Datto's Top Ten Tips for 2017 AT Thru-hikers In-Planning

[Datto]

"Are you car camping?"

This from one of the past AT thru-hikers who was helping me with preparing for my upcoming AT thru-hike.

I had been taken on as "A Project" by a few past AT thru-hikers.

I can not express to you how much I'm so appreciative to them for doing so. Their assistance to me was so important it was a direct effect on me completing my AT thru-hike. There were points in time where they may have given up on me and this was one of those times.

"This is a thru-hike, not car camping."

I had defended the decision I'd made about my $150.00 purchase of what I see today as being a preposterous purchase of equipment for my upcoming AT thru-hike. It was hilarious -- at least 10,000,000 step-pounds of completely unnecessary weight and effort toward an AT thru-hike. Part of the equipment of the year from Backpacker Magazine and many other people who'd had positive comments prior to my purchase.

It was the sarcasm and bluntness of what past AT thru-hikers -- the people who'd done it -- are about at times.

As I had approached the start of my AT thru-hike, one of the past AT thru-hikers had expressed succinctly what the other past thru-hikers had also expressed to me -- "When you reach Katahdin, help the people behind you."

I'd remembered what had been said to me only because it had been phrased, "when" rather than "if".

The idea really hadn't sunk in much until I had reached somewhere along the New York/Connecticut border.

Version 2.0 of 2017 Datto Tips -- an expanded version in PDF format-- will be available at the end of this summer. More tips, more commentary, more unrepentant opinion. It will be a direct download and, of course, completely free with no begging, no nag screens, no requirement at all. Spend your money on a fabulous adventure for yourself, not on me.

This is about you, the 2017 AT Thru-hikers In-Planning. It's not about me whatsoever. I had told those past AT thru-hikers who had helped me that I would help the people who were behind me. And so I am. You can make up your own mind -- I'm only giving you a starting point in time. You will make your own decisions, have your own opinions. I'm just getting you to a point in time where you are encouraged to start. To begin on this fabulous journey.

June, July and August of this year you should be backpacking overnight for one weekend per month. It's warm so your backpack will likely be light. Figure out whether this is for you (or not). Way before you have a big investment of money and time. Significantly before you turn in your resignation next near and start northward from Springer Mountain, Georgia.

Begin now determining whether this is for you.

If it is, I want to do everything I can to help you succeed. If you choose to do so and carry your full backpack past every blaze of the Appalachian Trail, I'm confident it will change your life.

For the better.


Datto

[Datto]

An interesting story about that preposterous $150.00 expenditure I'd made (mentioned above) that had caused past AT thru-hikers to make fun of me, in jest and with maximum sarcasm, before I'd started my AT thru-hike.

After my AT thru-hike I was on a flight where I'd sat next to the President of the company who had made that particular preposterous item.

Really nice guy. We'd hit it off right way on take-off and had talked off and on throughout the flight. We'd got to laughing a bit with drinks and such. Nothing, of course, that would make the flight crew on alert.

The people behind us on the plane had been screaming and yelling about the plane gyrations during the inclement weather and when coming in for a landing. That President and I had talked nonchalantly like it was no big deal.

Oh wow.

It was part of the recognition I had rejoined Society after my AT thru-hike. Flights that should have scared me shirtless had no affect on me at all.

I'd gotten to know the waitresses in Detroit Metro Airport long ago. Enough so when I would arrive early in the morning, -- two or three times per week -- sometimes the waitresses would sit across from me in the restaurant booth and we'd talk about our lives, how things were going, things we were happy about and not. I remember thinking how I could never be a waitress. That I'd had too much of a mouth on me to ever have succeeded at waitressing. The waitresses at Detroit Metro were some of the sweetest people I would met in my short life. I guess you'd have to be that way to succeed at waitressing. They'd seemed to like what they were doing for a living.

it would not be the first nor the last time where people would be screaming in an airplane. Bad things where you, as a passenger, think people will die. A flight attendant hitting the roof of the passenger area so hard I couldn't believe she was still conscious. Instead, when I looked around to see if she was okay after her landing with a thud on the aisle floor, she'd thought I was looking up her skirt. Ha. I don't know -- maybe subconsciously I was. My eyes sure do have a way of drifting at times,

