Come on Grandpa, tell us about the good old days.

[Okie Dokie]

Still have much of the gear I used when I began backpacking seriously back in the 70s--Kelty external frame Tioga, Kelty Windfoil Breeze Tent, Peak 1 multi-fuel stove, one gallon aluminum pot...still works fine for me...surprisingly, it's not much heavier than "modern" gear...recently re-coated the backpack rain-cover I used on my thru and it worked flawlessly on a five-day rainy trip last winter...

If I hadn't checked out and devoured the two-volume set--Hiking the Appalachian Trail--from my college library I probably wouldn't have hiked the AT...a great read...taught me before I even hit the trail that just about any gear combination would work if you were enjoying yourself and had heart...still true today...
Even in '91, the year of my AT thru, much of the gear that I and fellow hikers carried is still sold by outfitters, or can be found on Ebay...
There was no internet when I planned my thru, so I sent away for gear catalogs and watched the mailbox like a hawk...

Echoing what's already been said a few times above:
There have been no "real" advances in rain-wear-- if it rains and you're sweating, you get wet...despite the "breath-ability" marketing...
Even in '91 I encountered hikers who I thought had the potential to give the rest of us a bad reputation if they went into towns and behaved naturally...some did ahead of me on a couple of occasions ...one can tell...
There were no "trail" angels seeking out hikers...but I met many, in towns, at stores, at camp sites...it all came naturally, and didn't feel "forced"...I was spontaneously invited into several homes for overnight stays along the way...I appreciated that...true local flavor experienced firsthand without the semi-commercial atmosphere of some of today's hostels...

My thru gear was "state-of-the-art" in the 90s...there's been little substantive change since then...synthetics have always dried faster than cotton, aluminum weighs less than brass, etc...
I didn't thru to "find myself", or to "party", I thru-ed because I loved the lifestyle...being accountable for only what was on my back, each day in a new spot, views, the unmatched delight at cold spring-water when you needed it most....

Wouldn't carry a cell phone if I attempted another thru...learned an everyday life lesson--if you don't carry a phone someone nearby will always be around to lend you one, if needed...translated: if you don't carry a phone the world is your secretary...

Sorry, no tales of flannel, jeans, or "waffle-stomper" boots....the more things change the more they remain the same....maybe...

[TexasBob]

.....Taking off your wet, heavy, leather boots, drying them over the campfire then Sno-sealing them was at least a weekly ritual.

We moved recently and I was getting rid of stuff and came across an old can of Sno-Seal. It broke my heart to toss it.

[Traveler]

We moved recently and I was getting rid of stuff and came across an old can of Sno-Seal. It broke my heart to toss it.

Was it petrified in the can? I've not seen that in decades!

[SouthMark]

Been a grandpa for a while now. Just happy that I am one of the fortunate ones to make itblong enough


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[SouthMark]

...make it long enough to be called that. Started hiking in the 70s after reading The Complete Walker. Copied Colin's gear pretty much all the way; Trailwise pack, Sevea stove, Trailwise sleeping bag, Sierra cup, etc. Was always light minded or more of a minimalist.


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[Shutterbug]

Hello, to all the well seasoned hikers and long ago thru hikers, please if you will tell us about the good old days on the trail. Long before ultralight when light then would be considered heavy old school today.

When I started hiking, we didn't have trails. I would go to the library (that was the building in our town that had books) and study the maps and photographs. I looked for land locked lakes that had no road access. Then, I would hike through the woods to find it. Most of the time, the fish in the lake would be very aggressive, but on the small size.

One time, my dad and I were hiking along a slough in Arkansas when I came up on a bunch of 50 lb bags of sugar. I called out to my dad to come see what I found. When he saw them, he told me to run away as fast as I could. We had stumbled onto a moon shine still. We got away before the owners mistook us for "revenooers."

