getting away!

**thebeast** · 10-08-2007, 19:59

i don't reallu know a whole lot about the trail. i heard about it just a few months ago and it seemed like the right thing for me. i just feel the need to leave behind the grind of every day life. i now live in a city after growing up in the mountains and realized lately that i've never been comfortable here. i know that for me walking the trail will be like coming home, it is the only thing i am sure of anymore. i will be leaving probably just after march 21 2008 and hiking the whole trail from springer to katahdin. i just wanted to know if there are others out there leaving the same time or for the same reason.

**Appalachian Tater** · 10-08-2007, 20:08

Actually walking the trail may not be like going home unless you're from an isolated cabin in the mountains. Very much indeed the opposite of going home, more like not being in one place at all for six months. If you are needing to feel grounded and at home instead of feeling cut loose to run free, you may be on the wrong track. Or I may be misunderstanding you. But yes, many people who thru-hike need a change from what has come before.

**thebeast** · 10-08-2007, 20:11

you may be right but the only peace i have ever known came from the months i spent in the mountains as a child

**Appalachian Tater** · 10-08-2007, 20:16

Going to the mountains is a good thing, especially if you have found peace there before. Since you're not looking for a huge partying crowd, you may wish to take some other itenerary than a spring start NOBO hike, maybe a flip flop, or start a bit earlier down in Key West, do the BMT or an alternative trail in the south.

The city is certainly not for everyone. Indeed, most of the people who live in the city who can afford to leave it do so as often as possible.

**thebeast** · 10-08-2007, 20:26

you are absolutely right about the city thing. though i am not sure what you mean by starting out early in key west. is there a trail that starts there and leads to the AT? thank you for the advice.

**Appalachian Tater** · 10-08-2007, 20:48

Originally Posted by thebeast

you are absolutely right about the city thing. though i am not sure what you mean by starting out early in key west. is there a trail that starts there and leads to the AT? thank you for the advice.

Yes, starts in Key West, then you can go through Alabama on the Pinhoti up to the Georgia Pinhoti and then the A.T. or the B.M.T. and then the A.t. and then the International A.T. up into Canada, there are many possibilities. You could also take the Long Trail. There are also trails that head west.

http://www.floridatrail.org/web/inde...position=22:22
http://www.alabamatrail.org/hikingAL...i/PinhotiI.htm
http://www.georgiapinhoti.org/trail_guide.html
http://www.monmouth.com/~johno/A%20Large%20Detailed%20Map%20of%20the%20Appalachia n%20Trail.htm
http://www.internationalat.org/Pages/index
http://americanhiking.chattablogs.co.../GET%20Map.jpg
http://americanhiking.chattablogs.co...verviewMap.gif

Pretty cool, huh? You don't have to wait until spring if you start in Key West. Hell, you could start next week. And there are many more trails than just the A.T.

Since you're in Alabama you should at least start there instead of Springer.

**Two Speed** · 10-08-2007, 20:55

Or try the Alabama Pinhoti as a warm up.

**frieden** · 10-13-2007, 10:04

Originally Posted by Appalachian Tater

Yes, starts in Key West, then you can go through Alabama on the Pinhoti up to the Georgia Pinhoti and then the A.T. or the B.M.T. and then the A.t. and then the International A.T. up into Canada, there are many possibilities. You could also take the Long Trail. There are also trails that head west.

I had that same thought. I'm sure people have done it, but there are some things to consider in FL that I found in my research/planning. Find out when gator mating season is, and don't hike in it. Be careful of the rainy season (or it's aftermath). Some people needed a boat on the FT. Don't worry about bugs or humidity. You'll adapt - and bring deet. There are very few open areas in FL. In other words, camping on many parts of the trail are an issue. There were long stretches on the FT (too far for a one-day's hike) where you couldn't camp, and there were no shelters. The FT is a great idea, and it is progressing, but it still isn't completely open (you have to be a member of the FTA for some sections), and many landowners do not want to embrace the hiker's lifestyle (camping on their land, pooping in their woods, etc). If money isn't an issue (where you could stay in a hotel), then this would be a neat hike. Resupply wouldn't be an issue! Besides, I wouldn't advise starting in the Keys. You'd never want to leave!

**FatMan** · 10-13-2007, 10:21

Originally Posted by thebeast

i just feel the need to leave behind the grind of every day life.

You think life is a grind now, you ain't seen a grind until you get out on the trail. Heck, you're only 25...how much of grind can it be?

Originally Posted by thebeast

i know that for me walking the trail will be like coming home, it is the only thing i am sure of anymore.

Are you really sure? Looks like you are setting yourself up for a serious disappointment. I'm not trying to put down your reasons for hiking the trail, but it looks to me like you are running from something, instead of running to something. You might want to re-think your motivations here.

