A noob's question: Biggest Surprise?

[jhomeresq]

All-

Being the esteemed collection of backpacker's that you are I'm hoping you might think back to your first trip or two out on the trail. I'd love to know: What was the thing(s?) that most surprised you on your first few times out on a multi-day backpacking trip?

My wife and I are headed out in a few weeks for the first time on an actual backpacking trip. We'd love hear your stories about your first time out.

Many thanks,
John

[dessertrat]

How little appetite I had. Eventually, a long distance hiker will develop an enormous appetite as fat starts to drop. But for the first few days, if you are anything like me, and have a bit of fat to burn, you won't eat half as much as you expect you will.

You will also realize that something that didn't seem that heavy at home is heavier on the trail.

[warraghiyagey]

Carrying produce is a bad (see heavy) idea. Apples, big carrots, baby carrots, three writing pads, 5 cotton t-shirts, town clothes. A Nikon Camera with 600mm zoom. 3 books. Yup, all while heading into the 100 mile wilderness.
Bad, bad, bad. Keep it light, that's what I learned.

[Lone Wolf]

i was surprised at the amount of shelters, blazes, people, road crossings and water. lots of all.

[fehchet]

I was surprised at the amount of power lines one walks under. Some hum at a high pitch.

[gumball]

I was surprised at how heavy rain can make an already too heavy pack if you don't properly pack stuff.

And how important the distribution of weight in your pack is for a painful v. painless trip.

[dessertrat]

Yes, keep the weight as close to your back as you can. Keeping it close to your back is more important than what it actually weighs sometimes. It's the leverage idea, if you see what I mean-- a weight sticking way out there puts some serious torque on your spine.

[Lilred]

I was surprised by how many grave markers and memorials are on the trail.

[micromega]

It never got as dark as I thought it would at night. I once had the notion that being in a forest at night would be pitch black, and was pleasantly surprised (and somewhat relieved) to discover otherwise.

[10-K]

I was surprised that it is 1/3 downhill and 2/3 uphill. How do they do that??

Seriously though.. I was surprised at how close the trail is to civilization. I thought I was heading off into the wild unknown for some reason. Fact is, so far I've never been far from a house, store, road, etc....

Thomas

[Lion King]

I was surprised at how a day so full of joy and beauty that has you singing and dancing along the trail can turn into a rage filled curse fest when some insane rock/root/eneven plot of earth grabs your foot and twists so that the outside of the soul of your foot is touching the inner part of your calf and how you shreik like a little girl and hit the ground like a brick.

oh, that and how many biting bugs are hungry for blood.

[modiyooch]

I was from flat lands and I was surprised at the quarter size scrapes and blisters that appeared on the back of my heels within the first few steps uphill.

[map man]

I was surprised at how well I slept on the trail, right from the start. It's funny, because I'm a habitual door-locker at home (got an apartment broken into twice in one week when I was younger and it made an impression), but out on trail, with nothing but thin layers of silnylon or netting between me and the big, bad world, I sleep great. And all I use is a Z-rest foam pad, not an inflator.

You hear stories about people hearing animal footsteps outside their tent, and imagining it to be some huge, nasty critter, but the first time that happened to me that first year I was hiking, I happened to be alone, a long heavy rain right after I set up my tent had made me decide NOT to hang a bear bag that night (for the first time), but to set the bag outside my tent under the vestibule, yet when I woke to those animal footsteps, I just thought, "oh, a mouse or ground squirrel after my food," and I brought the food bag inside the tent and was back sleeping soundly within a minute. No worries!

I'll bet all kinds of people here surprised themselves, too, at the happy adjustments our psyches make when we return to living closer to nature on the trail, despite all the lengths we go to to separate ourselves from it in our "ordinary" lives.

[4eyedbuzzard]

How difficult it is to average 2 mph on the trail.

[warraghiyagey]

How difficult it is to average 2 mph on the trail.

That's a pretty standard pace for someone just enjoying the hike. Easy enough.

[ScottP]

I was surprised at how cold Georgia and North Carolina were in March.

I was surprised at how civilized the AT was.

[saimyoji]

I was surprised at how competitive people were about gear, food, miles, experiences. I couldn't get a word in conversations because people were so full of their own accomplishments, and wanted others to validate them.

I did meet many very cool folks though.

[Kirby]

I was surprised at how competitive people were about gear, food, miles, experiences. I couldn't get a word in conversations because people were so full of their own accomplishments, and wanted others to validate them.

I did meet many very cool folks though.

A couple of the thru hikers I met in the wilderness this summer were very full of themselves and thought they were holier than thou. I unofficially enjoy the company of section hikers, or older hikers, more than thru hikers, they just seem to be more pleasant.

Kirby

[warraghiyagey]

That's a pretty standard pace for someone just enjoying the hike. Easy enough.

Oops.

[bloodmountainman]

The amount of food you don't need was my surprise. Eating food is like taking in fuel!