Hiking the Appalachian Trail - A Perspective

[xanderzuk]

Tnhillbilly:

I'm sorry but you obviously don't know what you're talking about. I don't have pack mules to carry my stuff around. Ditch my sleeping bag and tent? Yes, please explain to me your method of combating hypothermia (I actually got hypo on the 8th day of the trail - Standing Indian, NC). Let's see, 15 degrees Fahrenheit, 50-60mph winds, and driving snow.. Sleep on my arms? Haha ok.

I didn't have a cell phone, a map (I did have a guidebook), a compass, a gps, or any other "GIZMO" to aide my hike.

No doubt the early explorers were some tough dudes, insanely tough. They also didn't climb every mountain, they went around a lot of them. You think the terrain is smooth on the trail? Take a look at the rocks in some of those pictures, in many area's its still essentially "primitive."

 

[tnhillbilly]

I'm sorry but you obviously don't know what you're talking about.

That's real "high road" eh? You have no idea of my qualifications. But just so you know, no, I'm not a hobby hiker, I am a historian with a good deal of military experience. I KNOW that these things CAN and HAVE been done throughout the course of human existence. Not being accusatory, but the fact is most moderns can't or won't do such things.

I don't have pack mules to carry my stuff around.

Nor did a lot of the old timers. Many of them did it on foot, with nothing more than they could carry on their back. Weaponry being of prime importance.

Ditch my sleeping bag and tent? Yes, please explain to me your method of combating hypothermia (I actually got hypo on the 8th day of the trail - Standing Indian, NC). Let's see, 15 degrees Fahrenheit, 50-60mph winds, and driving snow.. Sleep on my arms? Haha ok.

So you are saying that humans have always used tents and sleeping bags? Just be honest, YOU (and for that matter most people today, I know I would) want to use a sleeping bag and tent. That hardly makes it required equipment for survival; and from a historical context such items were not in general use until the last 50 or so years. Also, it is clear you have had no military experience. Sleeping bags and tents are oft times luxuries fighting men do without. I would be curious as to why sleeping on arms is so amusing to you. The fact is, it is one the standard methods of maintaining your weapons ability to function in an exposed environment. That's hardly something I would scoff at or trivialize.

I didn't have a cell phone, a map (I did have a guidebook), a compass, a gps, or any other "GIZMO" to aide my hike.

No doubt the early explorers were some tough dudes, insanely tough. They also didn't climb every mountain, they went around a lot of them. You think the terrain is smooth on the trail? Take a look at the rocks in some of those pictures, in many area's its still essentially "primitive."

I'm quite familiar with the terrain thank you. Yes, the early explorers were tough...a lot tougher than about anyone today I dare say. Thus my original comment. You've got your feathers ruffled that I'm taking you to task and telling you how to indulge your hobby. Quite frankly, I could care less and was not assaulting you personally in any way. To be blunt about it, I merely observe and maintain that modern hikers and similar enthusiasts seemingly can't handle the trevails that our forebearers did. I freely admit that I can't, nor do I want to. Just some interesting points that I have observed for many years that Americans today feel that they "can't survive" without certain this, that or the other thing" and/or that it "can't be done" as you asserted. Particularly as it regards surviving or getting by in the great outdoors. I have just merely pointed out that your assertion is wrong. It can be done, and it has been done.

 

[franconialocal]

I hope you enjoyed my little section of woods (the leg through Franconia Notch and the Presidentials)...it's a butt kicker.

 

[lions]

xanderzuk

I'm sure you have spent plenty of time thinking about your encounter with the suspicious cars. Anything you wish you had done differently?

 

[Ridgerunner665]

tnhillbilly,

I understand where you are coming from...but it doesn't apply here.

xanderzuck is a hiker...not a mountian man.

 

[xanderzuk]

tnhillbilly:

You have taken the content of my comments, and thread for that matter out of context. You seem to be hung up on survival, not hiking.

