Originally Posted by
minnesotasmith
I walked every mile of the AT in one calendar year, doing my d*mndest to pass every white blaze. That's a generally considered a thruhike, by >99% of people. It's also what the ATC, and I, FWIW, consider a thruhike.
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Anyway, my earlier point keeps getting missed...
I developed as a hiker during my hike, despite the age, weight, and fitness situation I started with, to the point that not only did I finish the AT, I got fit to the point that I (just doing the math by my routinely doing 13-mile-days in MAINE, with higher days in VT/MA/CT) became capable of thruing in an average or less length of time, were I to do it again. There are reasons for that, and I believe that my greater-than-average (among thruhikers) attention to nutrition was one of them.