TrailJournals.com

“i finally got around to check out this site. wow! after just a couple of minutes reading, i am totally geeked for the trip. i start 2 months from today!”

“Yea! You can learn a lot from their mistakes too.”

“yes! thats what i was trying to accomplish with the "i fought the at and the at won" thread”

“Yeah, I love that site. I've already been trying to pick a handful of people to follow this year.”

“oh! oh! pick me! pick me!”

“i love this site!”

“Who was the dude that was going to hike around the country and only made it like two nights?

Said he could not handle the solitude.”

“LOL, I've read trail journals where they give up after a couple weeks, but not two nights. That would have been funny.

SB, you set up an account yet? I didn't see one for you.”

“written while taking a "zero day" at fontana dam:

The best part of this adventure is the people. We have met people from such diverse walks of life from attorney to homeless, students to retired, 18 to 72 years old. One of the books I read described thru-hikers as forming a human chain or bracelet from GA to ME. I prefer to think of us as a string of pearls--natural pearls--each one unique and beautiful in his or her own way. Sometimes we are clustered together in little groups, other times spread out along the way, but always connected. I will always think fondly of Pending, who stayed with me for just a few minutes when I was ready to give up; Sheep Stuff, who taught us the "rest step"; Brendan (Yogi) who gave us a big smile and a hug when he finally caught up to us in Fontana Village; OFF, who signalled to us in the snow when he left the trail; the Gentlemen Petes from Boston; and so many others. Everyone cares about everyone else. We share what we can, when we can. We worry about who's sleeping bag might not be warm enough in the snow. We talk to a Mom on the phone to reassure her that her son is doing okay. We wait on the side of the road with a girl who is hurt and trying to hitch to town. We share a motel room when someone doesn't have anywhere to go and is running short of cash.
The PEOPLE are the Trail; the adventure; and it's the trip of a lifetime”

“that pretty much sums up a big part of why i am going.

dub, no i have not created an account yet”

“"The PEOPLE are the Trail"

Truer words have never been spoken. Spent 2 months on the AT in '99. I went alone, but was by myself for only one night outta 60. First night at Springer, I met two great guys, Fish and Abe, became friends instantly, and hiked with 'em for as long as I was out there. I had to get off the trail after 2 months, but I'm absolutely sure that I woulda quit after 2 days if not for the friends I made. Everytime I thought of turning back to town, I couldn't deal with the fact that I'd be leaving these guys.

I'm jealous of y'all who are planning a thru-hike this year. You'll be miserable at times, I'm sure ya know this. But overall the experience is better than any I've ever had. GL!”

“btw, the excerpt is from sassafras, flying cricket, and bump. its been a great read so far”

“Wow, that was an awesome post SB. I knew the trail was magical and had a family feeling but I never knew it was deep as that. I look forward to a thru hike. I think I'm gonna aim for 05, 06 if I don't have the cash by 05.”

“I love trailjournals.com. It's great to live vicariously through these journals sometimes and last spring when I was laid up for awhile, it was a lifeline for me. StormBringer, it would be very nice to be able to follow along on your trip.”

“yeah i always follow the pct-ers I pick a few and see if they make it in the end...i even send them goodies at resupply points. Storm, you better be ready for homeade cookies!!!

An alternative storm- create your own on a free site like tripod. Here is mine: http://freehiker0.tripod.com/ its new. I tried one before but the files kept getting corrupted or something so i had to create a whole new account and make a new one all over again :(. Thats ok, I like this one better anyway :)”

“Destination: Marble Spring campsite
Starting Location: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Today's Miles: 17.20
Trip Miles: 762.00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was out when we got up this morning--woohoo! So we set our sights on a big day and headed out. The trail turned out to be almost all uphill. Imagine if you will:
Hi, honey, I'm home.
Hi, sweetie. How was your day?
Well, my boss made me get on the treadmill with it set at a 45 degree incline. Then he strapped his 3 year old son on my back and said "walk this kid for 9.5 hours for me, will ya?"
Oh, by the way,the air conditioner broke down and the humidity was 80%. After awhile, my boss opened the curtains and let the sun shine in on me while I walked (still with the kid on my back). Every once in while he threw a shovel full of mud on my feet to see if I would fall. Then he tried rocks. He offered me water, but only after I carried it (on my back with the 30 lb. kid) for an hour or 2.
Finally, he changed the incline to a decline and said, "Just do one more mile and then you can go home and eat and sleep on the floor. Oh, and don't bother to shower or change your sweaty, dirty clothes 'cause tomorrow I want you to do it all over again
So, how was your day?”

