View Full Version : hiking 'tude's
beerandpizza
08-03-2008, 18:57
so the wife and i are planning on hiking the AT next year. we aren't really gung-ho on hiking the whole thing. we are more on a lets hike until we don't want to anymore. have you guys gone into it with this attitude and if so, how far did you get?
saimyoji
08-03-2008, 19:29
all attitudes are acceptable. hyoh as they say. when its no longer fun anymore, find something else to do. in the immortal words of LW: its just walkin'.
so the wife and i are planning on hiking the AT next year. we aren't really gung-ho on hiking the whole thing. we are more on a lets hike until we don't want to anymore. have you guys gone into it with this attitude and if so, how far did you get?
Well, if you go in thinking you'll only do it while it's fun, you won't do the whole thing. But you'll have fun while you're doing it!
One thought might be to do the "best parts" and yellow-blaze (get shuttled around) the more boring parts.
I thru-hiked in '99. If I had it to do again, I would probably do Springer to Damascus. It gives you a great trip with a sense of continuity. Then I would continue to Partnership Shelter and Mt. Roger's HQ.
From there yellow blaze up to Catawba and hike past McCaffee Knob to Daleville/Troutville. Then I would yellow blaze to Shenandoah NP though there is an "aqua-blaze" up to Front Royal on the James? River where many have recently canoed around SNP. It's worth checking out Harper's Ferry, but then I would yellow-blaze basically all of PA and go straight to Delaware Water Gap.
I would hike all of NJ (good views and great lakes) and head up to Vermont from there. I would probably continue the rest of the AT from there.
Others would view other parts as their favorites, and their viewpoints would also be valid. But it would be worth considering that if you don't like a section, you can always move further north and pick back up with the good times.
Blissful
08-03-2008, 20:31
Attitude is the whole thing if you want to finish it. As a hiker once said to me, 90% of the hike is mental. If you don't have a overwhelming desire to do it and finish it, no matter what the trail throws at you, likely you probably won't.
But in your case, if you are going out there to expereince it and see what happens, that's great too. And who knows, you might surprise yourself, love the trail life, say I've come this far, let's finish it, and you do it. :)
Lone Wolf
08-03-2008, 20:52
so the wife and i are planning on hiking the AT next year. we aren't really gung-ho on hiking the whole thing. we are more on a lets hike until we don't want to anymore. have you guys gone into it with this attitude and if so, how far did you get?
heck yeah. my first time on theAT i quit in gorham, n.h., 300 miles from katahdin. i didn't wanna hike anymore. no biggie. thru-hiking is way overrated. have i ever said that? :-?:)
thru-hiking is way overrated. :-?:)
lol.....
Odd Thomas
08-03-2008, 21:40
so the wife and i are planning on hiking the AT next year. we aren't really gung-ho on hiking the whole thing. we are more on a lets hike until we don't want to anymore.
Heck, that's the only way I do anything. If it's not fun in and of itself, short of someone paying me to do it screw it.
jersey joe
08-04-2008, 07:45
thru-hiking is way overrated. have i ever said that? :-?:)
Thru hiking is UNDERrated...outside of this site, most people don't even know what one is.
max patch
08-04-2008, 11:30
One thought might be to do the "best parts" and yellow-blaze (get shuttled around) the more boring parts.
Then I would yellow blaze to Shenandoah NP
Until you hike the entire trail how does one know what the "best parts" are?
For example, I think the SNP is the "worst" part of the entire trail. Too many rules, too many people, too many ticks, and too many times crossing that stupid road. You obviously disagree.
And if I was going to "guess" in advance what "boring" section I would drive past I would have guessed NJ. Wow. NJ was the most pleasant surprise I had about the trail. A very nice state.
Until you hike the entire trail how does one know what the "best parts" are?
That's why this site exists. You can get plenty of feedback on what the trail is like and make reasonably informed decisions. I even noted that others would have different opinions that were valid. If plenty of people chime in, the OP can get the information needed to form a reasonable opinion of his or her own.
BTW, that's two thumbs up for NJ! See, there's already some consensus forming. :banana
superman
08-05-2008, 10:19
Some of the good times that I had on the AT were not particularly due to the section of trail it was. Little things like the weather, who I happened to be hiking with, if my body was getting what it needed, etc played a part in it. If I'd gone home during the bad times I wouldn't have been there for the good times. I've gone back and re-hiked many sections of the AT and it's never the same as how it was during my thru. When I go back and hike a section of the AT it's like visiting an old friend... all the visits are good but just different.
One suggestion. I've seen it here many times that you shouldn't quit on a bad day. You might not get very far. Instead pick a period, in advance, for quitting when times get tough (i.e. no fun).
For example, decide before you leave that you are going to quit one week (1 day, 3 days, etc) after the fun stops.
The "best" part of the trail might just be over the next mountain.
Just a thought.
I hiked from Springer to Port Clinton, PA this year and before I left I told myself that if I stopped having fun, I'd give it a week to turn around before making the decision to leave the trail. After leaving Harper's Ferry, I started losing interest and grew tired of waking up and hiking every single day, so it all came to fruition at Port Clinton when I got food poisoning and decided it was time to go home. You'll know when your hike is finished.
beerandpizza
08-05-2008, 13:18
Right now I am just going into it as an interesting way to travel and visit the little trail towns that come along. We really aren't interested in making it all the way to Maine because I don't know how we could get that far in only 6 months. We just plan on taking a lot of zero's and having fun wherever we are.
Right now I am just going into it as an interesting way to travel and visit the little trail towns that come along. We really aren't interested in making it all the way to Maine because I don't know how we could get that far in only 6 months. We just plan on taking a lot of zero's and having fun wherever we are.
It's a great plan. Just be sure to have a reasonable amount of cash available as zero days cost money. But you can have a fantastic time enjoying the social aspects of the trail. So go enjoy yourself!
so the wife and i are planning on hiking the AT next year. we aren't really gung-ho on hiking the whole thing. we are more on a lets hike until we don't want to anymore. have you guys gone into it with this attitude and if so, how far did you get?
Ironically, I think I would have stayed on the trail longer if I had this attitude.