Date: 2009-02-26
To: Answering your questions
Miles today: 0.0

So, I wanted to take a few moments to answer some of the many questions folks have been asking me over the last few weeks about this hike. HOW LONG WILL YOU BE GONE?I leave March 10th and not too sure when I'll return. I expect it'll take about 5 months.HOW MANY MILES WILL YOU HIKE EACH DAY?It really depends. A group of us hiked all 42 miles of the Maryland AT in a single day last year. And in some parts of the Whites in NH, I'll only be able to go 6 miles in a day. It seems that most people hike 13-16 miles per day on average. There will also be days I decide to "zero" and take it easy in town or at a shelter.WHO WILL YOU BE GOING WITH?Just me. There's a good chance Cam Moore will join me for a bit in NC and VA, but who knows. If anyone is interesting in coming out, definitely let me know, but keep in mind I'm going in one direction...not a circuit. But, thousands of folks start from Georgia (and Maine) each year all in the same 6-8 week period. And as we hike, folks start to move in little bands up the trail. We won't necessarily hike together, but most everyone is heading in one direction and staying at the same shelters/tent areas/or cowboy camp spots. So it'll be pretty crowded (for a trail) for a bit. And that's just thru-hikers. There will be many day and section hikers out there as well, just enjoying a nice day on the trail.HOW MUCH FOOD WILL YOU CARRY? WHERE WILL YOU GET FOOD? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO EAT?On average I'll carry about 2 lbs. of food per day, carrying 4-5 days worth of food at a time. Some folks like to mail food ahead of them, but I think I'll be pretty tired of lipton's, mac and cheese, and oatmeal after a few months. So my plan is to resupply in the various trail towns along the way. Keep in mind, their isn't much "wilderness" left on the east coast. It's never too far to the next road crossing (except in some parts of the Smokies, Whites, and Maine).As far as menu--I'm going to try a bit of everything: tortillas, cheese, mac and cheese, lipton sides, instant mashed potatoes, rice, lots of spices, dried fruit, nuts, gravy, sardines, spam?, oatmeal, peanut butter, nutella, packets of jam, whatever. WHERE WILL YOU FIND WATER?Springs, creeks, etc. along the way. Instead of filtering I'll be bringing aqua mira drops, which are much lighter and easier to use than a filter. WHAT ABOUT WASHING? When I go into a town, along with food I will be washing my clothes. But at some point (early on) everyone stinks on the trail. Yes, that means no deoderant. And it's sort of frowned upon to wash yourself upstream from someone else's water.WHERE WILL YOU SLEEP?I'm bringing a lightweight tarp tent made by Henry Shires called the contrail. All I need to set it up is one of my trekking poles. It weights 24 oz, sleeps 1-2 and has a nice vestibule to store gear. On other occasions, I'll sleep in shelters along the trail. Some are simple a-frames and some are equivalent to Hilton's (like the Ed Garvey Shelter in Maryland). Shelters are also home to many other residents, including mice, porcupines, and the odd snake or two. But chances are I'll sleep in my tent to avoid the snoring from fellow hikers. WHAT ARE YOU BRINGING?I'll answer that in my next post, and after I figure out what I don't want to carry. "If you don't use it every day, you probably don't need it."WHY DO YOU CALL YOURSELF "HALFSTEP"?Good question! On the trail, folks go by a trailname. Some people pick theirs before they go, others get christened by fellow hikers as they hike, do something stupid/funny/etc. I'm leaving with halfstep, but may return with something else. It can also describe something about their personality, previous "life," or whatever. Anything works.So why halfstep? Let's just say that as I was hiking with some tall friends, it took two of my steps to equal one of theirs. Feel free to keep asking questions! I'm more than happy to answer, or make up answers if I don't know. "No problem on the trail is so difficult that it can't be solved by walking."