im getting ready to start my a t thru hike june firstish,starting pawling n y, north to katadin.take the train back to pawling,then sobo to springer.any input would be seen as kindness.
im getting ready to start my a t thru hike june firstish,starting pawling n y, north to katadin.take the train back to pawling,then sobo to springer.any input would be seen as kindness.
Last edited by hairbear; 12-11-2012 at 06:58.
Start a daily cardio workout and keep it up until you leave for your trip. I thought about everything BUT that and ended up not being in decent enough shape to do any kind of real mileage.
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Never, EVER believe a section hiker about anything! There is NOT water right around the corner, town is NOT just over the next hill, and it most certainly is NOT all downhill from here.
Otherwise, just walk. That's all you have to do.
Trust nobody!
Make very sure of your connections in Maine. I don't know what the passenger train situation is like in Maine, but I know for a fact there is very little close to Katadin. Passenger service was pretty poor in that neck of the woods when I was up there 20 years ago. I doubt it has gotten better.
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I agree, but even more so: Never EVER believe ANYONE about anything. There is NOT water right around the corner, town is NOT just over the next hill, and it most certainly is NOT all downhill from here.
Everyone's abilities are different! Everyone's PERCEPTIONS are different.
A true story: I was somewhere along the AT (that stretch where the AT is the border tween NC & Tenn, I met a young couple of weekenders going the opposite direction, as usual we said hi, I told them "Plenty of water over next 4 or so miles" They said "GOOD, cause there hasn't been ANY water since we got on the trail 3 miles back!!!!" we said our goodby's. About 1/2 mile later I crossed a stream that crossed the trail, as in I GOT MY FEET WET! NO way to have missed it. "NO WATER?" I finally figured it out, they were expecting a faucet or similar every mile or so. I had to stop & have a good laugh, filled my water bottles & headed on down the trail. Crossed / passed a spring & another stream before "Their" parking lot. I often wonder about those two.
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PAIN is INEVITABLE. MISERY is OPTIONAL.
I think people stress out too much with their preperations. If you know how to do a three to five day hike you are fine because basically it's just a whole bunch of them in a row. Just get your pack weight down but have the correct gear for the expected temps and start walking. Try not to tale to many back ups to the backups. I started with too many batteries and realized I could buy more three days down the trail. I was always in my hammock by dark...hardly ever even used my flashlight, let alone need extra batteries. If my one BIC lighter died I would have simply eaten cold. Just a couple of examples.
Oh like you thru hikers should talk I think every other SoBo told me the trail was pretty flat ahead, easy going or the climbs weren't that bad, and that was just in New Jersey, I hate to see what I'll face in Georgia
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They are just mad that most of the trail maintainers are former northbounders...and mark the water sources accordingly.
Seriously to the OP; when you flip and start going south, pay close attention to where the water is 'supposed' to be. It is true that things (like water sources) are not marked as well for the southbounders. This is especially true in the southern states. Kind of easy to tell which direction the trail maintainer for any given section hiked when they did their thru.
Best to keep your head on a swivel when you get thirsty. I can remember 6 different spots where I found a water marker on, what for me was, the wrong side of the tree.
Trust nobody!
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