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thru-hiking

On the Appalachian Trail with Ghost

"Ghost" at the completion of his thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. (photo courtesy of Tyler Bedick)

One major hike down, two to go for West Virginia resident Tyler Bedick.

The triple crown of United States hiking is when someone hikes the tree major long-distance trails in the country — the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail.

Bedick, a 23-year-old chemist at Mylan Pharmaceuticals, conquered the Appalachian Trail this year, covering the 2,180-plus mile trail in 139 days, so about 4 1/2 months. He said he plans to eventually hike the other two to complete the triple crown.

He also seemed to personify the hiker’s edict in hiking his own hike.

In fact, that’s how he gained his trail name “Ghost.”

Bedick said when he was early in North Carolina, the name was given to him because of how he hiked.

“It was because I hiked quickly and also quietly and would often accidentally sneak up on slower hikers and scare them when asking to pass,” he said.

Hitting the trail

Bedick’s interest in the Appalachian Trail seems to have grown from backpacking experience he had during his time in the Boy Scouts. From there, he said, he began planning his own trips with friends.

Walking down the trail. (Photo courtesy Tyler Bedick)

Another inspiration came from reading Bill Bryson’s book, “A Walk in the Woods.” That, Bedick said, could have spurred the idea of hiking the AT.

“The concept of being in the woods and covering such a long distance on foot really appealed to me,” he said.

Alas, he didn’t have a lot of long-distance hiking experience.

He said the longest hiking trips he had taken were 7-10 days. Some of his trips included New Mexico, the Great Smoky Mountains and the Laurel Highlands Trail, a 70-mile jaunt in Pennsylvania.

With the interest for the bigger hikes, Bedick set out for the Appalachian Trail.

“Feeling confident in your backcountry skills and also being generally physically fit prepared me for it well,” he said. “I saw lots of people out the first week who had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Because of my experience from scouting and my trips when I was younger, I feel that I was probably more prepared than a significant number of the starters.”

The trail isn’t all cakes and candy, however. There are good things and bad things about thru-hiking, Bedick said.

On the positive side, one gets to meet some amazing people. Also, he noted, it’s a good time to think about your life, gain a better sense of self-sufficiency and see some incredible things in nature. The negatives include being away from family and friends for a long time.

He also said it can be mentally and physically draining, especially toward the end.

The Appalachian Trail Experience

Bedick’s average day was quite simple, he said.

“Wake up, eat, walk, eat, walk and stop at a shelter or wherever when its nearing dark,” he said. “Eat and go to bed. Repeat the next day.

“It can become extremely monotonous for some people,” he continued. “Others enjoy the ‘job’ of walking the trail.”

The views on the Appalachian Trail can be amazing. (Photo courtesy Tyler Bedick)

As with the trail — there are highs and lows.

One of the best moments Bedick had was hiking through the White Mountains in New Hampshire. He said it was a great trail with amazing views.

“The experience of doing work for stay at the huts was fantastic as well,” Bedick said. “The Whites were extremely challenging, but also very, very rewarding.”

As for lows?

“I cant think of any particularly horrible moments, but I found myself extremely exhausted and worn out by the time I made it to Maine,” he said. “The deer flies and horse flies were horrendous and the lack of trail maintenance was very draining.”

But as great as the White Mountains were, he said he’d love to be able to re-do that section.

“I would re-do the White Mountains because when I passed through there I had broken my camera and couldn’t take any photos,” he said. “My photos from the trail were great but I missed so many fantastic photo opportunities there.”

There were also fun times, of course. Being out in the woods for that long has to work up your sense of humor. And though some of the things were a “you had to be there” sort of moment, Bedick had his share of laughs, he said.

He was hiking in Maine with a guy with the trail name “Teddy,” as in “Teddy Bear.” The two were both mentally and physically drained.

“I think just from having hiked more than 2,000 miles for four months straight, we were possibly getting a little delusional,” he said.

As mentioned before, Bedick said the deer flies were awful and two or three were circling both of their heads for about six hours straight. That, of course, was making the duo go a bit nutty.

So where did the conversation turn? About the black flies, of course.

At this point, being a bit delusional as Bedick noted, the two started figuring the flies were their personal trainers to motivate them to continue walking and then about how they don’t have the money to afford three trainers at once.

“We were adding our own ‘insults’ that the flies were yelling at us,” he said. “We were basically trail crazy at this point and were laughing hysterically.”

