Date: 2003-11-09
To: Begin With The End in Mind...
Miles today: 0.0

Let's muse a bit about AT time, shall we? Also, the end of the hike and some related head stuff. Some other musings thrown in, as I recall them.It's just some info I wished I'd known before I started. This is only coming from my experience and observations, others may have wrinkles they'd wished I'd addressed (so, put your two cents in the interactiveguestbook!).First of all, a nifty tool for you...A HIKE CALCULATOR:If you are stressing about time on your thruhike, this really coolonline calculator by Tom Janofsky might help your basic planning:http://tomjanofsky.com/at/I loved this. Plug in your start dates, guesstimate your zero days(try 24-26 days - a day a week, for starters - you may take more zeroes and"near-os" (near-zeros) later on, or less), and get your theoreticalend date.And maybe tell the inventor Tom, thank you, drop him a note.Have fun!****Why am I speaking about summiting Katahdin when you haven't evenstarted? Because it may affect your start date.START DATES:I started March 1, summited September 18, spent almost 2 weeks off-Trail on personal matters, took an as-yet-to-be-counted number of zero days and was a medium-to-slow thruhiker.You may want to go as late as May 1 if you are a very strong hiker. Personally, I loved my March start. I felt I needed the extra time (and I did). With the leaves down, the views were stunning (take sunscreen). I didn't mind the early so-called "crowds" - these were my fellow adventurers! That added to the high spirits and cameraderie. Yes it was cold, but this cold weenie not only survived several snows but also thrived. You learn to deal with it as you go along, if you don't give up. The Trail teaches you what to do. Really, it does. By Hot Springs, NC you'll be a pro. You'll see.STAYING WARM WHILE LEAVING EARLY: I took an incredible sleeping bag, a Western Mountaineering Versalite, a 15 degree down bag (NO REGRETS with this bag! One piece of gear I can reccomend whole-heartedly. See Gear Notes, or google it in). I'll talk about my clothing and sleep systems later on, but they are why this year's cold snowy March/April wasn't a big deal. In a nutshell: You hike in layers, take these off and on all day, you change to your dry camp clothes (kept in a zip-lock) immediately upon making camp, eat hot food, do a few jumping jacks to restore circulation then get in your fabulous, toasty bag as soon as possible.FINISH DATES: Even though you technically "have" until October 15, the day BaxterState Park closes to overnight camping, it is still "possible" for non-ice-rated climbers to ascend Katahdin by lodgingin Millinocket and taking the very friendly Minuteman taxi in to Baxter State Park. Not likely, but once in a rare while possible.HOWEVER, having said that,I personally would shoot to have your hike completed by October 1. This mountain just ices up early. In2003, a large clot of folks were held up in early October by severalClass 4 days (Class Four means "uh-oh, folks are gonna slide right offthat slick, ice-covered granite, whoopsy-daisy, so we'd better closethat mountain down or we'll be up all night carting off the brokenbodies.") It's a funny mountain, and makes it's own weather. There are noguarantees from Katahdin.After such a huge AT effort, you're going to want a stunning, Class 1 dayto summit, if possible. Finishing mid-September or earlier gives youlots of time to wait for a stunner. (You'll only be able to spend one actual night inthe park - unless you've somehow wrangled other reservations - at the thruhiker section The Birches, but you can easily geta ride out of the park into Millinocket and come back the next day).Try not to box yourself in at the end. However, it will be tough.MEETING UP WITH LOVED ONES AT THE FINISH, OR EVEN DURING THE HIKE:Naturally, friends and family may want to join you in celebration ofYOUR HUGE ACT OF COMPLETION (Hurray! S/He really DID it! Who knew?). Your loved ones will start asking you "When do you think you'llfinish?" More on that later.You, on the other hand, may be only GENERALLY aware of when you'll finish.By the time you get to Maine, however, you might well be happilydisengaged from calendars and timepieces and such. You are, after many months in the woods, blissfully "unplugged" to agreater or lesser degree. Some never really do shed this time thing fully, but that's their own internal hamster wheel. I know I struggledalot with time, the mental construct. I was looking at it, trying to grok it, andalso I was slower than many of the young bloods out there. The reality is, time IS a factor in thru-hiking, if you don't want toskip sections and walk the Appalachian Trail in it's entirety. At the same time, it's impossible not to be affected somewhat by the"unplugging." Even the hard-driving folks were sometimes busted unplugging - pausingat those scenic overlooks, getting off-Trail in mid-day for lunch,swimming in a lake. My advice would be to try to do this as much aspossible, but then again, I'm not you. You may be thinking, "yeah, ofcourse I'm going to do that, it's why I'm thru-hiking," but you'll seehow hard it is not to get caught up in the push and mileage anxiety that flows,often unexamined, right below the surface of the linear culture.So here are some general thoughts, some contradictory.A WHOLE NEW YOU?:Try not to lose this unplugged sense too soon upon your return. It's such a rareexperience and, it seems to me, an immensely valuable perspective tocarry back. You WILL lose it to a certain degree, upon reentry fromthe woods. That seems inevitable. But this works both ways. You are also carrying back somethingimportant, whether you realize it or not. Call it, with