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ashleigh22
12-27-2010, 16:29
Hello everyone! :) I am new to this forum and have been browsing around a bit. I hope to hike the AT in 2012 and am enjoying seeing everyone's experiences! I am just wondering if anyone would like to share their best and worst times on the trail.. so whatcha got?:banana

HTTY!

N9ZSY
12-27-2010, 16:47
My best time was any time I was on The Trail...

Worst times were in between trips and the one time I was with a group... We were all responsible for one dinner... I was under the impression I had the first, not second night... I carried fifteen pounds of chicken and another five pounds of pre-cooked rice... Had an extra twenty pounds to haul thirty miles instead of fifteen or so... At the time I only weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet...

Blissful
12-27-2010, 18:13
Some bad times were weather wise - when I got stuck at Overmountain shelter a whole day and had to pace all day to stay warm in '07. Didn't have a great time alone in Mahoosuc Notch in the rain either this past summer. :) But plenty of good times to make up for it all.

Carbo
12-27-2010, 19:12
Best time was meeting Blissful on the trail for a few minutes. She was SOBO on her thru in NJ, I was with a bunch of vagabond hikers heading north. The reason why it IS so good, is that everytime I see her post here, it reminds me again of the trail, strangers meeting, talking, laughing, in tune with each other then parting on our separate ways. Warm thoughts on these cold winter nights!

The times I wouldn't want to repeat too often would be my first winter solo and camping for 13+ hours in the dark and cold. Not 'bad', just don't want to make it a way of life :).

BrianLe
12-27-2010, 23:18
I think a lot of "best" experiences involved people. For example, coming in to the Duncannon Hotel and finding that my PCT hiking buddy J.B. had left $10 at the bar for my first drink(s) there. Seeing people again that I thought I had seen for the last time earlier on trail. Sharing stories and just general trail time and shelter time with folks that I got to know along the trail.
Though I'd add that a couple of moose encounters were a lot of fun too.
It's really hard to pick a "best"; dealing with lots of snow and feeling sort of trail-tough as a result. Getting into really good shape so you can just keep going. A lot of little moments, like climbing to the top of a bald in the morning with some views spreading out, and feeling great about the days hike to come.

Also hard to pick a particularly worst experience, though the whole business of getting giardia and ultimately getting off trail for a couple of weeks was probably it, and in particular, the concern that I might not be able to finish (and as a result not being able to stay on trail with the guy I had hiked with from GA to NY).

ChinMusic
12-27-2010, 23:56
Oddly, some of my best memories are from bad weather. I tend to go into "is-that-all-you-got" mode, when facing heavy rain. I'm sure some storm will knock that out of my system at some point in time.

Hot weather is my worst experience. I go into serious woe-is-me mode quickly.

Cookerhiker
12-28-2010, 10:50
Too many "best" times:


Climbing Katahdin on a clear day to finish 28 years of section-hiking
Hiking through fields of wildflowers in spring in NC, TN, and Shenandoah NP
Hiking up SOBO Mt. Washington in dense fog only to see the clouds part to glorious blue skies & sunshine the the rest of the day.
The view from Glastonbury Mt. firetower on my first AT backpack of a 360 vista with nothing but mountains, lakes, and trees nothing mad-made.
Many hikes in brilliant Fall colors.
Hiking several days in snow in SW VA including some waist-deep drifts.
My first 100+ mile hike: Springer to Wallace Gap in March '04.
Hearing loons in Maine
And on and on...


...Hot weather is my worst experience. I go into serious woe-is-me mode quickly.

Fully agree! Joined a thruhiking buddy in June '04 intending to hike NJ and NY with him. After 3 days of extreme heat & humidity in NJ, I threw in the towel after deciding that lying on top of my sleeping bag sweating all night wasn't fun. As for cowboy camping: not with the mosquitos!

Had some bad black fly experiences in VT and NH in my early days but not too often.

sbhikes
12-28-2010, 11:50
There are lots of different kinds of best experiences. There are the ones that are the best while they are happening and then there are the kind that are the worst when they are happening but afterward you have a great story to tell that makes you feel great that you did it.

