Appalachian Trail 1980 Post Hike Gear Review

[blw2]

thanks for posting that. I enjoyed it.
I too had that same water bottle at some point. Funny how things like that fade from memory. I have no idea where I bought that thing, how long I had it, or what ever happened to it....but seeing that photo is extremely familiar. Wow.
Had a very similar candle lantern too, but mine was a bit different....and the external framed pack and "matching" sturdy boots too. Yep.
....and how did we ever get by lugging all those electronics around with us? love it!!

[MuddyWaters]

When I attended Appalachian State everyone there said App-a-latch-in. We visibly frowned when some tourist said App-a-lay-shun.

Yup

App-a-lay-shun is just ignorant

The mountains were named by explorers after indians they were the home of, mistakenly thought to be the app-a-latch-ee indians, same as app-a-latch-i-cola florida.

However, they were later found incorrect in thinking the indians were part of app-a-latch-ee tribe.

There is no debate as to correct pronunciation. Zero.

[RockDoc]

My first 1000 mile hike on the AT was in 1974 (Md to ME), but I can relate to this more modern description from c1980. Things in the early 70's were even a bit more primitive. Svea stoves, I don't remember much Primus. Lots of Army Surplus gear including fatigue pants with cargo pockets, and olive drab ponchos that we often used as tarps. Standard packs were Kelty frame packs, although I remember seeing some Camp Trails packs and being impressed. They seemed to be sturdier. Saw many JanSport packs with the tiny tubular construction; which were expensive but seemed easily broken. About 50 lbs was standard weight, yet we handled it OK and did some big miles now and then. My biggest was 34 miles, crossing Cumberland Valley in PA. I had to keep going to the next shelter since there was no place to stop on the roads and heavily populated farmland. Yes we drank from springs mainly. Still do... If we had doubts we boiled the water.

Something rarely discussed is the solitude and the incredible feeling of freedom back then. Few people did it, and when you entered a town you felt more like a vagrant than hiker celebrity. People stayed away, and Police eyed us suspiciously as we made our way to the grocery store, the laundry, then back out to the woods (which was always a relief). I don't remember staying in any motels, although I ate in a few restaurants (including Bear Mountain Inn) if I had the money. I remember that I could live on a $20 bill for weeks. One funny food item that I remember is the "jam sandwich". You get a huge loaf of Wonder Bread, or similar and smash it between two hands. Then peel off the compacted bread as a strange kind of food. Very cheap (30 cents or so) and saved a lot of space! We also cuddled up to Boy Scout hiking groups because they always gave us food. They always brought too much, and we were always starved.

And I can get nostalgic about the quiet in the shelters in the evening. Just the sound of stoves, then eating, then sleep. Some talking but in fairly low volumes. So peaceful and real. Crowds with digital gadgets have changed this in many cases.

I remember once in Mass we bought a pack of hot dogs and then cooked the whole pack over a fire, one after the other. Then we put on our packs and did some of the strongest hiking I can recall, like kicking out 15 miles in an afternoon! Prior to that we had been mainly carb fueled and ate little meat. We learned the value of fat as excellent fuel. Like jet fuel when you hadn't eaten any for a few weeks. Yes, an incredible feeling of power from eating hot dogs.

I remember my 1000 mile hike at age 17 like it was yesterday. It was a defining experience of my youth, if not my life. Later I finished up the trail. Much later. Like 2014, 40 years after starting.

[Tipi Walter]

RockDoc---great post. One reason for the feeling of solitude you experienced is because the US population back in 1974 was 214 million---now it's 330 million. Vast difference---and now with a crapload more motorcycle noise pollution on AT-adjacent roads and the complete saturation of the sky with overhead jet traffic noise.

But you bring up neato items and memories---Svea stoves, fatigue pants with cargo pockets---all I used for years when backpacking. Army rain ponchos (two kinds---heavy rubberized version and light nylon version). Kelty and CampTrails. $20 lasted weeks---so true. I lived on $40 a month for several years backpacking on and around the AT.

Plus, "back in them days" we used white gas stoves and bought raw lentils and brown rice---CHEAP---and actually sat around camp cooking up rice and beans from a raw state---which took at least an hour of cook time. Why? So we could eat hearty and live cheap. Nobody today cooks up lentils and rice or carries the big pot to do so---and wouldn't do so anyway on their fancy alcohol stoves or propane/butane pocket rockets. Back in them days we didn't think twice about carrying a quart or so of white gas for long cooking times.

[RockDoc]

Walter, that's right. So true. I think my main meals were rice (generally Uncle Ben's instant) or pasta noodles with a can of tuna added. I think that Top Ramen appeared later, maybe in the 80's. But fueling is not so important for a 17-18 year old. They have probably the greatest metabolic flexibility of any human. This is why governments use 18-19 year olds to fight wars. It's a good age to go on a long hike too.