Start date: March 25
Finish date: Sep 4
Importance of calendar during thru-hike: unimportant
Number of days: 164
Average daily mileage: 13.3
Average daily mileage, minus zeroes(1): 14.4
Number of zero days: as many as it took--12
Odds of completing AT without zero days: ZERO
Number of days: 164
Average daily mileage: 13.3
Average daily mileage, minus zeroes(1): 14.4
Number of zero days: as many as it took--12
Odds of completing AT without zero days: ZERO
Overall Appalachian Trail level of difficulty: red zone/highest
Mileage covered running: 3 miles (due to mosquitoes or lightning/hail)
Longest mileage day: 39 miles (Day 32)
Shortest mileage day: 3 miles (Day 112) (I did six or seven 4-mile days)
Days without seeing anyone else: 2
Mosquitoes killed: 12,987, all female
Favorite trail town: Hot Springs, NC
Least favorite town: Hiawassee, GA
Honorable mentions: Damascus, VA; Boiling Springs, PA; Hanover, NH; Rangeley, ME
Dishonorable mentions: Pearisburg, VA; Duncannon, PA
Weight before hike: 161lbs
Weight after hike: 161lbs(2)
Height before hike: 6’ 1”
Height after hike: 6’ (the spine realigns with time)
Average estimated load carried throughout: 24lbs, food/H2O included (=15% of my mass, though there were brief periods when I carried just 6% of my mass)
Calories ingested: never enough
Honey Buns ingested: a sickening amount
Cavities created: five or more
Money $pent (incl: ALL [newly purchased] gear, travel to & from, mail, food, donations given, hotels, etc): $2,455 (=$15/day)(3)
Hiking poles broken or worn beyond repair: 2
Pairs of shoes used: 8
Total cost of shoes: $98
Number of blisters: 5 (entirely due to rain)
Increase in foot/shoe size: none whatsoever
Wish I carried but didn’t: a cheapo poncho
Wish I didn’t carry but did: my backpack and all its contents
Real regrets: none whatsoever
Epiphanies incurred: 0
Books read: 12 (A practicing insomniac, I spent evenings writing, reading and above all, thinking)
Songs written: 7 (some are posted within this blog)
Words in this journal: far too many
“Eco-terrorist” misdeeds acted out: I’m not at mercy to say. Let’s just say Hayduke Lives!
Obstacles in path: the path is the obstacle
"Funds"note 3: DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME, KIDS! I am one of the cheeeeepest bass-turds uh-round, as friends and frenemies will attest. I used Ruth's flight miles for the travel; already owned almost all my gear (purchased primarily from thrift stores); ate mostly oatmeal and rice and other cheeeep grains; raided hiker boxes often; wore cheeeep shoes and recycled socks; and generally avoided hotels and hostels. My dumbest expenditures?...The Half-Gallon Challenge; the guidebook (no, really); Eat, Pray, Loathe; and one erroneous, extraneous mail-drop.
Longest mileage day: 39 miles (Day 32)
Shortest mileage day: 3 miles (Day 112) (I did six or seven 4-mile days)
Days without seeing anyone else: 2
Mosquitoes killed: 12,987, all female
Favorite trail town: Hot Springs, NC
Least favorite town: Hiawassee, GA
Honorable mentions: Damascus, VA; Boiling Springs, PA; Hanover, NH; Rangeley, ME
Dishonorable mentions: Pearisburg, VA; Duncannon, PA
Weight before hike: 161lbs
Weight after hike: 161lbs(2)
Height before hike: 6’ 1”
Height after hike: 6’ (the spine realigns with time)
Average estimated load carried throughout: 24lbs, food/H2O included (=15% of my mass, though there were brief periods when I carried just 6% of my mass)
Calories ingested: never enough
Honey Buns ingested: a sickening amount
Cavities created: five or more
Money $pent (incl: ALL [newly purchased] gear, travel to & from, mail, food, donations given, hotels, etc): $2,455 (=$15/day)(3)
Hiking poles broken or worn beyond repair: 2
Pairs of shoes used: 8
Total cost of shoes: $98
Number of blisters: 5 (entirely due to rain)
Increase in foot/shoe size: none whatsoever
Wish I carried but didn’t: a cheapo poncho
Wish I didn’t carry but did: my backpack and all its contents
Real regrets: none whatsoever
Epiphanies incurred: 0
Books read: 12 (A practicing insomniac, I spent evenings writing, reading and above all, thinking)
Songs written: 7 (some are posted within this blog)
Words in this journal: far too many
“Eco-terrorist” misdeeds acted out: I’m not at mercy to say. Let’s just say Hayduke Lives!
Obstacles in path: the path is the obstacle
"Foot"note 1: Minus zeroes?!
"Fat"note 2: Though I didn't lose any weight, I grew thinner and more sinewy throughout, shedding fat for muscle. For a while I had lost weight, only to gain it all back in the last two weeks, thanks to the extra food I carried and the many zero days in Millinocket.
"Fat"note 2: Though I didn't lose any weight, I grew thinner and more sinewy throughout, shedding fat for muscle. For a while I had lost weight, only to gain it all back in the last two weeks, thanks to the extra food I carried and the many zero days in Millinocket.
"Funds"note 3: DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME, KIDS! I am one of the cheeeeepest bass-turds uh-round, as friends and frenemies will attest. I used Ruth's flight miles for the travel; already owned almost all my gear (purchased primarily from thrift stores); ate mostly oatmeal and rice and other cheeeep grains; raided hiker boxes often; wore cheeeep shoes and recycled socks; and generally avoided hotels and hostels. My dumbest expenditures?...The Half-Gallon Challenge; the guidebook (no, really); Eat, Pray, Loathe; and one erroneous, extraneous mail-drop.
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