Some good bests:
- My first 30+ mile day. I guess 30 miles was a psychological barrier, not a physical one.
- Talking to my pets at home while hiking and finding out later they heard me. Yeah, the trail is like a mystical parallel universe sometimes and I was a secret forest nymph with magical powers.
- Getting an amazing view stretched to the horizon and realizing I hiked that whole way.
- Wildflowers wildflowers wildflowers!
- Food food food!
- Great hitchhiking stories.
- Great stories of finding stuff just when I needed it.
- Feeling like for once in my life I was doing exactly what I was put here on Earth to do.

Some of my worst bests:
- Snowmelt mosquitoes in Oregon that kept me confined behind mosquito netting 24 hours a day.
- Swollen streams I had to swim across with my pack on.
- Getting completely lost and 11 miles off course.
- Getting completely lost, no idea where I was, fearing I could die and nobody would find me, then emerging at my destination at the appointed time.
- Feeling like some of the people I met were saying mean things about me behind my back. I'm sure if I met them today we'd all be great friends remembering good times on the trail.

Helios
12-28-2010, 12:26
Best time: When I completed my first section hike. Elated and ready to go again!

Worst: Climbing Blood Mt, being excited, pulled out cell to call family (no one around) found out my twin brother committed suicide. Miss Janet was a God-send that day!!!

restlesss
12-28-2010, 13:03
Did the ga section in 1995, expected weather sunny and 80 degrees,,, got cold rainy weather in the 60 s my stove broke, filter broke, partner whined and complained the whole time, out of 8 days on the trail 7 of them were cold and wet... Best time... Every day!!!

hikerboy57
12-28-2010, 14:27
Most of the time, my worst hkes have become my best. My first time on the AT, June 1976 .hiked from Franconia Notch , intending to spend 10 days thru the Presidentials. My buddy had an old Boy Scout frame pack with a broken strap and no hipbelt., I headed up Liberty Springs trail first, he followed. When we got to Liberty Springs tentsite, found half our food had bounced out of his pack on the way up the trail. Picked the height of black fly season got bitten every square inch of my body, 90 degree heat, ran out of water day 2, ended up coming down to the wildernerss trail, stayed at Desolation shelter(longsince removed) met one guy with a bottle of Yukon Jack, another with some psychedelic substance we threw into the YJ( which made a rainy night eventful as one of the guys went to go pottty, came back naked and bleeding 2 hours later. We hiked out the next day, so much for 1o days in the whites, but it completely turned me on to one day thru hiking the AT.
I like epics.

Chillfactor
12-28-2010, 15:58
Worst experience: I hitched a ride in VA with an older couple in a pickup. What could be safer? They offered to take me into Pearisburg to a Walmart and would bring me back to the trail (off of Va 42) where they picked me up. It was perfect.
The woman asked if I had any "video recording equipment" with me. I didn't and my pack was in the pickup bed with ID, prescription meds, money, phone numbers, everything. They parked at the Walmart, I grabbed my pack and poles and the woman commented, "Why are you taking that with you?" I hurried so they wouldn't have to wait long and when I came outside they were gone.
I know they would've taken my pack if I left it in the truck. It was a long way to Va 42 but had I not grabbed my pack I would've been stranded with nothing. I was angry and hurt that these innocent looking people would've ripped me off but lucky that I had all my stuff.
How would I have gotten home with no ID or money? It was a scary experience and I could have been stranded with only the clothes on my back in rural VA. I'll always remember their faces. That was my worst day.

ChinMusic
12-28-2010, 16:14
Worst experience: I hitched a ride in VA with an older couple in a pickup. What could be safer? They offered to take me into Pearisburg to a Walmart and would bring me back to the trail (off of Va 42) where they picked me up. It was perfect.
The woman asked if I had any "video recording equipment" with me. I didn't and my pack was in the pickup bed with ID, prescription meds, money, phone numbers, everything. They parked at the Walmart, I grabbed my pack and poles and the woman commented, "Why are you taking that with you?" I hurried so they wouldn't have to wait long and when I came outside they were gone.
I know they would've taken my pack if I left it in the truck. It was a long way to Va 42 but had I not grabbed my pack I would've been stranded with nothing. I was angry and hurt that these innocent looking people would've ripped me off but lucky that I had all my stuff.
How would I have gotten home with no ID or money? It was a scary experience and I could have been stranded with only the clothes on my back in rural VA. I'll always remember their faces. That was my worst day.
I can see where BOTH parties would be uncomfortable here. They think you are dissing them by taking your stuff out of the truck. You just cannot afford to take the risk of losing all your stuff.

