Quote :

"sometimes i would face a small diameter tree, hold onto it, lean back and drop it."

also known as the one-handed assist primitive shit technique. Or simply the monkey man.

I'm quite familiar with this one as it is one of my preferred techniques.

[Edited on December 8, 2008 at 10:25 PM. Reason : 2]

12/8/2008 10:24:17 PM

I thought this thread was already made


and where did you watch college football at and how did you keep track of your fantasy team?

[Edited on December 8, 2008 at 10:27 PM. Reason : d]

12/8/2008 10:26:26 PM

Nerdchick's mom sent us some mail drops, but after she left the trail i received none with food, only winter gear. I mostly didnt want to burden anyone, nor did anyone send me any food on the trail. One thing is that if you have a mail drop and it's saturday after 12 or so, then you'd have to wait around till monday to get your drop.

Thanks, bethaleigh . That's right, the symposium was the last time i saw you. Hard to imagine it was that long ago.

LOL

Quote :

"one-handed assist primitive shit technique"

That's the one. Only i used two hands....lol...monkey man...I wish i would have come up with names for my techniques. I met others on the trail who had ones named after other hikers they didnt like and what have you. I bought the MEGA patch at neel's gap, only no 2000 miler mini patch.

do much camping, Jcash? I'll have to remeber that next time i get froggy to hit the woods.

I watched TV when i could in town, which wasnt always possible. A buddy of mine would leave me messages on sports (other hikers or people i hitched from would let me know as well) and i was able to see a couple games...no state games though

12/8/2008 10:48:42 PM

so doza are you in LA. now or what????? joey and i might be making a whirlwind day trip up to D.C. the weekend you are coming through, we were gonna spend a night in raleigh but will probably not if youre gonna be around salisbury

12/8/2008 11:05:41 PM

Yeah man...in NOLA, chillin with the parentals and working on the resume....oh and eating a shit ton

pm sending.

12/8/2008 11:16:23 PM

Quote :

"do much camping, Jcash?"

I used to do a fair amount, these days it is hard finding people who are interested and don't have kids to take care of. I'm also living in southern Alabama right now, so I miss my mountains. I probably get out truly backpacking twice a year. The rest of the time I'll weekend camp here and there. Once I move back to Virginia I've got a buddy who likes to camp as much as me, so I foresee a lot of good trips.

If you boulder at all, there is a pretty good place outside of Birmingham called Horsepens 40. If you're going through there let me know and I'll come with if I can get out of work.


Congrats again!

12/9/2008 12:08:14 AM

that is pretty baller dude, congrats.

12/9/2008 3:10:45 AM

^seriously

12/9/2008 3:17:29 AM

Cheers guys

12/9/2008 10:09:29 AM

congrats man
truly an awesome adventure that i envy

12/9/2008 11:01:36 AM

Quote :

"That's the one. Only i used two hands....lol...monkey man...I wish i would have come up with names for my techniques. I met others on the trail who had ones named after other hikers they didnt like and what have you."

lol ... my favorite is the Skyler. To achieve a Skyler, your poo has to fall at least 10 feet before hitting the ground.

And as far as mail drops go, I don't think it's worth it for food unless you have some kind of dietary restriction. With postage it doesn't cost any less than grocery stores, and like TheBullDoza said you often end up getting into town when the Post Office is closed. Especially those little country towns have POs that close at like 3pm.

12/9/2008 6:28:23 PM

Next, canoe down the Mississippi, like this guy:

http://www.bucktrack.com/Canoeing_Down_the_Mississippi.html

12/9/2008 7:15:05 PM

I know that Johnny Swank canoed the Mississippi

12/9/2008 7:19:17 PM

i know you had to do some serious tentfapping

12/9/2008 8:06:26 PM

Quote :

"With postage it doesn't cost any less than grocery stores, and like TheBullDoza said you often end up getting into town when the Post Office is closed. "

Costco?

12/9/2008 8:37:45 PM

I did two states and figured it was all "Etc, Etc, Etc" after that. In fact, I wasn't that impressed with the scenery. Congrats on making it though.

I met one guy on the trail that had left his fiance at the alter to hike the trail. I asked him, "Think she'll be waiting when you get back?". He didn't answer.

12/9/2008 8:44:23 PM

Tent fapping..lol

two states? what states? I mean it's no PCT, but the scenery isnt the best part of the trail. It's the times, bro.

Maine through vermont and southern virginia through the smokies is the best scenary. If you thought it was all etc etc, then you probably hiked a small portion (maryland-some of virginia?). Seeing the scenery change state to state was awesome even if it wasnt breathe taking views every step of the way


[Edited on December 10, 2008 at 12:56 AM. Reason : d]

12/10/2008 12:42:55 AM

so if i heard correctly u did about 13.175 miles per day?

