The big AT

“I have just graduated from high school and starting college soon. I plan to finish 2 years at a local college and then thru-hike the AT. I need some opinions from the peanut gallery. I am looking for anyone who has thru-hiked the AT. If you have not thru-hiked the AT and would still like to give your input that would be great also.

1)Should I go solo? or with a buddy?

2) will a tarp be ok for a tent?

3) How do I make my food animal proof when tenting on the AT? I have heard of bear proof containers but I am worried about the weight. Since I am trying very hard to cut ever ounce. I already have a golite pack, and many light-weight accessories.

That will do it for now, I do appreciate your comments and advice.”

“hiker guy, go this website and read some of the journals of people who have thru-hiked the AT. You'll glean tons of useful information about what gear to get, what will actually be useful, etc.

To more directly answer your questions:

1) If you decide to go with someone, remember that you should both hike your own hike. Don't expect to agree about everything, and don't expect to spend the entire hike together. Few hiking buddies make it all the way through together. If you decide to go it alone, don't expect to be alone all the time. If you start at Springer in March or April, like most thru-hikers, you'll be in plenty of company.

2) A tarp will probably do in most cases. Most AT thru-hikers end up ditching their tent and going with a tarp. Many end up spending most nights in shelters anyway.

3) I wouldn't worry about a bear canister on the AT. Learn how to hang a food bag right, and you'll be OK. Places with severe bear problems tend to have a cable system set up for hanging food, but it's still a good practice to always hang your food. I usually do it even if I'm not in a bear area.

Hope this has been helpful, and good luck on your trip!”

“If ya do want to take steps to protect your food then take a look at the ursack.”

“Hiker guy... another good website to try is:

http://trailplace.com/”

“Did wingfoot start the site back up? The last time I visited it, there was just some note from him about how he was closing the site due to non-participation or some such...”

“I have nothing to add just yet that hasn't already been said or is provided in the links above.. but wanted to say GO FOR IT! Doing it now while you're still young and not really out in the real world yet is primo. :-)”

“Wingfoot's site is back up... its a little "buggy" still - but pretty useful.”

“Hiker Guy, I am brand new to this whole hiking business and have never thru-hiked a damn thing, but I wanted to say good luck. It's great that you are coming straight out of h.s. w/ plans like the one you've got going. If you keep doing stuff like that, you're going to have a great life.”

“I once dreamed of doing the AT, then I got married and life "intervened." Do it soon or you may never do it.

Best”

“oh and do some hiking before you go.... dont make the at your first trip.”

“I didn't consider hiking the AT 'til AFTER I got married!”

“no wonder the trees hate you :P”

“LOL @ newgirl!! you crack me up. i too have "never thru-hiked a damn thing," Hiker Guy, but if i did, i'd certainly want someone to do at least part of it with me! if i had to do it on my own, i'd certainly go Krazee with a capital K.”

“hiker guy, what state are you in?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot the most important piece of information: Don't try to do everything perfectly. Learning is part of the journey.”

“I agree w/ Lyra too. I'd definitely want a partner. That's 'cause I'm a scaried-cat though, maybe you don't have that issue.”

“There are so many people out hiking the AT, you really don't need a partner. You will meet many people, and will probably end up finding compatible souls to hike with on a regular basis. Some may become trail family or partners, others will just be friends you leapfrog up and down the trail. When you are home, it is hard to know how you will deal with trail reality. Your prehike ideas will become pretty meaningless until you have actually gone out there to find out whether you like to hike early or late, take time of in towns, use shelters or not, hike with someone or just meet them at the end of the day, etc. Injury may slow you down, or your partner, or you may find after a few weeks that you really don't get along that well. It's easier to split up if you are casual partners than if you have set it up in advance and are sharing food and gear. (What do you do if your partner gets sick and goes home and he has the stove or the tent?)

As to a tarp, if that is what you like to use, then use it. Just bring something that you are comfortable with. If I were to do the AT again, I wouldn't use the shelters, except in emergency. You just don't sleep well in shelters -- too many snores, farts and mice.

Don't bother with the bear canister; AT bears aren't like Sierra bears. Just learn to hang your food in areas where bears are a problem.”

“My advice for you is quite simple. Do not go to school. Hike. I decided that I would get a bachelor degree before I hiked the A.T. Now I am stuck with a lone payment and will not be able to hike the AT for at least another year and a half. And I am now at the point in my life where I dont want to leave my life for 5 to 6 months, to go on a long hike. So my advice is work, save money and hike before you go to school.”