The very first time I'd been to Baton Rouge, Louisiana had been for business. Whew boy, what an experience that had been. Business had taken maybe a half an hour and then it was on to some kind of country-out-in-nowhere bar hop where Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones had visited (photos on the wall of the playing and such). Then a crawdad bake (well of course -- its Louisiana). Very pretty girls there at the crawdad bake who I could only capture every other word since I am so adept at languages. Didn't matter -- the entire blood circulation was headed toward my eyes and other parts anyhow -- ear anvil denied the necessary.

On the way home the Dallas Airport Security had paged me over the airport intercom. Lots of unhumorous people with stern looks on their face when I'd arrived at security at DFW. Seems that box from my clients -- the one with all the crawdads and dry ice they'd sent me home with -- it had leaked. An airport baggage employee had felt a burn on her arm after having handled the box. So my name was called to report to Security. Amazingly, the woman with the complaint was there with me -- I'd explained the whole situation with my clients and the box filled with crawdads to her so she was much more comfortable. She'd laughed a little and told me she knew all about crawdads and I should enjoy my crawdads when I'd gotten back to Indiana.

Cypress Knee had written to me and said I should come and meet his parents and family if I'd ever gotten to Baton Rouge. I'd happened to have a trip there planned already and I'd let Cypress Knee know I'd be there for a particular upcoming weekend.

Cypress Knee was one of those fabulous people who you meet on the Appalachian Trail who is just fun to be around. He was the one who had explained to me why the design of the Appalachian Trail seemed to be so haphazard. As Cypress Knee would explain visually with choreography, with a straight face, the design of the AT was determined by a chimp with a bong who had hold of a red marker. To watch Cypress Knee do his impersonation of that chimp -- total busting out laughing by everyone at the shelter that night. Cypress Knee continuing with the straight face with his explanation of modern day Trail design methods. All of us had finally understood the ATC once and for all. Just the usual nightly entertainment dinner theater at the shelter. Dinner being the usual shingle e'trois from Liptons.

Cypress Knee's parents really hadn't understand much about AT life or why people would choose to do something so frivolous. They'd had no idea the talent of their son nor how much he was just fun to be around. How he had the potential to go places. Everyone loved Cypress Knee on the Trail. I'd had the time to spend with his parents and gently explained. To be honest, it was me explaining to my own parents. Maybe they just didn't see it -- so I'd explained what they'd had in their household.

In Corporate America, you pay a premium for people like Cypress Knee. Doesn't matter what they do -- others will get on-board with them toward a common goal. They are absolutely invaluable -- six-figure people. I'm not sure Cypress Knee's parents knew this ahead of time. So I gave them example after example of Cypress Knee's leadership skills.

There must have been fifteen people around the dinner table where Cypress Knee and I would share tales about the AT and thru-hiking. He'd had a new girlfriend who was very nice -- I don't know, maybe a perfect fit for him?

What a terrific person to have met on my AT thru-hike.

One of lots.


Datto

[Datto]

Pain.

I would be fooling you if I told you an AT thru-hike didn't involve dealing with lots of pain. On a daily basis.

Moment by moment for some.

I'd arrived at the Fontana Hilton -- a deluxe AT shelter if there ever was one. About milepoint 165 or so north from Springer Mountain, GA.

The place was packed with AT thru-hikers.

I had thought I'd had this ability to ignore pain. It's not that everyone has that ability -- must be something genetic I'd supposed.

My mom had stood in front of me to prevent me from leaving to go to football practice long ago. I'd had my hand stepped on and crushed in the morning practice at The Rock Garden. My hand had swelled up while I was sleeping between two-a-day practices to the point where each of my fingers were just a tiny nub sticking out from a swelled ball of a hand. My mom, the registered nurse, was yelling at me at the top of her lungs that I had to go to the hospital.

One handed I'd moved my mom out of my way. I'd told her, in the nicest manner, I would not miss practice for whatever reason.