12/10/2008 12:47:29 AM

ummmm...on average...maybe so, but the SD tells a different story. For the first month it was prolly around 13. Maine is a difficult hiking state...straight up mountains...no switch backs. Any more than 13 a day would prolly increase the risk for injury of my knees at least. Maine was the best state....i wish we took it slower.



[Edited on December 10, 2008 at 1:02 AM. Reason : d]

12/10/2008 12:51:10 AM

sd?

12/10/2008 12:51:46 AM

Holy shit , good fucking job Erik!

12/10/2008 12:52:43 AM

Standard Deviation

THANKS!!!^

12/10/2008 12:53:42 AM

Wow that sounds amazing. Sounds like something I'd love to do...if only I could afford to not work for that long. What kind of prep did you do, physically?


Also, I've bouldered at Horsepens. Pretty chill spot, lots of solid established routes if that's your thing and plenty of rocks to dick around on for a good while.


$1

12/10/2008 6:41:04 AM

I did do some training, not much though. I ran a few times a week maybe a month or two prior to leave for ME and biked to work (stopped because lake wheeler was too dangerous)

I did this mostly to prevent injury. I'd even say that you dont have to prepare at all, but just to take it slow and work your way up in miles. Knee injury is what plagues most people. so even if you could do more miles in a day, it was probably better to do short days for a few weeks to get the body used to walking every day.

12/10/2008 9:36:34 AM

I want to do this. I need to figure out work/money to do it though.

I need sponsors!

[Edited on December 10, 2008 at 10:55 AM. Reason : *]

12/10/2008 10:55:32 AM

Awesome, congrats!

So what was your ratio of "man, this sucks" to "this is awesome" in days?

12/10/2008 11:48:00 AM

Thanks, yo!

1/100 probably. There were boring spots of the trail, but nothing made me think "this sucks, i want off". You never knew what the day would bring, whether you'd run into people or wildlife, but when you're bored, you either make miles or make it a short day and: read a book, make a fire, i would play my harmonica. If you're hiking with others, to me, it never got boring. The real shitty days were the days it was freezing and rainy. But after those days are over, they just make for "damn, i cant believe i did that shit" type of days and just make for memories. The trail is the best.

If you go southbound, i'd say be prepared for hiking alone and spending nights alone for multiple days. Some people can handle it, and others cant. Sounds like it sucks, but i found being alone very peaceful for the most part.

[Edited on December 10, 2008 at 12:57 PM. Reason : d]

12/10/2008 12:44:32 PM

Quote :

"Costco?"

you mean buying your groceries in bulk ahead of time? if you did this, you run the serious risk of getting sick of the meals that you made for yourself. Eating the same food for 6 months can get really tiresome, and even if you bought food you love your tastes can change. We hiked with a girl who bought an entire 6 months worth of dried food, and ended up giving away everything in her mail drops because she got tired of them.

In the 100 mile wilderness, our first section, I brought tons of banana chips because in the real world I loved them. I found out that I much preferred different snacks than what I'd bought, and I traded the entire bag of banana chips for a Snickers bar. Mail drops can work great if you know exactly what you'd like to eat every day for six months. If not, buy along the way.

12/11/2008 5:09:24 PM

Wow, keep telling stories. I love this! Congrats!

12/11/2008 5:13:48 PM

12/11/2008 5:24:03 PM

I only did the first bit with Erik, but I can tell you guys the story of our darkest moment.

We were in Maine, hiking a short day - maybe 7 miles or so. It had been raining all night and in the morning, so we left the shelter late. An old guy whose trail name was Rosy Eagle was also there, he left a few hours before us. We hiked about 5 miles and it was pouring rain the whole time. The trail itself was under a few inches of water. A group of women hikers passed earlier and said that the upcoming Oberton Stream was running high. Maine has a lot of stream crossings that don't have bridges, it's the only state like that. It can't have been that bad, because the women made it and they were somewhat petite.

Well we finally reached Oberton Stream, and it was a raging river of no return. The stream was in a sort of notch between two mountains, so all the rain just went right into it. To get to the stream, you had to climb about 100 feet down a very steep rocky slope. We probably did that hike ten times each, going back and forth to the main trail to try and find a way around Oberton. It was muddy and awful. We were amazed that the group of women and Rosy Eagle had made it. There were some scary looking sharp branches and rocks just downstream of the ford, the whole thing looked pretty dangerous. Turns out the water had been rising all day long, it wasn't that high when the other hikers crossed.

