Date: 2016-06-28
From: Stratton

To: Stratton
Miles today: 0.0

The trail goes two ways. Some start at Georgia and Ho north to Maine. They are Nobo. Some start in Maine and go south. In Georgia Nobo and Sobo seldom meet. Nobo start in spring and Sobo show up in fall. In Maine however June and July are filled with Nobo Sobo encounters. I am seeing more every day. The Sobo's think the Nobo's are arrogant. They are. They have traveled 2000 miles and know how. Not that there is only one way to do it. However there are things that stand out among the Sobo troupe that need voicing. They happen in Georgia as well but there's no one there to notice. Many a Sobo can be heard coming by his radio blaring. The next step down is the Sobo with his earbuds in who doesn't even know he passed you. Boo Hoo. No one wants to be around a radio on the mountain. It's rude and uncool. You won't see it a few hundred more miles down the trail. Either they will stop playing it or will have given up hiking by then. The earbuds you will only see on day section hikers. There's too much external stimuli in the woods to warrant shutting your ears on purpose. Both types of behavior indicate people who are bored and aren't getting much out of hiking. They likely will give up soon. Just saying. If nothing else enough other hikers will complain about the noise that they will cooperate just for good manners. Anybody reading this can reply with reasons why they feel righteous in playing their music aloud in the presence of other hikers. I'd like to hear them. Let's move in to motivation. Again not different from Nobo in Georgia but goofy to see from my perspective. I am seeing many Sobo sitting in shelters mid morning talking about moving 8 or 9 miles to the next shelter as their daily hiking plan. As one told me, I have a six month vacation and I plan to enjoy it. Careful. 9 miles a day will not get you to the end in 6 months. Try 8 months. Maybe you'll pick up the pace later. Maybe you just like lounging around the shelter. Maybe that will make for a fun vacation. All I know is that the Nobo thru hikers I meet hike reasonable distances on good weather days, depending on age and skill level. They are not found in sleeping bags at 10am in a shelter. Makes for a very long journey. Now for weather. Many Sobo have no respect for it. Storms coming? So what? I'll stand out in the rain with my rain shell on. I'll handle it when it shows up. I like hiking in rain. Etc. STOP. Just wait until your first time above tree line in lightning, or sleet, or ice, or gale wind, or any combination. Scary and dangerous. Worth keeping an eye on the forecast and planning each day's objective. Even so the mountain will surprise. Usually when you are least prepared. It doesn't take much. Rain in the valley can be a blowing blizzard at 4000 feet. Many times you can hear the wind above the trees most of the day but it can still startle you when the trees drop down to alpine height or disappear and the wind chill hits hard. To ignore these things as part of the adventure will cost you sooner or later. Even with planning you'll wind up in snow and ice sooner or later. It's unlikely you'll want to repeat the experience. You could be the exception. You could also really enjoy "the notch". Same odds. Finally, something I was guilty of in Georgia my first year. Disregarding section hikers. When I tell a Sobo I am finishing my AT but have taken three years to do it. They stop listening. If your not a thru hiker like them you are lesser. And it true. An actual Nobo thru hiker here this early in the year is a remarkable achievement. They deserve separate status. But a Sobo with 200 miles under their belt is not quite in that league yet. Get to Harper's Ferry and things change. Just saying. Feel good about what you are doing but out in some work before taking credit for the deed. If I finish the AT I will be proud. I don't think I could have done the thru hike. Not and stayed healthy. I respect those that can and that do. It's a bit too early to separate the Sobo I meet into those who will make it and those who probably won't. I wish them all luck. These kids are certainly brimming with enthusiasm.