“masochists! raving masochists!”

“LOL, I hope you write journal entries as humorous as that one.”

“you mean "as humorous and insightful as your regular trailtalk posts, StormBringer, you witty clever guy you"”

“Yea its better to have your own site. Trailjournals sucks its for beginer hikers on the AT. Same for that Whiteblaze site, this site blows them both away. IMO though you should open separate forums for the AT and PCT, I know many will participate, and would love to see a fresh face to participate in.”

“and would love to see a fresh face to participate in."

that can be taken wrongly in so many ways”

“Trailjournals is a great site. Whether it is for beginners or past thru-hikers. You can learn a lot from people who are doing a thru-hike. You can learn from their mistakes or learn from them as you read there journals. You can determine what worked for their thru-hike and whether it will work for yours.

Trailjournals and WhiteBlaze have a common interest with their site. They want an environment for people to share their outdoor adventures with everyone in hopes that people will learn and share with each other.”

“yeah those sites may be good for some, but I feel the posters on those sites are way to serious, the posts on this site are a hell of alot more fun.

Besides theres no to much to learn about backpacking ....... just buy your stuff and go ... use what you have. To many people get into analyzing gear and such that they just waste alot of money.”

“attroll - I've seen that name over over the whiteblazes site. Any relation?”

“I think attroll owns that site, I myself am just a troll, hence the name atroll.”

“hey dub! thanks for signing my guestbook! one of these days i will get around to actually making a journal entry. i made my first step yesterday. i bought a paper journal yesterday.”

“made an entry today. im still not on the list, however. have to search my name”

“ok i signed your guest book. better not delet it!”

“it has a delete button?”

“Hey good luck (I'm the nameless entry from Mass on you book)”

“I was just on Trailjournals. Glad to see you finally started your journal. I'll be watching for updates. Wishin' ya' the best of luck for a safe, enjoyable trip. I'll be on the PA trail starting May 29. Maybe I'll see you there. Good luck”

“probably wont be that far in 2 and a half months. thats more than halfway”

“altho if i can get in enough sun-up/sun-down days, maybe............”

“If you get as far as West Virginia, I may hike the entire state with you.”

“suggested reading right here, yo. i met this sweet young lass at our hiker feed in georgia (cheese factory campsite) last march, and was instantly smitten. the girl is a very good writer, too. makes my heart ache for the trail again.

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=90501
last edited: 5/09/05 11:22:57 AM”

“Something aches! ;-)”

“I agree CB - she writes very well.
last edited: 5/10/05 11:07:30 AM”

“I've been following Shorts and Scarecrow, now I have someone else to follow. There are so many different hikers on that journals web site and so many of them are such mundane writers that it's tough to decide who to read!”

“Hey CB, did yer smiting lass fall off the trail, get eaten by a bear, or jess give up writing or?”

“nah, i saw her at trail days”

“Did you tell her that her journal was way out of date (it's about two months now)?”

“she knows”

“hell, i still havent finished mine!”

“Oh yeah... go set a positive example Mr. C-B! (there are definitely readers of her journal who are hungering for more).”

“that reminds me, i need to start work on my pre-hike journal for the jmt!”

“Hey, no pre-hike journal until you finish the current one. < tapping foot as he waits for more updates >”

“Yeah, if you aren't gonna finish the journal in a reasonable time, you have no business writing one that's worth reading.

(what I mean by that is take the nagging as a compliment... if Crash and Break wrote crummy journals, no one would complain about them not writing)”

“good save, ped. that sounded like an insult at first”