Agree. Its almost a toss of the dice when it comes to ticks, everything else there is some sort of controlOriginally Posted by 4eyedbuzzard
Falls, drowning, and getting seized by some sort of sudden medical issue.
I've had near misses with all three.
Oh yeah, and car accidents on the way to and from the trail and at road crossings and trailheads. Cars are dangerous things.
I know, too mundane.
Last edited by Another Kevin; 12-31-2015 at 02:33.
I always know where I am. I'm right here.
Bears, snakes, bad people, anything making noise right outside my tent at night that's probably a chipmunk but in my mind will be a bear or a bad person. Knee injury, injury from falling, ticks, poison ivy, blisters, any sudden medical emergency in the middle of no where. Lightning, crashing tree limb or tree in a wind storm.
When does the cool transformation happen?
good health. ideally i hope to complete the at and that depends on good health.
the financial aspect of it. i cant afford to get sucked into the desire to head into town to much
For some it's not having TP and Wet Wipes.
Most things that concern me can be mitigated (hanging food, wearing DEET, etc.), but this tends to spook me a bit, sometimes irrationally, when the tree tops are whipsawing and bits of trees are falling around me that I cannot see in time to dodge. I have only been hit by acorns and an occasional pine cone on the head, which hurt like hell and let me know a 10 lb branch could be the end of things.
One reason I hike is because of the freedom from life's constraints it affords. One of my worst fears is having an individual like Mary Ellen (from A Walk in The Woods) latch on to me while hiking. Ugg.
I don't know when it happened-but I journaled about it when I realized it, in Maine. http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=514575
I did get a secondary lightning strike in VT, coming down Killington. The lighting hit (or came up) directly in front of me, threw my poles from my hands and resulted in blistering burns on my body and mild capilary flowering. I felt the current in my body. I have suffered some slight hearing loss from that and my ears are still ringing months later.
If I were to hike again-I would definitely be more careful in lightning storms on ridge lines. After that, my heart beat a little faster when I heard those storms rolling in, and I did seek some sort of shelter immediately. You think..what are the odds...but after that happened I felt like the odds were pretty good. Your best weapon against all sorts of situations is your gut. Go against it and you almost always regret it.
Lol ! You're way too nice . Share stories of your twisted tormented mind...problem solved.One reason I hike is because of the freedom from life's constraints it affords. One of my worst fears is having an individual like Mary Ellen (from A Walk in The Woods) latch on to me while hiking. Ugg.
Getting lost is a way to find yourself.
I have only two fears on the trail in general: Avalanches (obviously no deal on the AT, but huge out here in CO, even in May and June when doing snow climbs) and hypothermia. I've been hypothermic twice, both times in the late spring (on the AT) and summer (in Colorado). Scary and no fun. Both times I've been there have been because I was drenched from constant, all-day raining that no equipment I had would guard against, other than just pitching camp when the rain started. Who wants to do that?
..
Lightning on the AT? Zero worries. Try hiking in Colorado in the summer. Ticks? Just inspect yourself, zero worries. Bears? Only in Grizzly country. Bees, definitely the most dangerous animal out there? Not allergic. Snakes? A little concern in the lowlands (AT), zero concern in the CO high country. Cougars? A tad, especially here in the foothills, or in some of the bars around town....
I'll go with hypothermia. It usually can be controlled by proper hydration, but trail conditions are not controllable. Continuous cold rain is the worst.
Snakes and a rip roaring long duration case of explosive projectile diarrhea.
I just bought one of those from WB. I love it so far.
I just laughed out loud at this. Last year I was hiking with a couple guys in the mountains around CSpgs. I'd never hiked with them before and they'd spent the whole time treating me like a delicate little flower...am I okay, do I need to rest, can I get over that rock, etc. We were walking back to the car and were maybe 300 feet away from it on the road when I saw a tiny little garter snake about 30 feet ahead of us. I didn't think anything of it. Well, one of the guys didn't notice it and when we got about 2 feet away he jumped two feet into the air and squealed...LOUDLY. The third guy and I laughed at him all the way to the car.
Same here, the rest of the items mention worry me very little or not at all.
Ok so all I have to do is hike from Georgia to Maine. : )
Did my first backpacking adventure last month (November) - section 1 of PCT. Left my car in Warner Springs and rode a bus to Campo, 109 miles away. Got off the bus alone, just me and my 50+ pound backpack. The wind was blowing. It was off season, so no other hikers around... Did I mention I was alone, and 100 miles from my car? I was excited, but nervous, I guess, in general, about all the things that could go wrong. It turned out to be a great adventure, tho!
Good trip report and happy for you, sincerely. I usually always start a 2 to 3 week backpacking trip by getting shuttled up to a trailhead and stepping out of a car. It's the best feeling of the whole trip---that first step---with everything I need for 20+ days.
Thanks, TW. Well, for me being a first timer and knowing my age, it was the worst feeling. It was real good when I ran into another solo hiker out there, and we hiked the rest of the way together.
Love the journal entry! So true!!
Take Time to Watch the Trees Dance with The Wind........Then Join In........
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