Starting a thru-hike as an out-of-shape beginner?

[Another Kevin]

Yes there is -- other people. If a bunch of people said hey come backpacking for a week I'd be there with bells on. Unfortunately these days I don't know too many people who would do these things. One of the draws of the Trail for me is all the people and group-hopping I've been reading about. (...and before anyone states the obvious I know there are ways to find people online to hike with, given that a cursory shot but hasn't worked out for one reason or another)

Unfortunately, I can't really help you all that much, if what you're after is the social experience of the trail. That's never been a big draw for me - in fact, I've had three- and four-day sections where I've not seen a soul, and I was just as happy on them. Since meeting people on trail was never much of a priority, I can't offer much insight on how to go about it.

Nevertheless, one way that I've found hikers that I get along with is to go on trail maintenance outings. The maintainers are a self-selected bunch of people who love to give back - to "pay it forward" if you will. They're always looking for help, and so they welcome newbies with open arms. In short, they're good people. (One caveat is that most will be older than you, if you care[1].)

I know that the word, "training," puts you off - but the physical labor of trail maintenance is pretty good cross-training for a hiker. In particular, hikers tend to underwork the upper body - at least until the rock scrambling reaches Class 3 or higher, which it does in only a handful of places on the whole AT. Trail maintenance makes up for that, somewhat.

I can put you in touch with buddies of mine who do trail work in Harriman, if you're interested. I'm far enough Upstate that I don't get to Harriman much anymore, so I'll likely not be along. (The Catskills and Adirondacks are closer to me, and feel less like suburbia.)

* * * * *

[1] I am not going to turn this into a screed about how older people are more giving and the young are more self-centered nowadays. Young people are (rightly) concerned with getting their lives under way, and those in early middle age are (even more rightly) concerned with their jobs and families. Old farts like me aren't any better, really, it's just that if we still have our health, we have acquired through experience the insight to see what needs doing, and we have the time to do it. Now get off my lawn.[2]

[2] Not really. I've never ordered the little kids off my lawn. I know that I have the best sledding hill in the neighbourhood. And it gives me a grin if a neighbor kid rings the doorbell and asks my wife, "can Dr Kenny come out and play?"

[Miel]

Maybe the OP should try diving off cliffs in fjords in Norway, wearing those bird suits.

Sorry not every hike is your perfect experience, E. ~sigh~ That's life. But Everest and Kilimanjaro could await you, too.

[perdidochas]

Hi, I'm new here. I was hoping for a bit of advice.

I've day-hiked on many easy/moderate trails, and gone tent camping often (only at campsites with facilities). I've never gone "primitive" camping or backpacking before. I'm also out-of-shape (not obese, just weak right now from sedentary living). Strenuous uphill hikes make me winded easily.

I don't want to work out beforehand. I'm kind of an all-or-nothing spontaneous sort of fellow

Some literature warns people like me from trying a thru-hike. My view is that if I take it slow and take longer than usual breaks, I'll adjust along the way, even if I have to rest off some charlie horse for days at a time in the beginning.

Am I nuts to think this is doable? Will I just injure myself, or be completely miserable, and should not even try this?

Thanks for any advice -- especially from out-of-shape people who've tried this before, if there are any; it would be cool to hear those stories. PS. If this post violated some etiquette or is in the wrong section I apologize, it's my first one here.

s an out of shape 50 year old man that just recovered from a 15 mile two night backpacking trip, I would heartily recommend that you get in shape before hand--I was sore for a week, and I doubt I could have done much more--I limped into the trail head. I would also recommend you try backpacking--at the least, sleep, eat, cook, poop away from facilities.

[equazcion]

...I'll just leave you with this article that proves exercise is still the best medicine for the body, but my guess is that you won't even read it, but hopefully someone does.

I think maybe you're used to being attacked for thinking exercise is essential. Don't lump me in though. I really wasn't arguing about whether it's good for you. You're absolutely right: Regular physical activity is probably the best thing you can do for your body. I was merely explaining why it does what it does, from a more philosophical or evolutionary perspective.

So my overarching advice to you is, Plan it and Do it, and don't beat yourself up if you have to come off the trail. That part is not what will define your trip. Why should it? Good luck, and Go For It!

Thanks for sharing your experience! These are great to hear. I agree, completion would just be a cherry on top. I'd be in it more for the day to day experience.

