I once walked 12 miles for a bad cup a coffee, it was great.
What!? A thru-hike is going to involve walking outdoors for hours and hours? Thank goodness somebody told me, now I might have to reconsider the whole endeavor.
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Nah, believe it or not I was aware that the A.T. involved... well, backpacking. By my previous comment, I simply meant that being a walk/bike commuter is not practical for me at the moment living so far outside of town. Maybe other people have four or five spare hours they can plan into their day for that, but I'm not currently in a position to prioritize hiking so much just yet. I admire the people who do arrange their priorities that way, and maybe when I quit working entirely in March, that will be an option for me. I do agree with Garlic's advice. In college in Florida, in grad school in Spain, and working in Morocco, I loved the exercise and the $$$ savings of being a bike or walking commuter!
A.T. 2018 Thru-hiker
Follow along at www.tefltrekker.com
OK. How about driving into town. And then walking around wearing your pack and trail apparel for an hr to do in town chores, maybe while it's raining, windy, cold, blazing hot, etc. One doesn't have to devote 4-5 hrs daily to work things into backpacking training. That's little by little expanding comfort zones and re-establishing new paradigms too right? Do you think that might mimic a resupply or on trail experiences or contributing to an adaptability mindset all assets as a LD hiker? Perhaps, the most important aspect of these types of experiences is not physical but mental gain which is what some say is lacking among most prospective AT thru-hikers taking them off their anticipated hikes? Can these experiences be furthered to mimic longer typical AT thru-hiker durations as time allows possibly on local /regional trips lasting more than a few hrs or 1-2 days rather than experiencing it for the first time only once on the AT?
Side hill walks will help strengthen ankles.
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So many people say, "I would do that if only I had the time." It sounds like you realize you have to make the time.
Can you imagine a life where you have five months ahead of you with absolutely nothing planned? That sounds like a living hell. Yet working to make that much time available for a thru-hike can be gratifying at least, more likely life-changing. In my opinion, the same thing applies to daily life and exercise. It pays off, often in unexpected ways.
We've had a couple weekends now with 40-50 degrees, and I've been leading my horses around the local cornfields for exercise. Try a 5 mile loop in boots with about 2 inches of mud on a frozen base. The horses slide a much as I do! No, I'm not carrying my pack