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Socrates
03-19-2007, 16:41
Well, 3 weeks later and I'm back at home now...
For the record, I sent my Nemo Morpho tent home and got a Six Moon Designs Europa... Much lighter and did the job. I never would have believed that a tent could be stable with a trekking pole for support, but it is. Ya live and learn.
Alot of people told me my pack was heavy, but I think it was just bulky because of the size pack. Once I got the weight issues figured out, I weighed it in at 35lbs with 3 days of food and 2 water bottles. I tried to go for a lighter pack, but they told me I was still too heavy to be comfortable with one so oh well. At least, that's what they said at NOC.
I was always hearing about shelter mice before my hike and even read a few registry entries, but I never felt or heard a single one all the way to Fontana. I did see one scurrying across a branch once, but it was 15 feet from the shelter so maybe I had just been lucky.
Most of my time hiking was enjoyable. There were only a few hills that made me mumble profanity on my way up and when I got to the top, I would turn around and flip it a bird and tell it off something awful that maybe an innocent bystander would have thought twice about my sanity had they not known me. Luckily, no one was around.
I met many nice people along the way, and one homeless man that I didn't care much for at all. Some hikers were going at such a fast pace that it annoyed me... Not stopping to enjoy a view or to smell any of the "roses" along the way. I would see them once and not plan to see them again unless they broke a leg. Other hikers were slower and I would adjust accordingly because I enjoyed their company. I was caught in a bubble because there weren't many hikers around me. Granted, I left early, but some nights could be only 1 - 2 other people and a few was 4 or 5. I like hiking alone, but I like to be social at the end of a day so in that aspect, I was disappointed. Some would simply make dinner, read from a book, and go to bed. I'm more of a social animal than that. If I had stayed out longer, I'm sure the scene would have improved eventually.
Because of a previous conversation with my parents back home, when I got to Fontana Village in NC, I made the decision that this wasn't the right time for me to be out here. I had much more important issues in my life to be handled back home and felt bad when I broke the news to a couple buddies I had made along the way. I miss the trail already, but I have a little experience now for next time and memories to last until then.

Whistler
03-19-2007, 16:47
HYOH. You'll be back.
-Mark

mountain squid
03-19-2007, 17:02
Don't sweat it. Take some notes about 'lessons learned' and get back out when you can. Welcome to the 'section hiker' club:).

Thanks for posting that you changed out your tent - hopefully someone else will learn from your lesson.

See you on the trail,
mt squid

rafe
03-19-2007, 17:08
Sorry to hear the news, Socrates. I was rootin' for ya. Well, at this point you have a pretty good idea of what it's all about. I join Mountain Squid in welcoming you to the section hiker's club. Hopefully it won't take you 30 years. ;)

Sly
03-19-2007, 17:10
Unless they run out of money or get seriously injured, I'm still amazed people quit their hikes. Oh well, enjoy your summer.

rafe
03-19-2007, 17:20
Unless they run out of money or get seriously injured, I'm still amazed people quit their hikes.

Why, Sly? Ask LW. Quit twice in Gorham. Me, I just got bored. It felt too much like work. The thrill was already wearing thin by Fontana... but it hit the breaking point a few days north of Pearisburg. I heard that my erstwhile hiking buddy (Wild Bill) quit in PA. So it goes.

My hope :-? is that I've learned a few life-lessons in the years since.... mostly, about keeping it fun. Well, I'm not 100% sure I've learned, but I'll find out later this year, maybe.

buckowens
03-19-2007, 17:27
There have been many times I have been out while in a flightsuit and had a hundred people come up to me and said that "they could have went to flight school", and then proceed to knock some aspect of either the military or flying...It gets old and my tolerance is waning as I grow older. I say that to transition to ---

Be proud, as you had the guts to go in the first place, which is much more than some other timid souls will ever do. Life is funny and sometimes the choices are part of some great cosmic plan. If it is a dream, keep it alive and plan again for a week, a month or years from now to do it again.

Sly
03-19-2007, 17:28
Why, Sly? Ask LW. Quit twice in Gorham. Me, I just got bored. It felt too much like work. The thrill was already wearing thin by Fontana... but it hit the breaking point a few days north of Pearisburg. I heard that my erstwhile hiking buddy (Wild Bill) quit in PA. So it goes.

