“It’s only new for about three weeks…after that it’s just a routine,” says Southbound-thru-hiker Bob who completed the trail January 1st 1982. The footpath “captured his imagination at the age of 12” when he and his family camped in Harpers Ferry, Pennsylvania right near the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. His mother explained what the AT was and he planned to set out after high school, which is exactly what he did.
Bob hiked with three of his friends and they literally licked their dishes clean as they did not bring any soap. Of course they had toothbrushes and paste and dipped into the occasional stream to rinse off trail grit but other than that would wait till they got to town for a good hose down. Although he could not smell his own stench, he could smell the clean day hikers and could only imagine what they were smelling as they passed!
When I asked Bob if he ever wanted to give up he said he never dreamed of it. He was the only one to finish out of his three friends. One guy got hepatitis (most likely from the licking of the pots), another couldn’t handle the pressure of taking a year off of college and the third was emotionally drained by his lamenting girlfriend back at home. The thing all of these guys had in common was what Bob referred to as “distraction.” The AT conservancy provides a list of thru-hikers that are whiling to discuss their experience on the trail and Bob found that the ones who made it were in a transition period or experiencing a “gap year,” right after graduating and before getting a job or starting a family. “That’s me!” I exclaimed, as I will be graduated with no strings attached when I make leave June 1st from Maine. One of the guys he went to high school with, turned 25 got a DUI and his license revoked. Though he lost his wheels he did not loose his most primitive form of transportation and decided to walk the 2000miles of AT. How about that for turning a seemingly bad thing into a positive experience!
“What is the hardest thing about hiking the AT?” I asked. Committing to 5 months, explained Bob. You’re going to become fit and develop the skills you need for the trail as you go but mentally “you need to find what it is to get you to go on everyday.” This has been a common thought among all of the thru-hikers I have interviewed thus far that hiking the AT is more of a mental than a physical challenge.
After completing the trail settling in was hard for Bob. For three weeks he slept on the floor with the windows wide open in the midst of February. It was hard for him to adjust to the traffic, the staleness of the indoors and the din of everyday life. He had to get used to wearing something different every day. “You become attached to all of your stuff. Learning to let go is a little difficult when it’s all you have had for five months.” It has been 30 years since Bob stepped off the trail and he still has his stove, sleeping bag and pack which he brings with him during backpacking trips when he conducts his outdoor survival courses.
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