Dropping like flies...

[alxflwrs]

Geeze, c/o 2013 is making me nervous. Caught up on a few trail journals today and to my sad surprise many that I followed have given up. Getting somewhat discouraged--some say they spent too much time before hand preparing physically and not mentally.

=/

[canoe]

Geeze, c/o 2013 is making me nervous. Caught up on a few trail journals today and to my sad surprise many that I followed have given up. Getting somewhat discouraged--some say they spent too much time before hand preparing physically and not mentally.

=/

REALLY? As I read it many have been injured. So that would be physical

[Malto]

REALLY? As I read it many have been injured. So that would be physical

you will find that many, not all, that quit for physical reasons actually quit for mental reasons. I saw many hikers that quit with ailments that many that finished just dealt with.

[canoe]

you will find that many, not all, that quit for physical reasons actually quit for mental reasons. I saw many hikers that quit with ailments that many that finished just dealt with.

Yeah It is easier to hike when and ailment when the weather cooperates.

[canoe]

Yes it is easier to hike with an aiment when the weather cooperates.

[Sly]

you will find that many, not all, that quit for physical reasons actually quit for mental reasons. I saw many hikers that quit with ailments that many that finished just dealt with.

I can agree with that. I also don't think theres any advice for mental preparation. Someone either has it within them or they don't.

[T.S.Kobzol]

Most of the journals I read have hikers without winter gear hiking through winter conditions in the mountains. No wonder they are miserable and end up injured and quitting.

sent from samsonite using tapioca 2

[alxflwrs]

Most of the journals I read have hikers without winter gear hiking through winter conditions in the mountains. No wonder they are miserable and end up injured and quitting.

sent from samsonite using tapioca 2

definitely a surplus of people using the wrong gear for this time of year...did anyone else SEE those pack lists?...

[Jack Tarlin]

The Gloom and Doom pronouncements from people who get their information on-line is amusing. As for those of us on the ground, no, the attrition rate this year is perfectly normal, for unlike last year (i.e. the Year Without Winter) there have been some periods of snow, ice, and really cold weather. This is normal for North Georgia and North Carolina at this time of the year. It is a phenomena called "winter" or "early spring." It generally takes place every year. Nothing to be alarmed about. The dropout/attrition rate is expected, normal, and perfectly well understood, so please spare me the thoughts and sentiments from Connecticut or wherever these wild and over-wrought posts hail from, which is obviously NOT from anywhere near the Trail or actual 2013 hikers. This week the number of hikers demanding a shuttle ride to the Train station or airport from Neel Gap was Zero. The Class of 2013 are NOT "dropping like flies" and however gleefully happy this pronouncement may be to some people, it is decidedly not a true one. The Class of 2013 is great, doing well, and having a ball. ---JT, Blairsville GA (Neel Gap).

[RhinoMama]

WAHOOOOOOO!!! Glad to hear it!! We start walking on April 15th and can not wait!!! In seeing the posts above, we have certainly prepared mentally. As we understand it, the trail does have it's physical parts but most of this journey is mental. We are prepared with our gear and food and journals. This will be a life changing journey and we a excited to be the new people we will be when we are finished. Thanx for the good news JT!!! :0)

[Slo-go'en]

WAHOOOOOOO!!! Glad to hear it!! We start walking on April 15th and can not wait!!! In seeing the posts above, we have certainly prepared mentally. As we understand it, the trail does have it's physical parts but most of this journey is mental. We are prepared with our gear and food and journals. This will be a life changing journey and we a excited to be the new people we will be when we are finished. Thanx for the good news JT!!! :0)

The catch 22 is that nothing can really prepare you mentally or physically except by being on the trail. Unless you've already done a reasonably long hike, there is no other experiance which comes close. I'll be heading out a few days after you, so I might bump into you between Springer and Damascus.

