interested?

“hello fellow hikers.. im very new to hiking, i live in south florida and only have hiked a maximum of 6 days here on flat land. i would like to hike the a.t. starting in ga. i walk the beach 8-10 miles a day easily, so i think my legs are ready. im looking for a seasoned person or persons to hike with. a survivalist would be great. id like to eat off the land as much as possible. im 38 years old, in pretty good shape and looking foward to a challenge. i dont think ill try the whole trail, but im pretty sure i can do half. lets do this!”

“Why do people think it is so easy to live off the land?

Good luck though.”

“ignore the nay-sayers Tommy

you can do it!”

“ummm.. did i say it was easy?”

“It would be hard to live off the land and hike the AT, much less make it halfway. Living off the land means you take time to set trotlines, snares, search for nuts and berries, etc.

base camping and living off the land is one thing, but thru hiking and living off teh land can only be done if you consider yogiing, rifling through hiker boxes and grocery shopping living off the land”

“well, i did say as much as possible. here in florida the fish are so abundant, it was fairly easy to catch a fish with my telescoping pole and have a great dinner. im not sure what the a.t. has to offer as far as lakes, rivers and ponds.”

“you could eat people, if you know what I mean”

“gimme a t!”

“I prefer organic...people”

“Who needs to live off the land when you can carry Mountain House Pro-Paks? Remember the first pale faces in Virginia starved.”

“Not saying you couldn't take your rod but you should consider individual state licensing laws. It would truly suck to loose your gear and have to pay a fine for not having one if caught. Depending on the mood of the officer at the time you might have to hike out with him to pay the fine. Stick to the usual methods of the 21st century of providing food on the trail...go to the store.

Other than that go for it.”

“The book, "The Last American Man," has a chapter or so about the author doing the AT and living off the land. You might read up on that.”

“PS, you might try a thread title that actually tells people what your question is, otherwise you're only going to get people here that recognize an unfamiliar name and tune in to watch the show.”

“I think he kinda fits right in, dh. He seemed passionate enough that nobody accused him of trolling.

Besides that I like watching the show.”

“gimme an r!”

“Try eating wild edibles for a weekend where you live (and throw in 20 mile days) before you decide to try and fuel your body that way on an AT hike. I hate to be discouraging but you won"t be able to get enough calories, and you are going to have to become an expert on each regions offerings and the season you"ll find yourself in each.”

“Have you tried posting this over on whiteblaze.com? The AT enthusiast community.

"Living off the land" when hiking the AT means you'll be stopping at every possible convenience store, hotdog stand, and park, hoping to yogi edibles from dayhikers, tourons, and family picnic-ers.”

“IMPRESSED..Sass great advice.”

“"Who needs to live off the land when you can carry Mountain House Pro-Paks?”

toejam
9:39:38 PM
12/10/09

I'm seconding what toejam says! Pro-Paks are the bomb.”

“people! listen carefully.. i didnt say i would live off the land exclusively.. i simply said `as much as possible'. im sure ill be stopping at the store on the way..geez!”

“gimme an o!”

“Crash!”

“Any experienced backpacker will tell you that it's impossible to hike the AT and live off the land. You are sharing the trail with some 1000 to 100 people, depending on where you are at and when you start. I would follow Sassafras' advice and try it for a expended weekend first.”

“Another thing to consider Tommy, is there's a big difference between living and hiking at sea level and hiking up in the "hills." It will affect your breathing, and for several days at least, it will affect your guts. Badly.”

“Super-duper survivalist Eric Rudolph was nabbed whilst dumpster-diving. Though one of the deputys was quoted to say that Eric had at one time killed a small bire.
last edited: 12/11/09 5:30:26 PM”

“i would hold off doing both at the same time, at least until they invent the 48 hour day”

“gimme an l!”

“My Boy Scout patrol tried living off the land one weekend. We set up camp in an area we knew and had been studying what was available to eat in the area. We were near a pond full of fish and spent a good deal of time fishing. We also set snares hoping for some rabbit stew. We were pretty hungry that weekend. I'll never eat dandelions again.”

“Yeah, and fiddleheads aren't so tasty after you spend 1/2-3/4 hour scrubbing the fuzz off of them, and cattail's taste good only w/ a stick of butter, and tree inner bark boiled like pasta is bitteras hell, as is acorn flour.

Tommy, I understand that you want to supplement your diet; but I also understand how much work it is to know, recognize, harvest, and prepare wild edibles. You will expend much more energy than you'll acquire in the food. And most of it isn't so tasty. Now if you're talking about picking berries and a few greens along the trail that's another thing.”

“Bring a pig along. You could eat it one leg at a time, then drag it along on one of those plains indian sled things when it can no longer hop down the trail at your heels. You could prolly live off the torso for weeks - even days. Save the vitalest organs for last, of course. You could use whatever is left to bait a bire trap. Ummmmm - bire!”

“Somebody make the popcorn, I think Katz is making another run at it.”

“bring Snickers bars”

“.
last edited: 12/11/09 10:25:58 PM”

“ I think Katz is making another run at it.�

or alexander supertramp”

“gimme another l!”

“What are we drinking????”

“What's a bire? Is that how they say bear in Georgia?”

“Western Carolina. Rudolph was busted in Andrews by a cop patrolling the alleyways and balleyways. Rudy had spent much of his couple years on the lam in the backcountry. Radagast, Walkingdude, and I walked right past him on a Cheoha Bald hike in '01 or so.”

“and you didnt turn him in? why do you support terrorism?”

“No buddy seen him hidin byhind a tree but I smeld him perty good tho. I sayed "I smell a stinky terrierest over there byhind that tree" but ever buddy sayed I was juts wantin attentoin be cuz I was the only gerl be cuz Nevergrene baled with a broke leg awreddy.”

“good dawg. ppl should pay mostest tenshuns to hims puppys”

“Do not werry - I get the tenshuns when appaloopy ness and serry even if I got to bite some buddy - BOL!”

“
“Bring a pig along. You could eat it one leg at a time, then drag it along on one of those plains indian sled things when it can no longer hop down the trail at your heels. You could prolly live off the torso for weeks - even days. Save the vitalest organs for last, of course. You could use whatever is left to bait a bire trap. Ummmmm - bire!”
gojo
12:48:24 AM
12/12/09

My plan is to get a bunch of chicken eggs and incubate them so that my face is teh first one they see when they hatch. Then after they imprint me as their mother I will fatten them up and teach them to follow behind me as we walk. Then on a thruhike I will cook a whole chicken once a week and stuff my sleeping bag with the feathers.”

“Hyway is teh winnar!!”

“I don-t think chickens imprint like that. Try ducks instead.”

“I'll go with Canadian geese. Better feathers, more meat. Good plan.”

“I think the bires are going to love your chickens.”

“These are ninja chickens. As a team they can take out any single bire.”

“I've had excellent success with cannibalism. There are plenty of hikers to choose from, but the weekend warriors are the best because they have a greater fat to lean meat ratio. The true through-hikers are too lean and tough for my liking.

”