PDA

View Full Version : Beards anyone?



ATX-Hiker
12-06-2008, 13:59
How many people don't shave at all during their thru hike?

buff_jeff
12-06-2008, 14:10
I sectioned Springer to Maryland and I shaved twice.

daddytwosticks
12-06-2008, 14:38
Never thru-hiked (but I wanna) but I got a beard...does that count? :)

Bearpaw
12-06-2008, 14:46
My beard was sort of like a calendar.

Springer, March 99
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/bearpawat99/AT%201999/0296752-R1-E003a.jpg

Grayson Highlands, VA, May 99
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/bearpawat99/AT%201999/0296752-R1-E052a.jpg

Harper's Ferry, WV, June 99
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/bearpawat99/AT%201999/0296752-R1-E077a.jpg

Stratton Mountain, VT, July 99
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/bearpawat99/AT%201999/0296752-R1-E121a.jpg

North Woodstock, NH, August 99
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/bearpawat99/AT%201999/0296752-R1-E137a.jpg

Mt Katahdin, September 99
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/bearpawat99/AT%201999/0296752-R2-E179b.jpg

Beards are a great part of the trail, so long as you're not Minnesota Smith. ;)

Mags
12-06-2008, 15:40
Hmmm...

I like this calendar motif:

I shaved for the first two-three weeks, then I said the hell with it:

BIG BALD
http://www.pmags.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1998&g2_serialNumber=3&g2_GALLERYSID=5c7691613b0c26e2a781047e9732b2c2

Vernon, NJ
http://www.pmags.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2104&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=5c7691613b0c26e2a781047e9732b2c2

The Big K:
http://www.pmags.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2268&g2_serialNumber=3&g2_GALLERYSID=5c7691613b0c26e2a781047e9732b2c2


The other trails, I started and ended with a beard.

PCT
http://www.pmags.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4007&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=5c7691613b0c26e2a781047e9732b2c2

http://www.pmags.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4669&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=5c7691613b0c26e2a781047e9732b2c2

CDT

http://www.pmags.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=13987&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=5c7691613b0c26e2a781047e9732b2c2


http://www.pmags.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=14533&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=5c7691613b0c26e2a781047e9732b2c2



Of course, my stomach is in indicator of time passage, too. ;)

Bearpaw
12-06-2008, 16:17
Of course, my stomach is in indicator of time passage, too. ;)

Amen to that. I took some measurements before and after.

Before: 36 inch waist, 207 pounds, 16.5% body fat. (Just out of the Marine Corps).

After: 31 inch waist, 168 pounds, 9% body fat. I lost over an inch off each thigh, AND an inch off my neck. (Of course the beard covered that up...:-?)

Mags
12-06-2008, 16:34
Amen to that. I took some measurements before and after.



A lot more precise than I ever was!

Good excuse for me to take a long hike again..get some good before and after data! :)

In my non-scientific way:

AT: Overweight (195lbs on my 5'6" frame!) -> Freakin' Skinny! (145 lbs!)
( I really did look ultra gaunt once I shaved the beard. My family wanted to feed me there and then! (and I come from Italian stock to boot.. ;) )

PCT: More active than before the AT: 183 lbs at the start
168 lbs at the finish

CDT: About the same, if more muscle 179 lbs to start
168 lbs to finish

PANTS: Looser for some reason when I finished...Hmm...

BEARD: Freaking huge every time. :D

(If I am trapped in a cube today..at least I can TALK about the outdoors...)

bigboots
12-06-2008, 17:00
I don't plan on shaving in 09'!

ScottP
12-06-2008, 17:24
shaving makes it way easier to yogi/hitch

bigboots
12-06-2008, 17:26
shaving makes it way easier to yogi/hitch

They also make it more obvious that you are a thru-hiker

Serial 07
12-06-2008, 17:35
i love this thread...some real nice beard progressions going on...now all we need is a crazy mohawk thread...

Bearpaw
12-06-2008, 17:39
shaving makes it way easier to yogi/hitch

The one time I tried to hitch south of Pennsylvania (into Franklin, NC), I NEVER got a hitch, and I had almost no beard at all then.

By Pennsylvania, when the beard was kicking, and I started needing to hitch more often, I never waited more than 10 minutes for a ride.

bigboots
12-06-2008, 17:41
...now all we need is a crazy mohawk thread...

