I thru-hiked in 2000 from Maine to GA, and did a bit with the Greensboro News and Record while I was out. I'm currently conducting a study of AT thru-hikers (re: anyone that's made an honest attempt at a thru-hike) in order to jumpstart my motivation to get back in and finish my PhD. (Long story)

514 thru-hikers have taken this so far. By my back of the envelope calculations, this represents about 1 Million miles of Appalachian Trail hiking experience. I'm floored.

I have to cut off data collection after 9/7, so if you have attempted an AT thru-hike and would like to take part in this study, wander over to

http://www.sourcetosea.net/thruhiker/study.html

It's pretty in-depth, so bring a cup or coffee, soda, beer, or whatever. Most folks say it's taking 20-30 minutes.

Thanks,

-"Johnny Swank" ME-GA 2000

8/29/2007 7:08:46 PM

one day years ago, my attorney up and dropped his practice and started hiking the trail. i cried for months wonder if you talked to him....

8/29/2007 7:11:42 PM

Maybe. It took a divorce to get me to actually do the damn thing. I love hearing about people's motives to doing stuff like this, or any other huge life event.

8/29/2007 7:17:39 PM

did you meet the "tuba man" or "basketball jones"?

I worked with a guy for 2 years whose trail name was basketball jones. He hiked ME to VA, GA to N. NC, and then closed the gap. He was on the trail sometime between '00 and '03.

He always had tons of stories about the interesting people he met on his journey.

8/29/2007 7:19:27 PM

hell, maybe if i get some downtime one day in the next week or 2, i'll tell you the story of jackleg becoming single and packing his car full like 4 days later and driving 2200 miles away. then coming back to NC to start rehab. there was no walking, but it was life changing and far

8/29/2007 7:20:39 PM

Tubaman and I hiked a bit together, but basketball jones was ahead of me the whole time till he flip-flopped. That tuba shit was crazy!

8/29/2007 7:22:03 PM

gg jackleg. I know that ain't alot of fun

8/29/2007 7:22:55 PM

oh it wasnt so bad. but its not a story for this thread. sounds like the kind of thing you'd be interested in, though, and i like telling it. so watch that PM box. i've already sent one about some people i know who hiked it.

8/29/2007 7:27:05 PM

I thought of you when I read the thread title

...Then I looked at the threadmaker

8/29/2007 11:40:04 PM

How you living?

8/30/2007 11:37:08 AM

man, I really want to hike the AT. I'm graduating in Spring 08, so I'm worried there won't be enough time left in the season to do it. That would be like June - December

8/30/2007 11:57:36 AM

Simple. Go from Maine to Georgia - that's what I did. If you start mid June you'll have plenty of folks to hike with. Plenty of blackflies too!

8/30/2007 12:11:18 PM

did you start in June? I imagine it gets pretty cold in november-december, even in the southern part of the trail

8/30/2007 12:18:41 PM

I started July 1, and finished January 11. It was damn cold at the end though, but I screwed around alot during that trip and it added some time. If I were to do it again, I'd start June 15 and plan to be done by Thanksgiving. I took probably 35-40 days off during my AT thru-hike over 6 months. When we paddled the Mississippi, we took off 6 over 73 days, 3 of which were to dodge a hurricane.

I've got a bunch of thru-hiking articles on my website if you want to check them out. http://www.sourcetosea.net/Articles/articles.html There's some other random stuff on that site's blog you may want to read as well.

8/30/2007 12:23:22 PM

I just wish I could take off work long enough to do this

maybe one day, before I'm too old

8/30/2007 2:17:53 PM

It took me 10 years to sack up and just do it. Looking back, I should have taken a year out of school, worked my ass off for 6 months and save every dime, then hiked the trail. I think it would have done me a world of good.

Hell, I could probably thru-hike on just what my bar tabs were at that time.

8/30/2007 2:31:48 PM

Read a lot of your website today and really enjoyed it. Especially liked your river journal! Thanks for sharing!

8/30/2007 3:53:23 PM

Thanks -glad you liked it. I really need to clean up that website sometime soon, but it's getting there.

8/30/2007 4:11:09 PM

A friend of mine made it from GA to NYC where he got sidetracked and moved in w/ a gang of hippies or something for a few months before coming back home.

8/31/2007 12:54:20 AM

Quote :

"I just wish I could take off work long enough to do this maybe one day, before I'm too old"

I've got a co-worker who is planning to thru-hike next year. He's got to be 60+.

8/31/2007 10:50:26 AM

That older crowd is really one of the growth segments. Makes sense to a point - lots of retirees are in good shape, flush with cash, and have plenty of free time. I hiked with a couple of brothers that were both around 70. Those SOB's could still hike, and they played about 1,223,433 hands of rummy per day.

8/31/2007 10:57:32 AM

One day, one day...

I've still got your thru-hiking on the cheap thread saved in My Topics

8/31/2007 10:59:55 AM

Right on. That article needs revamping, but I still get a shit-ton of hits on the website from that. One of those do as I say, not as I did situations, because I spent way more than I thought I would on the AT. We didn't spend nearly as much on the Mississippi River though.

8/31/2007 11:03:14 AM

I've heard a lot of thru-hikers aren't Bill Bryson fans, but I really liked "A Walk In The Woods". One of the funnier books I've ever read. Are there any good resources out there on taking the hike in pieces? I doubt I get enough time to do it until I'm done working. Wouldn't mind investing a week a year into hiking to get started on the trail.

8/31/2007 10:47:33 PM