Date: 2005-12-27
To: A goal without a plan is just a dream ... but...
Miles today: 0.0

Planning this hike only based on informations from the Companion or other hikers journals seems to me like counting the chickens before they are hatched. There are so many unknown factors (weather, physical/mental condition, terrain, and so on) that drafting an itinerary which exceeds more than a week seems pretty naive. It's probably the best approach to wait till the first week is over and make a plan based on the facts discovered in this first seven days. Due to physical adjustments my body will have to go through, this first week will presumably be the hardest part of the whole hike. The good thing with plans is you have something to conform with, but the best planning is worthless if you have to throw your plan over bord shortly after you begin to hike. On the other hand I remember a quote from one of your former presidents: "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable". Due to the fact that I don't have the time usually needed to complete a thruhike (I have only 90 days, if you reserve 2 days for arrival/departure only 88 days are left) where will I finish my hike? Conventional wisdom points to a daily mileage of 12 miles with 10% zero days. This would amount to 960 miles. So Harpers Ferry is a goal that certainly could be met. That was the initial reason to book my flight back home from Washington Airport. On the other hand I'm not a slow hiker and usually tend to hike at least 10 hours a day. I know there are people out there who say that you can't enjoy hiking if you go to fast and you miss too much things along the way, but I can't share that point of view. At a pace of 2.5 - 3 miles an hour you should easily be able to take in as much impressions as a slower hiker, who tends to have a break every hour.But even if I assume 20 miles a day, 9 days hiking followed by 1 zero day, this will only add up to 1540 miles (somewhere in the middle of MA). Not really bad but nevertheless a bit frustrating having to stop in the middle of nowhere (if you live there I'm sorry for calling it that way. No offense was intended). But it even could get more frustrating. Let's assume I'm really in hiking mood and by putting on my anti-gravity boots I make it to Monson only to realize, that the journey has to stop here, only 100 miles short from Big K. I know it's stupid to disregard such feat, but regrettably this is the way human brains (including my own) are constructed. Have you ever heard somebody claiming he "almost" made it on top of Mount Everest, or he "almost" made it on the moon ( I bet James Lovell was hopping mad not beeing able to put his feet on the ground). Although the idea is completely nuts I REALLY want to hike the WHOLE trail. But so far I have not made my final decision about that. Ok, it has been done before. But most hikers who made it in less than 3 months had some sort of support on their way. Either family members/friends who joined them for resupply or gear replacement, or a series of maildrops, so there was no need to leave the trail for resupply. I will have neither. The simple math makes me dizzy. 2170 miles in 88 days is an average of 25 miles per day. And with some zero days included the figures get even scarier (28 miles a day with every 10th day as a zero day). I really have to think about that. And the decision has to be made before I start. Because every slow day will make the average for the remaining days higher and higher, I will have to start fast and get even faster.But there are as always some good parts in it: Every day spent on the trail is a day I can't spend money in a town and this is per se a good reason to hike as much as possible. Not that I want to harm the local economy, but I really don't think Mr. Greenspan (or his succesor) will have to raise interest rates on that account. Maybe "nuts" would be the proper trail name for me to choose :-)Bruno