“Thanks for all your great advice. I know I can use it. I currently live in Dayton Ohio. Ohio is not known for its mountains and for that reason I am moving out to Idaho after college and the AT. I have it pretty well planed out (I hope). I plan to take 2 years at a local college, then thru-hike the AT, and then move out to Idaho, find a job and live a happy life in the mountains. As for college expenses there are few. I have a pretty good scholarship that will pay for just about everything. Please keep you advice coming. Thanks”

“You better apply for your Idaho visa early. With all the Californians that have come in during the last several years they have had to limit the issuance of visas. The quota for Ohio may not be filled yet. Good luck. Were in Idaho are you planning to settle?”

“hiker guy, us ohio peeps have been hikin almost every weekend. well, im out for a couple right now, but pay attention to our trip posts. we like to go to the mountains.”

“If I had my life to live over again, I would have thru-hiked right out of high school. Think about doing it first and getting it out of your system. I'm planning for 2007, but I'm trying to get out as early as 2004.

1) Go solo. Don't tie yourself to anyone at first. You may still be figuring out your mileage and style. If you form a partner on the trail, chances are you have already both figured yourselves out. I have a friend hiking this year that has a serious girlfriend he met on the trail. After 1500 miles they were still together.

2) Got Tarp. According to Roland Mussler's book, the average thru-hiker only spends 20% of their trip in a tent or tarp, the rest is spent in shelters, hostels, and hotels. I personally reccomend a Hennessy Hammock.

3) Learn to bear bag. You don't need a canister or a Ursak on the AT, you just need a stuff sack, 50' of cord, and some skill. I use a 1.5 ounce sil-nylon stuff sack, 50' of stripped 550 cord, and my stake bag as a throw bag.

Trailjournals.com is a good site, but WF has been very anal about limiting the discussion to fit his opinion of what thru-hiking should be. A better site IMHO is www.whiteblaze.net. It's a site that just started but is growing quickly, and it has more real traffic on the forum than Trailplace.com.

If you want to e-mail me directly about my YEARS of planning (sombody shoot me), my address is sgtrock@hikinghq.net”

“I plan to move to Boise Idaho. What parts are you from? How long have you lived in Idaho? Do you recommend Idaho over CO? I have heard that Idaho is the place to be. Not as populated as CO and just as beautiful. The only time I spent in Idaho was a road trip summer 2001. Thanks.”

“Duct tape,

Where in ohio are you from? Where abouts do you hike? Who? Ages? Where can I get some more info on your hikes?”

“SGT R0ck,

Thanks for your advice. Currently using my dads walrus tarp, its very big and very heavy. He wanted to get it for the fly screen function. : ( its as heavy as a tent, but I do enjoy it. I will defiantly be looking into purchasing a siltarp. Good words have reached my ears of these tarps. I like the fact that they don’t leak (most of the times), and the fact that they are more flexible for trail needs. I’m 18 and have already started college. The AT will have to wait, anyways I don’t think I’m quite ready for the AT. Have been reading a lot of books, and have heard many wise words. Yet I am going to do it, and I’m going to do it right the first time.”

“HG – I am in the Boise area for now. Idaho is a great place and even better if you don’t have to live in the Boise area. I am a native but have lived in Utah, Washington and Alaska. Southern Idaho is a high desert/arid grassland known as the Snake River Plain. It is the wreckage left behind by the geological hot spot now known as Yellowstone as it moved across the plate. It is a hour drive to the mountains from Boise, 3 hrs. to the Sawtooth & Frank Wilderness areas. It is tough to make a living while living in the mountains so we are stuck in Boise. The high country hiking season is short, typically mid July to mid September. One thing that maybe unique to Idaho is the vast number of trails that are open to motorized vehicles. These are mostly trail motorcycles. The rides also do most of the trail maintenance so it is had to complain to loudly. Many of the trails would not exist if not for the riders. Anyway, on most of the trails, outside of the wilderness areas, you will encounter riders. These trail don’t get many hikers but that is mostly because of the length. Many require 30 mile or more of travel to get to anything that is a desirable destination.

I don’t know much about CO but the population in Idaho small by comparison and we have more federally protected wilderness than any other state except Alaska. And we have lots of natural hot springs. Many that you have to hike to and where you can use your ultralight swimsuit.”

“Mtn Gal, I guess another good perk would be skiing. I have never skied out west, and have heard of great places to ski nearby. Is it hard to find jobs in Boise? I will be going into the computer field. I have heard mixed opinions on this subject. Is there anything to do in Boise? Are you bored out of you mind sitting at home? Hows the social life in Boise? Since Im coming to town after college, I’m not looking for a party town, but I’m not looking for a deserted western town with a bunch of retired people (no offence to you old people out there. I know I will some day be in your shoes), oh and yes, I shall make sure to pack my ultra-light swimsuit”

“Fine recommendations by Sarge. Whiteblaze.net looks like it is shaping up to be a great site. Nice gear reviews too (although they have some refugee from TT moderating that forum).

