Aagh my brother and future thru hike partner is driving me nuts

[gracebowen]

Thankfully I have a year or so to talk some sense into him. He wants to bring a hatchet and a machete. He also wants to fish, hunt forage food and bring our small dog.

He wants to build our own primitive shelter. He is worried about running out of food and water.
He also thinks he can consistently carry 60 lbs. I told him to go start researching thru hiking the trail.

His only valid point so far is we are out of shape. He wants me to start exercising 3x a week.

No thanks. I'll start slow and get in shape on the trail.

[fiddlehead]

He was born 75 years too late.
I'd try to convince him that he could get arrested and fined for cutting down trees and even just marring them.
Also different hunting and fishing seasons and licenses needed in each state.
Otherwise, it's how we did it in the boy scouts back in the early 60's.
Of course we didn't hike very far
But we had fun.
He sounds like a "good ole boy"

[peakbagger]

I hope you are just venting. Few folks end their hike with the partner they started with. Maybe you will start together but its likely you two will go your separate ways. Depending on your age the concept of not getting in shape before a major hike is not great. You may make it for awhile but things like stress fractures in your feet will crop up and that is the end of the hike. Far better to put in miles in advance to build up the bones.

[illabelle]

The trail will teach him better than you can. His expectations will change when confronted with the realities of walking mile after mile, uphill, downhill, in the rain, in the heat, carrying a 60-pound pack and a tired dog.

The difficulty I see is in the relationship between you when he discovers how wrong he is. Will he resent you? Get ticked off and want to go home? If that happens, does that wreck your thru-hike?

My thinking is that the two of you must must must spend a week in the backcountry - maybe in Arkansas - to get your hiking approaches aligned. Be humble, maybe the trail will teach you something too. Good luck and Happy New Year!!

[MtDoraDave]

I strongly suggest to anyone who is planning a thru-hike to go out and do a week or two section hike; preferably on the AT.
A friend of mine here in central FL is planning her 2020 thru hike, and I've been giving her tips on equipment and strategy. No, I have not thru hiked, but I've completed about a third of the AT a week at a time, and my equipment and attitude has changed dramatically since my first trip!
.
To put things into perspective, I try to imagine if everybody did the things I (or he or she or you) am doing, what would the result/damage be to the ecology/ environment/ landscape.
For instance, to use the example the OP provided, if everyone tried to create their own lean-to shelter along the way on the AT, it wouldn't be "wooded" very long. It would be an ugly, barren, hacked up landscape.
If everyone tried to hunt and pillage their way along, there would be no small animals to enjoy sighting, no blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc along the way.
If everyone attempted to burn their trash, the fire pits would be (even more so) overflowing with half burnt or unburnt trash!

[bigcranky]

He needs a big rifle and lots of ammo, too.

In all seriousness, the sort of nomadic travel he seems to be expecting is doable in some places. Maybe the far reaches of the Canadian wilderness. But the reality for the people who have historically lived this way is that they don't ever travel all that far. Set up camp, build some shelters, stay there for a few weeks, hunting and gathering. Pack up and move on a few miles, then camp again for several weeks.

Modern thru-hiking is a very specialized activity. The gear is highly specialized, based on the idea that you'll spend most of your time walking and sleeping. Many hikers find they have little time for cooking and eating, let alone needing to go find something to eat out in the woods. Walking 12-15 (or 20+) miles per day to finish the trail in one season doesn't leave time for much else than the walking. There's a reason why most experienced long distance hikers carry pretty much the same gear.

That said, I do see people with axes, climbing rope, fishing gear, etc., at the start of their hikes in Georgia. That stuff is almost always gone by the time they cross their first state line. They figure out very quickly that it's just not worth the weight.

The dog is a whole 'nother topic. I love dogs, and have had many dogs live with me over the years. A couple of them would have been fine hiking dogs, but I would not take one on a thru. It's just too much responsibility, and in my mind it reduces the chances of me finishing the trail.

[gracebowen]

Yes mostly venting. I talked him out of taking the dog by telling him about the mile of boulders and all the extra work taking a dog is. Especially a small one. I also got him out of the shelter building idea. In truth he only wanted to build one.

I don't think I'm gonna talk him out of the mini hatchet or machete. Like he said it's his weight.

Honestly him hiking with me will be a big asset. He can hopefully carry a bit of extra food for us to lower my pack weight.

I'm sure we will have our disagreements along the way. If we split up and go our separate ways it will mar but not ruin my hike.

One thing I am doing to prepare is losing weight. Since August I have lost 20 lbs.
I'm 5ft 6 in and last time I checked I weigh 167.

I do walk some and can hike 4 miles when I go hiking. Maybe when I lose a little more weight I'll work on exersizing more.