[Deacon]

Well, my very first backpacking experience was with the Boy Scouts when I was 11 years old. That was back in 1956. As noted above, we too wore jeans, cotton long underwear, and fur lined pull-on boots. My first trip was in January with aabout 6 inches of snow on the ground, as our troop of 30 guys hiked about 8 miles from our cabin in town to our council camp.

My pack was the boy scout pack, just a canvas knap sack. Our troop had army sleeping bags to use, which were really just enclosed heavy blankets. Of course the cook kit was the aluminum boy scout set.

On the way we stopped to make lunch. I made a fire on which I cooked a t-bone steak with two sticks. It didn't cook very well so I ate it half raw. We all stayed in one small cabin.

Those days were great!

[Rain Man]

... I would go to the library (that was the building in our town that had books) and study the maps and photographs. ...

ROTFLMAO!!!!! That's so true.

Although I will say, my 27-year-old daughter just told me last week that she loves the library. She's not much of a TV-watcher, and she's working on being a writer. She'll reserve a dozen library books online and go pick them all up at once.

[gbolt]

My older brothers, born in 1955 are five years older than me. I remember when I was maybe 5 or 6 and they were 10 or 11, they recieved backpacks from an uncle that lived in Fresno California. They were Red Canvas and had a curved wooden frame. So Exteral but probably a pre curser to even the metal ones. Have to see if they still have them after all these years. Maybe a collectors item just like the GI Joe's that were thrown in the trash!

[soilman]

Here' a list of places we stayed during our first AT hike.
Monson - Ken's Old Church. It is the old church along Lake Hebron and was run by a fellow named Ken Shaw. As I recall he was a relative to Keith Shaw who ran the boarding house a couple a blocks away. Cost $4 for sleeping on the floor and a shower.

Gorham, NH -Alpine Tourist Home. $10 for two. Run by an older woman who hesitated to let us stay because of problems with previous hikers. Bad behavior is nothing new.

North Woodstock, NH - Mt. Adams Lodge. $8.40 for two. Ate AYCE breakfast at the Chalet restaurant for $2.49. I never ate so much in my life. We had to stop at the park on the way back to our room because we didn't want to hurl on the sidewalk of the main drag.

Hanover, NH - Bones Gate. A fraternity that let hikers stay for free, but this was the last night they were offering this service. Ate breakfast at Thayer Hall. Hear about this for 3 weeks prior and it lived up to expectations. AYCE for $1.85.

Hanover, NH - Gamma Delta Chi frat. Needed to get boots repaired so we did our fist zero, although they weren't called that back then. $2 for floor, shower, and beer. Ate dinner at Thayer Hall for $3.45.

Killington, VT - Mt. Meadows. Right on the trail in those days. $4.50 for a bunk, swimming, and AYCE breakfast.

Kent, CT - St. Andrews Presbyterian Church basement. We were on Bear Mt and were told to get off the mountain because a hurricane was coming. We hitched into Salisbury but got a cool reception. We hitched to Kent and found other hikers staying at the church. Stayed there two nights then a hitched back to the trail where we got off, and hiked back to Kent. Stayed there a third night.

NY - Graymoor Monastery. We arrived there on a Saturday when they were ordaining 6 deacons. We couldn't stay in the usual place they housed hikers because other guests were using it. But we did have a bed and shower. They called us around dinner time and told us to come and have drinks with them. They had an open bar before dinner. I spent 10 years in Catholic confinement but never was this close and casual with clergy. They sure can drink and cuss.

Pt. Clinton, PA - Pavillion

Waynesboro, VA - Fire station. Chief was Jack Frost. He had two rules, hikers had to sign in then they had to shower.

Pearisburg, VA - Catholic Church hostel. No charge. Fr. Charles was in charge.

Damascus, VA - The Place. Even then the town was hiker friendly. Remember the postmaster, a Mr. Grindstaff.

Elk Park, NC - Times Square Inn. $12.

Hot Springs, NC - Church hostel. No charge. Remember the town had a liquor store and that was the day Elvis died.

Fontana Village - Resort. $26.

