I'm fairly new to hiking...needed an excuse to go to the woods without killing something...and will start a thru hike 3/12. The info on this site is extremely usefull but the best thing I've gotten from it is the humor. I've had tears in my eyes a few times laughing at some of the postings. The "people" experience is the reason I'm doing this hike. There are a few exceptions but most of the people contributing answers to this site seem to be people I'd like to spend some time with.