Interesting journal from 1983 thru-hike [Archive]

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Streamweaver

08-12-2004, 23:22

steve hiker

08-13-2004, 00:25

Streamweaver

08-13-2004, 01:34

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. Another good journal from 1983 is Then The Hail Came http://www.skwc.com/exile/Hail-nf.html by George Steffanos. It's in book (chapters) form and he has a good sense of humor, pokes fun at himself a lot. It should be in hard print, but it's not.

Hey Steve, As a matter of fact Im on chapter 9 of Then the hail came.I agree I wish he would put it in a book,Id buy it in a second!! Thats one of my favorites! Streamweaver

Mountain Dew

08-13-2004, 04:25

I stayed with a guy in Great Barrington that had thru-hiked in 1981. His story's were great and he even broke out his equipement. His stove worked after all thise years after he borrowed some fuel. He even showed us a register , which was awesome to read. His pack had lots of huge patches on it that were really interesting as well. Goodtimes....

Jaybird

08-13-2004, 07:55

All on one roll (http://www.2000milehike.com/) I just found this on Peak to Peak ,its the journal of a guy called gonzo who hiked the trail in 83. I like reading these older journals!! Id love to see some from the 70s !!! Streamweaver

StreamWeaver:

thanks for the LINK!
good journal & even GREATER PHOTOS!

i've found 1 journal from 1986 on trailjournals:

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=1396

its a short read from the OLD RIDGERUNNER. :D

the ONLY A.T. journal i've read from the 1970s...is an old magazine article...featuring 2 guys hiking the trail...a few generic type photos of scenery & they were also featured in an A.T. book that came out in 1973.
published by National Geographic.

Happy

08-13-2004, 08:41

http//www.fallingwater.com/default.asp (http://www.fallingwater.com/default.asp)

Two different prospectives of a couple's thru hike. You will probably even recogonize the names!

Streamweaver

08-13-2004, 11:32

http//www.fallingwater.com/default.asp (http://www.fallingwater.com/default.asp)

Two different prospectives of a couple's thru hike. You will probably even recogonize the names!

Hah! I sure do recognize the name! Thats Ron Moak From Backpacking.net Hes helped me with Diy projects in the past. Thanks for the link Happy! Streamweaver

Kerosene

08-13-2004, 12:33

Someday I'll put the journals for my 1973-79 section hikes on-line; they're in Microsoft Word still. Let me know if anyone is interested in a specific section from that era (Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, southern Vermont).

Streamweaver

08-13-2004, 13:10

bitpusher

08-13-2004, 15:34

My wife found a two-volume book of people's AT stories at the library a couple years ago. They weren't like journals, more like novellas. One, from 1969, talked about how the guy prepared food caches all along the trail for his resupply. Very different from today's AT experience.

max patch

08-13-2004, 16:14

Get the out of print Rodale Press classic 2 volume "Hiking the Appalachian Trail" for stories of some of the pioneer thru hikers. There are copies for sale regularly on Ebay.

Mountain Dew

08-13-2004, 16:27

Texas Dreamer

08-16-2004, 10:27

Big plus of reading older journals--you don't have to be left waiting for the "next installment!"

glessed

08-17-2004, 20:58

All on one roll (http://www.2000milehike.com/) I just found this on Peak to Peak ,its the journal of a guy called gonzo who hiked the trail in 83. I like reading these older journals!! Id love to see some from the 70s !!! Streamweaver
I have a book entitled "The Appalachian Trail" published by the National Geographic Society in 1972. It has maps of the trail as it was then and also many photographs.
It's quite interesting. I am sure that some of the younger people in the pictures are still around. I can do some lookups for names, places, etc. if anyone is interested.

veteran

08-18-2004, 08:36

Old Journal from 1977.

http://www.fallingwater.com/at77/

sloetoe

08-18-2004, 13:17

I love to read old journals from the A.T. I don't care what people say....the thru-hikers of the 50's, 60's, 70's, and possibly the 80's were hard core thru-hikers. Their gear wasn't even close to what it is now and the trail wasn't in the same shape. Need I mention that trail magic was almost unheard of as were most hostels. Much respect to those that hiked back then.

