Date: 2010-03-10
To: FAQ
Miles today: 0.0

This is an entry I have meant to write for quite sometime. It's a little late, but here goes. Below you'll find some of the questions (and answers, of course) that I get asked a lot about my hike. Some of these are really basic, and therefore will not interest other hikers who already know the answers, but some are specific to my hike and not about thru-hiking in general. Especially for those of you non-hikers, this should help a bit with understanding just what it is I'm doing out in the woods. So, I kind of know that you're going to disappear into the woods for a while (maybe never to be seen again), but what IS the Appalachian Trail? It is a marked and maintained hiking trail (a National Scenic Trail, in fact) traversing 14 of the Eastern United States, stretching 2,179.1 miles from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine. Most of the trail is in wilderness, but I'll also be crossing roads and rivers and sometimes even hiking the trail down a city sidewalk. There's a pretty decent Wiki article on the AT, and you can find out a lot more there.How much of it are you going to hike? The whole thing! A thru-hike, which is what I'm attempting this year, is hiking the entire trail in one go. This doesn't mean I won't stop at all, but it does mean that I won't get off the trail for more than a few days or weeks (but probably just a few days) at a time. Many people also section-hike the trail, meaning that they hike the entire thing, but in sections, often over many years. Why would you ever want to do that??? Well, you should really read about that in some of my other journal entries, but I have lots of very good reasons, I promise! Are you crazy? Maybe a little bit, but aren't we all?As you blabber on and on, I've heard you saying a bunch of words that mean nothing to me. What do those mean? Well, just like in any group, we hikers have our very own jargon. Here's a small selection:AT- the Appalachian Trail (okay, so that one's pretty obvious...)2,000 miler- anyone who has hiked the entire trail, whether by thru- or section-hiking.Zero day- a day that I don't hike at all; this will usually happen in townsNero day- a day that I don't hike much, usually less than five miles; again, this will usually happen going into or coming out of townAYCE- a hiker's dream- an All You Can Eat buffet!!!Bearbag- At night, I put all of my food and other scented items in a dry bag that I then hang on pre-hung cables or on my own rope that I throw up in a tree to keep it away from bears and other critters. There are a lot more terms, but these are the main ones I've been asked about so far. Where will you sleep? Either in shelters (usually 3-sided structures spaced 5-15 miles apart up the trail), where I lay out my sleeping pad and bag along with other hikers, or in my hammock, which is really like a tent hanging from trees. (Check it out at www.hennessyhammock.com) How much does your pack weigh? I'm starting out with right at 30 pounds. This includes my winter gear (which I'll send home later), 2 liters of water, and 4 days of food. I've worked hard to lighten my load, and am thrilled with this weight!How far will you hike each day? My goal is an overall average of about 14 miles per day. Of course, I'll hike much less than this starting off (7-8 miles for the first week), and in some tougher terrain, such as the White Mountains. And yes, I'll sometimes hike much more than this, but I don't have the interest in too many "20 miler" days. Are you hiking alone? Yup! I will start briefly with my friend Amanda, who is also thru-hiking, and will be joined sometimes by family and friends, but all in all, this is something I am undertaking by myself. That said, there are A LOT of other thru-hikers out there who will quickly become my trail family. I will actually spend relatively few nights on the trail totally by myself, unless I choose to do so intentionally. Here's the question I get most often (by far!):Are you taking a gun? NO! There are a lot of reasons for this, including weight, alienating other hikers if I carry it openly or if I don't and they find out I have it (I know that would make me nervous about another hiker!), and places I cannot carry a gun, but the biggest reason is this: I simply don't need it! Yes, terrible things have happened on the trail, but when you get right down to it, I am MUCH safer out there than I am walking down a city street or driving down the road. Why don't you take a dog? There are thru-hikers who have very happy hikes with dogs, but a dog on the trail is a great responsibility. I think that dragging my own tail to Maine is a big enough responsibility for me! As for those who think I need a dog for safety reasons- again, it's just not neccessary, but I do appreciate your concern. What will you eat? When you are out of food, how will you get more? There are lots of different ways to do this, but my personal approach is mostly food that I have prepared and dehydrated in the last few months, and my parents will be sending this to me in maildrops spread anywhere from 2-7 days apart. Check out my Prep #8 entry for more info on this.Speaking of maildrops, can I send you mail? YES!!!! I have gotten this question from a surprising number of people, and I am so completely touched! A little encouragement goes a long way. There are a lot of ways you can contact me on the trail. You can leave guestbook comments here, email me, or (if you're a close friend) send me text messages on my phone. I'll be able to check all of these things at least once a week. You can also send me snail mail at any of my maildrop locations. Keep in mind that I won't be able to carry a lot, but any letters or yummy edibles that I can (and will!) scarf down in town would be insanely appreciated. In the left frame of my journal, click on "Mail Drops" for a full list of locations, addresses, and ETAs. Scroll to the bottom of the list for some standard tips and instructions for sending mail to hikers. Thank you so much for the thought!!!I'm tired of reading. Are you almost done with this long-winded entry? Yes! I just have one more thing I'd like to cover...How do you plan to update this journal if you're going to be in the woods? Gosh, I'm so glad you asked! I just so happen to have some of the most amazing friends and family in the universe! I will be handwriting a journal entry each day of my hike, and I have eight amazing individuals who will be typing these up as I send them their way and posting them online. (Actually, one of the eight will be sorting through pictures and posting them in my journal.) I was totally blown away by how many people were so eager and willing to do this! So, with that, I'll end this entry with an ENORMOUS THANK YOU to my transcribers- Jody, Megan, Jessica, Lisa, Mom, Dad, Dan, and Jenn. You are all amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!