So if you were to thru hike the AT...

“ya hear that thrifty? You'llnever get the ending unles you send him 3 monthly installments of 19.99 each :)”

“ya, i heard ya the first time SC”

“haha good one, nichole

yes, i did finish (the trail, that is)

now, why can i walk 2174 miles with a 30+ pound pack on my back, but not type a few damn words? beats me”

“whats that? CB wants a good beating?”

“of course, if i took all the time i spent on trailtalk, i wouldve been finished writing it months ago, but then you all would have been deprived of my sparkling personality and humorous ways”

“i'm sure you're tired of it by now but if/when we ever do meet prepare to be annoyed with questions LOL...i met golfhiker's son this summer and he's hiked the AT...i'm sure he wanted to throw me into the lake by the time we finished our hike”

“oh hell, no. i get irritated when people DONT ask me questions :-)”

“so what did you have to eat for dinner on mile 1456”

“Whered Ginny go? I want to ask him/her? some more AT questions :)”

“I've thought about this a bit, since I might try a thru-hike one day, but since I've never done more than 180 miles of the AT at a time - take my ideas with a grain of salt.

Some considerations:

1) When do you want to leave? (If it's before Katahdin opens to hikers, start in GA)
2) How do you feel about hiking with crowds? (Depending on when you'll be hiking, you could be part of an awesome swarm of NOBOs, or a very solitary SOBO. I was overwhelmed by the NOBOs swarming north in Vermont early last August. I also met a total of 4 SOBOs - two couples - when I did NH AT one August. If you're highly social, that might be a bit too quiet).
3) The guidebooks are written for NOBOs.
4) What kinds of conditions do you want to avoid (Heat? Cold? Ticks? Mosquitos? Black Flies?)
5) Do you want to hit a lot of trail magic?
6) How tight a schedule do you want to allow for?”

“i think it could get really lonely going southbound.”

“6) How tight a schedule do you want to allow for?”

that's why if i ever did it(which i'm sure i won't) it would probably be in 2 parts...i don't have the desire at all to do it straight through...i don't have that desire for the "challenge" like a lot of backpackers...it's strictly something for leisure for me...i don't think i'd like a tru hikers pace”

“youd be surprised how much your endurance would build up after a few weeks on the trail, even going "leisurely". im just of average fitness, and i was poppin off 20 mile days shortly after the smokies. when summer comes and youve got 14-15 hours of daylight, you can put a lot of miles under your hoofs”

“oh i have no doubt i COULD do it (puffs up chest) i just don't know if i'd want to...i usually like to take it slow and take it all in, look out for wildlife, take some pictures...though i'm sure somewhere around mile 500 that would probably get old”

“you sort of get summit fever. you want to keep pressing to see the next cool thing, like damascus or grayson or blood mt or the smokies

if you only do one section in your life, do vermont-maine. the three most beautiful states on the AT. unfortuneately, the whites can be a little crowded on weekends”

“In the video '2000 miles to Maine'there is a scene where some folks are nearing the end of the hike and they are talking about a trail sign advertising a "scenic view" a short distance along a side trail. One of the guys snorts derisively, "scenic view?! I wouldn't walk 50 feet off the trail for a scenic view".”

“thats a little extreme, but it does go to show how reluctant we were to go down side-trails.

for me, if something was more than .3 off the trail, forget it. the average person probably thinks "you walk 2000 miles, but you cant walk a few tenths down a blue blaze?" while we're thinking : "im walking 2000 miles, im not walking any extra tenths!"”

“I think it would depend how I am doing schedual wise whether or not I take any side trips. If I was ahead or right on the button I might take a sightseeing trip. If I was behind, no, I wouldnt.”

“I started on April Fools day,I prefer heading north and hike with spring, I quit work to do it and when I got back they hired me back at incresed pay, more vacation and kept My seniority”

“i didnt know you were a thru-hiker, spalpeen”

“April Fools Day”

“hey, it could happen”

“CB, yup 97”

“Sass and I plan on hikingthe AT when I retire. We have 13years and a few months till that day arrives. Not sure which direction we'll head, prolly north. Lots of time to figure that all out.”

“Last year I wrote on my Dry Erase Board in my office - March 2011. My two sons will be a Sophomore and a Junior in College. I figure its my first opportunity for the AT. It wouldnt be right to take off on them before they get thru their freshman year and not be there during their Senior year.

...or the Lottery. Its kind of funny that Backpackers who dream about winning the lottery, think about a simple inexpensive life on the trail. Maybe Howard Hughes had it right!”

“LOL@nimrod...i've often thought that if i won the lottery it wouldn't be big houses and fast cars...i'd travel the world and stay in $5 hostels and take $2 train rides”

“thrifty, us too. We've agreed that we wouldn't change our material lifestyle at all. We'd stay in our house, still drive average cars, but we would get around a whole lot more and would start more hobbies. Doing the AT would be near the top of my "get around more" list.

Pisses me off to see all those winners out there that win 10 mil and blow it all within 5 years. Same for the suddenly-rich sports players, rock starts, etc. Save some you fools! Off my soap box...”

“Its also funny that we backpackers think if we won the lottery, we COULD LIVE THE SIMPLE LIFE. The fact of the matter is we dont let go of all this and keep grinding it out so we can count bag nights!”