Ask crash about hiking the Appalachian Trail

[crash]

I hiked the entire AT about five years ago. Georgia to Maine, around 2150 miles.

I highly recommend it. Most people I know who finished the whole thing say it was one of the best things they ever did. I know a lot of you guys are in your 20s; now is the perfect time to do it, before you have a wife and a job.

You don't have to be in great shape when you start. I wasn't in good shape at all. I had never been hiking before this (not since a couple Boy Scout trips anyway). I wasn't overweight, but I didn't exercise much. I smoked. You can take it easy at first, and you'll get in shape as you go along. It took me almost 6 months to finish. Obviously, by the time I finished I was in great shape.

The one thing I did have going for me was that I was prepared. I read a lot of books and magazines.

Cost: this varies a lot. I spent maybe $1,300-1,500 bucks on gear before I started. Boots $100, Tent $250-300, pack $400 or so, plus some misc. stuff. I borrowed as many things as I could. Gear is getting better--there's a lot of high-tech lightweight stuff out there now, but you'll pay for it. If you want to go high-end you can easily spend $3,000+ on gore-tex, super lightweight tents and packs, titanium pots, etc.

I spent a lot along the way. It was nice to get a hotel room when I got in town, so I could get cleaned up. I drank a lot of beer and fought a losing battle with cigarettes ([censored] those things are expensive in New York and New Jersey)--these things add up. I didn't really keep track, but I probably spent another three or four thousand along the way.

So go ahead and do it. What else are you going to do with the summer of 2008? Take a year off from college. Spend some of that poker dough. I promise you it'll be one of the coolest things you ever did.

Just a warning, I won't be able to recommend much in the way of specific products. For one thing, I only know about the tent and the backpack and the sleeping bag I used. I won't know anything about other tents, packs, etc. Plus, you really do have to go out and try out the gear. The pack that fit me might not feel good on you, etc. This is especially true about boots. I wore a pair of Vasque boots (one pair lasted the whole trip, which is pretty rare), but I can't really make a blanket recommendation of Vasque boots. You have to try on lots of pairs and find one that feels good.


Questions? Fire away

crash

[Senor Cardgage]

I live in northeast Tennessee, so on a couple of local hiking trips, I've gotten a chance to meet a few people hiking the entire trail.

Seems like an awesome experience.

[DarkForceRising]

I've always wondered why people go from south to north. Cold weather is more likely to make the last leg of the trip tougher doing it that way.

[crash]

[ QUOTE ]
I live in northeast Tennessee, so on a couple of local hiking trips, I've gotten a chance to meet a few people hiking the entire trail.

Seems like an awesome experience.

[/ QUOTE ]

It was. Where do you live? I used to live in Oak Ridge, and I have relatives in Kingsport. The trail goes right over "Rocky Top". Not sure if it was the mountain that inspired the song, but it was cool to be standing on Rocky Top. It made me think of UT-Alabama at Neyland.

[TIEdup14]

Do people leave care packages at spots along the way, or something like that?

[man]

did you run into a guy named mando?
how long was your beard?
how many hippies did you have sex with?

[Kyle]

[ QUOTE ]
It made me think of UT-Alabama at Neyland.

[/ QUOTE ]

[censored] you Rocky Top go to hell Tennesee. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

How many miles a day did you hike? What problems did you encounter along the way?

[nyc999]

[ QUOTE ]
I've always wondered why people go from south to north. Cold weather is more likely to make the last leg of the trip tougher doing it that way.

[/ QUOTE ]

Cold weather (most people start in March/April) and black fly season in Maine would make you want to quit.

OP, I've researched this but never done it (I've hiked maybe 100 miles of it in different places). Some questions:

Favorite part of the trail?
Most boring part?
What was the worst weather you encountered?
Did you meet other AT hikers and hike sections of the trail with them?
Most ground covered in a day?

[crash]

[ QUOTE ]
I've always wondered why people go from south to north. Cold weather is more likely to make the last leg of the trip tougher doing it that way.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you go north to south, you can't start until May or June. For one thing, it's pretty cold in Maine in march and April, and I've been told that the deer flies in Maine are brutal in the early spring.

I was in Maine in August and September and the weather was awesome--60s during the days, 40s at night.

[Yeti]

If the OP at all interested you then buy this book. It's awesome.