I am so glad to hear it's doing well - I love that section in Massachusetts and have happy memories of ducking in there for hot chocolate and warming by the fire on a cold rainy July day when it was...
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I am so glad to hear it's doing well - I love that section in Massachusetts and have happy memories of ducking in there for hot chocolate and warming by the fire on a cold rainy July day when it was...
I think it's interesting how much we like to be in other people's business - determining what they should or should not do. That was my main point.
My philosophy isn't just go for it, and...
When I did my thru, I was surprised at how often there would be a privy where I needed it. So thus no cathole had to be dug. When that wasn't the case, if one goes well off trail and well away from...
I would say rinse the pee rag regularly. I never used a p-style but learned to pee standing up with pack on without one. I basically got tired of taking off my pack. I drank a lot of water and peed...
Solo thru-hiker. No weapon. No bear spray. Never had any need whatsoever.
I know several women who were successful and happy thru hikers who had not spent much time at all camping or backpacking. I would let her ask the questions and answer what she wants to know, and not...
When I started my thru (flip flop), I was doing about 1.5 miles per hour in central Virginia. I remember being so excited that I did a 2.5 mph section one morning in the Shenandoahs, about week 4. ...
I would agree that you don't have to find a hiking partner right away. If you are hiking NOBO, there will be a lot of people and you can see who you connect with. Another strategy that lots of...
No experience with down socks or booties, though they sound great! I found that physically warming my feet with my hands if they were super-cold helped a lot. Once they were warm themselves, then...
Yeah. What people said. Live your life, not someone else's version of what your life should be. Best wishes, whatever age you are! :)
Catawba, VA -McAfee Knob to somewhere north of there is relatively easy and you can do super-short days if you want. 4 miles to just beyond McAfee Knob, 6-7 miles to Lambert Meadows, 8 miles to a...
I didn't bring a pack towel on my thru. I used a bandanna for wiping off the condensation in my silnylon tent, and for everything else. I even used the bandanna to dry off in a campground shower...
Robin! I will message you! Would love to connect!
And ladies, there are kinder forums out there. Many on Facebook. Look into Trail Dames (need to be a Trail Dames member, but that's...
Lightweight definitely doesn't necessarily mean fast. I didn't qualify as Ultralight on my hike but did manage to be kinda-sorta-light. I hiked for a couple of days with Ray Jardine in 2009 - ran...
Before I started my hike, I heard about the Barefoot Sisters, though I hadn't yet read their books (didn't do that until I finished my hike, so I didn't know about all the trials and tribulations...
I hiked most of my hike solo and loved it! I liked hiking at my own pace and stopping when I wanted to stop. That said, I was rarely alone at night because as others have said, people tend to clump...
Oh, and here's the link to my entire AT journal.
http://carlasat.wordpress.com/
I wrote nearly every day and there's a wealth of info here and photos and much more. I have posted this...
Dear sweet max patch,
I will leave it up to the women who visit this forum to decide what to think, what to invest, whether to participate as faculty and whether I am like Warren Doyle, Jack...
Hey everyone!
I'm Zipper (AT 09) and this is the second year I'm hosting Wild and White Blazing, a set of "virtual campfires" (conference calls) for women planning a thru hike. We had an...
I'm hoping for a five year reunion at Trail Days - hope to see the class of '09 there!
Selfishly, Damascus is a little closer than Pine Grove Furnace to New Orleans!
I was at the museum this...
I believe you can hike a thru hike and not get major blisters. You have to have the discipline to stop when you don't want to stop and take care of your feet. I hiked in 6.5 months - the whole AT -...
I think it depends on whether you want to be hiking with the thru class of that particular year. If that's important to you, then you'll want to start on the trail where the main "bubble" of hikers...
Love what Coffeebagger said.
And all the other advice too.
Bad things could happen anywhere. You're more likely to be harmed in a parking garage than on the trail, probably.
My experience...
I understand what you mean about mental versus physical preparation. And I did a lot of thinking about what I could do to be mentally prepared. Here's some of what I did. Before my thru, I camped...
Trauma last year at ALDHA mentioned using the shiny side of the duct tape right on the blister and then a larger piece with sticky side down, so the blistered area would not be "stuck" with the tape...