[evyck da fleet]

Be mindful while the advice given is for you its also for others who will read this thread with the same question. Others are only trying to help you (and other aspiring thrus) avoid spending time and money and possibly giving up a job for a few day hike. The reason why the PCT's success rate is twice as high as the AT is because of experience. While others might succeed with the eff you I'm doing it my way without prep, there are probably countless others who, had they toughed it out a little while longer or prepped a little bit more, would have had the greatest adventure of their life. There's a reason past thrus tell people not to quit in the first two weeks but some people don't give themselves that chance.

As far as training, there's no reason you couldn't go to Central Park one day, take the train to the AT the next and back to Central Park for the third day to get in shape. If you're comfortable with your sleep setup there's no need to do overnights if you dislike them - meaning being alone.

[Roamin]

Hard tell'en, not know'en. There are so many variables. Maybe it will work out, maybe not. Realistically, the odds aren't good. But if you got the time and the money, only one way to find out and that's to go and try.

Best advice yet. Try and you might succeed, or you may fail.

Stay at home and you will never know.

Most of the advice given here is well natured. If things sound negative, they are just trying to offer realistic advice. Admittedly, the odds are not in your favor, but odds do not determine outcome. Take the good with the bad and decide for yourself. HYOH.

I wish you the best and truly hope you make it.

[Another Kevin]

Best advice yet. Try and you might succeed, or you may fail.

Stay at home and you will never know.

Most of the advice given here is well natured. If things sound negative, they are just trying to offer realistic advice. Admittedly, the odds are not in your favor, but odds do not determine outcome. Take the good with the bad and decide for yourself. HYOH.

I wish you the best and truly hope you make it.

Me too, however cautionary I sound. The odds are against every thru-hiker (what, about 25% make it?), but nobody at all makes it who doesn't start.

[rafe]

E.: In your opening post you said, "Strenuous uphill hikes make me winded easily."

The AT has a cumulative vertical change of about 515,000 feet. Divided over 150 days, that works out to 3400 vertical feet per day. That is the long term average. Day in, day out. In addition to that vertical distance, you'll also need to maintain a forward rate of about 15 miles/day. Call it 100 miles per week.

You seem to have made up your mind about whatever it is that you want to do or need to do. There's no shame in walking the AT in something other than one fell swoop. Take the time to be safe. That's all I can tell you.

[Another Kevin]

E.: In your opening post you said, "Strenuous uphill hikes make me winded easily."

The AT has a cumulative vertical change of about 515,000 feet. Divided over 150 days, that works out to 3400 vertical feet per day. That is the long term average. Day in, day out. In addition to that vertical distance, you'll also need to maintain a forward rate of about 15 miles/day. Call it 100 miles per week.

You seem to have made up your mind about whatever it is that you want to do or need to do. There's no shame in walking the AT in something other than one fell swoop. Take the time to be safe. That's all I can tell you.

The figure that I usually quote to people is actually trying to reassure. If you can average 14 miles a day (for days spent hiking) and hold yourself to one zero day per week, an April 1 start will give you an October 1 finish. (That's almost exact: 26 weeks at 84 miles per week is 2184 miles.) Starting with 8-10 mile days in Georgia isn't a problem, either, because you'll make up the time in Virginia and Maryland where the going is easier. A lot more people fail through burning themselves out at the start than fail by not making enough miles. If all else fails and you can't make the time, you can leapfrog forward from wherever you are to Hanover, do New Hampshire and Maine before the snow shuts down the trail, and come back to finish the middle.

3400 feet of elevation change per day is grueling to a newbie, but isn't horrible even for an out-of-shape (by hiker standards) weekender and short-sectioner like me. I know that I've managed 25.6 miles and 18,000 feet of elevation change in a weekend. That was right at the boundary of "tough but fun". A lot of people passed me, who were trying to do that traverse as a day trip. (FKT for it is that Ben Nephew yo-yoed it in 24 hours. Whoof.)

The mental game is harder than the physical one. In the arrogant opinion of a clueless weekender. I'm quite confident that if I started a thru, I'd make it out of Georgia - because I've done hikes that long and that difficult. But I might well run out of steam before Damascus, because I also have a life that I'd want to get back to.

[Mags]

From How to Camp Out by John Mead Gould Published in 1877.

"Estimate the expenses of your trip, and take more money than your estimate. Carry also an abundance of small change.”


“Take nothing nice into camp, expecting to keep it so: it is almost impossible to keep things out of the dirt, dew, rain, dust, or sweat, and from being broken or bruised.”


“Wear what you please if it be comfortable and durable: do not mind what people say. When you are camping you have a right to be independent.”


