it's not just walking

[Pendragon]

Me, I hopped, skipped and jumped for about 460 miles before I had to call it a day and go back home to stew in the sad fact that I hadn't the vacation time or disposable income to finish the trail. It was, to paraphrase that once great commander and chief of this great nation of ours, Franklin D. Roosevelt, a day that will "live in infamy". Or not. ANYway.........I slogged thru aforementioned mucho miliage with my five ton backpack which I had the great good fortune and sense to trade in for a lighter one in the mud and the blood (well, yes, I did bleed from my blisters and raw spots, tyvm) and cold freezing rain and other such trials and tribulations to report to you fine novice fellow backpackers that YES, it was DAMN hard, and although, technically, it WAS walking, it wasn't JUST walking, it was walking with a capital W. The kind of walking that subtracts a good eighth of your body weight, which coming off a small person who doesn't have that much weight to begin with, can be somewhat HIGH impact as opposed to low impact, which "just walking" would imply. It also hurts. As in provides plenty of PAIN. The kind of pain that hauling that heavy backpack full of things you shouldn't have put on your back if ONLY you'd known better BEFOREHAND up the side of mountains and back down again in a kind of "controlled crashland" that takes it's toll on your tendons and ligaments and muscles and other body parts which scream at you, especially at the end of those long LONG days, "what in the HELL are you DOING to us????!!!!" to which you have no answer until......well, until those spiritual moments that answer that question. Yea, just walking. "Just" being relative. It's ALL relative.

[Tipi Walter]

I wrote this crap up on my last February trip when I was holed up in my tent with bronchitis or walking pneumonia and thinking about the different options available for backpackers pulling the AT---

"Pull 7 miles per day and 42 miles per 6 days with Day 7 a zero. It will take 50 weeks to go 2,100 miles. Could be the best year of your life---and in all 4 seasons. Anybody can do 7 mile days, even with a 65 lb pack."

"Or if you want to haul 25 days worth of food with an 80 lb pack you could pull 2 mile days (with a Day 7 zero) and pull 2,100 miles in about 3 years and 10 months. What an awesome trip. You'll have to resupply but with an 80 lb pack you could stay out for 25 or 30 days between resupply---nice! That means about 46 resupplies in 3 years, 10 months. You'll see 4 long winters and everything in between. An epic trip of a lifetime."

"Realistically speaking, even with an 80 lb pack you'll be punching out more than 2 miles a day but who cares? Set a 2 mile a day goal and after 48 miles per month we'll see you at resupply. In reality you'll be starting out with 2 mile days and then up around 7 mile days as the pack drops to 60 or 50 lbs by Day 15 or so. No sweat."

Point is, if you find the Forced March of the AT with 20 mile days to be too much, well, do less miles and plan to stay out for a couple years. Why not? We're either indoors or outdoors. And I assume the Whiteblaze crowd is all about being outdoors.

[Sarcasm the elf]

The thread Kinda reminds me of this photo.



(And no, that's not me.)

[Pages]

Tippi Walter I've been concentrating on a different kind of writing the last several years.

[Feral Bill]

As a high school kid in a wheelchair said to a peer grumbling about walking somewhere: "Walking is a privilege".

[Pages]

btw , the OP just came on here after being absent for several years because he is attempting to "just walk" from GA to ME again this year (2017) and wanted to see if there were any last minute trail closures or re-routes.

it bothers me when people tell other people it's "just walking." maybe for them it was, but the trail is littered with thousands of wasted efforts of those who couldn't "just walk" 30 miles to neel gap.

that's the reality.

[Dogwood]

If this thread was aimed at LW I agree with Tipi that LW's mantra taken into context, as I assume he meant it, can actually help.

"It's just walking" mantra is used to deflate the mostly new backpackers who get overinflated like balloons---about all aspects of their planned AT thruhike---Endless parsing over their gear lists and shuttles and mail drops and diets and clothing and data books and "how cold is it in March" hysteria. They cyber hike their hike to death and so experienced "old hands" throw up their arms in frustration and say "It's just walking!!"

I do like ribbing LW a bit though. But he's a Marine. He can take all I dish out.

[Lone Wolf]

if this thread was aimed at lw i agree with tipi that lw's mantra taken into context, as i assume he meant it, can actually help.

"it's just walking" mantra is used to deflate the mostly new backpackers who get overinflated like balloons---about all aspects of their planned at thruhike---endless parsing over their gear lists and shuttles and mail drops and diets and clothing and data books and "how cold is it in march" hysteria. They cyber hike their hike to death and so experienced "old hands" throw up their arms in frustration and say "it's just walking!!"

i do like ribbing lw a bit though. But he's a marine. He can take all i dish out.

:d.............

[Tipi Walter]

it bothers me when people tell other people it's "just walking." maybe for them it was, but the trail is littered with thousands of wasted efforts of those who couldn't "just walk" 30 miles to neel gap.

that's the reality.

"That's the reality" has an ominous finality about it---as if the trail is literally littered with thousands of wasted efforts of those who couldn't "just walk" 30 miles to Neels Gap---when in fact the trail IS NOT littered with thousands of wasted efforts.

You make it sound as if it's a supreme struggle between a person and the trail and his gear, not just walking but some kind of ultimate challenge. It's just backpacking. Some people quit after a week. So what? And for them I don't see it as a wasted effort. There's no ordained deity requiring all those who start should finish. Or should even like any part of the endeavor. Live and learn.

