View Full Version : Class of 2013 -- Top Five Things To Make You Reconsider Your Upcoming AT Thru-hike
If others have elements to add to this list, please add:
5) You don't have $5,000 in cash to utilize on your AT thru-hike -- If you don't have $5,000 in cash available it's likely, but not guaranteed, that you'll run out of money before you finish your AT thru-hike -- why not wait until you have the cash available in order to improve your chances to complete an AT thru-hike? The chances of you completing your AT thru-hike, even with loads of money, are already very low (significantly less than 25% of the people who start an AT thru-hike actually complete their AT thru-hikes). Also, if you're a northbounder you'll want to have half your money still available when you reach the southern Connecticut border since the costs in the northeastern US states is much greater than the costs of the southern and mid-Atlantic states.
4) You're under 30 and haven't completed at least one year of time toward obtaining a Bachelor's degree -- the gap between the Haves and the Have-nots in society is widening incrementally every year and those with a Bachelor's degree have a much better chance of being in the Haves category during their lifetime. If you haven't yet started the road to obtaining your Bachelor's degree, why not use your money toward starting college rather than doing your AT thru-hike?
3) You're over 30 and have a solid career path AS WELL AS a job you enjoy and is fruitful -- why leave a good thing unless you can take a leave of absence from your job with a guarantee of a job when you return from your AT thru-hike?
2) You have an affliction that will make AT thru-hiking miserable -- I wouldn't lie to you -- thru-hiking the AT will likely be the biggest physical challenge most thru-hikers will ever face in their lives. If you've got some kind of affliction that will make trail life miserable, why put yourself through an AT thru-hike?
1) You're happily married and your spouse is upset about you leaving to thru-hike the AT -- "Spouse" doesn't mean girlfriend/boyfriend -- there's a whole other world once you get legally married that could have drastic negative life effects if you're married and your spouse is against "that whole thru-hiking thing'. You can always get another girlfriend/boyfriend -- getting another spouse is an entirely different and much more sizable consideration. If you're unhappily married and planning on thru-hiking the AT or you've found that you've married a dream-killer -- that's another matter. I've hiked with more than a few people who were unhappily married so that situation is not uncommon when thru-hiking the AT. Just be sure your happily married spouse is gung-ho about you thru-hiking the AT before you start making permanent plans -- otherwise you are going to be carrying on your back way, way more than just your backpack while you're thru-hiking.
Datto
turtle fast
01-04-2013, 11:23
- The boss/company just realized how valuable and integral to the company you are and just raised your salary/wage to stupid money level and/or promotion.
- You did something stupid and into legal trouble or incarcerated
- You just found out your spouse/girlfriend is pregnant
Captain Blue
01-04-2013, 11:47
You just read Bill Bryson's book titled "A Walk In The Woods" and it inspired you to thru hike the AT.
Camel2012
01-04-2013, 12:09
You figure out it's not just a walk in the park. It's actually work.
kythruhiker
01-04-2013, 12:23
People who gave up on their dreams try to talk you out of pursuing yours. Don't let them.
Hosaphone
01-04-2013, 13:32
- You just found out your spouse/girlfriend is pregnant
Hey, 9 months should be plenty of time to finish a thruhike!
kythruhiker
01-04-2013, 13:34
- You just found out your spouse/girlfriend is pregnant
That shouldn't stop a hike, however "You just found out your spouse AND girlfriend are pregnant" would probably put a good dent in the plans...
Old Hiker
01-04-2013, 14:23
That shouldn't stop a hike, however "You just found out your spouse AND girlfriend are pregnant" would probably put a good dent in the plans...
Or cause you to get on the Trail earlier than you were going to.
Josh Calhoun
01-04-2013, 16:38
only thing Bill Brysons "a walk in the woods" would inspire me to do is throw the book in the trash can :)
You just found out your spouse/girlfriend is pregnant
You just found out YOU are pregnant. :D
SCRUB HIKER
01-04-2013, 17:38
That shouldn't stop a hike, however "You just found out your spouse AND girlfriend are pregnant" would probably put a good dent in the plans...
No, it would just make me reconsider what trail to hike. The CDT or "Alone Across Alaska" would be sounding better and better each day.
You just read Bill Bryson's book titled "A Walk In The Woods" and it inspired you to thru hike the AT.
only thing Bill Brysons "a walk in the woods" would inspire me to do is throw the book in the trash can :)
Oh come on, I was inspired by that book and so were a thousand other thru-hikers. Quit hatin.
