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Crusinsusan
04-11-2013, 22:31
Thought others might like to follow along with my follies for prepping for a 2014 thru on a blog (http://crusinsusan.blogspot.com/). Hope it will be useful for other noobs to see how I stumble through getting myself and gear ready. I've just restarted it with this newest adventure. Just a normal, never-backpacked-overnight-before, person giving this silly idea a go.

Hope you enjoy it. See you next year.

shelb
04-11-2013, 22:53
You might want to check out and/or subscribe to Blissful's hiking blog. A past Thru-hiker, she is now a Ridgerunner along the trail. She just did a section-hike at the start of this season and posted information today that would be valuable for any new AT Thru-hiker.

http://blissfulhiking.blogspot.com/ (http://blissfulhiking.blogspot.com/)

Crusinsusan
04-11-2013, 23:22
Thanks Shelb! Will check it out.

TurboPants
05-07-2013, 16:31
I am also preparing for 2014 and your blog was pretty helpful already in 5 minutes of reading. Will be interested to read more about how your plans change as next year approaches. Keep us posted!

Venchka
05-07-2013, 18:19
Prepping in Florida: Find the tallest building around. Run up and down the stairs. Repeat. Repeat again. Repeat daily.

Wayne

Crusinsusan
05-08-2013, 12:13
Turbo...thanks; and as soon as I figure out my camera phone, i'll be posting pics of the stuff I've got.

Ven...lol...I use bridges. It's all I've got nearby.

Venchka
05-08-2013, 13:06
Turbo...thanks; and as soon as I figure out my camera phone, i'll be posting pics of the stuff I've got.

Ven...lol...I use bridges. It's all I've got nearby.

Bridges work. I used to live in New Orleans. Nothing in a flat, sea level location can really prepare you for the mountains. No worries! After a week in the mountains, I felt better every day.
Good luck!

Wayne

hikerboy57
05-08-2013, 13:12
as far as training for the hills, nothing will prepare you except hiking hills with 30 lbs on your back.
best advice, take the first few days nice and slow, let your legs and body adjust to carrying the weight. after about a week or so, you'll begin to get stronger every day.its not a horse race, or as grim from uncle johnnies put it"its not the first mouse that gets the cheese,its the second."

Crusinsusan
05-08-2013, 14:02
HB..lol, ya. I'm wide open on the hike. If I don't finish, I'll just have at it another time. I'm all about slow and steady.

SoloSonya
05-13-2013, 21:51
Are you going solo? I am in the same situation as you. Never backpacked and wanting to do a thru hike next year. I'm 42 and I'm a little worried about striking out on my own. At least in the beginning. Are you possibly up for some company in the beginning?

hikerboy57
05-13-2013, 21:56
Are you going solo? I am in the same situation as you. Never backpacked and wanting to do a thru hike next year. I'm 42 and I'm a little worried about striking out on my own. At least in the beginning. Are you possibly up for some company in the beginning?
if you start in march or april , you'll have plenty of company at the beginning, and a very caring trail community that wants you to succeed.ive seen more than a few this spring with little or no prior backpacking experience and they were doing just fine. others with more "experience" gave up and went home. do your homework, dont start too early, and you'll do just fine.

Crusinsusan
05-13-2013, 23:07
Are you going solo? I am in the same situation as you. Never backpacked and wanting to do a thru hike next year. I'm 42 and I'm a little worried about striking out on my own. At least in the beginning. Are you possibly up for some company in the beginning?

Solo (that's you're name, right??!!), I'm a solo person, and that's the way I like it. If you read back on my blog to my solo travels rving around the country, you'll see how great it was (at least for me). HB is right too, about the numbers of people doing the trail in early Spring. I, and I suspect you (and most, since most hike solo), will be walking along and meeting up with people at the shelters that we spoke to at lunch.

I too, was very concerned about living in an rv alone, but since it turned out to be one of the greatest things in my life, I want to continue to do wacky solo adventures. I think you'll surprise yourself. There's a HUGE confidence factor that comes with living life on your own terms and taking care of the things that need taking care of (you know, s**t comes up, must be dealt with, so you do, cuz you're it girl!). There's a quiet confidence (as someone said somewhere) from such things.

Don't worry...but if you do, feel the fear and do it anyway.

Glenn Gordon
05-26-2013, 20:18
I'm a newbie heading out solo NOBO mid/late March. Starting to train and get gear together here in Maine. If you're on FB there is a group Appalachian Trail Thru Hike 2014 thats really helpful. Hope to see you all on the trail.