My hope :-? is that I've learned a few life-lessons in the years since.... mostly, about keeping it fun. Well, I'm not 100% sure I've learned, but I'll find out later this year, maybe.

No reason why. I know it's like work sometimes, but I never got bored and for the most part I always had fun or at the very least found each day rewarding.

Caveman1
03-19-2007, 17:30
Socrates:

It was indeed a pleasure to meet you back on 3/8 just south of Standing Indian. Toes & I enjoyed talking with you a few minutes.

Did you have a good time? To us, that is all that matters.

See you out there again!

Caveman

:sun

TJ aka Teej
03-19-2007, 19:48
Quit twice in Gorham. Me, I just got bored.

You weren't bored. You was lost. Gorham, Me. is nowhere near the AT :D

Lone Wolf
03-19-2007, 19:54
Gorham. He, he just got bored.

emerald
03-19-2007, 19:57
You weren't bored. You was lost. Gorham, Me. is nowhere near the AT :D

With navigational skills like that, he's lucky he didn't end up in Norway or China!:D Buy maps and learn to read them.;)

rafe
03-19-2007, 20:23
With navigational skills like that, he's lucky he didn't end up in Norway or China!

Heheh. Norway and Paris ME are only a few dozen miles from the trail, as the crow flies.

Sly
03-19-2007, 20:29
A buddy and I were going to hike from Mexico (ME) to Canada and back.

Heater
03-19-2007, 21:01
Heheh. Norway and Paris ME are only a few dozen miles from the trail, as the crow flies.

I have a cousin in China ME. About 35 - 40 miles off the trail. Has a house on China Lake.

:D

Programbo
03-19-2007, 21:10
Unless they run out of money or get seriously injured, I'm still amazed people quit their hikes. Oh well, enjoy your summer.

Excuse the following rant :p
Really?..I`m amazed the amount finish who do...This is a free country and anyone is perfectly free to hike the trail or plan and attempt a "thru-hike" and as is often said people should "hike their own hike" (A phrase I don`t really care for)..But it seems to me in this day and age that a LOT (Most?) of the potential thru-hikers I hear talking or run across are out there for reasons that doom them to failure from the start..To me you just gotta LOVE it..You have to love the trail and it`s history and tradition and the whole package..It has to be a place where you can feel the magic in the air..A place that makes you almost want to cry with happiness even being on it..A place where you wish you could just hike and sleep and live forever and never have it end..If you can somehow capture that feeling (And already KNOW that feeling BEFORE you think of a thru-hike) there is little that can stop you..But if you are out there (And it`s your first real LONG hike on top of it) because you want a personal challenge or you wish to cover X miles in X days carrying X weight..Or you want to be part of the gang and get into a "Survivor AT" mindset then you have a LOT of strikes against you before you start..I am sure none of this applies to the person who started this thread and he had more important things to deal with at this time and being away from home makes you think of those things all the more...I trust he will return at a later date and pick up where he left off and have great success :)

hopefulhiker
03-19-2007, 21:22
Live and Learn, A lot of people are just now starting their thru hikes. It seemed to me that a lot of thru hikers did have that "forced march mentality". ITYS, weight is an important factor...

Yahtzee
03-19-2007, 21:37
I had two long hikes before I complete a thruhike in 2001. If, in fact, you do plan on going out again you will be soooo better prepared, mentally and physically. I do believe there is a silver lining to your cloud.

hammock engineer
03-19-2007, 23:20
Redneckrye said something once that I think applies here. The hardest thing to do is make it to Springer and start a hike (or something to that effect). Like someone else said how many people actually take months to years to save and plan and go for their dream?

Sounds like you have for priorities straight. There are things in your personal life that are more important than what you want to do in hiking. Nothing wrong with that. You should be proud that you make the hard decision to do what is right.

ASUGrad
03-20-2007, 09:44
Three weeks is pretty good. My philosophy is "Quit BEFORE the stress fracture". It was a successful hike then.

fonsie
03-20-2007, 10:07
well give me a shout out in a couple of months. After trail days im starting at Harppers Ferry and heading to Maine. Then I will flip flop back...I was going to start on springer in about 2 weeks but I decided to wait 2 more months so I can have some more money. Besides I want to spend X-mas at my grandparents and they will pick me up at Springer, they live near the smokies. Then I will go to the phillipine Islands for the winter... :)

Touch of Grey
03-20-2007, 10:46
I too am home after beginning from Springer on March 12. I had and issue Tuesday March 13 after crossing Sassafras and running out of water and dehydrated. I got off at Cooper Gap. Funny how the guides all say there is no water between Hawk Mtn and Justus Creek and yet when you talk to the locals they will tell you that there at Cooper about a 100 yds down the road is a water source that is good.