Wesser, NC - Outdoor Motel. Pretty basic, bunks and shower for $3. This was before NOC. Wesser was 3 buildings, the motel, a small store, and a restaurant.

[TexasBob]

I found this 1976 ATC guide to the trail from Fontana Dam to Damacus in a used book store a few days ago. It has a post binding that can be taken apart so I guess you could carry only parts of it if you wanted to. It includes fold out maps of the trail. It is a far cry from what is available today.
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[Jack Clifford]

In '74 went on a hike from northeast to southwest on the trail thru the smokys. 4 of us split up the gear, canned goods, items in glass jars, a cast iron skillet. Also had no super gear. No sternum straps, no waist straps, and cotton filled sleeping bags. That August it rained several times every day and every night, my bag got soaked and just added to the weight. First two days terrible, after that we all felt renewed, revived and figured we were carrying at least 60-80 pounds a piece due to everything being wet. But we ate very well and that offset the weight of carrying all the hydrated stuff. With that much rain we did not have to worry about water like on my last trip thru the area in 08. We had the time of our lives, all of us have continued to hike as a result of the love for the hike we developed in 74. We also got strong, quickly. There was no worrying about weaknesses, like blisters, etc, so everything changed for us on the trail. Took us a week. Not super hikers at all, and we were really enjoying everything along the way. Made no decision to hurry. Did not take a map to show us what we were up against. Happy to go uphill but not as happy to go downhill because it usually meant that we had to make up the altitude loss. What was amazing is how fast news traveled on the trail. I still have not figured that out yet. Had my first close up bad experience with a mother bear and saw how a bear could come to within mere feet of you in the brush alongside the open area in front of a shelter. Today that bear would have been euthanized in the Park for what it did, but back then it was not more than a cool thing for me to brag about. Happily, none of the other folks who saw it cared to report that "minor" offense to the rangers, either, but even if they had, it wouldn't be an offense then that would merit killing a wild animal for. Today it would.
After that first trip, I've gathered equipment that will last, some of it is retro as its called, but its really old design that still works well and is light. Somehow the romance of the trail lessens for me the more contemporary I think about hiking. It is a fine science of sorts today that makes it all to easy, even when I was moderately crippled before I had my knees replaced. Now I would love another trip with minimum takealongs, so long as I have protein (but not in bar form.... gag!)
But I suspect that even what I used in the late 80s would be old school (a beautiful phrase to me) to people who are just starting out, and in 42 years from now, they will think of the equipment back in '16 as being old school!
Back in the old days, I enjoyed not making it to the next shelter by sundown and hiking as your eyes get used to darkness you never see in a town. And running into wildlife that has no idea you are there, either. A moment of surprise betwixt animal and man is a tremendous thing. And even more tremendous if you can manage to move by the critter without scaring it away. Or it scaring you away! One thing we learned in the days of yore, harmonicas in the key of C work as well as sonic noisemakers and possibly bear spray. Really. A good Honer Blues Harp C.

[Venchka]

In 1974 I had a very nice REI goose down bag, SVEA 123 stove and SIGG Tourist cookset and a 2.5 pound frameless backpack to carry my stuff in.
Used all of that gear on a backpacking trip in what would become the Holy Cross Wilderness.
Still have everything except the bag. My granddaughter has it.
Wayne


Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."

[rafe]

For the record, Elmer's still running Sunnybank Inn at Hot Springs, I first met him in 1990. Still a great place to stay, even if you're not a vegetarian. (You can always get your cheesburger at the pub down the street.)

[bascomgrillmaster]

Bascomgrillmaster here,
I still have my SVEA 123 from the 70s works fine.

[The Cleaner]

Back in the early 80s you actually liked to meet a few thru hikers.These days some of them hardly even look at you as they blast by doing a 25 mile day.

[rickb]

Back in the early 80s you actually liked to meet a few thru hikers.These days some of them hardly even look at you as they blast by doing a 25 mile day.

I thought of your post this afternoon.