Well, as of 1978 (when I was preparing for my '79 hike)...
### There was GoreTex. Mine was a pit-zipped little number just like the current North Face "Mountain Light." Used only sparingly since '79, the GoreTex just failed in 2003.
### There was fleece (what's now termed "300 weight"); still use mine.
### Goose down is still the best stuff around for lightness and longevity.
### People who bought non-Norweigian or non-Littleway welted boots needed 2-3 pairs of boots to finish. I just bought my third pair of boots ever: Limmer "Lightweight" Norweigian-welted beauties.
### There were no water filters or chemical kits.
### MSR stoves were the rage, though the Svea 123R was still lighter to carry. Alcohol and alcohol stoves were available, as were fuel tabs, but none of us were bright enough to use 'em. They were dismissed as under-powered and bad in cold weather. I'll bet ZipStoves were out there too, come to think of it...
### Lowe Alpine internal frames were just appearing; most lusted after JanSport D3s and Kelty Tioga and Camp Trails external frames. I used a way-ahead of it's time flexible (PVC-frame) external from Alpine Designs, with a vertically-adjustable hip belt just like on Kelty packs since 1990; think of "load lifters" from your hip belt instead of your shoulder straps. Although the pack bag is straining at all seems, with replacement shoulder straps and Kelty hip belt, the frame remains "as new." No silnylon was used, but as far as frameless packs go, Yak Works "Yak Pack" was a 3,000-7,000 ci beauty that looked more like living sculpture than a backpack. The best in contemporary frameless packs could still use lessons from the YakPack. I'd buy one in second. Just to fill it and hang it on a wall. The shape just BEGGED for adventure.....
### I used a Marmot Mountain Works "Marmot Burrow" GoreTex bivy sac just like the Integral Designs "South Col" that I use today, right down to the stealthy Forest Green color.
### Ensolite ruled the sleeping pad end of things; ThermaRest was reserved for the RV types ("where they belong to this day, in my opinion" he grumbled). FWIW, ensolite appears on a big rebound since the Mt. Washington pad went off the market and people are shopping for alternatives.
### RipStop nylon was pretty cool, but no one would think of 1.1 ounce stuff. So tents were ruled by two-layer designs going 5-7 pounds. Tarping was rare (except for the ever-practical throughhiker in the second half of the journey), and poly painting sheets ruled groundclothdom. No Tyvek.
### Socks? No ergonomic designs, CoolMax fibers, etc. It was instead Polypro liner socks and, if you were *really* lucky, Merino wool hiking socks. I used "Thousand Mile Socks" (came with a guarantee!); bought six pairs, split 'em up 3 and 3, and barely produced any "wear" on 'em. My sons will inherit them soon. My number of blisters on the AT? 0. But having hiked in a variety of SmartWools, Thorlos, and Bridgedales, I think they all are comfy, though I favor SmartWools by a goodly margin. (BTW, & FWIW, I think the Thousand Mile Socks I wore were the same as the Rohner (?) sock sold by Sierra Trading Post to this day. But, hey, I'm a SmartWool guy.)
### Nearly everybody wore a cotton t-shirt, which really sucked down south; those who wore soccer shirts or the rapidly-coming-on polypro shirts stunk to high heaven. "Duo-fold" was wool/cotton. Thank God for CoolMax.
### Oh, and "sticks": I used the bottom of a bamboo fishing pole, with a 5" ferrule of lightweight metal. Strode with it every step, wore the metal down to a nub which came off in Connecticut; the bamboo wore down 1" per 100 miles thereafter. Naturally, still have the stick. Komperdell did ski poles, which some used; Leki was unknown, as were collapsible, adjustable, left-right-handed, shock-absorbing, multi-tipped, HEAVY stuff out there now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So the only gear differences come in alcohol stove designs, tyvek, CoolMax, and sil. Not what you'd call earth-shaking.

Pack loads? Leaving Amicalola in 1979, I thought I was doing well at 49.5 lbs with water and 3-4 days worth of food for one. (But 12 days ago, I left Monson with 8 days of food for three, and with water my pack weighed 47 pounds.) When I left Pearisburg in 1979, I weighed my pack empty of food and water, and it came in at 16.5 pounds -- pretty close to the 12-15 I'd expect now.

