View Full Version : Thru Hike Training
jjimen16
01-12-2012, 21:33
Went for a walk today. Got pulled by the cops. I guess its kinda weird seeing a guy with a beard and a fully loaded backpack walking thru the neighborhood.
"what you got in the backpack?" :mad:
-"About 25 lbs without food and water. Tho For my thru hike I'm going for more of an ultralight approach" :rolleyes:
"??? Looks like you got the right shoes for it too." :confused:
-"Yup. Whelp, see ya later." :cool:
Yup, you're hiker trash now!
Vagrant on a Mission. Awesome.
There's a trail name in there somewhere.......
5-0? APB? Frisk? Hands Up?
Brings back old memories, I started on the local track walking with my wife, pack in tow. Too many questions, not hard enough.
Brought it to local trail that I "train" on................what others have said is true, the only real way to prep is backpacking up & down STEEP HILLS. As a section hiker I have never fully experienced getting my "trail legs", longest section hike about 150 miles.............so far.
Before my hike to NH last Fall, I walked up and down the hills on our property, seemed to help a lot.
Pedaling Fool
01-14-2012, 15:35
Went for a walk today. Got pulled by the cops. I guess its kinda weird seeing a guy with a beard and a fully loaded backpack walking thru the neighborhood.
"what you got in the backpack?" :mad:
-"About 25 lbs without food and water. Tho For my thru hike I'm going for more of an ultralight approach" :rolleyes:
Try loading up a bicycle and ride around, doesn't take long before people start asking if you're homeless.
On one of my trips up the east coast I stopped in Southport, NC; I was just too tired to look for a stealthy spot, didn't even feel like setting up my tent, so I slept under a pavillion adjacent to the Cape Fear Restaurant & Lounge. At about 5 in the morning some little yap-yap mut starts barking at me, not sure why because I never saw him coming, I was just sleeping there under the pavillion. But that mut must've alerted the cops who came by and shined their light on me asking me a bunch of questions, starting with, "Are you homeless?" They made it pretty clear that they wanted me to move on, so I packed up and went to Waffle House:)
BTW, the Cape Fear Restaurant & Lounge has outstanding food, either that or I was just hungry as hell:D
RWheeler
01-14-2012, 15:43
I've walked around the lake by my house with about 40lbs on my back, just to up it a bit more, and I've gotten such weird looks.
I know it's probably a weird sight for everyone else, but I just smile and continue on as if there's absolutely nothing out of the ordinary with a guy walking down a gravel path with enough gear to survive out there in a blizzard.
Smokestack
01-14-2012, 18:56
The best way around this problem is to hang a sign on the back of your pack. I've found HAZMAT fairly effective. Or you can really try to confuse them -- try something like Google Maps Street View.
Depends where you live.
Here in Colorado (and Boulder in particular), if you see a person hiking up a local foothill trail you assume they are training for something. :)