Date: 2004-05-09
To: AT FAQ
Miles today: 0.0

Long Distance Hiking by Ronald Mueser, mentions a '98 through-hiker Carol Moore, who came up with "The Official Appalachian Trail Answers T-Shirt", to be worn by through-hikers when they might encounter normal people. The front of the shirt says:   1. 15-20 miles a day   2. yes, i've seen bears   3. mac & cheese   4. 50 Lbs or so   5. in a tent   6. 4-6 months   7. over 2000 miles   8. yes, i walked hereThese are pretty good general answers, and i assume you can guess what the questions are.My answers are a little different, though.   1. How far do you walk a day?      I plan to walk about 15 miles a day to start, getting up to 20 miles a day in a week or two. By the time i get into the swing of things around virginia, i expect to be almost 30 miles every day. When i get to west virginia, i will attempt the '4-state challenge' which means hiking 42 miles from VA , through WV and MD, all the way to PA in one day.      I'll probably take one day off per week which will coincide wiith my maildrops.   2. Have you seen any bears? Are you afraid of them?      I have seen bears many times before. I've been within 10 feet of them on multiple occasions, and was once close enough to touch one. It would appear i'm not afraid of them, but i think its more a matter that i can handle the fear and not panic. Bears are barely a threat _IF_ you know how to be careful and not panic near them.   3. What do you eat?      I enjoy cooking almost as much as i enjoy food. When hiking all day, you burn lots of calories. My plan is to cook angel hair or pastina every night, and mix in variety by using different instant sauces, tomato paste, dehydrated vegetables, and meat like tuna, chicken or peperoni. Breakfast will be granola and powdered milk, lunch will be pita or other bread with peanut butter, hummus, nutella, and trail mix.   4. How much does your pack weigh?      35+ pounds is what most people carry. Less than 20 pounds qualifies you as 'lightweight'. Less than 15 is 'ultralight'. I am planning on a 4.2 pound base weight. All these numbers are steady-state pack weight, not including clothing you wear, food, fuel, or water. 2 pounds per day of food is the rule of thumb, but i think i will be a little lighter than that because i will be carrying more dry food and fewer individually-packaged foods. The maximum i will carry is about 16 pounds, fully stocked.   5. where do you sleep?      Tarps are much lighter than tents. they're also much cooler in warm weather because they allow ventilation. They're also much dryer in wet weather because they ventilate. The 'disadvantage' to tarps is that there is no sealed wall between you and the woods. Bears would rip through your tent if they wanted to. rodents are smart enough to back off if you are smart enough to not sleep with your food. bugs are the only exception. Having spent 7 summers of my life sleeping in a wall tent at boy scout camp, i can safely say that bugs don't bother me.   6. How long will it take?      Like i said above, most people carry 35+ pounds. That doesn't include massive 5-lb boots and 2 gallons of water. Those people can't hike more than 20 miles a day without starving. Carying more food takes more calories to carry than it provides.      By going ultralight and wearing running shoes, i should be able to hike up to 30 miles a day, and still use less energy than the heavyweights hiking 20 miles.      My rough plan takes 86 days. That's an agressive schedule and it will probably end up being more like 90-100 days- barely more than 3 months   7. How long is the trail?      2,174 miles this year. Every year there is trail maintenance and some rerouting that changes the lenght a little bit.   8. Did you really walk here?      Unless i 'Bryson out', my plan is to hike every single step of the trail. Hiking the trail is supposed to be a fun thing. If it stops being fun, I will do what it takes to make it fun, or stop hikingThat seems to cover all of the questions i get asked alot, aside from the 'walk in the woods' question i addressed earlier. If you have any more, email me-joe