4) You're under 30 and haven't completed at least one year of time toward obtaining a Bachelor's degree -- the gap between the Haves and the Have-nots in society is widening incrementally every year and those with a Bachelor's degree have a much better chance of being in the Haves category during their lifetime. If you haven't yet started the road to obtaining your Bachelor's degree, why not use your money toward starting college rather than doing your AT thru-hike?
I found some of the information in this article to be applicable to Number 4 above:
http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2013/05/29/18564363-for-a-job-after-graduation-major-in-these-not-those?lite
Datto
Thanks for such well thought out posts. I appreciate it.
Butterfly58
05-31-2013, 11:58
If others have elements to add to this list, please add:
2) You have an affliction that will make AT thru-hiking miserable -- I wouldn't lie to you -- thru-hiking the AT will likely be the biggest physical challenge most thru-hikers will ever face in their lives. If you've got some kind of affliction that will make trail life miserable, why put yourself through an AT thru-hike?
Datto
Well, I can answer this one. It's been a life-long dream for me. I have Multiple Sclerosis. Got diagnosed in 2005. Had to quit hiking and backpacking for awhile. But I never gave up on my dream even though everybody said I would never be able to do it. Especially now, with MS. I might not be able to do it. It certainly will make it much more difficult. I might not make it out of GA. Hell, I might not make it to Neel's Gap. But it beats sitting here on the couch and reading books about it and dreaming about it. I figure I gotta try it. I just don't want to look back on my life and say I never even tried. If I can't do it or if I hate it or it's too much for me, then oh well... Dreams aren't always realistic, now are they? :)
max patch
05-31-2013, 12:10
Well, I can answer this one. It's been a life-long dream for me. I have Multiple Sclerosis. Got diagnosed in 2005. Had to quit hiking and backpacking for awhile. But I never gave up on my dream even though everybody said I would never be able to do it. Especially now, with MS. I might not be able to do it. It certainly will make it much more difficult. I might not make it out of GA. Hell, I might not make it to Neel's Gap. But it beats sitting here on the couch and reading books about it and dreaming about it. I figure I gotta try it. I just don't want to look back on my life and say I never even tried. If I can't do it or if I hate it or it's too much for me, then oh well... Dreams aren't always realistic, now are they? :)
Google Bob Barker. He hiked the trail 3 times in the 80s with MS. Here is a brief blurb from a book:
http://books.google.com/books?id=rp6RywISXngC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=bob+barker+appalachian+trail&source=bl&ots=j4o3PRjbeP&sig=XoCS76cYIyvFRjUNAA1f_x_JlPY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_sioUY3CLY-C9QSMz4FY&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=bob%20barker%20appalachian%20trail&f=false
I wish you the best.
max patch
05-31-2013, 12:25
Bob Barker is also interviewed in the video "Five Million Steps".
https://www.atctrailstore.org/catalog/iteminfo.cfm?itemid=90&compid=1
Butterfly58
05-31-2013, 12:36
Thanks for the good wishes Max Patch (which is also one of the beautiful places on the trail). I have actually been there! But I cheated and drove up there and then walked across the top. Luckily for me, I still have pretty good mobility and don't have to use crutches, which is another good reason to go now instead of waiting any longer. MS is a strange disease. It is different in everyone. I have mostly cognitive problems which got in my way of working :( Major memory problems and some speech processing problems. I have some spasticity in my legs from time to time but not that big a deal. One of my worst symptoms in temperature regulation. I think that one will give me the most trouble so I'm trying to think ahead to make sure at least in the beginning to be warm enough.
God bless you on your journey!
Well, I can answer this one. It's been a life-long dream for me. I have Multiple Sclerosis. Got diagnosed in 2005. Had to quit hiking and backpacking for awhile. But I never gave up on my dream even though everybody said I would never be able to do it. Especially now, with MS. I might not be able to do it. It certainly will make it much more difficult. I might not make it out of GA. Hell, I might not make it to Neel's Gap. But it beats sitting here on the couch and reading books about it and dreaming about it. I figure I gotta try it. I just don't want to look back on my life and say I never even tried. If I can't do it or if I hate it or it's too much for me, then oh well... Dreams aren't always realistic, now are they? :)
I found this to also be an interesting topic in relation to Item 4 above -- that a Bachelor's Degree is the minimum necessary education these days (above) and the widening gap between The Haves and the Have Nots:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/who-killed-the-american-dream-2013-06-28?pagenumber=1
Datto
MuddyWaters
07-04-2013, 16:06
I found this to also be an interesting topic in relation to Item 4 above -- that a Bachelor's Degree is the minimum necessary education these days (above) and the widening gap between The Haves and the Have Nots:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/who-killed-the-american-dream-2013-06-28?pagenumber=1
Datto
The more you have, the more they take.
