I actually did walk from 25A to Hanover last year
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/entr...-New-Hampshire
and figured that filling in this gap would make for a good Step 3.


Here's my info on what to expect when driving through and near Glencliff
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...t=#post1979042

Since it's an eight-hour drive from my home to that city, I knew I couldn't expect any serious hiking until the day after I arrived. Thus, all I did after this first day's drive was park at the lot on High Street, walk down to Jeffers Brook Shelter, and spend the night there. Nothing much to say about the place
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...t=#post1978751
EXCEPT that there's some nice trail magic there. If you're heading to or from Mount Moosilauke along The Trail over the next week or so, take a short detour and see if any of it remains.

Although the shelter there is fine, my drifting off to sleep, while alone there, had some weird moments. Specifically, the constant sound of the rushing brook nearby resulted in some auditory hallucinations for me. Specifically, I kept hearing human voices approaching the shelter. Nothing threatening, mind you; not even distinct words -- but I kept "hearing" people (and, one time, a dog) and kept getting ready to share my night in the shelter with other hikers. But they never arrived.
After about thirty minutes of this, I decided to place myself in the shelter such that the sound of brook would be muffled. I figured (correctly!) that hearing a lot less of the moving water would result in hearing less of the "voices." Right after doing so, however, I heard a howling of SOMETHING. This was NOT an hallucination, but I couldn't determine if I was hearing a dog or a coyote or a whatever. I correctly figured it didn't matter, and just drifted off to sleep.


For about my only night on The Trail, and definitely the only time for a first-night at a shelter, I slept non-stop for eight hours. It's FAR more typical that I toss and turn and wake up, trying to find a position in which I'm not uncomfortable. Thus, I got a good start on the day, heading down to Glencliff. Too bad somebody forgot to tell me I'd have to ford Oliverian Brook just before I got to Highway 25!
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=61100
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sim3lZG9xb8
Blessedly, I (1) always hike with sandals and (2) knew how to ford streams. It took me less than a minute to do so, once I got ready and just walked into the water.


Not much to report about the hike onto Ore Hill Camp Site, setting up my tent, walking down to Highway 25A and back, and then spending a quiet night at Ore Hill. In contrast to Jeffers Brook Shelter, this place was almost TOO quiet!

The only thing to report about returning to Highway 25 is that I got passed -- for the only time during this trek -- less than ten minutes from the end of it. I did meet a few people going the other way -- one person even asked me, "You a thru-hiker?" ("Not exactly" was my reply) -- but, for the most part, The Trail was quite empty. It also had more mud and mosquitoes than I would have preferred, but nowhere near as bad as Vermont two years ago.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/entr...o-buggy-Part-2
And I've also learned how to use Permethrin to keep bugs off my legs and arms. Thus, this trek had only a few insect bites, the two falls I've allowed myself (one per day), and only one instance of forgetting my trekking pole (which I noticed within a couple minutes). Overall, not bad.


Not I just have to wait for a week where I have no community or social responsibilities AND good weather in the area where I want to hike.