Venchka
05-26-2013, 21:20
Susan,
Have you spent the night in a tent yet? Is there a campground/state park/National Forest campground nearby where you can practice? Load your pack. Park the car away from from your campsire. Walk to your campsite. Maybe take the long way around. Fetch your own water. Cook a meal. Pitch a tent/hang a hammock/DON'T GO BACK TO THE CAR FOR SOMETHING YOU FORGOT! Like a pizza or a sundae.
Looking at the calendar, maybe you should wait until Halloween to do some 1 or 2 night practice camping out of your backpack trips.
In the meantime, hit the roads or trails with your backpack and gear as often as possible. On your non-pack days, walk/run/bike to get some aerobic exercise.
Good luck.

Wayne

tenlots
05-27-2013, 21:06
It works to put your full pack on and do the elliptical. Keep working at it. Helps me do mountains. Take 10 mile walks. Last month prior to hiking, do 10 mile walks with full pack. Sometimes can only do 20 minutes, keep doing it.

Dogwood
05-27-2013, 21:26
Susie Q again like the blog but it's very gear prep focused. Can you give some specific details about how you are prepping for what goes on between your ears during a thru-hike? For starters, what mental traits do you think a wanna do a thru-hike hiker needs to have to complete their anticipated thru-hikes? Given the AT wanna do a thru-hike drop out rate of nearly 9 in 10 how do you propose to put yourself in the BEST possible place to complete a AT thru-hike?

Crusinsusan
05-27-2013, 22:46
Glen...well, I'm sorry, but FB is against my religion. See ya in '14.

Ven...I can't count the number of times I've slept in a tent; but will admit that the only non-car camping I've done is kayak camping. And I hadn't stowed and ice cream. I swear. :P Next week (I hope), I set out to do a whole bunch of stuff I love, and expect to be doing it for a few months: bike camping; kayak camping; hiking; backpacking overnight and more. Gonna get outta FLA to beat the heat and hit all sorts of trails: water/bike/foot. When I get back, and the weather is cooler, I'll slap the pack on and just hike around here (up the bridge...and down...up...and down).

Dog...the blog follows me: I'm gearing up (get it???) to set off for several different sorts of trips this summer, to get me and the gear set up for the AT. So, it's gear focused because that's where I am now. It's about a person doing stuff. And I make no bones about not knowing what's ahead. I'm okay with that. As far as "what it takes" to do a thru...I have no idea. It's easy to say things like "this" or "that", but frankly, I think readers (everywhere reading anyone's similar blog) will have to decide for themselves "what it takes".

I don't do advice (well, sometimes I do, but not "life" advice, 'cuz I've only got my moccasins to walk in), but I'm willing to talk about where those shoes take me, and how. And I can't do that until I've done it. Ya know?

Venchka
05-27-2013, 23:12
When you said that you hadn't backpacked, I didn't know about the kayak and biking. If you can ride or paddle all day, set up camp, cook, sleep and do it all over again tomorrow, you're good.
Escaping the heat is all I think about.

Wayne

lanternknoll
08-19-2013, 13:32
Just an FYI for the future. I spoke to Amicalola Falls yesterday and the $5 fee to leave a vehicule while you hike the trail ( I guess up to 6 months) will be changing soon. I was asking about parking for training hikes this fall. If anyone has more info please post it. I'm in Fl and will be starting some 2-4 day trips in Oct this year.

q-tip
08-20-2013, 09:28
If you are interested, I have an extensive UL-Lightweight Summer-Lightweight 3-season Gear Lists with weights and costs-a food spreadsheet with nutritional info, and a suggested book for physical training-PM me if these might help, Good Luck-I still love the planning......

iamforest
08-27-2013, 22:57
Just an FYI for the future. I spoke to Amicalola Falls yesterday and the $5 fee to leave a vehicule while you hike the trail ( I guess up to 6 months) will be changing soon. I was asking about parking for training hikes this fall. If anyone has more info please post it. I'm in Fl and will be starting some 2-4 day trips in Oct this year.

I am in the same boat, will be doing some day hikes in october and trying to find a place to leave vehicle for 3 or 4 days in that area. Keep me updated!

Crusinsusan
09-13-2013, 19:00
Lantern....what will the fee be changing to?

a-tip....will pm you...not for the gear list (because I really, REALLY have bought enough now!, and frankly I'm not reading anything else on this site about gear!!!....every time I do I think "Wow! kewl beans on that ....gotta have it!...so I've done enough shopping. lol), but I'm game for the nutrition & physical training stuff. Here in Fl, I walk the beach (sand does wonders for the muscles), and bridges, and mess around on my bike and with dumbbells (the weights, not the people). Always interested in what others are doing that way, and about nutrition. So thanks for that.