“If you are going on a walking-party, one of the best things you can do is to “train” a week or more before starting, by taking long walks in the open air.”


“…leave your business in such shape that it will not call you back; and do not carry off keys, &c., which others must have; nor neglect to see the dentist about the tooth that aches when you most want it to keep quiet.”

And perhaps apropos when half the posts here are about new gear and/or gear no longer wanted

“Do not be in a hurry to spend money on new inventions. Every year there is put upon the market some patent knapsack, folding stove, cooking-utensil, or camp trunk and cot combined; and there are always for sale patent knives, forks, and spoons all in one, drinking-cups, folding portfolios, and marvels of tools. Let them all alone:”


Lots of little nuggets in this short, easy to read, book.

[Malto]

From How to Camp Out by John Mead Gould Published in 1877.

"Estimate the expenses of your trip, and take more money than your estimate. Carry also an abundance of small change.”


“Take nothing nice into camp, expecting to keep it so: it is almost impossible to keep things out of the dirt, dew, rain, dust, or sweat, and from being broken or bruised.”


“Wear what you please if it be comfortable and durable: do not mind what people say. When you are camping you have a right to be independent.”


“If you are going on a walking-party, one of the best things you can do is to “train” a week or more before starting, by taking long walks in the open air.”


“…leave your business in such shape that it will not call you back; and do not carry off keys, &c., which others must have; nor neglect to see the dentist about the tooth that aches when you most want it to keep quiet.”

And perhaps apropos when half the posts here are about new gear and/or gear no longer wanted

“Do not be in a hurry to spend money on new inventions. Every year there is put upon the market some patent knapsack, folding stove, cooking-utensil, or camp trunk and cot combined; and there are always for sale patent knives, forks, and spoons all in one, drinking-cups, folding portfolios, and marvels of tools. Let them all alone:”


Lots of little nuggets in this short, easy to read, book.

140 years later, these words read like they could have been written yesterday. I guess dirt bag hikers have been wound for a while.

[Another Kevin]

If we're drifting the thread to dirtbagging:

But one thing all admit. Each and every one has gone to his chosen ground with too much impedimenta, too much duffle; and nearly all have used boats at least twice as heavy as they need to have been. The temptation to buy this or that bit of indispensable camp-kit has been too strong, and we have gone to the blessed woods, handicapped with a load fit for a pack-mule. This is not how to do it

Go light; the lighter the better, so that you have the simplest material for health, comfort and enjoyment.

Of course, if you intend to have a permanent camp, and can reach it by boat or wagon, lightness is not so important, though even in that case it is well to guard against taking a lot of stuff that is likely to prove of more weight than worth—only to leave it behind when you come out.

- Nessmuk (George Washington Sears), Woodcraft and Camping, 1884

If one begins, as he should, six months in advance, to plan and prepare for his next summer or fall vacation, he can, by gradual and surreptitious hoarding, get together a commendable camping equipment, and nobody will notice the outlay. The best way is to make many of the things yourself. This gives your pastime an air of thrift, and propitiates the Lares and Penates by keeping you home o' nights. And there is a world of solid comfort in having everything fixed just to suit you. The only way to have it so is to do the work yourself. One can wear ready-made clothing, he can exist in ready-furnished rooms, but a readymade camping outfit is a delusion and a snare. It is sure to be loaded with gimcracks that you have no use for, and to lack something that you will be miserable without.

- Horace Kephart, Camping and Woodcraft, 1906

But the topic wasn't the pack shakedown, but rather the issue of preparedness for the challenges of hiking. The gear doesn't get you up the trail.

[CarlZ993]

Being out of shape & having no backpacking experience is a recipe for not completing a long-distance hike. It is possible to succeed. But the probability is not very favorable.

That being said, I hiked w/ a guy on the AT who had never camped or backpacked before starting the AT. I wasn't clear on his fitness level prior to hiking the AT (he claimed he liked to dayhike a lot in ME where he lived). He researched the blogs & YouTube videos for equipment/clothing issues. He carried light stuff. And he was able to finish the AT in one go (after losing 40 lbs in the process).

In any endeavor, success favors the prepared.

p.s. If you decide to do the AT spontaneously, buy really good stuff. If you fail early in your hike, send me a PM & I'll probably buy some of your stuff for pennies on the dollar.

[HeatherNC]

Join the Hudson Valley Hikers and do some weekend trips with them.

[Del Q]

Go for it, the spark for success appears to be there. Its all step by step by step for every hiker

One thing for sure, be at or under 30lbs for total pack weight with food and water. If you have the money invest in lighter gear.