Is the trail in the same shape? No. No way. It is much closer to a McTrail than anything else -- a homogenized, monotonous tube funneling unsuspecting travelers from Georgia to Maine with as little "exposure" to the actual historical, sociological, or economic geography through which they travel as the trail routers can manage. The loss of exposure is a crime. The worst trail routings are gone (mud sluices in TN down which might hang a rope, or frictionless shear rock faces in Mahoosucs that... ("he shudders at the memory..."). So the trail in TN is now graded for future auto travel, and the trail in Maine now parallels the smooth tote roads on which it used to travel, in favor of amazing ankle-busting root/rock tank traps that reduce your lake country travel to 10-15 miles/12 hours looking at nothing but your feet. MAN does that get old. And some AMAZING rock steps have put the Mahoosucs way behind the Whites in overall toughness, leaving the northern LT all alone in the race(?) for "Gnarliest Piece of Long Distance Real Estate."

Trail magic was (back then) magic, but there were still places like "Roger Brickner's Appalachia Cottage" near Greenwood Lake NY. He would send little hand-painted signs to hikers with specific instructions to nail them up in the middle of some nasty climb on so-and-so mountain. Then every hiker who followed would read something like "Come on, Hiker! Only 873.4 miles more to Roger's Appalachia Cottage!" Stories of great steak dinners abounded, and seeing that sign kept me going on more than one occasion. But the stories I hear of individuals' acts of magic now are no different than what I experienced in 1978-1979.

Hostels were more prevalent back then, including Hot Springs Jesuit facility, Waynesboro Fire Department, and the Gorham Congregational Church, all of which (and more) are now closed to hikers. Today, a small industry has sprung up to tap the flow of hikers -- in some cases, these facilities are a real treat; in others, they make it plain that you're really not welcome, but are only tolerated for your money.

So where *is* there a difference, if at all? Trail intelligence is way up -- videos like Lynn Wheldon's "How to hike the AT" and "Lightweight Backpacking Revolution" let everyone start the AT with knowledge they might have only gained a thousand miles up the trail. The ALDHA Companion and Wingfoot's Guide started life as a two-page mimeograph that I didn't see until DWG. But we all got by, and used registers more. But the videos, etc. allow people to set better expectations, and arrive ready for their share of difficulties. Or somewhat ready...!

Are throughhikers now less "hard-core" than before? No way. Hurricane Bonnie hit Katahdin on the morning of Friday the 13th, and dumped 4.75 inches on the front side, and 10.5 ("ten point five") inches at Chimney Pond. The two crossings of the Nesowadnehunk (at 9 miles(?) and 7 miles(?) to go) were sluices -- I was standing with one leg knee deep and one leg ankle deep, and was getting washed down stream. Whole trees were washing by. Wild stuff. (To make a long story short...) At 17:00 or so, four throughhikers (Squish, Spam, Condor, and "Doug") came steaming up to the Katahdin Stream ranger station, having just spent the day tackling those crossings that waylayed my sons and I earlier in the day (and lower in volume). They were exhausted, sallow-eyed, played, and OBVIOUSLY sufficiently hungry for the climb that they would have eaten Katahdin bite-by-bite right there, had someone suggested that as a course of action. THAT is "hard core."

So: gear is little different, hikers are no different, trail intell is much improved, and the trail's hardest and easiest points are McTrailed to a "long green tube" only hinted at before. And ANYONE who traverses that long green tube, in one go or in many, deserves as much respect now as before.

Sloetoe
Ga->Me'79

Youngblood

08-18-2004, 15:09

Thanks sloetoe.

Youngblood

Kerosene

08-18-2004, 15:49

I'm re-creating this from memory, but here's what I brought on my first two section hikes (April 1973: DWG to Unionville; April 1974: Duncannon to Lehigh Gap). Of course, some of these selections were due to inexperience, but many others were due to now outdated solutions:

Boots: Really, really high-topped green leather work boots, but they had one of the first Vibram soles around (I remember they froze solid one night and it took me 45 minutes to warm them up enough to get on my feet in the morning).

Pack: Sears' latest nylon external frame with hipbelt, maybe 3,000 cubes (very narrow profile), but it had 4 side pockets for "stuff". Sleeping bag shock-corded to the bottom of the frame beneath the pack.