I had lost 7 lbs. body weight in two days, NOT GOOD! Got back on with a lighter pack Wednesday evening at Cooper and made it to Gooch. Left Gooch and stopped about a mile past Woody Gap. Rain and cold temps prevailed that night. The next day was cloudy, wet and windy. Made it to Blood Mtn. and decided to go on to Neels Gap and get a bunk in the hostel. Good choice as the winds were probably 25 - 30 miles and hour and gusting to maybe 40 all night long. Temps dipped drastically and many felt the pain of being stuck in the elements. My knees were killing me from the pounding of coming off Blood.

I too decided the next day that I had to get my priorities straight and now am at home. I could go back out in a month and pick back up at Neels and go from there. I found out not to my surprise that I am not 26 yrs old but am in fact 50 and need to take things accordingly. I'll be back and on better terms than before. I know that you will too!

I also noticed many out there who were younger who were casting off BIG mile days and noticed their feet at Neels. Hamburger looked better than most of these peoples feet. I had one blister between my toes and it looks as if I might lose two nails.

My lessons learned, HYOH - Take care of your feet - Hydration and Hiking poles. Josh at the Hiker Hostel allowed me to use his Hiking poles from Cooper to Neels and it made all of the difference in the world in my hike.

TOG

weary
03-20-2007, 14:52
By the time I reached Harpers Ferry I knew I wouldn't complete a thru hike in one season. I had a congenital leaky heart valve that made me the slowest person on the uphills, which slowed me down. Plus my original plan had been to spend extra time in the southern Appalachians, which I had had minimal experience with.

However, I was determined to end on Katahdin, which I did, six months and three days after leaving Springer. I've picked up most of the miles in between, but completing my long section hike no longer is a priority.

I do ponder the possibility of a "purer" thru hike one of these years, now that my heart valve has been repaired. People tell me I'd better get going, but I figure I've got the rest of my life. :)

Weary

Senor Quack
03-20-2007, 16:13
I do ponder the possibility of a "purer" thru hike one of these years, now that my heart valve has been repaired. People tell me I'd better get going, but I figure I've got the rest of my life. :)

Weary

Am I remembering right in reading that Goretex is sometimes used in the medical field for these sorts of surgeries? If so, that'd be awesome. You could say you finally found a use for goretex on the trail!

weary
03-20-2007, 18:53
Am I remembering right in reading that Goretex is sometimes used in the medical field for these sorts of surgeries? If so, that'd be awesome. You could say you finally found a use for goretex on the trail!
Shhh. Don't tell PETA, but my valve is a bit of pig skin.

Newb
03-21-2007, 07:47
I'm in the section club. I'll be going to Springer in mid April for a 10 day run at Georgia. I plan to enjoy it, not rush it. I want to stay at cloud 9. I want to have my pack looked at at Mountain Crossings. I want the whole kit and kaboodle dammit.

Wonder
03-21-2007, 10:26
He hiked the hike he was ment to do this year......live, learn, return.

pokeyhontas98
03-21-2007, 10:59
It's okay to start the trail and feel uncertain. I had no long distance hiking experience before starting in Maine but although I finished in Virginia on my thruhike, I didn't want too. Sometimes things happen in life that are completely out of your control (and that's how it goes). But don't give up, I'm planning a thru-hike when my lil' one get's older, it's a ways off , but I can enjoy the AT in small sections until then. You don't have to be a long distance hiker to enjoy what the AT has to offer, although it's a different type of experience. I have always loved the wilderness and feel like a little kid in the woods, it's the most enchanting place in the world.

veteran
03-21-2007, 21:07
[QUOTE=Touch of Grey;342056]I too am home after beginning from Springer on March 12. I had and issue Tuesday March 13 after crossing Sassafras and running out of water and dehydrated. I got off at Cooper Gap. Funny how the guides all say there is no water between Hawk Mtn and Justus Creek and yet when you talk to the locals they will tell you that there at Cooper about a 100 yds down the road is a water source that is good.

Is the water source east or west of Cooper Gap on FS42?