[gracebowen]

My pack weight will hopefully never be over 30 lbs when fully packed. I'm aiming for a base weight of 15 lbs or less.

[Puddlefish]

Mention to him that it's public shared land with millions of others, and it would be amazingly selfish to hatchet his way through. Suggest that he buy a few acres of his own to play junior boy scout in.

[Dan Roper]

Have him read one of the early chapters of A Walk in the Woods, where Bryson and Katz start at Amicalola Lodge and forge ahead to Spring and then on. Bryson does a masterful job of describing novices "meeting the trail." The trail soon teaches us that it's not just "another 40 pounds," "just a hatchet," "just another 7 miles." The book is a mishmash of things, but the author nails what its like for a newbie to hit the trail, suffer, endure and learn.

[Rift Zone]

His romanticized view of what it will be like out there is going to crash and burn real fast. Could take his hiking spirit with it. For the stake of holding on to your hiking partner for as long as possible, if nothing else, you definitely need to school him on some realities of the trail. A few acres to play in as suggested above might better suit him; could cost less too.

[Cheyou]

I love bush crafters on the trail . They love fires and carry heavy tools to maintain it. For me it’s win win, fire to cook with saving fuel and a good place to sit around and tell stories at night. They are like flatland Sherpas . Good luck on your hike.

Thom

[gracebowen]

My equipment and strategy changed drastically after my first weekend hiking trip.

[English Stu]

I found Ray Jardines book Beyond Backpacking very informative. His advice, before a thru, is a shakedown hike with all your gear for several hundred miles shadowing how you intend to do your hike; gives you confidence in yourself and your gear.
There has been plenty of views in the past on dogs on the trail.I too have had dogs and like them; however there is enough going on in a hike without caring for someone else who cannot speak and tell you how they feel. There is advice on the web on how many miles a day a dog breed can do and like,then think can they do it day after day.

[FreeGoldRush]

I do walk some and can hike 4 miles when I go hiking. Maybe when I lose a little more weight I'll work on exersizing more.

I assume you are being funny, but if this is serious consider a different mental state: Hike until something breaks, but stop before it does. Don't "exercise". Own the trail instead. Don't stop and smell the roses... yet. For now that will just be a convenient excuse for not doing miles. As soon as you are 80% recovered, then hit a steep trail again. Begin to look forward to sore muscles. It takes just a few days of sitting on the couch before you start going backwards, so get out and hike again real soon. Set goals. Don't do shorter hikes just because of whatever reason you come up with.

That's just a suggestion for where your head should be. I'm certainly not qualified to tell you how to push yourself physically.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I don't think I'm gonna talk him out of the mini hatchet or machete.

You have time. Work on him. Aside from the negative attention one will receive from other hikers (some will simply laugh at his naivety, others will see him as a potential nutcase machete murderer), the amount of attention one could draw from law enforcement (Fed, State, and local - especially in NJ/NY) could "complicate" the hike. Google NJ and NY machete/knife laws - cops aren't going to be positively impressed. Add that in many (most?) lands (National and State Parks) the AT passes through the cutting of live vegetation is prohibited. Cut a marshmallow stick, probably okay. Clear out a new tent footprint area, probably not.

[Skyline]

If he sticks with this a year from now, I feel even more sorry for the dog.

[petedelisio]

Do a shakedown for up to/at least a week. Or do several...
Show him the miles a day you have to do to complete it in 6? or 7? months to walk the entirety of the trail.
And you expect to do 75% of that in your shake down.... And recalling that the terrain is much different were you are. So when you do seven miles... if on fairly level ground, it is only like 3 to 5 on the AT.
Or whatever, you get my point.

Ask him if he is willing to ditch just one before the start, the machete or the axe.... like wise with other stuff.. Ok he ditched the machete,
You may want to remind him that he may not want to pay for shipping to mail stuff home and will end up giving stuff away.

Or just roll with it... By the third week his pack may be lighter than yours.

What's in your gear load out?

[gracebowen]

I assume you are being funny, but if this is serious consider a different mental state: Hike until something breaks, but stop before it does. Don't "exercise". Own the trail instead. Don't stop and smell the roses... yet. For now that will just be a convenient excuse for not doing miles. As soon as you are 80% recovered, then hit a steep trail again. Begin to look forward to sore muscles. It takes just a few days of sitting on the couch before you start going backwards, so get out and hike again real soon. Set goals. Don't do shorter hikes just because of whatever reason you come up with.

That's just a suggestion for where your head should be. I'm certainly not qualified to tell you how to push yourself physically.

Nah that's brain fog from fireworks going off all night. That was a description of my current physical state. After my first weekend trip I realized how important every pound is and started working on lowering my body weight and pack weight.

[gracebowen]

If he sticks with this a year from now, I feel even more sorry for the dog.

I already said I talked him out of the dog.