Sleeping Bag: A monstrous synthetic rectangular bag in 1973 (it had to weigh almost 5 pounds), replaced by a 3-pound duck down/feather nylon mummy from Sears.

Groundcloth: Big sheet of white plastic painter's dropcloth.

Sleeping Pad: Some sort of half-inch closed cell foam shortie pad.

Stove: The venerable and indestructible Optimus 8R (24 oz. easy, plus fuel bottle). I think I still have this stove lying around somewhere in my garage.

Cook Kit: A small aluminum pot and tea kettle from my grandfather's camping gear.

Water Filter: Nothing.

Shirt: Cotton T-shirt, but I also had a bright red, early generation Duofold "River Driver" shirt for warmth.

Pants: Dungarees, one pair to walk in and a second for camp!

Jacket: Jeans jacket(!) in 1973 (I'm amazed I survived (http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/65/)), replaced by a Eddie Bauer down sweater in 1974 that was a real luxury.

Socks: Wool hunting socks, but with a lot of cotton tube socks as liners (fortunately it wasn't too warm in early spring).

Raingear: Coated nylon poncho that flapped a lot in the wind and didn't keep my pants dry (the later addition of coated chaps didn't help a whole lot).

Shelter: That first hike we were planning to roll up in our plastic ground cloths to stay dry in a rain (can you say condensation?). Good thing it didn't really rain. The second hike we had an emergency plastic tube tent but relied on shelters (good thing they weren't full).

Hiking Poles: Hey, we were young and our knees didn't need any help!

Total pack weight with food and water was something north of 40 pounds, but less than 50.

Gonzo!

12-20-2004, 12:49

Great to read some responses from some of the hikers from my time period. Sloetoe and Kerosene bring it all back for me. I especially liked the water filtering – none, hiking poles – were young and didn’t need any, and the cotton t-shirt. These were all things that applied to me in ’83. Interesting to see Sloetoe’s analysis of the differences as well. One of the perceived differences from what I remember, and perceive to be the way it is now (have not been out there lately) has already been mentioned by Kerosene and that is that tents would be used occasionally since shelters were not full. I agree with that and imagine now having to race to get a spot, but even then only have just enough room to lay. I started so late (May 15) that I did not have to deal with crowds at all. It seemed rare to me for someone to begin as early as what some do today. The trail magic that I remember came seldom, and that was why it was magic. There were no, or few, supported hikes where families would treat other hikers at every road crossing. Ah, but the biggest difference may have been the price of Pop-Tarts which was only $.79 to $.89 for a box and that no one seems to ford the Kenebec any more. Also I was sorry to hear that Mr. Shaw passed away recently in Maine. All of these things are what make up the history of the <st1 ="">Appalachian Trail</st1>. Please don’t let the memories fade away - visit www.atmuseum.org (http://www.atmuseum.org) and become a member of the Appalachian Trail Museum Society, submit your stories or journal, or just take a look. This is a legitimate organization working to preserve the history of the<st1 =""> Appalachian Trail</st1>.

rickb

12-20-2004, 19:26

Hi Gonzo--

Had you stopped to spend the night at Thayer Hall on August 17th, We would have met. Dang, I wish I had kept a detailed journal like you.

In mine, I didn't even write down that I passed Charles Bronson sitting on a bench on the main drag in Hanover on my way to Thayer. But I remember that.

FWIW, I never caught up to another SOBO until somewhere near Pearisburg, but I sure remember seeing all the Northbounder names in the logs-- names like the trail Tots (or 1/2 of the trail tots, as it were), and Yo-Yo Steve Knuckles and others. Some 4 or 5 years ago I came across an old log book at the Widowds Walk (?) in Stratton and all of them came back in a flood. I am thinking I even rember a Gonzo, but would have to see your handwriting to be sure ;-). Did you have a picture to go with your name?

Cheers.

Rick B
ME => GA 19AT3
7/13 to 12/1

Gonzo!

12-21-2004, 16:08

Rick,
I remember you contacted me after reading my journal, sorry I forgot. Let's see if I can get an image here of my trailname signature.
http://www.2000milehike.com/gonzo.gif
Good to hear from you again.
:)