View Full Version : Rookie looking for advice
hello all,
i'm eager to start hiking the AT. 2 years ago my uncle (hay-skirtie, some of you may know him) thru-hiked the trail and it made me very excited to start hiking. well i have no prior hiking experience and i plan to do part of the trail in the summer of 2006. i was thinking maybe doin a 1/4 or 1/3 of the trail to begin with. i am in excellent physical condition as i am an avid soccer player. i have tons of questions of what i should do to prepare myself for this journey but i'd like to start with diet and physical conditioning. what should i start doing to prepare myself for this adventure? any suggestions on a conditioning routine or what i should have in my diet? are these the most important aspects i should start to work on? please help, it will be much appreciated. thank's
TakeABreak
10-28-2004, 12:07
Sounds like you are generally in good shape, but here are a few suggestions. Northeast Ohio I believe is in general like michigan small rolling hills to flat. So I suggestion periodically walking up and down stair cases or bleachers carrying a day pack, slowly increasing the amount of up and down cycles while also increasing weight of your day pack.
This will strangthen the muscles that around the knees and those muscles that are not used normally walking on flat surfaces.
When you can go for day hikes, over time increase to length of the hike and weight you carry in you pack. When increase the mileage of a hike, temporarily decrease the pack weight and then slowly increase the pack weight back to where it was prior the increased mileage. That is how I trained in 99 for my thru hike and it worked very successfully.
As far as diet goes I would start trying foods that are easy to prepare, nutriteous and high in vitamins and stuff, you will be surprised and what you like and dis-like.
Lastly start looking at gear, and the weight of gear. It best to keep the list of items to a minimum and at look the weight of each and every item in terms of not lbs or ozs, but in tenths of an ounce.
You will be surprised how many you can shave off your gear list this way. A common I have seen is that people go to an outfitter and talk to someone without much long distance experience and buy what they suggest.
at www.rei.com (http://www.rei.com) you look at different things and see exactly what each item weights, and then go to the outfitter and how it fits, functions and fits your needs. Example an average with spare batteries weights up to 12 ozs, a Photon II weights .17 ozs, and the battery lasts 12 - 20 hours depending on bulb color. a normal size tube of toothpaste weight 6.2 ozs a travel size weight .72 - .95 depending on brand.
I gave these examples to show how easy it is shave off 1 lb, which is what I did also. And the lighter items worked really well for me.
The best preparation you can do, since you are already reasonably active, is to get experience backpacking. Start with day hikes in places with hills, carrying a little weight. Read up on ultralight techniques. Go out for a few overnighters. Get a feel for what it means to spend a night by yourself in the woods. You don't want a shock when you start the trail.
In terms of diet on the trail, you want as much fat as you can get. Fat, fat, and more fat. Pile on the calories. It depends on how far you hike each day, but for myself, I tend to plan for 4000-5000 calories a day when I'm in the hills and moving at 25-30 miles a day. That is a lot of food, but I also don't get "hiker-hunger". Carrying olive oil helps.
Bloodroot
10-28-2004, 15:08
The best preparation you can do, since you are already reasonably active, is to get experience backpacking. Start with day hikes in places with hills, carrying a little weight. Read up on ultralight techniques. Go out for a few overnighters. Get a feel for what it means to spend a night by yourself in the woods. You don't want a shock when you start the trail.
In terms of diet on the trail, you want as much fat as you can get. Fat, fat, and more fat. Pile on the calories. It depends on how far you hike each day, but for myself, I tend to plan for 4000-5000 calories a day when I'm in the hills and moving at 25-30 miles a day. That is a lot of food, but I also don't get "hiker-hunger". Carrying olive oil helps.
He is so right. Adjusting yourself to the experience of carrying a pack, climate acclimitizing and nutritional adjustments are probably the key factors.
Yes, going out there is a great idea. Hiking a long section of trail is a great indicator in whether a thru-hike is for you or not. Many folks have no idea how hard it will be, or how different or how uncomfrotable. Because they aren't prepared. Physcial prep is great and having a light pack will help for sure. But mentally preparing is key too.
I'd suggest checking out trailjournals.com Read a couple journals and try to read many days (if you can avoid getting bored). I believe these to be the best portrayals of life on the trail on a daily basis. Many of the journals come off boring, with the standard daily "my feet hurt, walked 18 miles and got really hungry". Sure many hikers don't go into depth about their feelings, but its a great way to see what you'll endure on a day in day out basis, regarding weather, miles, people, resupply, towns etc..
Good luck and don't hold back questions. Lots of folks on this site with time on their hands :)
Kerosene
10-28-2004, 17:08
As a long-time soccer player, I've found that I don't experience quite the same physical difficulties as other hikers who have been less active. However, as Chris notes, the best way to get in shape is to do the actual sport itself in addition to your cross-training.
