Date: 2013-11-14
From: Day 139 - Mt. Katahdin (and beyond!)

To: The Future
Miles today: 0.0

So I've finally decided to recap my adventure, and I did so by answering some FAQs. If you enjoyed following me on trail journals, feel free to check out my post-AT blog at www.chrishorstman.wordpress.com. Thanks to everyone for sharing in my adventure, and for all the support along the way!1. Was it fun? Maybe ¢fun¢ is not a good word to describe it. But it also depends which aspects of the trail you¢re asking about. Hiking over countless lung busting mountains through the rain/snow/sleet/heat/bugs is definitely not ¢fun¢ ¢ it is, however, EXTREMELY rewarding to accomplish a daily goal and watch as the miles compile and the states fly by. I will say that on a couple of occasions (Mahoosuc Notch in Maine and the climb out of Lehigh Gap in PA) I can look back and say that I had fun, but generally I¢d say that it¢s more about feeling rewarded (at least for me). If you¢re asking about the non-hiking trail town experience where you get to hang out with new friends, drink awesome beer and eat large pizzas like they¢re going out of style, then I would say it is ridiculously fun. Speaking of pizza¢¦2. What did you eat? How did you get food out on the trail? Basically, I ate like a 6 year old boy for 5 months straight. Pop tarts, candy bars, Cheez-its, salami, cheese, honey buns, nutty bars, Goldfish, Ramen Noodles, mac and cheese, etc. Anything I could shove in my fat face was fair game, assuming it met my caloric requirements. The trail diet is the complete opposite of the norm. Now I have to watch my figure so my hips don¢t get fat, but on the trail you¢re looking for the highest calorie/weight ratio possible. Tons of saturated fat? Yes, please. 100% of my daily sodium? You know it. Even with that mentality, I still ran at a calorie deficit while on the trail. I burned something like 4000-5000 calories per day and could only take in maybe 2500 (due to pack weight and space limitations). The result? The 30 piece McNugget Challenge, and other feats of seemingly impossible ingestion during any town visit. And when I say 30 piece, what I really mean is a 30 piece, large fry, double cheeseburger, McChicken and large soda ¢ for the first of two daily lunches. Then two dinners, a pint of ice cream and pints of beer. Put it this way ¢ at Pine Grove Furnace State Park in PA, there¢s a tradition that hikers attempt to eat a half gallon of ice cream. I never met someone who didn¢t finish.In terms of resupplying, some people go with the mail drop approach. This is where supplies are bought in bulk in advance, and packages are sent to future stops along the trail. That seemed like too much work for me, plus I wanted to be able to buy food that I wanted at the time, so I opted to just resupply in trail towns. This method was probably a little more expensive, but there¢s nothing better than buying what your hunger craves.3. Did you bring a gun? No, and actually it¢s kind of a taboo subject on the trail. If someone were to have a gun on the trail, it would be totally weird. I¢m not generally opposed to guns ¢ I just think that people quickly realize that the trail is not really dangerous at all and that having a gun is a sign of paranoia (although I think most have had at least some weird encounter along the way ¢ See question 5 below). Bears are timid and practically poop themselves at the site of a human. Also, the trail community is really tight-knit and people watch out for one another. For the most part the towns feel more dangerous than the trail.4. What wildlife did you see? I saw bears (22 total ¢ the majority in Shenandoah National Park), moose, a porcupine, coyotes, hundreds of snakes (including copperheads and rattlesnakes ¢ GROSS), salamanders, lizards, grouse, wild ponies, turtles, loons, turkeys, countless deer, birds and insects. I¢m sure I¢m leaving something out. Bear sightings became almost like deer sightings in that they lost their uniqueness after a while. The first one I saw scared the bejesus out me, but after more encounters and learning their behaviors it wasn¢t a big deal. They almost always freak out and run like lightning in the opposite direction. In fact, in New Jersey, one was in a tree and saw me coming - in a panic it tried to climb down the tree, but in its haste it actually fell probably 30 feet to the ground before tearing off farther into the brush. It made me laugh.5. What was the weirdest thing that happened? I think there¢s a tie on this one. The first would have to be the 60 year old naked dude in Vermont. A couple buddies and I rounded a corner to see a fairly pudgy, 60-something guy wearing only his birthday suit. Well, I guess he wasn¢t just wearing his birthday suit ¢ he did have on a baseball cap, sunglasses, socks and shoes. It was the whole middle section that he decided to show off. The best part was that he tried to chat us up like it wasn¢t at all awkward. We¢re like, ¢Dude, why are you naked right now?¢   His response was ¢Well, it¢s a hot day, and it¢s just more comfortable like this¢. Mind you, this was probably the coolest day there had been for a week, so I¢m not sure if he was being entirely truthful on that one. Weird.The co-champion in this category has to be my run in with some backwoods, mulleted, 50 year old Pennsylvanian guy. The trail crossed a desolate back country road, and a car was parked an uncomfortably long distance from the trail. I heard a guy¢s voice ¢ ¢Hey man! You hungry?