Kyanite class of 08' and several others hade great mohawks this year!

Mags
12-06-2008, 18:02
shaving makes it way easier to yogi/hitch

Alas, do to a genetic quirk, I have a very thick and heavy beard.

It is a PITA to shave my beard after 10 days.

So I just let it go for hiking.

Kind of symbolic for me at this point.

In the "real world", I am clean shaven (and, since due to another quirk of genetics mens I have less and less hair, have a shaved head). I look like a nice clean cut young man... I even wear shoes other than outdoor ones. :)

When hiking? Grow the beard out, wear my hiker clothes and take on my other persona.

On weekends/vacations, it kind of blurs together as I seldom shave on days off. ;)

rainmaker
12-06-2008, 22:05
Haven't shaved since '75, trimmed but not shaved.

handlebar
12-07-2008, 20:57
I had what I call a "corporate beard" before starting the AT --- short with shaved neck, cheeks, and lower lip. After the AT, I returned to the corporate beard look, but after the PCT, I only shaved a bit of the fuzzy stuff from my cheeks and the sides of my neck. I'm keeping the rest---kind of the ZZ Top look. Waiting to see how long it will get. Maybe I'll wait a couple years until after the CDT to take it back to the corporate look. My daughters day it makes me look old, but I am, my grandsons like to pull on it, and I like the way it keeps my neck warm in the cold weather. Plus I've saved a bundle on shaving cream and razor blades.

Never noticed an issue with hitching due to the beard, but apparently not many hike in a kilt out west (I knew of only two others and we were all AT veterans) and I think that was often an issue in hitching. Would you give this guy a lift?
http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=389681&back=1

taildragger
12-07-2008, 21:19
Rarely shave or trim in general. I've gone 8months before w/o a trim, if that counts at all...

ChinMusic
12-07-2008, 21:25
Kirby hadn't started shaving yet, had he?

twoshoes06
12-07-2008, 23:35
I didn't shave for the 4 1/2 months I was thru-hiking.. this became a good thing once it warmed up and the New England bugs wanted to taste my face. Sorry, beard in the way.

10 o'clock
12-08-2008, 00:04
I didn't shave or trim for my entire hike. It was a personal challenge for me to make it.

drastic_quench
12-08-2008, 00:14
I already wear a full beard, so when I start my thru I'm afraid that early beard will play heavily into given trail name.

daddytwosticks
12-08-2008, 08:42
Cortez The Killer...you are kidding aren't you? :)

Manwich
12-08-2008, 09:32
http://wondermark.com/xyz/beardposter_lg.jpg

TrippinBTM
12-08-2008, 09:53
no shaving for me. why bother? you're in the freakin' woods, be free!

catfishrivers
12-08-2008, 14:49
I have a beard now, but will shave it prior to starting and then plan on not shaving the entire length of the trip.

Footslogger
12-08-2008, 14:51
I have a beard now, but will shave it prior to starting and then plan on not shaving the entire length of the trip.
========================

Gonna be itchy for a while ...suggest you just trim what you've got back a tad instead.

Just sayin ...

'Slogger

catfishrivers
12-08-2008, 14:55
I am blessed with the softest beard fur known to man. I have never once been itchy from shaving it. Women love to pet my beard and exclaim how lovely and soft it is!

lol

saimyoji
12-08-2008, 16:39
========================

Gonna be itchy for a while ...suggest you just trim what you've got back a tad instead.

Just sayin ...

'Slogger

Can't go wrong with a little trim. :cool:

Jorel
12-08-2008, 17:33
I had a beard in the Navy and in college, but cannot imagine now going 6 month without shaving. I plan to bump a good razor and clean up at least once a month or so. Who knows, may change my mind.

Haiku
12-09-2008, 01:45
i love this thread...some real nice beard progressions going on...now all we need is a crazy mohawk thread...

Donna Sauffley got her hair cut in 2006:

http://www.d1004105.mydomainwebhost.com/applications/Gallery/albums/pct/DSCF0119.jpg

http://www.d1004105.mydomainwebhost.com/applications/Gallery/albums/pct/DSCF0126.jpg

Haiku.

drastic_quench
12-09-2008, 07:51
Cortez The Killer...you are kidding aren't you? :)
I don't get it. Meaning a lot of thru-hikers start out bearded? I wouldn't know. I've never thru'd or set off with a big crowd. Most've the hikers I run into are shaven or sporting weekend stubble.