It had been the five minute instruction about life I'd received from a single person -- on a very hot August day. He'd told me, and exactly 65 other people, what it took to succeed in life. From 8:30am to 8:35am on a single day of my life,

I'd learned everything I'd needed to know. Amazing how much of that single five minute explanation would appear later in life. The whole thing explained simply for everyone to understand back then.

A woman -- a thru-hiker -- had walked into the Fontana Hilton on the Trail that night. A very pretty woman.

I'd gotten a bunk in the Fontana Hilton and one of the guys, another thru-hiker, was chatting with me while I was retrieving my sleeping bag and sleeping pad out of my backpack. We'd talked about some of our pains, he'd had this terrible hangnail on his big toe. He'd not been able to dig it out with any assemblance of success. So he'd just lived with it while he was hiking. He'd lived with the pain until he could/would figure out what to do about it.

He'd showed it to me and it was sure ugly. I'd had a wince just looking at it.

Well, of course, we'd stopped talking about hangnails and such -- all eyes in the Fontana Hilton went to the pretty thru-hiker who'd arrived to the shelter late. She'd proceeded to get a bunk and was taking off her backpack when the back of her hiking shirt went up.

We'd all seen it.

Every single one of us.

Every single man in the Fontana Hilton that night.

That diagonal eight inch scab across the small of her back.

Holy cow.

If that wasn't the ugliest mess.

She'd gotten her sleeping bag and sleeping pad arranged on her bunk and came over to talk, sporting a smile and a sense of humor. Saying we should build a fire out at the fire ring. Just the most likeable person you could meet on an adventure. What a positive attitude.

She would get her Trailname that night. An absolutely perfect Trailname for her.

And it wasn't from that scab on her back.

It was another pain-point on her feet.

It was even worse. Even uglier.

The next day, another woman I had seen in the Fontana Hilton the night before, she was using the pay phone on the south side of Fontana Dam -- the walkway a northbound AT thru-hiker uses to enter the Smoky Mountains National Park.

I was waiting to use that pay phone -- waiting to talk to my attorney by pay phone if you can believe it -- listening to her conversation while waiting. Her being an AT thru-hiker also.

The sides of her feet were hamburger. Both sides on one foot, one side of the other foot. She'd been talking to the manufacturer of her boots, getting a new set shipped up ahead so she would pick up those larger boots up ahead past the Smokys.

I'd seen her feet the night before. God was that really ugly. It wasn't just abrasion. It was raw meat under the first layer of skin. Her feet had expanded and the sizing of the boots wasn't there to accommodate.

She would go through the Smokys with her existing too-small boots. Picked up her larger boots up north, further past the Smokys.

Her feet by that time were a complete destruction.

Didn't seem to affect her attitude.

At all.

She'd Just kept moving northward like the rest of us.

As I would find out previously at NOC, she'd arrived into the Trail from Spain -- teaching English to people in Spain. Had a great adventure there, ready for the next thing. Reminded me of my own first Adventure with my buddy Tony, hitchhiking and back across the US to the Pacific Coast from Indiana. At the very end of our college-boy careers.

I would meet up again with her in Maine. I had bought a small bottle of Kahlua and was going to put it into a tree recess so her and her hiking partner Latecomer would see the bright yellow of the label and investigate.

That pretty woman at the Fontana Hilton?

Her mom would write me. Said she was reading what I was writing about her daughter in my on-line Trail journal.

I'd written back right away explaining it was just an observation and there was nothing going on between her daughter and me, that we were just acquaintances on our AT thru-hikes.

Her mother wrote me back right away saying, "Why not?"

Some fun emails with her mother along the way from that point further north . If you can imagine someone attractive via email, that was her mother.

I would just complete a bunch of stock trades from the shared computer at the outfitters in Hot Springs, NC. That pretty girl had come up afterward to talk with me just as I was preparing to leave town to head northward at 3:00pm.

Her appearance had caused me to have such a mind-twist that I'd forget to pay for my Internet access at the outfitters. I had to write the outfitter later on up the Trail explaining that a pretty girl had sidetracked me while I was getting the money out of my backpack to pay for the Internet access in the store -- how could I send them the money I'd owed?