I'd take my stuff out too and hope I was quick enough to think of an excuse for doing so. I don't think they understood that that pack was your lifeline.

Pony
12-28-2010, 16:50
Sitting around the campfire just north of Stratton with some friends sipping on some whisky and wine, having a good old fashioned sing along. A group of incoming freshmen from Tuft's University were camped nearby and came over to join us. They asked us a ton of questions about the trail and after some wine and whisky, our answers were colorful to say the least. I think we scared the crap out of those poor kids, but it was one of the best times I had on the trail.

Awol1970
12-28-2010, 18:31
[QUOTE
I like epics.[/QUOTE]

That made me spit coffee

hikerboy57
12-29-2010, 10:39
[QUOTE
I like epics.

That made me spit coffee[/QUOTE]
Summer 2009 3rd week of August, I have plans to hike from franconia notch to pinkham. Left my car at Pinkham took a shuttle to the trailhead, had meant to take falling waters trail, but the shuttle let me out at Liberty Springs instead. Didnt get on the trail till 11:30 am. This turned out to be the hottest week of the summer, with temps in the 80s even above treeline. No clouds, no haze, phenomal views but hot, hot hot, and I was out of water already coming off Lafayette. At the base of Mt Garfield I was dehydrated, feeling a bit nauseous and totally spent. I ran into two other hikers who said they could spare a little water, so we coaxed each other up this last peak, with Garfield Shelter as our goal. It took nearly 2 hrs to get up 1200ft elevation, we finally got to the turnoff for the site, with a spur trail to the top of Mt Garfield.Initially we were just going to head straight to the shelter, as it wa almost dark, but we decided to tough it out and tag the top. We reached the observation platform just as the sun was hitting the horizon with a 360 view , not a cloud in the sky,. We stood there for almost an hour , watching the stars wink on, first one at a time, then by the hundreds, til we were surrounded by stars wherever we looked. We hiked down to the shelter by headlamp. I'm glad I had put in the extra effort, it was one of the most memrable moments I've ever had.I now carry a 3L bladder instead of two.

10-K
12-29-2010, 11:00
I'm glad I had put in the extra effort, it was one of the most memrable moments I've ever had.I now carry a 3L bladder instead of two.

Good story...

I try to explain to people that, when you're hiking, the harder something is to do the bigger the payoff. It's true often enough for me.

mweinstone
12-29-2010, 11:05
springer feaver is the best and worst exsperience of my life.

Indi
12-29-2010, 12:45
Best time: When I completed my first section hike. Elated and ready to go again!

Worst: Climbing Blood Mt, being excited, pulled out cell to call family (no one around) found out my twin brother committed suicide. Miss Janet was a God-send that day!!!

@_@! Jesus, Joe, I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm glad Miss Janet was nearby.

CrumbSnatcher
12-29-2010, 13:18
Best time: When I completed my first section hike. Elated and ready to go again!

Worst: Climbing Blood Mt, being excited, pulled out cell to call family (no one around) found out my twin brother committed suicide. Miss Janet was a God-send that day!!!sorry for your loss joe

WILLIAM HAYES
12-29-2010, 15:08
worst experience-first time I ever hiked on the AT or hiked anyplace for that matter did a section into Hot Springs -first day with a 50 lb pack I did 15 miles and became dehydrated from not drinking enough water and spent two days in the Hospital in Asheville NC.Best experience-since then I have lightened my load and honestly never had a bad day on the trail even in blizzard like conditions in the Smokies one year or in the rain in Maine.Every day has been great and I have met some great people on the tr

ashleigh22
12-30-2010, 16:15
Thanks to all who responded, can't wait to share my own! :)


Joe, I am very sorry for your loss.. I am also glad Miss Janet was there for you.