Looking for some advice -

[Lady Grey]

I just stumbled on this forum and love the wealth of info! My goal is to hike 3 months on the AT in a few years from now. My son's a sophomore in college and my daughter's graduating from high school this year so hopefully I can pull this off and take a leave of absence from my job. My spouse likes to day hike but has some knee issues so I don't think he'll be able to join me and my hiking buddy nearby doesn't think she has it in her. So... I guess I'm looking for encouragement and advice from any of you "over 50" women who have done this, especially those who've done it by themselves. I'll probably try to find a partner but don't know what might happen there. Any trail journals you might recommend? I live in VT and finished the LT in 2007 and met a few female solo thru-hikers, so I know it's done. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[Lilred]

Hi vtdeb and welcome to whiteblaze!!! I am currently section hiking the AT and have done up to one month, three would be awesome!! I go out every summer.

I would highly recommend Jan Liteshoe's trail journal. She also wrote a book about hiking the Long Trail, and it is very good. It's called The Ordinary Adventurer.

Like I said, I haven't been able to go out for as long as you, but I'd do it in a heartbeat if I had the time and money, and I would most definately start out solo. You will have no problem meeting up with people. Someone once told me that hiking the AT is like driving down the highway during rush hour. You're alone in your car, but there's lots of other folks all around you.

Have fun planning

[emerald]

Read Blissful (http://www.trailjournals.com/blissful).

[Pickleodeon]

After reading this post, I starting reading Jan Liteshoe's journal. She has a post on January 04, 2003 with a poem that she found inspirational to her hike, and I did too. So here it is..


DREAM BIG
If ever there were a time to dare,
to make a difference,
to embark on something worth doing,
it is now.
Not for some grand cause, necessarily,
but for something that tugs at your heart
something that is your aspiration
Something that's your dream
You owe it to yourself
to make each day here count
Have fun
Dig deep
Stretch
Dream big.
Know, though, that things worth doing
seldom come easy.
There will be good days
and there will be bad days
There will be times when
you want to turn around,
pack it up,
call it quits.
Those times tell you
that you are pushing yourself,
that you are not afraid to learn by trying.
Persist.
Because with an idea,
determination,
and the right tools,
you can do great things.
Let your instincts,
your intellect
and your heart
guide you.
Trust.
Believe in the incredible power
Of all the things that will cross your path
this year. The start of something new
brings the hope of something great.
Anything is possible.
There is only one you,
and you will only pass this way once.
Do it right.

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=25286

[jethro]

Try reading In Beauty May She Walk; Hiking the Appalachian Trail at 60 (http://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Walk-Hiking-Appalachian-Trail/dp/0976568608/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230919260&sr=8-1) by Leslie Mass. It's an inspiration to folks of either gender and any age.

[Think Spring]

:-?Are you interested in a reply from an "over 50" guy who also has "knee issues"? If so,...have you ever heard of William Cullen Bryant? At about age 19 he wrote "Thanatopsis" which helps explain in the last nine lines why I choose to hike...with or without pain. To quote, "So live, that when thy summons comes to join the innumerable caravan, which moves to that mysterious realm where each shall take his chamber in the silent halls of death, thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, like one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." While in high school many years ago I had to memorize that. And, as "English" was 'my best foreign language' and poetry simply didn't fit into my 'game plan for this week's opponent', I managed to get by. Now,...older and more grey,.....I get it,....and I hike, lovin' each step and experience,...and deal with 'the knee issue'.:sun

[Blissful]

Hi, vtdeb, welcome. As Shades of Gray offered, feel free to look over my journal. I did the trail with my son when I was 44, but there are others who have done sections.

And WB has lots of good info, esp in the articles on planning, etc.

[Marta]

Welcome to Whiteblaze!

I was over 50 when I hiked the AT. Like you, for me it was partly a celebration of the empty nest--my youngest was out of high school. Yay!

A couple of the women who started NOBO hikes on 1/1/09 are of a certain age. (Rocky is close to 50 and I'm guessing Bluevist has left that magic age behind her, too.)

I would strongly, strongly discourage you from trying to find any random hiking partner. It did not work well for me, and added much unpleasant drama and emotional turmoil to the beginning of both my AT and JMT hikes. If you are able to start in Georgia in any of the peak thru-hiker times (March and April), you will find plenty of people to be around, and yet retain your independence and ability to control your own hike.