Ironic that a family can spend every dime they make, and their kids can qualify for all kinds of federal student aid for college, but if a family with equivalent income saves their money instead of spending it on cars, houses, etc, their kids wont qualify for any.
Besides, who wants to be an obese 50 yr old sitting behind a desk, that never hiked the AT when they had the chance?
Life isnt about money, or possessions. Its about people and experiences.
Smart people excel at what they do, regardless of degrees as well.
The really ironic thing to me, is that with todays technologies we should be working less than our parents and grandparents, with more leisurely lives. Instead, people are working more than ever, and are saddled with more debt as well. Not only that, but both spouses work substantially reducing quality of family life as compared to the past.
Why? Because they want useless things, fancy houses, cars, iphones, ipads. Things that dont matter. They want them because everyone else has them, not because they need them.
People are stupid.
kayak karl
07-04-2013, 19:04
the have and have nots? have what? what is important to have is very different to people. i doubt the 1% even have hiking the trail on their list of want to haves.
Life isnt about money, or possessions. Its about people and experiences.
I hope every twenty-something reads that quote above and understands the wisdom.
There's a treatise I've been working on specifically directed toward twenty-somethings. Originally, it started out as being the Five Biggest Mistakes To Make In Your Twenties but after a while I realized that would be too negative of a title. I'm still massaging the content when I get a moment but at times (even with me looking back to me in my twenties) I think it wouldn't make a difference. So it's somewhat shelved right now.
Datto
Biggie Master
07-04-2013, 19:41
Life isnt about money, or possessions. Its about people and experiences.
And relationships.
Smart people excel at what they do, regardless of degrees as well.
I think there's also the element of drive, desire, and work ethic as a predictor of financial success. Those who "have,", generally have worked hard to earn what they have. Degree or not, money doesn't automatically appear in your accounts. As Dave Ramsey says, you have to leave the cave, kill something, and drag it back home.
People are stupid.
Some are, but mostly people are just different. They have different goals and ambitions. Different doesn't equal wrong. In the end it's their life to live. LYOL/HYOH
fiddlehead
07-04-2013, 20:59
Drive, motivation, desire, whatever you want to call it is the main thing.
All that other stuff is minor: age, amount of money, health.
If you make hiking the trail your #1 priority in life. (i mean really no. 1), and you have enough drive to get up every morning in time to complete your goal, you can make it.
Back in the 90's, many thru-hikers I knew were enjoying their hikes more than worrying about their credit card balances. (not saying I was one of them, but that's how it was)
Pack weight is another biggie, or at least the open-minded ability to change your ways and get lighter when you see different ways out there. (you can finish a trail with a broken arm, but not a broken back)
Now, the one's who read Bryson's book and think they're going to go out and enjoy the moving party up the trail, they're priorities might get them thru, but , .......the one who has the motivation to get out of the bag (or town) when the weather is not so good, and get walking, that's the one who has the priorities to help them make it.
(and you'd better enjoy walking, before you even start)
MuddyWaters
07-04-2013, 22:28
Some are, but mostly people are just different. They have different goals and ambitions. Different doesn't equal wrong. In the end it's their life to live. LYOL/HYOH
When I said people, I mean collectively, as in society.
I stand behind that.
Work your life away to have all the cheap disposeable chinese crap possible, and destroy the earth in the process.
Stupid.
My biggest problem has been I reached a point where the desire to hike had been partially satisfied and the desire to remain with my wife grown stronger.
Without the encouragement (actually more like insistence) of my wife to continue that would have sent me home.
There's a follow-up article on NBC News on the subject of The American Dream and tangentially, relating to Number 4 and Number 3 above above:
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/state-american-dream-uncertain-6C10508356
Datto
Work your life away to have all the cheap disposeable chinese crap possible, and destroy the earth in the process.
Stupid.
Nothing lightbulbs our lemming society more than the victorious steerage by Madison Avenue.
Datto
Another article about The American Dream (below).
I can tell you my personal experience is that people can only define what it is they don't want. Determining what is you truly want out of life is very hard work. Most will never in their life sit down and figure out the true answer to that question. The result: They lead the life someone else wants them to lead -- they lead the life their parents, spouse, Society, employer, friends want them to lead. For some, that is "good enough". There are those words again -- "good enough". Thus the words from Thoreau: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them."