I have grown my beard out for six months, so I already know what that looks like. It became annoying because if I wore a collared shirt or coat, I couldn't turn my head without the collar fluffing up the sides.

I'm much more excited to see how slim I'll be at the end of my thru.

sheepdog
12-09-2008, 08:07
========================

Gonna be itchy for a while ...suggest you just trim what you've got back a tad instead.

Just sayin ...

'Slogger
Better to start the beard at home and use hair conditioner while it is growing out. It softens the hair and makes it less itchy.

superman
12-09-2008, 08:10
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/3/9/6/7/nh_vtborder_thumb.jpg (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=24487&catid=member&orderby=views&direction=DESC&imageuser=3967&cutoffdate=-1)
I had a tasteful goatee and mustache most of the AT. I shaved it a couple times for no particular reason.

beeman
12-09-2008, 09:32
Never noticed an issue with hitching due to the beard, but apparently not many hike in a kilt out west (I knew of only two others and we were all AT veterans) and I think that was often an issue in hitching. Would you give this guy a lift?
http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=389681&back=1

I lived in Oregon for 18 years and that's not too uncommon a look around parts of the state. Especially out in the woods!:D

Footslogger
12-09-2008, 11:54
I've always thought a little 5 o'clock shaddow looked good on a hiker ...

'Slogger

Tankerhoosen
12-10-2008, 14:00
I havent thru-hiked yet, but I would grow my beard back in a heartbeat if I was able to, I am part of a volunteer fire department and you are not allowed a beard, a moustache is fine but no beard. And I dont think I could pull off a moustache without looking like Farvah from super troopers, I'll stay clean shaven.

TrippinBTM
12-11-2008, 20:52
that poster of beards is hilarious! I love that the one on the bottom left is called "the douche"

Bare Bear
12-14-2008, 10:12
I had my Fl Trail beard going onto the AT and kept it until 100F New York then got the beard and head about shaved. At Trail Days I got the hair cut short and had the AT symbol cut into it.....then just kept my head and beard real short after NY. I recall a lot of folks got MOHAWKS at Duncannon including women.

various
01-02-2009, 21:19
[quote=ScottP;735619]shaving makes it way easier to yogi/hitch


i disagree, but i never shave on or off trail. i have also hitched many miles on backpacking trips and just hitching around country. how much hitching have you done and how many hitchers do you know. or are you going by your minute experience hitching.

various
01-02-2009, 21:21
i would still be on the side of the road

various
01-02-2009, 21:28
Alas, do to a genetic quirk, I have a very thick and heavy beard.

It is a PITA to shave my beard after 10 days.

So I just let it go for hiking.

Kind of symbolic for me at this point.

In the "real world", I am clean shaven (and, since due to another quirk of genetics mens I have less and less hair, have a shaved head). I look like a nice clean cut young man... I even wear shoes other than outdoor ones. :)

When hiking? Grow the beard out, wear my hiker clothes and take on my other persona.

On weekends/vacations, it kind of blurs together as I seldom shave on days off. ;)



real world isnt that a show on mtv, you sound like my parents

Lone Wolf
01-02-2009, 21:41
my balls dropped at 20. had a beard since. get a set and grow one

Mags
01-02-2009, 21:45
real world isnt that a show on mtv, you sound like my parents

It is in quote. A joke. An observation. A wry comment.

In other others Don't take it so damn seriously.

If you have more than a Chia pet beard, a beard is a PITA to take care of outside of just letting it grow....

Most pseudo bohemians usually have the Chia pet beard. And anon internet posters bragging about their hitching experiences tend to be...... ;)

various
01-02-2009, 21:56
my balls dropped at 20. had a beard since. get a set and grow one


got all three. am i in your elitist club

various
01-02-2009, 22:09
[quote=Mags;749725]It is in quote. A joke. An observation. A wry comment.

In other others Don't take it so damn seriously.

If you have more than a Chia pet beard, a beard is a PITA to take care of outside of just letting it grow....

Most pseudo bohemians usually have the Chia pet beard. And anon internet posters bragging about their hitching experiences tend to be...... ;)


dont take it so damn seriously.

he who leads must follow.

i am far from pseudo or wait i dont know what that means, whats a bohemian. am i not allowed an opinion.

various
01-02-2009, 22:10
so steriotipical

various
01-02-2009, 22:10
or wait whats that mean let me get a dictionary

Lone Wolf
01-02-2009, 22:13
got all three. am i in your elitist club


[quote=Mags;749725]It is in quote. A joke. An observation. A wry comment.