Some people don't have the calling to backpack or live outdoors or spend weeks hiking long distances. And they won't know this until they try and/or fail.

There are others who have found what they love in the outdoors with a pack on their backs and these folks won't quit until they can't walk anymore. But they cannot rightfully say that their kind of love should apply to anyone else. It's personal. Just grab your kit and go---whether for a night or a week or a month. Forget about all others.

So what if it's tough? So is working 40 hours a week inside an office. Or driving a truck on the Interstate all year. Or raising kids and never being able to get out.

[Pages]

If this thread was aimed at LW I agree with Tipi that LW's mantra taken into context, as I assume he meant it, can actually help.

"It's just walking" mantra is used to deflate the mostly new backpackers who get overinflated like balloons---about all aspects of their planned AT thruhike---Endless parsing over their gear lists and shuttles and mail drops and diets and clothing and data books and "how cold is it in March" hysteria. They cyber hike their hike to death and so experienced "old hands" throw up their arms in frustration and say "It's just walking!!"

I do like ribbing LW a bit though. But he's a Marine. He can take all I dish out.

point taken dogwood and the thread wasn't directed at any marine in particular.

[Smithereens]

Walking. Walking at work, walking at the local park with it's neatly groomed shrubs and paved "trails", walking the smooth, flat and uninteresting places; malls and city sidewalks... THAT is not walking! Sure, it's something similar as it uses a bit of the same motions and muscles, but it is soulless and without it's own meaning. A pale mimicry of the type of walking that is so rooted in the human experience as to have shaped not only our physical form, but also the way we think and function. When I am on the trail, any trail as long as it follows the mountains, I find a connection to my ancestors who undertook the most epic migration of any species ever on Earth. I find a connection to that calm inner self and there find a deeper connection to all life.

It is just walking. Anything else is walking in name only.

Eh gawd, I'm tired and getting wordy... Need food, need sleep...

[coach lou]

we're all different. i'm a Marine. it makes a difference

800px-US_Navy_101025-N-2143T-002_Sailors_and_Marines_assigned_to_Marine_Corps_Security_Force_Bat.jpg

Ha Ha.....Marines out for a stroll with ultralight gear!


Semper Fi Wolfie!

[Cheyou]

Its just a path in the woods
Its as hard, or as easy, as YOU make it.

I see groups of geriatrics out for dayhikes frequently, enjoying themselves.

x2 and through hiking isn't everyone cup of tea.

Thom

[jeffmeh]

The thread Kinda reminds me of this photo.



(And no, that's not me.)

Coffee, meet sinuses.

[illabelle]

More than once I've contemplated starting a similar thread, "It's not just walking". Somebody should put together at AT video horror story composed of spills and tumbles and faceplants, bruises and fractures and bug attacks. That would be awesome.

In town, a "walk" is a mindless effortless stroll with scarcely a glance at the ground. The only real hazards are walking into sign posts or stepping into traffic without thinking. Or maybe encountering an annoying acquaintance. Or a yappy dog. Or gum on the sidewalk. On the AT, a "walk" is mindless effortless strolling at times. Forgettable times, even if it's 80% (or more) of the trail.

The walking that sinks deep into your memory is composed of gasping, grasping, panting, sweating. It's tripping over those stupid rocks when your toe was already sore. It's pole-vaulting across black mucky mudholes. It's slipping in the mud just after you carefully and gracefully tiptoed across a stream. It's taking one step, then another, instead of allowing yourself to be overwhelmed by the stupendous ascent before you. It's sailing in wind and fog over a grassy bald. It's skimming along bog bridges at a pace you didn't think you could do. It's ascending into the alpine zone and feeling its chill. It's finding iron and steel under the flab.

[rickb]

Context matters.

Hiker #1: I just finished past the 1/2 way point and made life-long friends, tested my limits and came to appreciate the beauty of the Eastern Forests.

Brother-in-law: Its just walking. I got my handicap down to 8 this summer.



Hiker #2: I am so stressed about my upcoming thru hike. I have been planning for months and can't decide between carbon fiber or aluminum poles. I am very concerned about how to best change my workout to prep, given I am 20 lbs overweight and do mostly cardio.

Pithy Internet Person: Its just walking. Do your research, but don't worry so much.



In otherwords, I am thinking this is a thread where everyone is right ��.

[Traveler]

It is only what one makes it. Everyone will be different in how they experience and translate that experience to others.

[ScareBear]

One sherpa's walk is another man's Everest ascent....everyone differs. For many, the AT is their Everest. For others, it's just a walk. YMMV....

[Malto]

It's a vacation.

[4shot]

[QUOTE=Tipi Walter;2132081]The "It's just walking" mantra is used to deflate the mostly newb backpackers who get overinflated like balloons---about all aspects of their planned AT thruhike---Endless parsing over their gear lists and shuttles and mail drops and diets and clothing and data books and "how cold is it in March" hysteria. They cyber hike their hike to death and so experienced "old hands" throw up their arms in frustration and say "It's just walking!!"



/QUOTE]


Somewhere between the fear and dread of the newbie planning his or her first hike (be it a thru or section) and the ennui of the "it's just walking" seasoned hiker is the "real truth" (whatever that might be). And as others have said, to define hiking/backpacking solely on one's own perception is a bit narrow minded.