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cindellasaurus
01-10-2010, 16:17
Sometimes you plan to do something and you've researched, trained and are sure you know what to expect, when out of nowhere you find yourself in an awkward or uncomfortable situation that you had never even imagined. Have any of you found yourself in situations like this along the trail, and is there any warning or advice that you have for someone who's never hiked the AT?

Pacific Tortuga
01-10-2010, 16:27
Be friendly, but keep your guard up. That's all I'm sayin' about that.

modiyooch
01-10-2010, 17:11
I never expected to be stuck in a 3 foot mudhole on the top of a mountain. It shook me up. I was hiking alone.
I never expected to be abandoned 17 miles deep without a tent while backpacking with a friend.
both of these happened on the same day.

Just a Hiker
01-10-2010, 17:46
One good thing about the trail itself is that it doesn't change that much from year to year, so it's fairly predictable. The only thing that constantly changes are the people who are actually on the trail, so that's were you'll find yourself in uncharted waters at times. Therefore, just be flexible and be willing to deal with all kinds of different people who are out there trying to enjoy the AT. Good luck on your hike.


Just Jim

Spirit Walker
01-10-2010, 19:42
On the AT, I hurt a lot more than I expected. Even though I started the trail in good shape, walking all day every day took a toll on my body. Between blisters and tendonitis, the first two months were frequently very painful. When they healed, I began doing bigger miles and so my feet hurt all the time. Then the steep ups and downs began to do a number on my knees. Watch a thruhiker walk down the stairs or listen to the way we talk about Vitamin I - it's not unusual to spend a lot of the trail with a lot of pain. You do get used to it, but it was still a surprise.

On a lighter note - I discovered that when I could eat anything I wanted without worry about gaining weight, more and more I found that what I really wanted was healthy food. I only once did a Little Debbie blitz. After that my first town food was usually juice, milk, fruit and salad.

Blissful
01-10-2010, 21:10
Keep an eye on your surroundings - if you feel uncomfortable move on. Be flexible with your plans. Take it one day at a time.

stumpknocker
01-10-2010, 22:01
My biggest surprise was on the morning of March 3rd, 2002 when I woke up at Springer Mountain to about 8 degrees for the start of my thru hike and my platypus and drink hose was frozen solid.

I didn't drink much that day, so when I got to Gooch Mountain Shelter, I went down to the spring and drank about two liters of cold water. I started shivering so much that I crawled into my sleeping bag and it took over an hour to warm up.

I learned some good lessons that day!! :)

Blue Jay
01-10-2010, 22:26
Unexpected things happen all the time on the AT, it's one of the best things about it.

cindellasaurus
01-10-2010, 23:22
I never expected to be stuck in a 3 foot mudhole on the top of a mountain. It shook me up. I was hiking alone.
I never expected to be abandoned 17 miles deep without a tent while backpacking with a friend.
both of these happened on the same day.

Oh boy! Sounds like THE BEST DAY EVER!!!!:D

Tinker
01-10-2010, 23:42
Sometimes you plan to do something and you've researched, trained and are sure you know what to expect, when out of nowhere you find yourself in an awkward or uncomfortable situation that you had never even imagined. Have any of you found yourself in situations like this along the trail, and is there any warning or advice that you have for someone who's never hiked the AT?

Cranky dogs and people on the trail.
Nice people in run down towns off the trail.
Nothing is what or where you expect it.
As someone said, "Variety is the spice of life"
And so it is.:)
Btw, great trail/forum name!
Care to share on that?
Oh, advice - if you're looking for it:
Be careful of who you befriend.
When you find a true friend keep him/her close.
Know when it's time to move on.

veteran
01-11-2010, 01:02
Faceplant with a heavy pack on the back of your head.

Dogwood
01-11-2010, 02:14
Sometimes you plan to do something and you've researched, trained and are sure you know what to expect, when out of nowhere you find yourself in an awkward or uncomfortable situation that you had never even imagined. Have any of you found yourself in situations like this along the trail, and is there any warning or advice that you have for someone who's never hiked the AT?

YES, everytime I hit a trail!