**thebeast** · 10-13-2007, 12:23

my motivations are quite clear to me. i've lived for others for years and given up parts of myself along the way. now it is time for me to be free. i intend to change the direction of my life for the better by having the courage and strength to give up everything and do something that really deserves being done. i want to be able to stand at the end and say that i was strong enough to make the change no matter what the cost.

**Just a Hiker** · 10-13-2007, 12:29

Originally Posted by thebeast

my motivations are quite clear to me. i've lived for others for years and given up parts of myself along the way. now it is time for me to be free. i intend to change the direction of my life for the better by having the courage and strength to give up everything and do something that really deserves being done. i want to be able to stand at the end and say that i was strong enough to make the change no matter what the cost.

Hike your own hike and see what happens Beast. Thats all you can do!

Just Jim

**thebeast** · 10-13-2007, 12:32

thank you. that is exactly what i was thinking

**Appalachian Tater** · 10-13-2007, 13:03

Yep, just get out there and enjoy it and if you get tired of it, stop.

**dessertrat** · 10-13-2007, 13:14

Just Jim is a wise man.

**FatMan** · 10-13-2007, 14:09

Originally Posted by thebeast

i want to be able to stand at the end and say that i was strong enough to make the change no matter what the cost.

Ah ha! That is what I wanted to hear. No where in your original post did you say you wanted to do it.

**Dancer** · 10-15-2007, 06:07

Originally Posted by thebeast

my motivations are quite clear to me. i've lived for others for years and given up parts of myself along the way. now it is time for me to be free. i intend to change the direction of my life for the better by having the courage and strength to give up everything and do something that really deserves being done. i want to be able to stand at the end and say that i was strong enough to make the change no matter what the cost.

Good luck to you. This is not to discourage you, I'll be out there next year too. One thing I would ask you to do is read several complete trail journals before you start serious preparations. I've read lots of journals, books, and talked to several thru-hikers and it's not as romantic or profound as I once thought. It's pretty much walk, eat, sleep, walk, eat, sleep, walk.... for 6 months.

You have to be prepared to walk up to 10 or 12 hours a day in whatever weather comes along, no matter how bad your body hurts or if you are feeling sick because you only have a few days worth of food on your back and you have to make it to the next town. It might rain for 10 days straight or be 99 degrees the whole time you are in Virginia. You might get lonely, bored or if you are already thin, malnourished because the more calories you burn the more you need to eat so the more food you have to carry so you burn more calories and you just can't keep the weight on.

You will make good friends and be free, for awhile. Then you have to come home and get back into the grind. Some people have problems with that and can never find what it was that they had on the trail again.

Like I said I'll be out there too so go for it if it's what you really want. Do your homework first and make sure that it is what you are expecting. I hope that you find what you are looking for on the trail. We are all looking for something and that something might be on the top of a mountain in Maine or Georgia or that raw inner part of us that we will never see unless we sweat, bleed, ache, laugh, cry and curse a little to get to it.

See you on the trail.

Amazonwoman

**Cannibal** · 10-15-2007, 09:22

Originally Posted by frieden

I had that same thought. I'm sure people have done it, but there are some things to consider in FL that I found in my research/planning. Find out when gator mating season is, and don't hike in it. Be careful of the rainy season (or it's aftermath). Some people needed a boat on the FT. Don't worry about bugs or humidity. You'll adapt - and bring deet. There are very few open areas in FL. In other words, camping on many parts of the trail are an issue. There were long stretches on the FT (too far for a one-day's hike) where you couldn't camp, and there were no shelters. The FT is a great idea, and it is progressing, but it still isn't completely open (you have to be a member of the FTA for some sections), and many landowners do not want to embrace the hiker's lifestyle (camping on their land, pooping in their woods, etc). If money isn't an issue (where you could stay in a hotel), then this would be a neat hike. Resupply wouldn't be an issue! Besides, I wouldn't advise starting in the Keys. You'd never want to leave!

The FT gets a bad rap! I've spent the last 5 months exploring the FT as prep for my AT thru. I've yet to find it difficult to locate camping sites. I admit to being a hammock hanger, but there are plenty of ground dwelling sites around. The landowners are fine with hikers, it's the local hunters that don't think much of us; blaze orange = target down here. I think that membership with the FTA is optional and the usage regulations do not apply to thru hikers in most, if not all, sections. Forgetting your deet is not an option. I don't know about the mating season, but the gators make lots of scary sounds at night, every night.

**Lilred** · 10-15-2007, 18:05

I know how you feel. I section hike and every summer when I get out on the trail I feel like I've come home. Good luck and keep us posted.

**Appalachian Tater** · 10-15-2007, 19:28

Originally Posted by Cannibal

I don't know about the mating season, but the gators make lots of scary sounds at night, every night.

And you're giving it a GOOD rap?

How much of a problem are the alligators? They move pretty fast in the water and I don't want to know how they think I taste.

**Cannibal** · 10-15-2007, 20:46

I've been challenged by more gators on the golf course than on the trail. But, you do hear them and they seem especially scary at night.

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