In other others Don't take it so damn seriously.

If you have more than a Chia pet beard, a beard is a PITA to take care of outside of just letting it grow....

Most pseudo bohemians usually have the Chia pet beard. And anon internet posters bragging about their hitching experiences tend to be...... ;)


dont take it so damn seriously.

he who leads must follow.

i am far from pseudo or wait i dont know what that means, whats a bohemian. am i not allowed an opinion.


so steriotipical


or wait whats that mean let me get a dictionary

MDhiker1967
01-03-2009, 00:34
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=30474&c=535]http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/1/8/5/3/8/cimg3620_thumb.jpg[/url]http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/1/8/5/3/8/cimg3620_thumb.jpg ("http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=30474&c=535)"][/URL]

MDhiker1967
01-03-2009, 00:39
figured this out finally..
5379

kilroy
01-06-2009, 00:26
On a similar topic, how many guys have long hair? I've been growing my hair long since I was 13 (29 now, get trims about once a year). It's a little annoying at times, but my wife would probably kill me if I cut it :) .

Johnny Swank
01-06-2009, 09:50
I actually shaved on a regular basis on my thru-hike. I have no idea why. I usually buzz my hair off before a trip though.

Day one (SOBO)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2387/2396393354_1f6a56311d_o.jpg

6 1/2 months later
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2287/2396920060_81372936a2.jpg

Didn't shave on the Mississippi River, and have kept a beard since then except for an ill-thought out 2 weeks a couple of years ago. I hate shaving.

Mags
01-06-2009, 15:22
On a similar topic, how many guys have long hair?


I've embraced my genetics and go for the stubble look....

Rockhound
01-06-2009, 17:08
much easier not to shave. If you just shave when youre in town youre always looking at 3-7 days worth of growth which is no fun with a disposable.

TrippinBTM
01-06-2009, 22:17
I've embraced my genetics and go for the stubble look....

I think he means head hair.

unless you shave your head for certain mail pattern reasons... :o

TrippinBTM
01-06-2009, 22:18
much easier not to shave. If you just shave when youre in town youre always looking at 3-7 days worth of growth which is no fun with a disposable.

plus, a beard itches more when it's coming in than when the hair is longer... why would you continually do that to yourself?

Mags
01-06-2009, 22:59
I think he means head hair.

unless you shave your head for certain mail pattern reasons... :o

That's exactly what I meant. :)

It does have its advantages... (http://www.pmags.com/joomla/index.php/component/option,com_gallery2/Itemid,36/?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=14793)

(I am clean-shaven with even shorter hair/stubble now...And yes, a LOT of wine was involved that weekend... )

SunnyWalker
06-20-2009, 01:34
I shave when I want, I don't when I don't want to. Easy.

World-Wide
06-20-2009, 03:56
http://wondermark.com/xyz/beardposter_lg.jpg
With the exception of weekends and sporatic leave,(vacation) I've had to shave everyday for the last 19 and a half years due to my military service. When I attempt to thru-hike in March 2010, I'm not shaving one day!! Maybe I'll go with the "Chin Muffler" shown above. Has a name I think chicks would dig!! :D

Maddog
06-20-2009, 07:00
im hoping to grow the nastiest beard ever seen on my thru next year! :)

saimyoji
06-20-2009, 08:38
im hoping to grow the nastiest beard ever seen on my thru next year! :)

i hope you run into MS along the way. you'll probably pass him somewhere around NH.

Bidwell
06-20-2009, 16:18
i cant grow a beard... no one in my family has a lot of facial hair. but i plan on not shaving during 2010 thru so it should be interesting... i am sure i will be made fun of :)

laherb
06-20-2009, 22:37
i cant grow a beard... no one in my family has a lot of facial hair. but i plan on not shaving during 2010 thru so it should be interesting... i am sure i will be made fun of :)

i'm in the same boat. you won't be the only one in 2010 being made fun of.

Cabin Fever
06-21-2009, 16:11
I am 25 years old and have never seen my dad without a beard.

TD55
06-21-2009, 16:48
I am 25 years old and have never seen my dad without a beard.
You have had a beard your entire life? I don't think your father will look any different if you shave your beard off.