Date: 2005-01-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Have been asked to provide some details and explanations about/for the AT journey, so will try to explain....especially to the non hiker types.The Appalachian Trail is a foot path that starts, on the south end, at Springer Mountain, in the Chattahoochee National Forest, about 25 miles northwest of the town of Dahlonega, in the north Georgia foothills. Roughly 50 miles due north of Atlanta metropolitan area. The trail goes northeast along the Appalachiam Mountains and foothills, thru 14 states, aproximately 2174 miles, to the northern end at Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park, north central Maine.It will take, on average, 6 months to complete the journey. Everything needed for survival and comfort must be carried on your back for the entire distance. Most hikers carry packs weighing about 35 to 40 pounds for the entire distance.Every 10 to 15 miles there is a town, little store or gas station near the trail where hikers can resupply with trail food, or use a phone. Most of the little towns also have motels and some kind of restaurants. Most hikers will stay at a motel or hiker hostel every 2 weeks or so to wash clothes, repair and/or replace equipment and pig out at the local eateries.A hiker will go thru about 4 pairs of shoes. When it rains you and most all of your stuff get wet. There are ATM machines in the towns to get cash. Most hikers use phone cards and debit/credit cards. When nature calls, you go off trail, dig a cat hole, go, fill in cat hole and start back on the trail. A hiker will mail packages to themselves to a few of the little towns along the trail, to send themselves gear, medicines, special foods, vitamin/mineral supplements, hard to find batteries or anything that would be hard to find in the little towns along the way. These packages are all made up, addressed and ready to mail before the hike even begins, then the hikers calls back home to have the appropriate package mailed to them just before they get to the post office. Some hikers will use pocket mailers to send their journal/e-mail via a phone when they find one. Cell phones don't work very well in the mountains.There are usually about 3000 hikers that start in the spring at the south end of the trail. Most of them will not make it to the end due to injuries, emergencies at home, or any number of reasons. About 10% to 15% will actually finish up in Maine. Most hikers find several other hikers who hike along at about the same speed that they will hike with, on and off, for most of the trail. There are 3 walled shelters along the way that you may use to get out of the weather or sleep in. The shelters are also home to many critters, especially mice who will chew thru your pack to get at any crumb or morsel they can smell. Most hikers do carry a small tent, tarp or hammock to use when a shelter is not available or you don't want to contend with the mice/critters.There are bears, deer, raccoons, porcupines, opposum, moose ( up in new england ), just to name a few. Most camp sites have steel cables to hoist your food up high or steel containers to put your food in so the critters don,t get it. When there are no steel cables or containers available you throw a rope over a high branch in a tree and hoist your food up and tie it off. Hopefully it is still there in the morning. Hikers carry pump style water purifyers, or chemical tablets, or flourescent light purifyers to kill bacteria in the water along the way. Hikers drink LOTS of water every day ! Hikers carry little, very light weight stoves to cook/boil water with. Most hikers will eat light weight meals like rice, pasta, noodles, all with spices/flavorings and some sort of meat. Oatmeal, crackers, peanut butter, jerky, pop tarts are all popular food items. I will carry nutritional supplements also since I am the ' Vitaman '. A body will need all the help it can get on such a long physical journey and it can't get what it needs from food, so the supplements are very important. They will be in each of my mail drops.So there you have the basics of the trip covering food, water, shelter, communications and companionship. That is pretty much it. If you have to ask why, I can't even begin to explain. Either you get it or you don't. I predict this trip to be the best 6 month vacation possible for me. If I get eatten by a bear, don't feel sorry for me, cause I was doing what I love to do out in gods great big natural world. Hope this answers most questions.   Vitaman