Crusinsusan
09-13-2013, 19:02
Erm...q-tip...first I have to figure out how to turn on private messaging...lol. Might take a bit of time.

Crusinsusan
09-13-2013, 19:57
And now for an update on this noobs plans: I'm still waffling on doing a thru, and I know that if you come to, afterall, THE AT thru-hiker site and speak of your concerns about disease (I'm here today to get news of norovirus/super-storm sandy tick-explosion), you're bound to get negative responses. And that's fine: lovers of a place/trek should be super enthusiastic about it.

I did attempt a kind of multi-sport trip (which *was* to have included biking the Katy Way Bike Trail, backpacking sections of the AT, and kayaking in the Adirondacks (hands down my favorite earthy place to be), but I lost my wallet the first day I was in Missouri and had to cancel the whole shebang (nightmare outlined on my blog; won't take up space here about that).

So now that I'm much more humble (ever pack for 3 different kinds of camping/vacations and be 800 miles from home with no credit cards/money/debit cards/driver's license? and nearly no gas...ya, me neither! thank heavens for money wires and a kid with cash to do so), I finally got my breath back and took off for some day hikes on the AT and man oh man, have learned a lot and have a lot to learn!

Like: I am NOT in shape and my flat-lander existence (I live in Florida), despite my beach hikes/bridge walking and biking/kayaking is no match for the AT. And I totally get how someone would do just 8-10 miles a day lugging a pack. 'Cuz I did 8 miles a day NOT lugging a pack on my day hikes last week. (Although I was lugging a stupid 8-liter water capacity day pack [yes, it can hold 8 liters of water...I was lugging 2 liters and other items] that was no where near what ANYONE would consider lightweight, that I had bought for my Florida 8-mile beach hikes because, let me tell you, summer hiking in Florida should be illegal, and I bought that day pack after I was 3 miles into what was suppose to have been a 9 mile hike, and my 2 liters of water were gone, and I had to hike back a mile to a water source.)

Anyway, I learned that one should not think that because they are raring to go and on the way to the hotel and passing *right by* Clingmans Dome, wherein there is a 1/2 mile "hike" to the top, that stopping to do said 1/2 mile "hike" is NOT just a simple thing, NOR is it a wonderful way to introduce yourself to the Appalachian Trail!

I don't think I've ever walked a more difficult half mile in my life, and from the looks of those walking it with me, I knew I wasn't alone.

That climb goes down on my "stupider-things-I-have-done" list, not because I did it, but because I did it *first*, and then, all full of myself, I did another couple of miles on the AT itself. Needless to say, when I woke the next morning, my calves were rock solid. If you've ever tried to make cement move, you'll understand why I nearly toppled over when I tried to get out of bed.

So. Start your AT day hikes somewhere else!

I also learned, via the pace I kept on my other 3 consecutive day section hikes, that should I indeed try to attempt an AT thru (and I'm leaning seriously towards sections instead), that my speed will be about 8 miles a day, walking for much longer each day than I did on the day hikes. And I expect that will be true until I am well into the AT and therefore, much stronger.

FWIW, each 3 day hike gained about 1600 in elevation. And when a happy group of hikers, coming from a hiking lodge, came upon me, I was less than friendly as I was taking my one and only rest stop (glorious sitting rock!) and stuffing my mouth with my cliff bar (I really, REALLY need to figure out hiking nutrition) and I feel a bit ashamed at how I acted....I'm sure it seemed rude, but I was totally tapped out, and not as congenial as I would have liked to be.

And I can't even begin to tell you how many items I have formerly ass-u-med I would pack, were being ticked off my list in my head as I trudged up and down.

My noob advice: get on the trail for day hikes (and overnighters, I should think) before you attempt a thru. I knew I would learn from doing so, but I feel so much more, well, intelligent, about it all now.

In no way am I trying to scare anyone away from it; as one noob to another, I'm just saying that reading here at WB is not going to be enough. At least for those of us who are planners and lovers of learning.

Seriously, it was great to get out there and test myself. And a very easy way to introduce myself to the rigors to come (well, Clingman's Dome is the exception to this).

If you feel you need to hear more about my stumblings on the trail, you know where to find me (see sig if you don't) - at least I'm hoping my dang pics from my dang phone will *finally* come through so I can post about it.

Shrek & Fiona
09-13-2013, 22:10
Are you going solo? I am in the same situation as you. Never backpacked and wanting to do a thru hike next year. I'm 42 and I'm a little worried about striking out on my own. At least in the beginning. Are you possibly up for some company in the beginning?
I will turn 44 on my thru in 2015, not worried about age. As far as being alone, even as I hike on the AT in the off seasons I have never been alone. I always meet other hikers on the trail.