Assuming a hiker has done the comprehensive planning, predicting, training, research, etc etc etc, a thru-hilker should realize that unexpected events and situations WILL still OCCUR. IMO, it's one of the great things about hiking, especially thru-hiking. You can't control, manipulate, or plan everything! That thought has got to be scary and very hard to accept for some people. Embrace the unknowns! Deal with them in the most constructive manner you can! Don't waste undue resources focusing and magnifying the problem. Avoid problems when you can but if unavoidable understand the problem AND then MOVE ON to possible solutions! Don't be so surprised about these events when they occur. Spontaneous events WILL OCCUR. Make no mistake, you WILL be taken out of your comfort zone! What you can do, is decide what your attitude will be when these events occur and bring as much of your resources to bear on the situation as necessary to overcome it!.

Graywolf
01-11-2010, 02:30
When I did the section hike last year, was asking people and Pm'ed other hikers on the weather for August at Springer..Every one answered back saying, very hot, and very humid..

I planned accordingly and when i arrived it was 80* and dry..Very lovely temps..When I got to the top of Springer, I said to myself, "This is hot? This is A/C where I come from"..

Graywolf
i

Doooglas
01-11-2010, 09:15
On the AT, I hurt a lot more than I expected. Even though I started the trail in good shape, walking all day every day took a toll on my body. Between blisters and tendonitis, the first two months were frequently very painful. When they healed, I began doing bigger miles and so my feet hurt all the time. Then the steep ups and downs began to do a number on my knees. Watch a thruhiker walk down the stairs or listen to the way we talk about Vitamin I - it's not unusual to spend a lot of the trail with a lot of pain. You do get used to it, but it was still a surprise.

On a lighter note - I discovered that when I could eat anything I wanted without worry about gaining weight, more and more I found that what I really wanted was healthy food. I only once did a Little Debbie blitz. After that my first town food was usually juice, milk, fruit and salad.

You need to focus on gear selection. Quit following the status quo.
It's all marketing BS. Yeah. Lies for profit.
I already did 4 miles this morning, to feed critters, with 60 lbs or so.
It's only 715 AM here.

Red Hat
01-11-2010, 09:19
I didn't expect to quit after 10 days in Maine...but I could have done half as many miles each day and felt a lot better (moral, don't try to keep up with 20 yr olds).
I didn't expect to do a face plant and need stitches in VA... but I should have watched where I was going instead of "cruising" along (moral, don't go faster than you should). Duh both times I thought I was younger than I am, both times I shoulda slowed down...

fiddlehead
01-11-2010, 09:19
"things i didn't expect"?
How much fun i would have.
And I had never heard of a "Foot washing" before so of course finding out what that was was quite unexpected.

sbhikes
01-11-2010, 10:26
I expected to be alone walking in solitude in the wilderness. I didn't expect a mobile party on foot.

Pedaling Fool
01-11-2010, 11:41
I never expected I would be held up in my tent for 3 days in Maine during end of July/beginning of August time frame due to a snow storm.

In '81 I was about a day's hike north of ME 15 (road to Monson) and had to stop for nearly 3 days because I couldn't see the blazes through the snow/sleet. Since I was at the end of the 100-mile wilderness I used up all my food while held up and resorted to eating a raw onion like it was an apple -- actually not bad, but then again I was starving:D

Blue Jay
01-11-2010, 12:39
Much of the unexpected is on the very good side. I did not expect people to be much more happy and friendly than the nonhiking world. I did not in anyway expect it to be soooo much fun. I certainly did not expect to not mind being cold wet tired and hungry. I did not expect to laugh so hard my stomach hurt when Not only face planting in the mud but sticking the top of my extrnal frame pack into the side of a rotting log, not being able to pull it out right away and having the guy following me fall down laughing and not being physically able to help pull me out. About the only thing you CAN expect is that it will be different than what you expected (kind of like fear).

fredmugs
01-11-2010, 14:12
I generally try to listed to what people are saying and taking it for what it's worth. For some reason I refused to believe EVERYONE who said that hiking in Maine takes longer than you think.