My one additional suggestion is to grab some opportunities to section hike and decide what works for you. Section hiking has certainly helped me refine my ideas and see which things that sound good will and work for others will actually work for me.”

“If you really want to learn about thruhiking the AT (or any other long trail) go to the ALDHA Gathering in October. It is in W.Va this year, October 18-20. They have lots of workshops on hiking and hiking trails and making your own gear, etc. taught by thruhikers, several slideshows, and lots and lots of hikers who have been there or want to be. Check out www.aldha.org for more information, but for a future hiker, it is a lot more informative and a lot more fun to actually talk to people who hiked this year than to read about it in a forum.”

“I'm also looking for my chance to thru-hike (I've got kids in high school now, so my thru-hike is a ways off). My thinking about going solo is: there is no need for a partner. If you have someone who wants to go with you and who you think you can work well with, that's great! Of course lot's of partnerships split up on the trail and many new ones are formed (and often re-formed). It doesn't hurt to have someone to share travel to your starting point with and to share some gear with. It also doesn't hurt to have someone committed to watching out for you.... but don't go out of your way to have a partner just for the sake of having a partner.”

“HG – Boise and the immediate area have about 300,000 people. Its not LA or NYC but there are things to do. I don’t drink, or party and prefer jazz and classical music so I cannot say firsthand what the night life is like. From the news of misbehaving drunks downtown and the advertisements for concerts of mindless, earsplitting “music” there appears to be plenty of nightlife. Boise has a number of high tech firms. Some of these have closed recently. Jabil Circuit is closing their plant this year, laying off 500. The big ones are HP and Micron. These are manufactures thought, not software producers. But everyone uses computers and this is the state capitol. There are many government jobs related to computers. There are jobs here.

Bogus Basin ski area is 15 miles from town (still about 45 minutes to drive). $200 season passes if you buy early. I don’t ski much anymore, Utah snow spoiled me. Most of my trips to Bogus are riding up the hill on my bicycle. Learn to paddle a kayak, this is the best state for whitewater boating.”

“I don’t think I will be able to visit the ALDHA Gathering in October. doubt college will allow me otherwise I would go.”

“we're a couple years older than you. i graduated hs in 98. been hittin the AT here and there. prowler's been gettin a lot more good hikes in than i have but that's all been changin cause i finally got me a job with weekends off.
you'll see our hikes. we always post em at least a few days before.”

“oh yea, we're from cincy.”

“Pedxing,

When are you thinking about hiking?

Hiker guy,

I highly reccomend you read Sweeper's 2001 thru-hiker journal. He and I e-mail extensively before and after this thru-hike. He was/is a college student that took off some time and did his thru-hike while in college. He has some great ideas on lightweight gear and it ended up making him a hiking machine. He finished the AT and went back to do the Long Trail.”

“Sup Ginny!!! D'ya ever decide ya need a great hiking hubby? Hehehehe.

HG, like Ginny, I thru'ed in '92. Would be very happy to hep ya in any way possible, just e me with any/all of your querries. I'd luv to hep!

Somebody above suggested hiking after highschool. That's what I did. I worked 10 months, then thru'ed the AT, and then went to college. Dang glad I did too. Got a job, met a gal .......... and, well, no more thru-hiking.”

“I got lucky - met my husband on the AT - then we went on to hike the CDT and PCT together a few years later. Trying to figure out how we can pay the mortgage and do it again.”

“I have so much fun reading about people trips in the trail journals. Currently Im reading a book at the library about a 51yr woman that thru-hiked the trail, I can't put it down. I can't imagine what it will be like. I have backpacked many times, and know what to expect on a week trip. But a 6month trip is a whole new ball park.

Happy trails”

“Do you have classes on Saturday? If not, can you take off Friday afternoon, drive down for the Saturday workshops and the leave Sunday evening? How early is your first class on Monday? I know there will be AT workshops all day on Saturday and again on Sunday afternoon. If you get creative, can you find a way?”

“For those of you who have actually hiked the AT, what was the final cost? I've heard anywhere from $2000 to $5000. I know a lot depends on "wasting" money on things like hotels and restaurants, but I'm kinda hoping to get some real figures from experienced people.

SGT ROCKS thanks also for your website, I've used it quite a bit recently, not only is it informative, it is entertaining as well!”

“Thanks, I try.”

“rox these days the 5000 figure is more accurate for planning, you can go much cheaper on the at but you wont be able to hang around towns much ect. There are a lot of ways to save money such as work for stay in the whites and yogi-ing as well as the hiker boxes. Not having enough money to finish is a lousy way to get put off the trail so plan on the high side and fergetaboutit!”