¢ Well, of course I was hungry, and since it¢s bad etiquette and karma to turn down trail magic, I headed toward the car. He whipped out a loaf of zucchini bread that his mother had made and a knife, and sliced me off a piece. As I took a bite, he started chatting me up about the legality and illegality of various weapons, criticizing the government, assuring me that he was trained in martial arts, and asking me weird questions like ¢So, is there anyone in front of you? Behind you? You can defend yourself out here, right?¢ He also started telling me about old Apache rituals and showed me the bear claw strapped around his ankle, claiming he was soon going to walk into the woods and hunt bear with just his bare hands and cunning. Let¢s just say I only took one bite of that zucchini bread before assuming it was poisoned and that my unconscious body would (hopefully only) be robbed somewhere up the trail. To my relief, another hiker then crossed the road, and I realized that was my chance to get out of the situation. I hastily told the mullet man that I had to go, and tagged along with the new guy for about 6 miles, just in case. In the end, I think the guy was probably innocent enough ¢ and just incredibly socially unaware. And a hillbilly. No harm no foul I guess. 6. What was the hardest part of the trail? I look at this in two different ways -physically and mentally. For the physical part, it comes down to which parts of the trail slowed me down the most. The trail isn¢t too ¢hard¢ for someone who is physically fit, but there are some sections that kicked the crap out of me. For this, the White Mountains in New Hampshire were the hardest. There was tons of bouldering, lots of really steep climbing, and long stretches above tree line, which exposed me to some pretty extreme elements.Mentally, the biggest challenge was northern Pennsylvania. This is for two reasons. First, this section is often called ¢Rocksylvania¢, and for good reason. It features constant boulder hopping and/or walking on basketball sized, irregularly shaped rocks, all while dodging rattlesnakes and copperheads every step of the way. This lasts for like 60 miles, and it is dreadful. It¢s the only part of the trail that was actually completely unenjoyable. Second, the gnats in this section were the WORST. From sun up to sun down, I was surrounded by them. And not just a few little guys flying around my head. I¢m talking swarms of them. From head to toe they enveloped me for days. 7. Were you ever scared? Yes. There was a three day stretch near Daleville, VA, full of severe thunderstorms and record rainfall. During the day I was scared of hypothermia, because I was entirely drenched as cold rain continuously fell. I had to move constantly to stay warm. At night there were severe thunderstorms with 60 mile per hour winds and lightning, and I was posted up alone in my tent. I said a lot of prayers during that time, I¢ll tell you what. I was also scared in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Between Mt. Washington and Mt. Madison, there¢s 5.7 miles of completely exposed rock and alpine tundra (there¢s actually about 8 miles of exposed trail, but there¢s a hut at the foot of Mt. Madison which offers respite). This stretch of exposed mountains is known for some of the worst weather on Earth (260+ mph wind speeds, snow during all months). I faced 40-50mph winds and sleet while I tried to follow a poorly marked, icy trail across barren boulder fields. It was both scary and exhilarating ¢ an experience I will never forget.8. What was the most beautiful part? The last 115 miles from Monson to Mt. Katahdin, Maine. This went through the famed ¢100 Mile Wilderness¢ and into the lake country of central Maine. The trail crested rocky mountains and dipped into pristine autumnal forests. Lakes abound in this area, and the trail would often lead out onto a rocky beach. It was absolutely gorgeous.9. What¢s the best trail town? And the award goes to¢¦Hanover, NH! Congratulations! There were a lot of great towns along the way, but Hanover takes the cake. It¢s a mid-to-upper class college town, but it also incorporates the transient hiker population and makes them feel welcome. The juxtaposition of the preppy college kid and the dirty hiker was really interesting, and everyone got along. I didn¢t expect that. There¢s also a good number of restaurants that give free food to hikers, as well as a town-wide list of ¢trail angels¢ who will accommodate hikers for free. Dartmouth also allows hikers to stay on campus for free. I had an AWESOME time in Hanover.10. Did you ever think about quitting? I went into this with no doubt in my mind that I would finish. Barring a severe injury, no matter how terrible it got I would finish. I wasn¢t going to let myself down. That said, I had about a three day stretch where I was like ¢WTF this is really hard and really long! What am I doing?¢ This happened when I was in the heart of the Shenandoahs in Virginia, roughly 900 miles into the trail. Virginia poses a huge mental hurdle in that nearly a quarter of the trail is there. I had already spent almost a month in Virginia and still had another 100 miles to go. It was then that I realized just how daunting 2185 miles is. I still had another week to go in VA, and by the time I got through it I still wouldn¢t even be halfway done with the trail. That was definitely an intimidating time. But it¢s at those times that I just put one foot in front of the other and marched on. Patience is definitely a virtue, and I got through it.Bonus Question: Did you, like, shower and stuff? In the beginning I was definitely more diligent. By the end, I didn¢t give a S&!T. I¢d go a week without a shower, easy. Gross, you say? Well I say you¢re gross.