As TakeABreak mentions, get your pack weight down, ideally to less than 20% of your body weight. That will make the most difference to how you feel.
A final hint: You'll be in good enough shape that you could start out with 15+ mile days, but I discourage starting out that fast. Many many athletes think that it's not that hard, but other sports don't tend to pound your joints, ligaments and tendons so repetitively for so long. After many section hikes, I've learned to start out with 3 or 4 10-13 mile days and then ramp up from there.
rocket04
10-28-2004, 17:23
I'm also an avid soccer player and I did the trail this year with no additional physical preparation. My preparation was more geared towards planning. I do think it would have been benefitial to do some more hiking before, but I only went out one time for about an hour with a 25 pound pack on fairly easy terrain. The thing about going out is that it can help you decide if you really would enjoy doing this every day for 5 months or if you're kidding yourself. In the end, you can't know for sure, but going out will give you extra confidence.
And Kerosene is right, even though you probably would have it in you to do 15+ miles from the beginning, keep in mind that there's a big difference between doing 15+ and doing 15+ every day for a week. So it's best to slowly get up to speed. I started with a few 8-12 mile days. Within 2 weeks I was able to consitently do 18-20 mile days, and that without walking until dawn. Obviously, you know your limits best. But if you're under time constraint and want to start off doing more miles, you probably want to do some more hiking with a full pack before you start.
Oh, and get some hiking poles. I didn't and that's one thing I'd get if I were to do this hike again.
Footslogger
10-28-2004, 17:37
Rocket touched on it when he mentioned "treking poles" but in addition to all the other great advice so far on this thread I would urge you to get as much experience with all your gear/clothing as you can. Set up/take down your tent several times, cook several meals using the pot and utensil you'll be carrying, try on different clothing combinations/layers and weed out stuff you don't really need.
I met a lot of hikers during my thru last year who were in decent physical shape but they were still "shaking out the bugs" with their clothing and gear. Yes, your tastes and needs will change in the course of a distance hike and you will experience a wide variety of weather conditions that will force you to make changes. However, the more familiar you are with your stuff the easier it will be to roll with the punches during your hike.
One thing I did during the year prior to my thru-hike was to carry a pad and paper with me on my shake down treks. I would make a list of everything I carried and didn't use and a comparable things that I wished I had but didn't. That helped a great deal in paring down my packing list. I also created an Excel spread sheet and listed out every piece of gear and clothing, along with it's individual weight. I loaded in the formulas so that I could select an item and a "multiple" of that item and the program would keep a running total. I was able to create a "virtual backpack" and look at my packweight on a critical level. You'd be amazed how fast the weight adds up when you're not keeping a close eye on it. Every ounce counts.
Nuff said ...but I wanted to throw out that idea in addition to all the physical conditioning stuff. The trail will get you into shape but an unecessarily heavy backpack will bring even the best conditioned hiker to their knees.
'Slogger
AT 2003
SalParadise
10-28-2004, 17:56
You'll be just fine. Most people agree that the hardest part about thru-hiking is psychological, so the best preparation is to be determined to make it all the way so that two or three weeks of rain and cold won't stop you.
The first time I took two steps with a backpack was on Springer, but I had that determination and I made it pretty far until I got hurt. The only thing that previous hiking experience would have helped me with, I think, is gear, knowing what to take and what not to. Otherwise I really didn't feel out of place or unprepared at all. Considering the miles you already run for soccer, you'll already be physically far ahead of most hikers when you start out.
Even for active people, it's very demanding on the body and joints to jump into hiking and do big miles right off, so short (12 or so) mile days to begin with are good before you jump right off to the 20-mile days, but those will come.
As for diet, just once you get on the trail, try to get your vitamins in; they'll help keep you physically and mentally sharp.
i noticed many of you keep refering to 20mile days. what is the average distance one hikes each day while on the trail? i realize many factors will come into play in deternining how far you go. but say you have nice weather and nothing goes wrong with gear you don't get lost etc. and you're on a slightly dificult section of trail. what is the median distance that i can expect to travel on any given day? ohh i also recalled my uncle saying he ran into a few bear incidents. nothing serious though. how many bears are out there? is it likely that i will run into one? cuz thats some crazy stuff. that the only thing i'm really worried about. that probably sounds silly to a lot of you i know but i have no experiance with the AT yet and am not sure what to expect.
what should i start doing to prepare myself for this adventure?
You need to start hiking. Can't learn in front of a computer. Learn by doing, in small pieces first.