“dirtyoldman-first, thank u for your info. I'm wondering is $5000 for trail expenses only (food, mail drops, hotels, resupply), or are you including things from startup (tent, backpack, basic gear, travel to Springer)? I really appreciate the input!”

“yes on equipment... 6 months of continuos usage takes its toll on stuff. expect to replace your shoes during the hike and most backpacks are ready for retirement. The exact amount you should take depends on all of the above.

you might want to look at this for a good example.
http://www.hikinghq.net/at_stuff/at_cost.html”

“LOL, I coppied and pasted that, not realizing it was to my own site. I haven't looked at that in a while, looks like the format needs some cleaning up.

I based some of this on experience. Mail drops usually cost me about $3.50 to $5.00 to send, but figuring for a bounce box needing re-mailed I doubled that.

$50 for re-supply assumed about $35 for actual supplies and $15 for a couple of really good meals, showers, and laundry costs.

$5 a day on the trail for incidental expenses like the occasional fee camp site, offer of gas for a ride, chance for unplanned meals, etc.

$25 for a Hostel may seem steep, but there would alos bee extra food costs for resturaunts, some have extra fees, and there is the chance for a movie.

$70 for a Hotel is high in the south in my experience, but is about average in larger towns. This would also include some of those same expenses at Hosteling.

$500 for an emergency could be anything, but for $500 I could get a bus or maybe a flight home from anywhere, or it might include replacing equipment that wore out. Except for a couple of pieces of gear like sleeping bag, hammock, and pack, most of my stuff is pretty cheap”

“get really good health insurance before you leave. you want to be able to stop at a doc in the box for something as small as a bad case of poison ivy without it costing you and arm and a leg.
even if you never use the insurance, it's worth it for the piece of mind, imo.
i talked to my agent and for $110 a month i can get pretty good stuff.”

“Thanks for the info, especially for breaking it down SGT. I saw that on your website previously, and was wondering where you were getting those numbers from. I also hadn't really considered that I might be replacing things (except boots, that I thought of.)

I haven't had insurance in 5 years, but the AT sure sounds like a good reason to get some.”

“Where are these AT classes you speak of? I only have class on tuesday and thursday (14 credit hours) at sinclair. Also don't have a job yet so I am free. I would love to come to a class. 1)where are they 2)how much 3) how often 4) what to bring. Im from south of dayton in a city called centerville. Thanks for the info.”

“Rox my '92 trip cost me about $2000ish. Pre-trip, my gear totalled something like $1200, but pretty much I had most of it from hiking previously. So total it cost me $3200, rough guesstimation I'd say. I couldn't do all I wanted, but most of it. For the places I could stay cheap or free, I did, and for the places that are high for a thru-hiker budget, I split the bill with several other thru'ers. My maildrops began in Damascus, and each contained supplies to last from 10 to 16 days. (You'll need to pack for only 3 to 6 days if ya want to keep your weight down.) As you can see from my days I didn't really hafta take off-days often as most in towns.

One major factor in my thru-hike cost is not having to pay for a bus or plane ticket to or from the termini(?). I lived pretty close to the southern term, and hitched back home on a very low budget that fall (and spent 3 weeks in ME sight-seeing ta boot!)

If budget is no factor, then a 5-grand hike is reasonable. However, even if ya add in inflation since 10 yrs ago, a $3000 to $3500 budget will allow great freedoms and a splendid hike. Don't forget to factor in film developing, run ya about a couple to 3 hunnert or so.

Ginny did you meet Monk?? He thru'd in '91, and in '92 was doing another on a tiny $800 budget! (He already had his gear naturally.) I know he made it to PA, and was on track with his planned budget.

Oh, another thang I didn't have that isn't in my cost tally is health insurance. I was a young buck and didn't want the expenditure, but now that I ain't, I'd pay for some insurance.

Aaaannnd... I went thru 3 pairs of med- to lightweight boots.”

“The weekend of October 18-20 in Athens, WV (Concord College) there will be the annual Gathering of Appalachian Long Distance Hikers. It is three days of workshops, slideshows, music, etc. relating to long distance hiking. Warren Doyle (12 time AT hiker) will be doing a couple of workshops on the AT, as will Baltimore Jack and Bill O'Brien. Brian Robinson will do a slide show on his 2001 Triple Crown hike. There will be workshops on the PCT and CDT as well, and lots of other trails and subjects. The cost for the weekend is $10, I believe, ($17 to join ALDHA and spend the weekend) and includes camping at the Appalachian Folklife Center. For directions etc. check out www.aldha.org. It's a lot of fun and a good way to learn about the trails from people who have hiked them.”