Erik went out and tried to cross first, but turned back before he made it halfway. The "stream" was chest deep and very swift. While Erik had been trying to cross the stream, everything in his backpack got wet. So it was chilly and wet, but we'd been wet all day. Things start to suck when you're wet and you're not going anywhere. The only other option was to backtrack 8 miles to Sugarloaf Mountain, hike down a ski slope and try to hitch a ride from there.

We decided to camp and in our only good fortune of the day, Erik found a spot in the woods for our tarp that was miraculously not a puddle. It was like 3pm but we got in our sleeping bag (the bag didn't get wet in the river, but all of Erik's clothes were soaked). We definitely didn't want to get out to cook dinner, so for dinner we ate rolled up tortillas and pretended they were taquitos.

The next day, Oberton Stream was a bit lower and we crossed at about noon. It was still more than waist high and a pretty scary deal. We talked to some locals and they said the stream is normally knee deep. Guess we got there at a bad time!

12/11/2008 5:44:27 PM

Britta, thats not nearly as hardcore as the stream we crossed in boone while doza was on his visit sometimes trips to the huddle house get vicious

12/11/2008 5:47:27 PM

ha ha ha he told me that story. huddle house ain't worth it. IHOP maybe

12/11/2008 5:53:00 PM

Quote :

"I did this mostly to prevent injury. I'd even say that you dont have to prepare at all, but just to take it slow and work your way up in miles. Knee injury is what plagues most people. so even if you could do more miles in a day, it was probably better to do short days for a few weeks to get the body used to walking every day."

put simply:

the average person's cardiovascular system will respond to exercise much faster than their muscles and joints will react to the increased activity, so after your first week of just walking all day, your heart and lungs and shit will be like "KEEP GOING, DAWG"

you have to fight that instinct because your knees and back will be like "JUST KILL ME NOW, BITCH"

12/12/2008 1:57:45 AM

awesome, DOZA

and great thread

pls to keep posting

12/12/2008 2:18:33 AM

Dude, that's awesome you hiked the whole thing. Do you remember going through the Lemon Squeezer and walking across the Bear Mtn Bridge in Harriman State Park NY? I grew up around those parts and enjoyed hiking the AT as a kid.

I didn't read the whole thread so I might have missed it, but what was your reason for doing the hike? I'm considering doing it after grad school because I just want to be in the woods where the only thing I have to worry about is surviving. Life would be so simple. No bills, no thesis, no work...just surviving. At any point did you feel like giving up?

12/12/2008 10:03:36 AM

The Bear Mountain Bridge is beautiful. The whole Hudson River Valley is breathtaking. I'm glad I drove that way on my way back to NC after Thanksgiving.

12/12/2008 10:38:54 AM

^Haha wow...that's US route 6 in Westchester County. that stretch of road is pretty scary when there's 18-wheelers on it.

12/12/2008 11:13:48 AM

yea, even with smaller trucks, i was like

12/12/2008 11:19:21 AM

NYMountnMan, i sure do remember those two spots. The Bear Mtn Bridge was gorgeous and it was cool that the trail went right through the bear mtn zoo. Heh, i got stuck in the lemon squeezer. The walls of the squeezer are more or less parallel to eachother, but they were slanted so walking through with my pack didnt go well.

My reason for doing the trail was pretty much Nerdchick. She asked if i wanted to do it, and it sounded like a good time, so i agreed and never looked back.

Personally i never felt like leaving the trail. I loved being out in the woods and living such a simplistic life. It was just plain old fun. Just when the scenary starts getting old, something new and different comes about. At least for me that's what it seemed like. If you go northbound, then the amount of people to hike with is high enough that you can hike and never be alone. Going south bound,you're almost certain to hike alone at some point, but i didnt mind that. It was peaceful. I at no point felt like leaving the trail. I knew that one day it would be over and i would miss it if i ever quit. Stuborness can get you through tuff times as well.

[Edited on December 12, 2008 at 11:53 AM. Reason : d]

[Edited on December 12, 2008 at 11:56 AM. Reason : d]

12/12/2008 11:52:58 AM

Man I really want to do it.

12/12/2008 12:05:05 PM

TWW AT Thru-Hike Fellowship?



I call Aragorn.

12/12/2008 12:07:09 PM

What was your favorite state to hike through? Least favorite?

What was the longest you went without seeing someone on the trail or stopping in a town?

Did you ever get lost at any point? (I heard it's pretty easy to get lost on the AT during a snowstorm because the trail blazes are white)

How many pairs of boots did you go through?