[Slo-go'en]

This was not a good year to start early. We tried telling them that but would they listen - no. I want to get ahead of the crowds they say. I want to make sure I have enough time to finish, they explain. Well, I guess in a way it worked out for them, but not as they expected!

[canoe]

This was not a good year to start early. We tried telling them that but would they listen - no. I want to get ahead of the crowds they say. I want to make sure I have enough time to finish, they explain. Well, I guess in a way it worked out for them, but not as they expected!

Yes you did. I guess they were planning on last year's conditions.

[Tinker]

This was not a good year to start early. We tried telling them that but would they listen - no. I want to get ahead of the crowds they say. I want to make sure I have enough time to finish, they explain. Well, I guess in a way it worked out for them, but not as they expected!

I'm probably about the 493rd person to say this, but "ANY year is a bad year to start early".

Start later.

Start lighter.

Hike faster, farther, in better weather, in a better frame of mind,

Spend less time (and money) waiting out bad weather,

And maybe, just maybe, you'll finish (but there are absolutely NO guarantees.

Section hiking is tough enough (you never get in good shape - though thruhikers tell me it never stops hurting). Have fun!

[The Cleaner]

I liked the Trail journal entry where a hiker left camp and left his tent where he set it up.Said it was frozen to the ground.Some real hikers out there this year.Wonder who will pack that out.Probably wasn't a very good tent anyway...

[alxflwrs]

I liked the Trail journal entry where a hiker left camp and left his tent where he set it up.Said it was frozen to the ground.Some real hikers out there this year.Wonder who will pack that out.Probably wasn't a very good tent anyway...

Definitely not LNT practice...

[DavidNH]

I liked the Trail journal entry where a hiker left camp and left his tent where he set it up.Said it was frozen to the ground.Some real hikers out there this year.Wonder who will pack that out.Probably wasn't a very good tent anyway...

this is a classic post, Cleaner. Love it. Not only did these folks quit, but they didn't bother to pack out their own gear. Just left the tent there. talk of not being real hikers!!!

[The Cleaner]

this is a classic post, Cleaner. Love it. Not only did these folks quit, but they didn't bother to pack out their own gear. Just left the tent there. talk of not being real hikers!!!

Back in 1984 I was doing a loop trip in the Cosby area and stayed one night at Tri-Corner Knob shelter.Well it snowed about 4-5 inches overnight.Not that much,but a lot stuck to the trees and made some great pics.I l hiked out with 4 other hikers headed for a backcountry campsite.Upon arrival at the campsite,there was a tent already there set up with no footprints or other sign of activity.Well we started thinking was someone in the tent and something had happened to them.Too sick to move or maybe dead? We kind of thought about it for a few minutes and which of us would open the tent to see what had happened.Well I was the most experienced one and volunteered to investigate.I slowly opened the tent door and found no hiker dead or sick.Only a pair of wet blue jeans and some other assorted junk.Must have got cold & wet and had to bail out to their car or some other place.So it looks like this could be a common thing for those who hike in without proper gear or cold weather knowledge.Probably not the 1st to do this and not the last....

[Pedaling Fool]

If they're saying they're injured, they are lying bastards. But then again most that don't make it blame it on injuries, or money, or family...anything but themselves. If they are quitting more than normal than it's because of CC At least that's the reason they're giving for the cold.

The Cold is demoralizing, especially for people that really didn't have it in them anyway.

[The Cleaner]

Geeze, c/o 2013 is making me nervous. Caught up on a few trail journals today and to my sad surprise many that I followed have given up. Getting somewhat discouraged--some say they spent too much time before hand preparing physically and not mentally.

=/

And with trail magic or a hostel at every other gap too.One hiker made it about 30 miles and said he couldn't wait for a real bed and a hot shower.I thought people went backpacking to be out in the woods and to "Get away from all that".New term for hiker slang-Hostel Hoppers...hike from one hostel/town to the next eating crappy food,being cold&wet all day.Some couldn't even stop to take a photo because their hands were too cold or their batteries were dead...