You might lose 50 lbs on your hike and come out of this experience with a whole new you

What would that feel like?

[Another Kevin]

Join the Hudson Valley Hikers and do some weekend trips with them.

My interactions with HVH Meetup parties on trail have left me unimpressed. They hike in too-large groups, and really seem to be focused on being "badass." The worst example: the leader of one of them was pointing and sniggering about how I was wearing snowshoes on one trip where the trail was well broken and pretty hard packed. Apparently, snowshoes in those conditions were a sissy thing in his opinion. I did NOT appreciate tripping over his group's postholes. They were also really impatient about how slow I was to step out of their way. They were trying to do the Winter Four of the Catskill 3500's in a single day, They had no time to waste on getting around a slow old man who surely wasn't cool enough to be out there in their presence.

Maybe I've just run into the wrong groups, or groups appropriating the name. (By contrast, the too-large parties of Koreans that I run into all the time are impossible to stay angry with, even when they do plunk down twenty at a time right in the middle of a trail to have lunch. They're always so smiling and pleasant that I forget any violations of trail etiquette.)

[TheRuralRefugee]

I'm hoping to hike this summer Southbound, and being 58 fat and lazy, I've decided that "I" need to get into better condition before I go. To that end I've been climbing stairs in order to at least reduce the suffering at the beginning. I've been at it more or less since late October, and wow was I ever in poor condition. At first I only did sixteen stories a day, and those very slowly. I too have suffered from early burnout whenever I tried to begin an exercise program. At some point last winter however, I was able to change my mindset from enduring the barely tolerable, to embracing the training effort as an end unto itself. I've heard the term "Embrace the suck", well, I kind of did that, climbing the same five flights of stairs, rain or shine, day or night, warm or cold (lots of cold and 3/5ths of the stairs are outside). Now I'm at the point if I don't manage to get at least seventy or eighty stories of climbing in every day, I feel a little lost and more than a little restless.

I did all of this because I'm very aware of what the odds are against anyone completing a thru-hike, much less an older fat guy. I also decided that I do not want to be one of those people who are so out of shape when they retire that they are unable to do anything, much less even begin a thru-hike.

TRR

[RockDoc]

All I have to say is

Don't start as an out-of-shape beginner.

Get in shape first, and get some experience.

[Littlepigeon]

I'm in the same boat as you, a beginning hiker. But I have a few more things against me: I am 55 years old and have a sedentary job and slightly overweight, oh, and a female. My advice is not to worry about the naysayers, because only you know the amount of determination you have and your reasons for doing it. Like you, I have done car camping in a tent multiple times and day hikes, and like you, I have not really trained. However, I have read every book about the AT and researched other people's experiences for the past year and a half preparing myself mentally and getting my gear together. Also, I am not foolish enough to think I can do a thru-hike on my first time with no training, so I am doing a 100 mile section hike over 8 days. I also am open to ending it sooner if need be, but I have always liked hiking and nature and like camping, so I am hoping to have a good experience. I plan to leave Sunday and start hiking Monday, May 15 through Shenandoah National Park. I also chose an easier part of the trail and less remote. I will be proud to even hike two days on the AT and hope I can make it longer. I am also going with my 21-year-old daughter, so she is carrying more weight than me. I am so excited to finally be going to the trail after so much anticipation! I plan to journal the whole time and write about it later, as well as disconnecting form civilization for awhile. I need a break from my family and job and the media circus in general. So to answer you question, NO, i do not think you are nuts and YES, I believe you CAN do it. The real question will be, when you are on the trail, how badly do you WANT to?

[Littlepigeon]

Wow, I am impressed with your stair climbing. I am 55, female, and slightly overweight and starting a section hike in 6 days! I started climbing the steps to my office every day about three months ago, so I don't do anywhere near what you do, but I did give up the elevator entirely, which has helped my endurance (I work on the third floor). I also do squats every day, 10 with toes out, 10 with toes in and ten with toes straight ahead - 3 times a day. My doctor gave me that exercise for building leg muscles. I also got a clean bill of health and physical 3 months ago, so i feel like I can do this in spite of not being an athlete or in exercising constantly. Last fall I tried to do 3-mile hikes 3 times a week and after about a month I developed plantar fasciitis and it took months of therapy to heal and feel better, so I am reluctant to overdo the walking before I go. I will just go at my own pace and do as much as I can do. That will be good enough for me because I am not competing with a 20-year-old athlete, I am competing with myself.