Date: 2007-02-26
To: FAQ
Miles today: 0.0

I get a lot of frequently asked questions about life on the trail so I thought it might be helpful to create a FAQ entry. My hope is that people new to hiking, especially AT thru hiking, will have a place to come and get a quick skinny on how life flows out there. Now this is kind of funny in that I am not actually a thru hiker yet, but I would like to think I have a bit of an idea of what to expect. I have spent the last two years doing research and have sectioned 315 miles, so I have a decent knowledge base established. Q. What do you eat? Will you kill Squirrels and gather roots and berries?A. I will not be hunting and gathering!! For the most part I can get into town every 3-4 days. You can basically think of a 6 month thru hike as a series of 4-7 day backpacking trips. The AT frequently crosses roads, sometimes numerous roads per day. I will be carrying Wingfoot's Thru Hikers Handbook which will tell me what hiker services (IE hotel, laundry, restaurant, bar, post office, supermarket, etc) are available at every road crossing. So when I can get into a town to get food I will. Why should I carry 6 days worth of food if I can get more food on day three. Food is the heaviest thing in my pack and the least amount I can get away with carrying the better. Q. What if the town is like 5 miles from the trail?A. Hitchhike!!Q. Are you out of your mind? Hitchhiking?!?! What if some wacko picks you up?A.Well, I'll have to use my common sense and there is strength in numbers. I'll usually be rolling up the trail with a lot of people.Q. Where do you shower?A. Whenever I get into town and get a motel. I figure once a week or every other week I will get a hotel room to sleep in a bed for a night.Q. Where do you do Laundry?A. Whenever I get into town and get to a Laundromat. Thru Hiking = Rankness There is no avoiding it!! I will basically hike in one set of clothes and sleep in another.Q. How much water do you carry?A. Only as much as I need to get me to the next source which will be listed in Wingfoot. I will gather water from streams and springs as I go. I usually like to roll with about 20-40 oz of water depending on how far the next water source is. 20oz can last me prob 4-6 miles if I'm not sweating profusely. Q. Won't that water get you sick?A. Most water sources can be drank from without worrying about Giardia, but I will be carrying a Steripen Adventurer using UV light to kill any nasties if I have to drink from a shady source.Q. Where do you sleep?A. There are shelters spaced within a days walk along almost the entire trail. These are three sided buildings with a roof and a wood floor that most hikers spend the night at. I plan on sleeping near the shelters, but in my hammock, and not on the shelter floor.Q. Will you be completely out of contact for the whole 6 months?A. Quite the opposite, I will be carrying a Pocketmail and anticipate having email access almost every night by using my cellphone to send and receive my pocketmail emails. This is how I will be able to keep this journal updated.Q. How will you charge your cell phone and other electronics?A. I will be using what a lot of hikers call a "bounce box". This is basically a box that gets mailed from post office to post office up the trail with me. In it will be my cell charger, battery charger, an extra fuel canister, repair items, tea, food, anything that I might want in town, but not have to carry on the trail.Q. Will you need to buy new gear when the temps get warmer?A. No, I will have a late spring box set up at home with a lighter weight sleeping bag and lighter clothes that my parents will mail to me when I think it is time. I will also have a summer gear switch and a late summer gear switch.Q. Will you be alone?A. Quite the opposite!!! A north bound thru hiker sees a lot of company. I believe the estimate says something like 3000 people start in Georgia between March and April. Of course this will die down after a couple of months as people drop off. Also, my friend Ben is flying to GA with me. Q. Where do you go to the bathroom?A. At most shelters there are Privy's (outhouses) for the hikers to use.Q. How much does this cost?A. They say most people can make it with about $3-5K. I'm in that ballpark.Q. When will you be hiking through NJ?A. I am shooting to be in Jerz around July 4th. I want be around for Alex's firework Spectacularrrro. Toying with the idea of taking some days off to chill on the Good Ole Jersey Shore. We'll see...OK, I can't really think of any more questions for now. Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions. Next entry will deal with my gear. Only 19 Days, 20 Hours, and 17 Minutes...OMG this is crazy!!!!