Today marks the end of 4 weeks of hiking on the Appalachian Trail. The last week has really been about getting used to the trail. I can feel my legs are getting way stronger now, and I don't have difficulties doing big climbs as much as i used to. I've been complaining about my pack weight quite a bit lately, because I think 35 pounds (15 kg) is to much. It got pretty bad at one point, for example a man offered me an orange when I got to a random parking lot once, and I asked him how much it weighed in stead of just taking it. But even the pack weight is not so bad anymore, my body is getting used to the weight now.
So I'd thought I would talk about how a typical day on the A.T. goes for me. Well it starts with getting up in the morning. If I am in my tent I will usually sleep in until 7:30 or 8:00. If I am in a shelter, I share my sleeping space with often 5 or more people so when the first person gets up, most people get up as well, which is around 6:30 to 7:00. After I get up I brush my teeth and get my bear bag down (you hang your food bag in a tree to prefend bears from getting to it) and have a little breakfast, usually noodles or candy bars.
After breakfast I check the map to see what the elevation gain for the day is and what the terrain looks like (if it's good I smile, if it's bad I cry in fetal position). Then I start hiking, usually I will hike for about 2 hours between stops unless there is a big climb ahead, meanwhile I will eat A LOT of candybars/stuff you don't need to cook. When I pass a shelter I will usually go in to see if there are people there and talk to them for a bit and maybe cook some lunch, you usually pass about 1 or 2 shelters a day. On an average day I hike about 15 miles (24km). My highest has been 23 miles (37km) and my lowest around 5 miles (when I get into town and stay there). Average hiking time is around 7 to 8 hours including breaks.
When I arrive at the campsite or shelter it's usually around 17:00 to 18:00. After that I cook dinner and set up my tent if necessary, build a campfire and hang my bear bag again. I usually go to sleep around 20:00 (we call 20:00 hiker midnight).
That's a little story about my daily routine. As for the people I hike with, I've been hiking with a bunch of people on and off now. Two of which I met on the day I started. If you read my earlier posts, Tim is still with me at this point, although he is now known as "King of the Hill". As for Andreas ("Sex Panther") he was with us for a couple of days before moving ahead again, he's quite a fast hiker. Other then that there is "Trooper" who is from Germany who I also met on the first day and "Hot wheels" from Chicago who I met on day 3. We are on the same pase right now so we have been sticking together pretty much every day for the last 4 weeks. But I see a lot of people on and off every day, sometimes I go a little bit faster and sometimes they do.
Miles done: 341.5 (550 km)
Miles to go: 1842.5
Ok here are some more random pictures for you all.
So I'd thought I would talk about how a typical day on the A.T. goes for me. Well it starts with getting up in the morning. If I am in my tent I will usually sleep in until 7:30 or 8:00. If I am in a shelter, I share my sleeping space with often 5 or more people so when the first person gets up, most people get up as well, which is around 6:30 to 7:00. After I get up I brush my teeth and get my bear bag down (you hang your food bag in a tree to prefend bears from getting to it) and have a little breakfast, usually noodles or candy bars.
After breakfast I check the map to see what the elevation gain for the day is and what the terrain looks like (if it's good I smile, if it's bad I cry in fetal position). Then I start hiking, usually I will hike for about 2 hours between stops unless there is a big climb ahead, meanwhile I will eat A LOT of candybars/stuff you don't need to cook. When I pass a shelter I will usually go in to see if there are people there and talk to them for a bit and maybe cook some lunch, you usually pass about 1 or 2 shelters a day. On an average day I hike about 15 miles (24km). My highest has been 23 miles (37km) and my lowest around 5 miles (when I get into town and stay there). Average hiking time is around 7 to 8 hours including breaks.
When I arrive at the campsite or shelter it's usually around 17:00 to 18:00. After that I cook dinner and set up my tent if necessary, build a campfire and hang my bear bag again. I usually go to sleep around 20:00 (we call 20:00 hiker midnight).
That's a little story about my daily routine. As for the people I hike with, I've been hiking with a bunch of people on and off now. Two of which I met on the day I started. If you read my earlier posts, Tim is still with me at this point, although he is now known as "King of the Hill". As for Andreas ("Sex Panther") he was with us for a couple of days before moving ahead again, he's quite a fast hiker. Other then that there is "Trooper" who is from Germany who I also met on the first day and "Hot wheels" from Chicago who I met on day 3. We are on the same pase right now so we have been sticking together pretty much every day for the last 4 weeks. But I see a lot of people on and off every day, sometimes I go a little bit faster and sometimes they do.
Miles done: 341.5 (550 km)
Miles to go: 1842.5
Ok here are some more random pictures for you all.
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| King of the Hill smiles as he is enjoying some trail magic |
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| These nice people set up three days a year along the trail giving away drinks/food, we got lucky |
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