I decided to break up a 500 mile day behind the wheel of my car today with a drive up to the Top of Bear Mountain before heading back home via the Bear Mountain Bridge.

It it was pushing 90* so I loaded up with some sports drinks and some salty snack just in case I came across any hikers.

None up top, but I passed three NOBOS on the bridge. I parked on the far side sided and held out the cold drinks for the first two that passed by and said hello. They accepted with a thank you but literally did not break stride. It was sort of like handing water to a runner in the middle of a race.

I am 100% OK with that and respect their reaction. That said, it did strike me as different (not saying better or worse) than what it would likely have been when I hiked some 33 years ago.

Anyway, a third hiker came by shortly afterwards and I changed my approach (and was seriously thinking of your post). This time I not only offered the drink but asked how his hike was going so far.

He said it was good, but like the others litterly did not break his stride either. I mentioned that I had hiked in '83 as I walked in the same general direction, which precipitated a 2-sentence conversation as he walked down the trail and I headed to my car.

Again, this is all good. Everyone was polite, and I was interrupting thier day. And I was a stranger in business casual clothes -- and not exactly a compelling site.

That said, I cannot fathom this kind of interaction back in '83. Not because it was any better back then, but rather because it was simply different.

I can count the number of time I have handed out anything to thru hikers on one hand, so who knows?

[Odd Man Out]

I wouldn't be too hard on hikers (thru or otherwise). They are out there putting in the effort. I did a thee day section in SNP last week. I climbed up the blue blaze to take in the view at the Crescent Rock Overlook. On the way back to the trail I see a car pull into the empty parking lot. It pulls up alongside the viewing area. A young woman jumps out of the passenger seat. She jumps up on the stone wall railing with her back to the overlook. She pulls out her selfie stick and takes a picture of herself. She looks at the picture, jumps back in the car, an off they go. She never actually looked at the view and no one else got out of the car. It made me sad.

[Skyline]

In the early '90s, when I was learning by trial and error, I got bamboozled by a salesman at an REI to buy a huge Kelty external frame pack named Tioga, a 6 lb. Kelty tent, a rectangular sleeping bag more suited to car camping, and a pair of boots that weighed about 7 lbs. Oh yes, those were the Good Old Days.

[Siestita]

“…Started hiking in the 70s after reading The Complete Walker. Copied Colin's gear pretty much all the way; Trailwise pack, Sevea stove, Trailwise sleeping bag, Sierra cup, etc. Was always light minded or more of a minimalist.” Southmark



+1



I read Colin Fletcher’s book in 1972 and then tried to assemble gear that he used. So, like others, I learned to hold a Mallory flashlight in my mouth while cooking. For shelter I carried a huge plastic tarp that I erected using cords, metal visqueens, and solid little rubber balls. For decades I couldn’t afford to get a down sleeping bag. So I used a three pound synthetic mummy style Slumberjack bag that a salesman in an outdoor store had optimistically reassured me was “good down to ten degrees.”

I still have the windscreen/pot support and one compatibly sized pot from the SIGG aluminum cook set that I bought in 1973 to emulate Fletcher. My SVEA days are long over, by that antique SVEA compatible set up is still useful to me. That windscreen/pot support is perfectly sized to be a light weight LNT compatible “fire box”, serving me well on some trips as a light weight (about 5 oz.) wood burning cooking stove.

“Reading one of the above posts reminded me. Who remembers the bright blue rinse water you would get after eating your morning instant oatmeal, then rinsing the cup/bowl with iodine treated water?” LyleI believe the last time I glimpsed that freakily blue water was a year or so ago.

My water treatment, which has kept me healthy on many trips made since 1972, has always used chemicals rather than filters. I’ve recently learned that both Aquamira drops and MSR’s Aquatabs have some virtues, so adios iodine. Even old dogs can change, sometimes.

After having used several other packs, over the years, each one externally framed, I now once again carry the durable bright orange Trailwise pack that Fletcher inspired me to acquire long ago.