12/12/2008 12:37:17 PM

Erik will have to answer most of those, but neither of us wore boots. I wore running shoes and he wore trail runners, which are basically sturdier running shoes. Most thru hikers do that these days, although feet are very personal and preferences can vary a lot depending on your style. I like sneakers over boots because they dry a lot faster, your feet sweat way less, and it makes a huge difference lifting a 1.5 lb shoe all day long instead of a 4 lb boot.

I had to replace my shoes after 300 miles, he only wore out one pair of trail runners over the whole trail. Conclusion - running shoes wear out way quicker! If I had thru hiked it would've been a significant expense.

Probably the longest section between towns was the 100 Mile Wilderness, which as a Southbounder you go through right away! It's 100 miles between resupply, the longest on the AT. People wise though, it was pretty crowded. We were there in summer and it's pretty touristy so we saw tons of summer camp kids the whole time.

12/12/2008 7:31:46 PM

didn't happen without pics

I'm Big Business and i approved this message.

12/12/2008 7:32:30 PM

lol k

here's one where you can see our shoes



and here's the proof! See Erik on Katahdin, he's the guy with the orange backpack, then see him at the Springer sign

12/12/2008 7:42:53 PM

My buddy Ben was doing a nobo hike this past spring/summer but ended up getting a really bad infection just after crossing into Maine. He had to come home and have surgery. I can't imagine swallowing that bitter pill.

I really became interested in doing this two years ago, but because of school/other circumstances I was unable to. I believe that this is going to be my year! Trying to get my legs healthy, work out some old scar tissue. That's the main thing I'm afraid of. Not my will giving out, but my body physically.

If you're in Raleigh I'd love to meet up and talk about your experience and see if you have any advice to offer.

12/12/2008 7:58:09 PM

Ya know what, i met him on the trail up in NH, in the whites. We hung and smoked a bowl at this hostel in Lincoln, NH. I remember asking him what he thought about finishing and katahdin. He was visibly stressed by the question. He was having the time of his life and didnt want it to be over. I heard that he had to get off and was meaning to call him (he gave me his number), but i lost it. Trail name was Sampson, right? Jonathan, one of his room mates was in my major. Sampson was great. He was honestly the first person i met that made me realize that this hike was going to be overwhelmingly beneficial to me. It was a pleasure meeting him. Wish he was going sobo.

Quote :

"What was your favorite state to hike through? Least favorite? What was the longest you went without seeing someone on the trail or stopping in a town? Did you ever get lost at any point? (I heard it's pretty easy to get lost on the AT during a snowstorm because the trail blazes are white) How many pairs of boots did you go through? "

1. Favorite states were ME, NC and last ~30 miles of Virginia (mt. rogers sate park, south) by far. Those were my favorites, but i honestly liked going through all states. Different towns, views, people, terrain, and historical sites...they were all good. Least favorite....ummmm, i would have to say PA even though i really enjoyed that state.

2. Longest i went without seeing ANYONE was probably about 4 or 5 days and that was towards the end up the trail. Weather was cold and not many people like or are prepared for cold weather camping, so you wont see that many people out there. Especially parts of the trail that dont have good access b/c of views and what not.

3. I got lost once in NJ on a section of trail that went through some residential area , but knew how to get back. There was a double blaze (which meant i needed to turn), but i turned the wrong way and there were white reflectors on the telephone poles that lined the street i was walking the size of the blazes i was accustomed to. A mile later i realized that it was the wrong way and went back, found the right trail, and kept truckin.

I hiked in the snow a good bit and would have to say that i didnt think it was bad at all. you can still see blazes and what's even more apparent in the trail. The trail is well established and maintained, even with snow on the ground, it's still visible. Where it's the worst is on top of bald mountains. There are usually posts with blazes on them, but ssometimes they are spaced out pretty far. Just look around and youll find them though. In other words, it's hard to get lost in my opinion.

4. I went through 3 pairs of shoes, the third are still wearable. First pair lasted ~350, Maine just tore them the fuck up. The second lasted ~1300 miles. Some people are able to wear the same pair of boots the whole way...i think that's bad ass...seeing shoes that have walked over 2000 miles on the trail...dunno, i thought it was bad ass.

12/13/2008 10:06:59 AM

damn. this is fucking awesome. congrats!!

12/13/2008 10:25:27 AM

in Maine we passed a section hiker who had a pair of boots with a "thousand mile guarantee." Well he'd gone about 150 miles and the boots were already falling apart. He was real pissed and had a plan to mail them back to the company with a note that said "150 miles."

12/13/2008 1:53:33 PM