Could I (or someone) survive without a sleeping bag? Yes. In fact, that's exactly what I did at Standing Indian, NC. My sleeping bag wasn't manufactured correctly, in other words defective, and I had to perform exercises the entire night, after having already dipped into the stages of hypothermia, to stay alive.

You're right, no military training, and I still survived.

Now, to address, once again, the issue of carrying a long gun on a thru-hike. Is it possible? Yes. Would it be ridiculous and useless? For the most part, in my opinion, yes. It would also be an unnecessary burden.

Now I don't want you to take this part as an attack, as I assure that it's not, nor am I an any way boasting, but have you thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, or completed it in it's entirety? If not, then it isn't possible for you to fully grasp the severity of the terrain as you say you are familiar with, especially after near exhaustion and emaciation. I say this because, I had never hiked a day in my life before going on my thru-hike. I thought I knew what I was in for from reading a great deal (much like a historian would), but I truly didn't.

It's much like any other part of history that one was not a part of, they can't fully relate to it.

Finally, I think it's ludicrous to assert that the old explorer's, people of yesteryear, or whatever we want to call them, were tougher than nearly anyone today. We have people that are still setting records of physical strength, we have warriors that are capable of things physically and mentally that no one dreamed of 50 years ago, etc.

I'm not saying that people then weren't tough, as I believe I already stated they were, but to suggest that they were tougher than anyone now, well, that's just two opponents entering into a contest of the amount of force they can exert to expel yellow fluid from their body.

 

[hso]

tnhillbilly,

Living off the land has different requirements so your context is different than that of a through hiker and not applicable to this situation.

 

[xanderzuk]

Franconialocal: The Presidentials were quite possibly the best part of my entire trip, I had crystal clear weather the entire time. Roughly 55 degree F days (perfect hiking weather), and 35 degree nights (perfect sleeping weather). Raiding the AMC Hut's and doing work for stay was a lot of fun too.

Lions: Sorry, before I answer you question, I just want to clarify what you were asking. Do mean differently in terms of the hike, the situation, personal protection, or all the above (or something entirely different for that matter!)?

Ridgerunner: Speaking of Damascus, been to trail days?

 

[Cosmoline]

Now, to address, once again, the issue of carrying a long gun on a thru-hike. Is it possible? Yes. Would it be ridiculous and useless? For the most part, in my opinion, yes. It would also be an unnecessary burden.

It looks like it was a lot of fun, but the AT looks to be a very different experience from Alaska or the more remote regions of Canada and the mountain West. Not only is the wildlife different, the people are different. Not always unfriendly, but fewer and farther between. You have to watch yourself, and hitch-hiking is a bad idea all around. It's probably closer to the way the Appalachians were in the 18th century. Hike the AT or PCT with no iron? Sure. I used to hike around the Cascades and never thought of being armed. I changed my tune when I came up here and found bear prints in the mud with claw impressions so deep my fingers couldn't find the ends! Things aren't all that much better in the city. They keep finding bodies around here, mostly from boozing. But it's not exactly civilized.

As far as the days of yore, you can't really compare hiking on a well established trail through densely populated regions with an expedition into unknown and hostile territory with period equipment and knowledge. Modern extreme sportsmen can do things nobody in the old days would have thought possible, but in the modern world we have the infrastructure, the maps and the equipment.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Dad ALWAYS goes to Trail Days...I myself haven't been in years.

 

[lions]

Lions: Sorry, before I answer you question, I just want to clarify what you were asking. Do mean differently in terms of the hike, the situation, personal protection, or all the above (or something entirely different for that matter!)?

I meant in terms of the situation. Sounds like you wouldn't trade the hike for anything and I saw earlier in the thread where you said you would take a light pistol with you next time. Thanks for sharing all this by the way, I have only done day hikes before and I'm feeling inspired to do something bigger. One of your pictures reminds me of Grandfather Mountain in NC, my favorite little hike yet.