I tracked the weather for like two weeks before I left and there had been no rain to speak of. I'm thinking there no way the trail can be as wet and muddy as EVERYONE said it was. It was way worse than I could have imagined. I did 15 miles or so each of the first two days between Caratunk and Monson and I was completely exhausted.

Maine: It's slower than you would expect.

cindellasaurus
01-11-2010, 19:53
haha, my name..
well, my first name is Cindell..
& oh boy, maybe 4 years ago I just started using it as a screen name and email and such..
I think I'm going to allow my friends rename me on the trail though..I'm hoping something with a good story behind it, those are the best!

cindellasaurus
01-11-2010, 19:59
That last reply is to Tinker, BTW. :]

Spokes
01-11-2010, 20:15
Never expected to assist in a full search and rescue mission to get a hiker off the mountain from the Poplar Ridge Lean-to in Maine. A female hiker named Cold Feet jabbed a pine bough through her leg coming down Saddleback Mountain Jr causing a very deep puncture wound. She was able to stop the bleeding then hiked 2 miles to the lean-to. It wasn't pretty once her adrenalin wore off. She could not bear weight on the leg and the pain was setting in.

Short story was a dozen SAR personnel made it to our location and in the driving rain escorted her up and off the mountain to the hospital in Rangely, ME. It took them 4 hours to get her there.

All I'll say is I'm glad I had Verizon Wireless and a enough battery to talk to 911. Cold Feet eventually healed and completed her Katahdin summit a couple months later.

Just a Hiker
01-11-2010, 20:48
At some point during a Thru-hike, the following situations/realizations might sneak up on you:

-Another hiker will really make you mad
-You will start to worry about money
-The urge to go home will become overwhelming
-Life after the trail will find it's way into your thinking more and more the closer you get to the finish
-You decide that you really don't need all that "stuff" you put into storage before you left for the trail
-You become completely amazed at how far you can push your body on a daily basis
-The tempurature rating on your sleeping bag isn't even close
-You become convinced that duct tape will fix anything
-That Pabst Blue Ribbon isn't cheap beer.....just inexpensive
-That hitchhiking really is a form of travel
-That "All You Can Eat" is your favorite 4 word phrase
-That the word "flat" is the most relative word on the AT
-That the Elevation Profiles on AT Maps are a big fat lie
-That the worse day on the AT is better than sitting at home doing nothing!

modiyooch
01-11-2010, 21:33
Never expected to assist in a full search and rescue mission to get a hiker off the mountain from the Poplar Ridge Lean-to in Maine. A female hiker named Cold Feet jabbed a pine bough through her leg coming down Saddleback Mountain Jr causing a very deep puncture wound. She was able to stop the bleeding then hiked 2 miles to the lean-to. It wasn't pretty once her adrenalin wore off. She could not bear weight on the leg and the pain was setting in.

Short story was a dozen SAR personnel made it to our location and in the driving rain escorted her up and off the mountain to the hospital in Rangely, ME. It took them 4 hours to get her there.

All I'll say is I'm glad I had Verizon Wireless and a enough battery to talk to 911. Cold Feet eventually healed and completed her Katahdin summit a couple months later.ran into cold feet two days in a row. Both days she was needing assistance back to Stratton because she was trying to resume her hike, but she wasn't physically ready. I'm glad to hear that she did finish. I think she was from CO. Did she remain in ME for two months before finishing or did she go home? It was getting expensive for her.

Spokes
01-11-2010, 22:06
ran into cold feet two days in a row. Both days she was needing assistance back to Stratton because she was trying to resume her hike, but she wasn't physically ready. I'm glad to hear that she did finish. I think she was from CO. Did she remain in ME for two months before finishing or did she go home? It was getting expensive for her.

She was from Colorado. The info I got was she recovered in Boston before getting back on the trail, finished then headed back home. Amazing!

fredmugs
01-12-2010, 08:47
[QUOTE=Just a Hiker;949564]At some point during a Thru-hike, the following situations/realizations might sneak up on you:

-That Pabst Blue Ribbon isn't cheap beer.....just inexpensive


About 4 days into a 170 mile section hike I found 4 PBRs sitting in an empty shelter where I stopped for a break.

When I finished my break there were still 4 PBRs sitting in the shelter.