Anyway, here's Chuck Jaffe's article on How To Realize Your 'American Dream':
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-realize-your-american-dream-2013-07-04?pagenumber=1
Datto
max patch
07-07-2013, 14:04
Not just going to work every day, coming home, watching television until it's time to go to bed, then waking up the next day and doing the same thing again.
The opportunity in life is so much more.
Why would you squander it?
Datto
If watching TV is squandering life - and I am not disagreeing with this statement - then so is reading an internet hiking forum.
Lone Wolf
07-07-2013, 14:25
If watching TV is squandering life - and I am not disagreeing with this statement - then so is reading an internet hiking forum.
:cool:.........
hikerboy57
07-07-2013, 14:40
just call us the squanderers
Something related that might be of interest to a few as a foothold:
https://www.sfs.opm.gov/
Datto
If watching TV is squandering life - and I am not disagreeing with this statement - then so is reading an internet hiking forum.
Well not really. It can be a time drain but there is usually a purpose to my browsing. Learning about long distance hiking and preparing for my trip. I turned my TV off on December 31, 2012 and other than for live sports have yet to turn it back on.
Jack Tarlin
07-07-2013, 15:58
In regards to the original post, I personally know or have met hundreds of hikers (recent ones) that have hiked on less than $5,000.00, in fact I think the majority of hikers, especially younger ones (who lack the financial comfort level of older folks and retirees), spend less than this. A five thousand dollar budget translates to almost $200.00 a week or more than 27 dollars per day. In that a hiker spends minimal money or nothing at all at least three days a week, this translates to a budget of around $50.00 per day over the course of the whole trip. I know of very few people (especially younger ones) who spent this much money, so take heart, people. While it'd sure be nice to do so, you do not need five grand to thru-hike. (It should also be pointed out that many of the younger hikers who exceed the $5000.00 figure are not paying for their own trips in part or in entirety; i.e. a tight budget and concern over money was not a consideration for them).
MuddyWaters
07-07-2013, 15:59
If watching TV is squandering life - and I am not disagreeing with this statement - then so is reading an internet hiking forum.
That probably depends on the extent.
If its all one does in ones spare time, on weekends, etc, then maybe so.
If watching TV is squandering life - and I am not disagreeing with this statement - then so is reading an internet hiking forum.
It's the mindless vegetating in front of a television for hours on-end, day-after-day, that creates the giant sucking sound of life disappearing.
I mean, how many hours of Honey Boo-Boo can you take time out to watch before Newton Minow shows up at your house and says, "What are you doing with yourself?"
Here's the difference: Coming here to Whiteblaze is directed purpose, subject-tailored. Many times, not always, it's a dialog. Alternative views to your own are presented that provoke thought (and sometimes more -- good or bad). Instead of 150 channels where you've worn out the up/dn button on the remote just looking for something, anything, that might be interesting and relevant -- on the Internet a bazillion channels are available. It'd take you weeks to punch through the channels of interesting and seemingly relevant material.
Of course, you have to develop a thick skin but hey, it makes embalming unnecessary when you arrive at the pyramid.
Datto
Harrison Bergeron
07-08-2013, 15:59
#6) You're in your late 50's and can afford to take early retirement, but you've discovered that the Fortune-500 company that's been sucking the life out of you for the past 20 years doesn't offer retiree medical insurance and you're uninsurable in the private market because like most 50-year-olds you take medication for high-blood pressure and high cholesterol and at your age you can't find a better job and you can't risk going without insurance because you'd like to live long enough to see your grandkids grow up so you're stuck in your high-paid dead-end job until you're old enough to qualify for guberment insurance but can no longer physically tolerate sleeping on a 1" sleeping pad or climbing 4000 ft mountains.
Moral of the story -- before you accept a 20-year sentence in a Fortune-500 cubical, make sure you've got retiree medical. Believe it or not, you will be old some day.
Switch to a Hammock .... and why would being in your 60's be a problem?
#6) You're in your late 50's and can afford to take early retirement, but you've discovered that the Fortune-500 company that's been sucking the life out of you for the past 20 years doesn't offer retiree medical insurance and you're uninsurable in the private market because like most 50-year-olds you take medication for high-blood pressure and high cholesterol and at your age you can't find a better job and you can't risk going without insurance because you'd like to live long enough to see your grandkids grow up so you're stuck in your high-paid dead-end job until you're old enough to qualify for guberment insurance but can no longer physically tolerate sleeping on a 1" sleeping pad or climbing 4000 ft mountains.
Moral of the story -- before you accept a 20-year sentence in a Fortune-500 cubical, make sure you've got retiree medical. Believe it or not, you will be old some day.