Kerosene
10-29-2004, 12:07
Average mileage for an AT backpacker is probably something like 10-13 miles per day, but there's a lot of variation around that average. Inexperienced backpackers starting out on a long trek may walk only 6-12 miles a day for the first few weeks to get in shape and avoid muscle/joint/ligament/tendon overuse. During longer days of sunlight, it's pretty easy to ramp that up into the 15-20 mile range, but most experienced hikers take a zero day every 7-10 days during a distance hike. Your ultralight, highly experienced, athletic types, like Chris, have built up their bodies (and minds) to be able to crank out consecutive 30+ mile days. Like many population statistics, it's a bell curve, perhaps skewed left with a long tail to the right where Chris and his ilk play.
You can only hope to see a bear on your travels, but you can minimize your chances by hanging your food and toilet gear and sleeping away from shelters where bears have learned to frequent due to poor practices by other hikers. On the east coast, you really shouldn't worry about it all that much. I've run into two bears over the years, neither of which was very interested in sticking around to talk to me. Frankly, a moose can hurt you at least as much if you get between it and its intended destination.
grrickar
10-29-2004, 15:09
Research your gear, talk to others, take a look at it and ask questions at your outfitter stores, then experiment with it before you go on the trail to see how it performs. When you hiketo get in shape, try and use a weight close to what you plan to carry. That will do two things: one if you have gone too heavy you'll quickly see the need to shave the pounds, and two you will get an idea of how carrying that weight will tax your energy levels.
Try hiking in various weather conditions, because the sun isn't always gonna shine.
You need to start hiking. Can't learn in front of a computer. Learn by doing, in small pieces first.
Yea, good advice is to be had here, but much of it is, , , , , confusing, and even conflicting, especially to the unexperienced.
For example: Ray JArdene's advice to the experienced is a grand adventure, to the novice (If you ignore his disclamer) it could (COULD) be extremly dangerous.
So, as U-Bolt advises, "Learn by doing, in small pieces first". Go out on short trips & try the stuff learned here, see if it works for you.
Doctari.
SalParadise
10-29-2004, 18:14
Don't worry about the bears. Provided you're not ignorant with your food and toiletries, you'll be fine. Now it was the rattlesnakes that I always worried about.....
Unless you're on a schedule, don't worry about your miles. It seemed like once everyone got into Virginia most hikers did roughly the same miles. The slower hikers just got up earlier in the morning. Your first week 20 miles will seem like an impossibility, but it will come soon. That was part of the initial fun of the AT, just noticing how much faster and stronger you get, and how much hiking and being out in the woods starts to feel more natural than being in town.
TakeABreak
10-29-2004, 18:27
JennyUS,
I do not know what exactly when you plan to start or what your day to day schedule is like, but The Appalachian Trail Conference does have volunteer work groups in the spring summer and fall. This would be a way to acclimate yourself to the trail, if you have the time.
As stated above bears on the east coast generally are not something to worry about. Also stated above most problems are from hikers not hanging their food properly, a lot campsite and shelters are installing bear cables, to run your food up out of reach of bears. Hang it properly and you should not have a problem.
Gear I believe should be more of a concern, the earlier you start than more warm clothing you will need, which adds weight. If you would like a list of my gear, email directly, you can do that my clicking on my name, it will prompt you from there. I will not say my gear is the best, but I would use most of it again with only a few minor changes. I keep my gear on a lotus sheet so I can constantly compare it with new gear that comes on the market.
i noticed many of you keep refering to 20mile days. what is the average distance one hikes each day while on the trail? i realize many factors will come into play in deternining how far you go. but say you have nice weather and nothing goes wrong with gear you don't get lost etc. and you're on a slightly dificult section of trail. what is the median distance that i can expect to travel on any given day?
There is tremendous variation in daily mileage, from over 30 for some, to zero, or close to that. When someone brags about their big mileage day what they usually don't tell you is that they then took the next day or two off. So, I think it's better to think and plan in terms of weekly mileage. On this basis, the "average" thru-hiker generally averages about 90 miles per week.
peter_pan
10-30-2004, 08:08
To prepare for a major section in 2003, Springer to Pearisburg VA, and a March start I used the bad winter weather to train for the worst (as best I could in Williamsburg, VA). Every cold, rainy, sleet,snow day that came in the months before I packed my pack, including 3 days of food, Hike a few miles, evaluating different gear. Then I set up my hammock camp, cooked lunch, hung my bear bag, took a nap, broke camp, packed and hiked home, all in crummy weather. It was a great confidence inspirer, shook my gear down to about a 16 lb base start, 23 total for the Springer to Neels gap. Finished the section with a 14 lb base. In retrospect I would add hotel stairs for the last couple of training weeks...Enjoy your hike.