Last thing I want on the trail is a nice case of diarrhea. Talk about something sneaking up on you.

Grampie
01-12-2010, 17:29
The most unexpected thing that happened during my thru was the tradgity of Sept. 11, 2001. Spent the night of Sept. 10 in the ski patrol building on top of Stratton Mountain. Discovered what had happened later in the day.

Egads
03-07-2010, 08:55
Completely off topic, but this woman didn't expect the bear to bite.
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/woman-bitten-by-bear-351458.html

Spokes
03-07-2010, 09:41
Almost getting hypothermia in the middle of July.

Doctari
03-07-2010, 10:05
I think my biggest surprise (I'm a section hiker) was / is; how relatively easy the physical aspect is in relation to the mental, at least once you get your "trail legs".

Darwin again
03-10-2010, 12:21
I never expected that two full-grown men's hiking progress could be stopped dead by a very big and very angry black rat snake in the middle of the trail just south of Duncannon, Pa. The thing cobra-ed up on us! Turns out there was a day hiker ahead of us who had been throwing stones at it and it was really mad.

Finally, one of us kept the snake occupied with a long stick while the other took a wide detour around the snake on the rocks and through the brush. Then the other occupied the snake's attention while the other went around.
Totally unexpected and totally hilarious. But you don't want to mess with probably 15 pounds of very irritated snake. No no. Weird stuff happens out there. It's called "adventure."

Darwin again
03-10-2010, 12:26
I never expected the flattest section of trail on the whole AT (maybe) to be in the Whites -- that beautiful old railroad bed just north of Zealand Falls Hut. At least it seemed like the flattest section after being in those mountains for a while!

Colter
03-10-2010, 17:57
* It was a lot STEEPER that I thought it would be. It's said there's something like 471,000 vertical feet of climbing, so a typical thru-hiker has to climb and descend over 3,000 vertical feet EVERY DAY average. The trail was so steep and slippery in some places in New England that it was hard for me to believe that it was the AT. Of course, there were hundreds of miles of mellow trail too, and it doesn't take a mountain climber to do the AT.
* Woodticks were a bigger factor than I expected. I grew up around woodticks without suffering any ill consequences, but during the summer of 2001 I TWICE had to take antibiotics to fight woodtick infections. I talked to several folks who had contracted Lyme disease, that summer or before.
* It was easier to get food and supplies than I thought. Seldom did I have to carry more than four days worth of food.
* People were so friendly. Usually it was easy to hitch to and from town, and many times trail angels left cold drinks and food at trail crossings.
* Virginia is not flat, contrary to what you might hear.
* I rarely slept in shelters. For me, shelters tended to be mousy, buggy, loud and had hard floors. I think what appeals to people most is the social aspect of the shelter, and the avoidance of putting up and taking down their tents/tarps, especially when it's rainy. With the right folks, shelters were great, but I usually preferred tarping out, often in the company of friends.

tuswm
03-10-2010, 20:06
When I was doing a section hike in SNP in APRIL. When I woke up and get out of my tent it was colder and windier but it was APRIL. I left my hat in my tent so I figured I would just get it after I set the water up to boil. So I setup the stove and started boiling water in APRIL. I must have been outside of my tent for less than five minutes in APRIL. I ended up with frostbite on my ear and right pointer finger in APRIL.

JAK
03-10-2010, 21:27
I didn't expect that 99% of the stuff they sell at LLBeans and REI and even the places that sell better stuff would turn out to be so unneccessary, or downright unsuitable.

Trust no one. lol

WILLIAM HAYES
03-10-2010, 21:31
never realized how many times I could bust my butt on slippery roots or almost fall off a mountain
northbound trail magic was awesome found a case of cold miller lite left by the trail on the descent to Uncle Johnny's
learned to hike my own hike do my on thing
learned to assess people quickly
met some great people and only one Ahole that I had to put in his place

jdb
03-10-2010, 22:03
It sounds like there are a few jerks out there. What do people do on the trail that is so out of hand?

Darwin again
03-11-2010, 09:46
[If the AT taught you to assess people quickly, it sounds like you missed the lesson!]