It is one of the reasons I think that outfitter in Hot Springs, NC is the best outfitter on the Trail. They'd written to me saying I should buy another AT thru-hiker dinner up north.

So I did.

That pretty girl at the Fontana Hilton and the guy who was telling me about his hangnail in the Fontana Hilton?

They were right behind me entering Maine. Pushing to reach Katahdin.

I hear they eventually got married. An email I'd received so it was.

The groom had asked me that night at the Fontana Hilton if I would send a message to his grandmother -- she was reading my on-line AT trail journal.

So I did, saying how much he'd missed her.

Written from the Fontana Hilton that night.

On such a great, fabulous adventure.


Datto

[JumpMaster Blaster]

I think this thread has evolved enough from a "Top Ten Tips" thread to a blog. Yeah, this should be a blog, instead of one hiker's soapbox. Seems like a lot of self- promotion. I appreciate the advice, but am growing weary of the onslaught of information and every single anecdote you can come up with.

Perhaps you can ofer better advise to specific individual questions, but this really seems to be all about you and your hike, and not tips that other successful thru hikers can agree on.

Basically speaking, I think this thread has run it's course.

[Datto]

I think this thread has evolved enough from a "Top Ten Tips" thread to a blog. Yeah, this should be a blog, instead of one hiker's soapbox. Seems like a lot of self- promotion. I appreciate the advice, but am growing weary of the onslaught of information and every single anecdote you can come up with.

Perhaps you can ofer better advise to specific individual questions, but this really seems to be all about you and your hike, and not tips that other successful thru hikers can agree on.

Basically speaking, I think this thread has run it's course.

Sorry it's not to your liking.


Datto

[Datto]

Datto's Tip 72 for 2017 AT Thru-hikers In-Planning

This is published early for people who live in extreme climates (Phoenix/Tucson or Minnesota/Canada for example).

For those who are planner-types (rather than those who live life with great spontaneity), consider making a weight vest part of your pre-hike training regimen. Use this only in your house/apartment/condo while walking around after work or on the weekend. Or use it during your in-home workout regimen if you've taken suggestions elsewhere in Datto's Tips Version 2.0.

The weight vest I use is made by Altus and is a 35 max poundage (you can remove weights to make it lighter if needed). Some of the newer Altus models on Amazon max out at 20lbs or 40lbs. Be gentle with the buckle clips -- they're not rugged but the vest sure is.

These weight vests are not for running -- the vest can hold tight to your body but when running there would be way too much jostle.

COMMENTARY: I first encountered using a weight vest when I was returning into shape after having broken my leg. Advantages and Disadvantages here:

Advantages:

1) A weight vest is relatively inexpensive compared to other training equipment (as mentioned elsewhere, actually backpacking overnight while hiking eight mile days is a much better workout as well as a treadmill starting at 3.0 MPH
at 3.0 % incline to start for 30 minutes, moving to 6% incline at the same speed for 45 minutes months later prior to starting your AT thru-hike)

2) A weight vest only moves your center of gravity up, rather than outward like a full backpack does -- this allows you to frequently wear a weight vest around your house/apartment/condo without having the worry of knocking the dishes off your kitchen counter while wearing a backpack

3) You can adjust the weights in the weight vest to make the vest lighter simply by removing some of the weights in the vest (if you have a smaller frame or want to start out with less weight in the vest)

4) If you live in a part of the world where summers or winters are out of the question for hiking then this will continue some of your AT thru-hike fitness regimen during those inclement weather times

5) The Altus weight vest is comfortable enough to allow you to sit in a Lazy Boy chair without having to take the weight vest off

6) If you combine the weight vest with a bar-lifting part of your weight training (for doing squat-thrusts), you don't have to add more weight to the bar in order to get a decent squat-thrust weight in place (keeps the bar as-is for the other parts of a lifting program)


Disadvantages:

1) A weight vest looks like a SWAT vest so you'll not want to go out into public much wearing the vest -- you might scare the heck out of the neighbors and small animals

2) It's not exactly a replication of wearing a backpack -- a backpack swings you around much more than a weight vest -- the swinging around of your body stresses and strengthens your knees -- you'll still need to be doing overnight hikes with your backpack on a regular basis as much as possible since that is the real-deal in training for an AT thru-hike

It would be best if you get a physical from a physician before moving too far into thinking you're going to thru-hike the AT. Best to get someone like a physician to review your heart condition and any other medical conditions you may have. Make sure you mention to your physician that you're thinking of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail so the physician knows you're not just thinking of walking to work.