humility, a "seed" of wisdom - something ourhamster wheel culture so desperately needs and even CRAVES. No point in telling you what your seed is, because you'll likely bring back something different. There can be many gifts from the Trail. You will most certainly, if you stick with it, stretch your comfort zone. Ha! You might become nicely chilled out. Some learn the art of connection, where before they had little. Or conversation. Or self-examination. Others have discovered heretoforeuntapped wells of patience, or tolerance, or purpose, or acceptance, or courage. Or - heavens! - they find the preposterous, subversive, revolutionary audacicity to just be okay. Anyway, back to the hike itself, which in turn defines the ending.You'll be hiking with all sorts of weird, unlikely friends with whomyou've formed these inexplicable bonds. "Hike your own hike" aside,you'll naturally want to stay near them. They are your tribe. You haveformed your own language, reference points, history, in-jokes, measures oftrust. You'll want your significant "home" folk to meet these fine, new friends, andyet, the homeys may feel left outside the loop of developing camaraderie.YOU may also be different, having assumed a nom de plume and havingexperienced all sorts of new personal strengths and interior freedoms. You're notrepeating old patterns from daily life. All daily routines are new. Yourinner child may be busting out at the seams, mischievous and joyful.This is a good thing, I believe. We all need shaking out of our ruts,periodically.However, these changes may startle those at home who love you, and cause themsome apprehension. They may think: MY WORST FEARS ARE BEING REALIZED!S/HE'S GONE A'CHANGING ON ME! Ha! No one adapts well to change, and fear isusually our first reaction to the new, yes? Maybe they'll try to stuff you back in your little box. That's natural. It's what fear does. Perhaps you will find a graceful, connected way not to step back into your old box, yet give them the space to feel as they feel. They will anyway, you know.Understanding this in advance may help. Come up with a mutual gameplan for adapting to change. When home folks do come to visit you on theTrail, maybe you'll be the one to make that special effort that keeps the lines of communication open and soft.YOUR INCREASINGLY GODLIKE FITNESS: You'll be as buff as you've ever been in your life, able to hike longdistances without melting into a puddle of fried tissue by lunch (THAT comes after supper). Yourtown friends, even fitter ones, may want to hike and camp along with you,but are likely not be as fit as you. You might be wise to build in exit plans forthem, choosing sections of trail with many road crossings. Ordeliberately, with a free heart, choose to slow down and enjoy theexperience of being with them. I'm not saying right or wrong, do this or do that. I'm just pointing up some of the factors you might experience. The worst would be stuck in the middle, feeling obligated, pretending. You are going out to stop pretending, to meet the trail on its own terms. (If you think you're going out to whoop the Trail, all I can say is "poor baby..." You'll see.)WHAT YOU FEEL, YOU FEEL: You may find you resent any attempts to alter the natural rhythms ofyour hike, the spontaneity. I know I did, and it didn't affect my lovefor these visitors one little bit. I still loved them - but I also wantedto stay in the vicinity of my hiking friends. Best not to pretend to oneself the resentment doesn't exist. That's just more of the inauthentic life BS that freezes us up, and makes usconstipated robots. That's what you came out here for, wasn't it, to feel morealive? Stuffing it down won't cut it!I wouldn't necessarily express resentment either (or, again, I may. It justdepends on the situation. But I would try not to be reactive. Later is generally soon enough. By then, it may not matter anyway). Why dump a load of your bad stuff on the one that loves you enough to brave the uncomfortable, scary wilds?If you really want to come alive on your thruhike, I suggest firstjust start telling YOURSELF the truth. You don't have to tell the world. Just pay attention.It's there, you feel it, so be it. You just feel it! So? It's not theend of the world! You still love your home friends. No need to make it a problem.GETTING OFF THE TRAIL TEMPORARILY: Though you naturally want to hang with friends, you may well have to"let go" of your tribe several times. I know I did. I had to get offthe AT twice for work and family reasons. The first time you get off,it feels awful. Everyone goes on ahead. You are left behind (Light bulb:"Ahhhhh, just like my ____ (insert appropriate noun) back homefeels..., left behind...").Yet new and interesting people always start moving up up the trail. Far fromshrinking, your tribe actually enlarges. You form new bonds. Yousurvive, emotionally speaking. Because that's what it is - thatancient fear of abandonment that lurks beneath the surface in us ALL.ALL of us. You think it's not there in you? Ha! I say. Just wait, and watch.Forewarned is forearmed. And, that's okay too. That's just how it is.So what?VISITORS: Now the other side of the coin: When folks DO visit you, the memoriescan be wonderful, especially if the visitors integrate themselves into,say, trail towns and short hikes in and out. That's pretty stressfree. In particular, if you are leaving a loved one at home, you'llwant and need to connect. Of course! That still doesn't mean it won'tbe hard, even when the reunion is joyous. The best reunions I observed were from partners intimately aware ofthe Trail, it's crossings, with roads, the hiker's general whereaboutswithin a day. Often, I saw them surprising their AT