Date: 2017-07-17
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Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

When I started out on my AT Thru Hike in February, I gave myself about a 51% chance of finishing. That number seems like a copout, but I had done a lot of research and had hiked about 350 miles of the southern AT in weekend and section hikes over the past decade. I knew what the trail looked like, I knew what it took to move along it and I had made some recoverable mistakes, but I had never spent more than 5 days at a time out there. I also had some physical history, a heart attack at 53 and ACL reconstruction on my right knee a couple decades ago. I felt I needed some mental advantages to help me be successful. I will share some of my strategy in this entry. I do not feel this is the right way or the best way to approach a through hike, just another option for others to consider and tweak as they attempt to beat the "percentages". For the first 1500 miles, I treated the thru hike like a series of section hikes. I started out with a focus on the 30 miles to Neel Gap and a reward of hot food and indoor sleeping when I got there. I did not think about anything beyond Neel Gap. When I got to Neel Gap, my focus was on making Dick's Creek Gap and Top of Georgia Hostel. Hot food, a trip into town, a resupply from home and a night sleeping inside were my rewards. I used that approach well into the northeast. Finish one section and focus on the next with a reward at the end of it. I probably took it to the realm of silliness, but I never used the words "Maine" or "Katahdin" until I got well into the northeast. I was very focused on small sections and did not allow the length of the remaining journey to enter my mind. I relied on mail drops, primarily into hostels, about every 7-10 days from home. My wife got discounts on Mountain House freeze dried dinners and they were my staple choice for hot evening trail meals for the entire hike. She would also put in other food for about 4 days and send me my requests for equipment additions. I supplemented these mail drops with trips into town, primarily to get breakfast and lunch items to round out the menu. I remember my late father telling me that if you ever started having thoughts about quitting anything, you had already quit. I struggled before the hike to find actions that would help me deal with trail depression, hardships and general missing home, before it became a problem. It must have worked.  I never thought about quitting the hike. Not once. I did find that interaction with other hikers was important to me. Not just at night around shelters, but being able to hike with someone else during the day was a huge pick me up in my case. I probably hiked alone about 40% of the hike, but it sure was more enjoyable with someone else. I had some great hiking buddies for extended sections - Lucky Charms, Wiz and Freight Train. Once I started the hike, I felt additional pressure when former co-workers, friends, neighbors and trail journal readers communicated their support and interest in my hike. Other hikers also commented on this added mental burden to complete the hike. Overall, I was very lucky. At 58 years of age, I did not get injured or even caught a cold during the almost 5 months I was out there. I fell about 20 times, a couple times drawing blood on my head, but fortunately none of my falls were serious. Everyone falls, it is just luck on where you land. I also did not have any knee or leg injuries. Considering I spent the last 36 years in cubicles and offices, my body was good to me. I cannot offer any advice here, other than I did spend quite a bit of time before starting by going on daily, short training hikes around my home. As someone that has been very disciplined about work for decades, I treated hiking the same way. I answered the bell every morning. I did not take a lot of zeroes and treated hiking like getting up and going to work. You just do it. I also hiked within myself, most of the time. My hiking pace was slower than most, but I got up early and generally hiked a ten hour day or so. I also learned that mileage is more related to what the trail gives you, than your own pace. Toward the latter stages of the hike, I became more concerned about injuries that would end my hike and became a bit more cautious in the tougher terrains of NH and ME. To close, thru hiking the AT is a long and arduous journey. Those who say it is easy, have never done it, or are being cavalier with their experience. I would recommend one get exposed to as much information as possible and take some section hikes to test their equipment and their own "know how" before setting out. Make mistakes on weekend hikes, when you have a car waiting for you in 10 miles. It was a great adventure. I can say I really enjoyed the first two thirds of the hike. By the time I reached VT, I was like most other NOBO's, I was ready for it to be over with, but was too invested to not finish. Maine was absolutely the toughest part of the hike. Southern Maine humbled me and challenged me to do things I could not have done in Georgia. I can say that climbing Katahdin was the best day of the entire hike. Not because it was the finish, but because the trail required me to use all of the skills I had acquired over 2185 miles and then some new ones. Scrambling and climbing up the rocks above treeline with numerous exposures was not something I could have done 3 months earlier. When I reached Tableland, a mile and half from the terminus sign, I knew I had it. I cannot begin to convey the sense of joy and accomplishment I had in that last hour or so, as I made my way to Baxter Peak across that most reasonable terrain. I did this hike for myself and to see if I could accept a challenge that most do not succeed AT. I had the bug to thru hike and it wasn't going way until I at least tried to do it. At my age, there are not many things one can do that prove to themselves they still have some grit and toughness left and they are not quite ready for the rocking chair on the porch. I was never lacking for confidence, but this hike was one of the 4 or 5 most notable accomplishments in my life. I am glad I took it on, and fortunate to have been successful.