SIDEBAR: (Thanks to JumpMaster Blaster for giving me the idea to create separate Commentary and Sidebar sections for Datto's Tips Version 2.0 coming late this summer 2017 in a PDF format).

The recuperation of having fallen and broken my leg that I'd mentioned above-- I'd gone to the Continental Divide Trail way before I was ready. In the past I'd recovered from broken bones and other injuries rather quickly -- that was deceptive in that the CDT was way more physically strenuous of a challenge than my normal thoughts about recovery. I'd over-estimated my ability to Git Er Done. By factors. I literally wasted thousands of dollars by not actually being physically ready and having been overconfident about my ability to hike the CDT.

The broken leg had twisted my foot right-angles to the normal orientation. Easterly rather than North-South. I'd had to make my way back to my car from that hike along the Pacific Coast and then drive left-footed about 30 miles to the nearest hospital.

I'd ended up having to hop down a twenty foot decent to get from the parking lot to the emergency entrance to the hospital (I was still in denial that the foot was broken -- I'd assumed it was just a bad sprain, Heh).

After sitting in the waiting room of the hospital (following the check-in at the front desk) Pearson and some of the other visitors in the waiting room approached the front window to mention that it might be a good idea for the medical professionals to look at my leg. Musta grossed-out some of the people in the waiting room sitting in the chairs with the flu.

A Person-Of-Authority in the hospital finally came out to look me over in the waiting room and told me my injury wasn't bad enough for them to treat.

I was pointing to my right-angled foot while Pearson went ballistic on the Person-Of-Authority.

I ended up having to actually hop back up the hillside to my car and drive left-footed again to another hospital.

That second hospital was closed. Who the heck closes a hospital on a Sunday??

I told Pearson we should just go to the bar. Figure the whole thing out later. Maybe get some free drinks from my foot being sideways from the bartender and the patrons.

On the way to the bar we passed another hospital and with my deft left-foot-driving skills, moved into the parking lot of that third hospital closest to the emergency entrance.

Those people actually took the time to take pictures and discover the problem.

I had been trying to convince the doctor there at that third hospital that I really didn't need a full-on operation and leg cast and the leg would probably heal by itself if left alone. I'd explained my desire to hike the CDT in coming months.

That doctor, with a comedic intention, said to me, "Oh sure, that could work. As long as you don't expect to walk much again."

Pearson and that doctor won out. So I went under the knife.

My leg is now okay after the operation but my head can turn 360*.

Scared the heck out of the Presbyterian minister at the Christmas Eve service.

I shoulda worn the weight vest to the Christmas Eve service in order to give him a good reason to be scared.


Datto

[Another Kevin]

I've always found a weight vest to be... strange. I use a daypack, and carry a heavy old-school laptop computer, a few books, and a couple of water bottles. Nothing that will raise any eyebrows, but a nice load. It weighs more than what I usually carry for a summer weekend. And I walk at least 2-3 miles carrying it - every damned day. The only time people get suspicious is when I walk to work in the middle of winter. Last winter there was one day with -15F temps and high winds. The facemask and goggles spooked some people. Better than freezing my eyeballs.

[-Rush-]

You may be telling yourself from your living room that you won't be staying in shelters but that's not likely, particularly in the beginning (while you're adapting to trail life) and at the end when you're trying to make miles in bad weather through very difficult terrain.

I had no issue in the beginning camping out in my tent. I was never a fan of shelters to sleep in, and I always prefer to retire to my tent away from the madness for a good night's rest. To each his own..

[Alligator]

Thread has run its course. Members are encouraged to continue discussions on these topics into more specifically focused threads in whichever subforums are appropriate. Thanks.