Date: 2015-03-28
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Following up on my journal entry from yesterday, there are a couple more questions that frequently are asked when explaining the planned journey.The first question is, Who is going with you? The answer is, I am going by myself. I then explain that all but the Northernmost part of the AT will be very active with other hikers. So I will always be near other people.The next question is, Are you taking a gun with you? The answer is no. Firstly, a gun is not needed. It would just be extra weight to carry. I cannot even imagine the number of laws, permits, etc. that would have to be considered to make it legal. And I'm not even sure it can be legal in all of the fourteen states, and the National Parks.People are expressing their concern about my safety on the journey, and I do appreciate their concern.I do have my own concerns about factors and conditions that can affect my safety, and the odds of completing a successful thru hike.My concerns, beginning with the most significant, follow:1. Wet/cold conditions. Generally not life threatening, but hypothermia caused by miserable conditions can have a demoralizing impact on willpower, resulting in leaving the trail. Edit added 4/10/15. Read a report of 3 hikers rescued from Smoky Mt National Park the first week of April. Cold and wet, severe hypothermia. One of the hikers was air-evac'd to a hospital. Hope they are all OK.2. Ticks and Lyme disease. Ticks are prevalent on most of the trail, beginning in May. The incidence of hikers contracting Lyme disease is alarmingly high. I will take precautions.3. Injury due to a fall or other accident. Hikers are forced to drop out every season due to accidents ranging from broken bones, sprains, muscle issues, to being hit by a car while hitchhiking or walking near the road. Be careful, O'RYAN. Edit added 4/11/15. Read a report of a hiker killed in mid-March when a tree fell on him near a trail shelter. Terrible ending to a hike in the woods.4. Major illness/health problem. Again, lots of possibilities here. Giardia caused by impure water is not uncommon. The Norovirus can circulate on the trail. And at my age, I have to include things such as heart attack and stroke brought on by intense activity and stress.5. Rattlesnake bite. Apparently rattlesnakes are going to be encountered on some parts of the trail. My plan and hope is that I will see/hear them before they are near enough and mad enough to strike at me.6. Two-legged wildlife. Not a significant concern for me, but its probably more likely that a hiker would be harmed by another person rather than a wild animal. "Harmed" will include theft of needed personal gear and food.7. Moose. Generally not dangerous, I think. But there are accounts of moose running over hikers on the trail. They are very large, and when spooked move quickly over anything in their path.8. Black bears. Very likely I will encounter bears on the trail. From my reading, it seems most encounters result in the bear running away. Necessary to avoid mama bear with cub situations. And necessary to keep food and scented items away from campsites. This means hanging these items in a bear bag high enough in a tree that a bear cannot reach them.9. Weight loss. Just about all thru hikers experience significant weight loss during the journey. A full day of hiking with a pack will burn about 3,500 calories. Because of space and weight limitations, it is difficult to pack and consume this many calories on a daily basis. I don't have much extra weight to spare, so I hope to maintain enough weight by overeating every time I get near a town or store. Wish me luck.10. Oh, the humanity. For Northbound (NOBO) hikers like me, the early part of the trail will be extremely busy. There is a very large bubble of hikers that start from early March, through early April. I am starting near the end of the bubble, so I hope the majority of the others will be well ahead of me. But, even so, I expect that during the early part of the journey I will encounter lots of people and crowded camps and other facilities. Not my idea of hiking in the wilderness, but it will have to be tolerated with the expectation that the congestion will decrease as I move North up the trail.Looking forward to getting to Georgia and beginning the journey.O'RYAN