hiker with theirpresence and trail magic, then vanishing back into civilization,leaving their hiker happy and refreshed. Or, taking their and his/herfriends right into town for a hot shower and a meal. I remember Mrs.Friday and Ma Finch in particular doing this very well.I know this sounds contradictory, but these are some of thepsychological undercurrents I observed. You want your homepeople, and you also don't want to leave your AT tribe. Perhaps youwill find the contradictions useful, and they may help yourhike to run smoother.The easiest way folks joined me was when former thruhikerstracked me down. This happened when folks like Sloetoe, Skeeter,Trooper, Curtis Balls, Sunny and Sunset, Mrs. Gorp just made it happen. Very little stress on my part. Other connections - such as Dave Hicks (Chainsaw), Suz my fantastic transcriber, Art Cloutman, B&B, Cosmo, Chief onwheels - were also very easy because they were AT hikers, and knew theTrail intimately. Still others, like Hammer, I met at Trailfest (April) or Trail Days (May). Other times, non-AT folks such as No Comment, Catbert and Treadmill, Eileen Brail of Alaska asked around then walked UP the AT to meet me, taking for themselves a lovely day hike up from town. This was always a welcome suprise and took the rush out of meeting them if we had an appointment.THE HARDEST QUESTION:The hardest times were when folks would ask "Where will you be onsuch-and-such a date? I have some time off." I often wouldn't know howto answer them! It can be a very tough question.Sure, I had a good idea of pace by then, but there are SO MANYUNPREDICTABLE VARIABLES that can affect a schedule. You may plan to besomewhere in three days, then hit unexpectedly tough terrain. You mayexhaust yourself. The weather may become beastly hot, sucking you out(or it snows). You may need a zero day, but can't take one off becauseyou are pushing. My toughest day on the AT came from pushing uphill on rough terrain inVirginia, in wringing humidity to be somewhere by 6PM (myguesstimate). On very sore feet. The land looked fine on the profile map, but walked very much slower.I also got caught out on a ridge that day in a thunderstorm, because Ihad to keep pushing on. I and had to descend slick and rocky Dragon'sTooth and it's metal rungs in the driving rain. (Then, they didn't show! AAAAARGH!)I really tore up my feet, and had a physical crash the next day, probably fromexhaustion, bone-deep foot pain, body aches and heat stress. I really thought then, for the firsttime, that I might not be strong enough to finish the AT. This is a typical "Virgina Blues" scenario, so be forewarned. When youcrash, your head really plays with you. I was extremely discouraged -demoralized, really. Don't put yourself through that. Maybe you'retougher than I was, and can walk faster and farther with less stress.Just be aware.THE END:Back to the end of your hike. You'll know (sort of) when your end datewill be, but you won't be entirely certain unless you stickto a very rigid schedule NO MATTER WHAT. As I said, you may beunwilling to do that - or, you may be so eager to complete, you pushyourself hard just to get it done and get home.You or your family and friends may even need a date in order to bookan advance flight from/to Bangor, the nearest airport. If you find yourself boxed in a bit like this, consider building in alittle time. That way, you can slow down in the 100-Mile Wilderness ifyou need to slow down, or take an extra zero in Monson. (Bear in mind,the first day or two out of Monson is tough terrain, and you'll becarrying ALOT of food into The Wilderness).I know Chief and Dreamwalker both built themselves in a little timefor their return flight home (booked a month in advance). Then, whenthey finished earlier than expected, they paid the $75 to move theirdate up and flew home. Well-invested $$$, I thought.TO SUMMIT WITH YOU OR NOT?:Once at Katahdin, some home folks may want to summit with their golden hiker. If theycan physically, it's a great experience but bear in mind this is the toughest mountainyou have yet climbed. Make sure they are very fit and competent, notafraid of heights. YOU will be ready, after your many-months ofapprenticeship. Your visitors may be coming straight from the desk.Perhaps your visitors would like to go up a half-mile to the gorgeous Katahdin StreamFalls, a destination in itself, or to treeline to wait there with a picnic until you return. Treeline is the major descision point because beyond that, you won't want to abandon your home friends to the sketchy boulders of The Gateway, so you'll likely want to stay with them.Or, maybe they'll agree to just go as far as they can go, until their eyes bug out on stalks and they really grok what you have been doing for the last six months. That said, many home folks and day hiker do climb it. Ma Finch did. Get an early start, in any case.As an alternative, the home folks might prefer to set up a picnic down below in the relative comfort of the KS campground, withthe other well-wishers and incoming thruhikers bound to summit thenext day. There WILL be an air of celebration in that area, and abroad kinship among strangers seems to quickly form. Encourage yoursto do the same, perhaps by passing out sodas or nibbles, or justgeneral conversation. If they do participate in this fellowship, theywill enjoy the day immensely. They can actually catch a glimpseof your trail experience, and feel that special buzz of AT fellowship.BASKING IN THE AFTERGLOW:Don't plan to do much more than eat supper together that night. Youwill all be wasted, yet in a mood to be together and celebrate theaccomplishment. Because it IS an accomplishment. It is a HUGE thing inyour life. You'll see...;-)