If watching TV is squandering life - and I am not disagreeing with this statement - then so is reading an internet hiking forum.
It's the mindless vegetating in front of a television for hours on-end, day-after-day, that creates the giant sucking sound of life disappearing.
I mean, how many hours of Honey Boo-Boo can you take time out to watch before Newton Minow shows up at your house and says, "What are you doing with yourself?"
Here's the difference: Coming here to Whiteblaze is directed purpose, subject-tailored. Many times, not always, it's a dialog. Alternative views to your own are presented that provoke thought (and sometimes more -- good or bad). Instead of 150 channels where you've worn out the up/dn button on the remote just looking for something, anything, that might be interesting and relevant -- on the Internet a bazillion channels are available. It'd take you weeks to punch through the channels of interesting and seemingly relevant material.
Of course, you have to develop a thick skin but hey, it makes embalming unnecessary when you arrive at the pyramid.
Datto
Your right about honey boo boo. That fat little brat will suck your soul and eat it just like it's just one more honey bun.
Moral of the story -- before you accept a 20-year sentence in a Fortune-500 cubical, make sure you've got retiree medical. Believe it or not, you will be old some day.
No worries about that these days. You would be damned lucky to get a 20 year sentence anywhere except the State Pen. I'm in my late 40's, and I have already worked for 3 different companies where I should have either retired or died on the job. For better or worse, long-term employment stability is long gone.
Of course, so is retiree medical.
Harrison Bergeron
07-09-2013, 15:54
Switch to a Hammock .... and why would being in your 60's be a problem?
a. Because I've tried a hammock. My back don't bend that way anymore.
b. Because being 59 is already almost a problem.
Not everyone is blessed with the DNA to arrive at their golden years capable of hiking 2000 miles in a pair of Keds, sleeping under a shower curtain. Not complaining. I'm in good health and lots of people have it worse. I can't even complain about my job situation (although like Joe Walsh, "some times I still do"). I'm just grousing because it looks like there's going to be at least one dream I'm probably not going to be able to check off the old bucket list.
In 10 years, you may be amazed at how quickly it all starts to go. I remember being a young whippersnapper of 50, and wondering what the big deal was. Then I hit 55.
While it'd sure be nice to do so, you do not need five grand to thru-hike.
Below is a link to another thread on the same subject of how much money is "necessary" to have available for an AT thru-hike.
My statement than a person needs $5,000 available to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail includes these elements:
* The hike year is 2014
* The person carries their backpack past every white blaze on their AT thru-hike (not skip 500 miles and call it done)
* The person completes their AT thru-hike in one hiking season
* The person isn't starting in super-fitness shape (not a personal fitness coach or marathon runner or similar -- just the normal Joe)
* The AT thru-hike lasts 160-180 calendar days on Trail, start to finish
* The AT thru-hike includes 25 zero days, taken in town with most overnight stays in motels rather than camping or hostels (includes time off in town for sickness/recovery -- for instance, I took a couple of extra days off when I face-planted into poison ivy to treat the poison ivy and bring the itching down to a dull roar)
* The AT thru-hiker likes to have a few beers in town
* The AT thru-hiker doesn't intend to resupply out of hiker boxes (gags me to think of what I saw in some of those hiker boxes).
* The AT thru-hiker takes a few side trips off-trail during their AT thru-hike (for instance, I went to Washington, DC for a day and saw the sights, saw Gettysburg and the Battlefield and went to a wedding while on my AT thru-hike)
* The $5,000 cost starts when you leave your front door until you return to your front door -- includes travel, meals and overnight stay to and from the Trail, health insurance if carrying it, gear replenishment and replacement but not original purchase of gear and everything Trail related door to door (grocery food, postage, maildrop boxes, restaurant food, alcohol, gear replacement, medicine and injury treatment, telephone charges, the works).
As far as a thru-hiker just out of college being able to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail -- I don't think I'd have been able to cut much in expenses below $5,000 when I came out of college if I was headed straight from college to the AT for my AT thru-hike. I certainly lived lean in college (lived in my car for months on more than one occasion when I was in college when I ran out of money and ate more macaroni and cheese with hotdogs with green beans in the mac than I can stand to think about). It's the raging appetite, the incessant rain then incessant heat, the friends you make on the Trail who also want to go into town for pizza and the complete shock-change of environment that causes expenses for a normal AT thru-hiker to be what they are. And those expenses, in current times, are $5,000.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?92321-how-much-money-should-I-have
Datto