View Full Version : Help!
maxNcathy
02-13-2006, 13:13
I really want to hike on A.Trail around Damascus area for a week. Cathy was keen on going and even booked her vacation then but now she says she does not want to go to Va. because " it will be too cold and wet"
Did you find the weather unbearably cold and wet there in mid to late April?
What can we expect hiking 40 miles north from Damascus?
What can a person wear to best cope with cold rain?
Thanks, Max
Wolf - 23000
02-13-2006, 14:47
Max,
This is going to sound cold but if she complaining about the weather now before leaving, your better off leaving her at home. I've done VA in the winter already. It not unbearably. A good rain wear will work fine, even in the cold rain.
Wolf
Almost There
02-13-2006, 15:25
Max,
I hiked SOBO 50 miles south to Damascus in late November. Highly recommend this hike as being a wonderful one. Weather should start to be pretty decent by this time. However, could range from sunny, 70 degrees, to rainy in the forties, or even snow at the highest elevations. Should be nice, but be prepared. Also I am almost willing to bet you will be rained on one day of your hike. If she doesn't like that...beware.
MtnBikerGuy
02-13-2006, 15:46
I agree with Wolf & Almost There. If they are complaining and looking for excuses now, plan on going without them. I have had numerous trips ruined because I thought someone was going to find out that SOMETHING would happen right before the trip to keep them from going. Now I just plan hiking by myself. I invite others to join me. If them come along, great. If not, I actually find I meet more great people on the trail. Another advantage I personally find in solo-hiking is the witty and insiteful conversations. Seldom are there any arguements either.
maxNcathy
02-14-2006, 10:18
Thank you very much for your ideas. I read yesterday in a book called Blind Courage that on the AT it is good to expect one day in 5 to be a fine day weather-wise...the other 4 may be too hot or too cold or too wet or too dry or too windy...
Some time I may have to thru hike without my wife because I'm not sure 1 in 5 would be to her liking. Maybe i can convince her that a bad day on AT is better than a day at work.
Max
domnokmis
02-14-2006, 10:25
Maybe i can convince her that a bad day on AT is better than a day at work.
MaxNot a particularly good idea. Backpacking isn't for everyone, and if she doesn't want to go, and only goes because you want her to, she is unlikely to have a good time, and if the weather turns bad, she will be doubly miserable becasue she didn't want to come in the first place.
It sounds like to her, a day at work is better than being dirty, cold and wet. That puts her in the majority of the population. We're the insane ones.
Ask yourelf why it is so important that she accompany you when she doesn't want to.
Almost There
02-14-2006, 10:39
I kind of have to agree with domno. My wife loves to dayhike and is even up for doing weekend backpacking, but I know I have to wait till the weather is nicer and pick a nice terrain area for her to hike...otherwise the first time will be the last time.
maxNcathy
02-14-2006, 10:48
I wonder how pissed she'd be if I went hiking the AT for 6 months???
We live a long ways from the Trail so it would not be easy to come to the Trail towns to visit....
We do kayak and camp on rocks together sometimes for a week at a time so maybe she would get in the groove of hiking and camping and meeting all the characters on the Trail. I hear many of them smell pretty bad though !!
sparky2000
02-14-2006, 10:54
The SMELL factor is an education - one may smell someone for two days and then the smell becomes mentally classified as normal and the nose bypasses noticing the normal - like living in Manhatten.
Almost There
02-14-2006, 10:56
Oh and don't forget chafing and blisters!!!
Sounds like a case of Anticipatory Anxiety to me......
I hope you go and have a great time - even if alone!
longshank
02-14-2006, 11:23
You might want to check out the "hiking with artillery" thread for tips on escaping with your male virginity intact...
KirkMcquest
02-14-2006, 11:24
They'll be on you like fur on a beaver
Almost There
02-14-2006, 12:08
They'll be on you like fur on a beaver
I prefer the famed but elusive hairless beaver!:D
Wolf - 23000
02-14-2006, 12:31
I wonder how pissed she'd be if I went hiking the AT for 6 months???
We live a long ways from the Trail so it would not be easy to come to the Trail towns to visit....
We do kayak and camp on rocks together sometimes for a week at a time so maybe she would get in the groove of hiking and camping and meeting all the characters on the Trail. I hear many of them smell pretty bad though !!
:rolleyes: Crazy people. That why you should stick with your own kind. You should have married another hiker, who can understand the need to hike for several months.
Just kidding .... maybe.
Wolf
maxNcathy
02-14-2006, 15:25
I have been thinking...if we just went and hiked for 6 weeks (in the spring??) each year we could finish the AT after 4 or 5 years.
LIhikers
02-15-2006, 15:33
That's called section hiking. There's a lot of us doing the AT that way. My wife and I get out to the AT acouple of days in the spring and fall and do a week or two during the summer. And no, I don't have to talk my wife into it, she likes to backpack as much as I do.