Looking back

As Bedick remembers his jaunt from Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, he said he was happy with the way he hiked.

Ghost reaches the Tennessee/Virginia border. (Photo courtesy Tyler Bedick)

“I really feel happy with the pace that I hiked and the stops that I made along the way,” he said. “I am happy with the locations I chose to pass and the locations I stopped at. I also hiked with several groups, off and on, and am happy with the friendships I made along the way.”

The look back also helped unfold the best day on the trail. He said it was either going over Mount Washington and the Presidential Range in the White Mountains on an amazingly beautiful day. Or, he said, in Virginia when he went over Dragon’s Tooth, McAffee Knob and Tinker Cliffs.

He also learned a bit about himself on this journey.

“The main thing I learned was that I don’t have to settle in to the ‘conventional’ lifestyle in whatever order,” he said.

Instead, he stopped grad school and got a decent paying job with plans to save up for future adventures such as the PCT and CDT.

“I also hope to climb some significant mountains in the future,” he said, adding that Mount Denali and some other West Coast mountains are on his radar.

As to the future hikers of the Appalachian Trail?

“Hike the trail how you want to hike it,” Bedick said. “Do not cater the way you hike it to anyone else. I saw so many people out there hiking the trail in different ways and so many ways would work. Hike whatever way works for you.”

Tidbits

Here are some quick-hitting tidbits from Nadeau’s thru-hike.

  • How many pair of shoes did you go through? He started with a pair of Salomon Quest 4D GTX boots and used those until Pearisburg, Va.; He then switched to Lafuma Trail Runners until New York and there he got a pair of Solomon trail runners, which lasted until Gorham, NH. He then switched back to his boots until the end. So one pair of boots and two trail runners.
  • What happened in days following the hike? He ate at some of his favorite food places, reunited with friends, visited some bars and found a job.
  • Best trail town? Hanover, NH. “It really felt like a clean town and there were some amazing amenities there,” he said. “Two solid outfitters; a senior center, which had an amazing shower and great laundry services for pretty cheap; lots of good places to eat and good coffee places as well. I also got to relax and watch a movie. Camping was allowed on the outskirts of the town near a soccer field for free.”
  • Worst trail town? Bland, Va., and Glasgow, Va. “I’m not sure that either of them are ‘true’ trail towns,” he said. “Bland, in particular, offered a hiker shuttle into town to resupply at a gas station that was touted as a grocery store.” The price of the shuttle? $15.
  • Would he do the Appalachian Trail again? “It’s unlikely,” he said. “I think I would only do it again if I were to hike it with a girlfriend, or wife. Or with my kids, assuming I have any.”

Series Schedule:

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Reminder! Contest going on! I am holding a contest this week for an autographed copy of Bill Walker’s book “Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail”. It runs from October16- to 12:01 a.m. Oct. 28. You can see all the details on the contest page. Enter for your chance to win!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

On the Appalachian Trail with Blue

Chris Nadeau (Blue) at an AT blaze painted in the road. (Photo courtesy of Chris Nadeau)

The reality of the Appalachian Trail is that not everyone who attempts to thru-hike it will finish it.

In fact, according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, 75 percent of the people who have tried to hike the trail have not finished. That’s a lot of people not finishing.

But, the trail isn’t easy. It covers 2,180 or so miles from Georgia to Maine. The AT climbs over rough terrain, high mountains, dense woods and narrow ledges. It’s not always for the faint of heart.

People will plan this hike for years and still not finish. Even with all the time and money vested in planning for this hike, not everyone will complete the jaunt, which could take six months or longer.

All in nature.

The goal, of course, is to finish the hike. And it would be hard to think that anyone starting out in March in Georgia would have different thoughts.

Chris Nadeau certainly did not when he began his hike earlier this year.

Alas, four states and 815 miles into the hike, Nadeau called it quits in one of the toughest decisions he said he’s ever had to make.

Tough reality

“I decided to end my hike about two weeks before I actually did,” said Nadeau, a 22-year-old business management major at East Tennessee State University.

The Portland, Maine native, who moved to Ashville, North Carolina in 2003, said he and his friend Laura has been close for about five years. And as things seemed destined to turn into a relationship, he was preparing to leave for the hike, a move he notes probably wasn’t the best for at that point.

“Leaving in March with such an important relationship on my mind was not smart,” he said. “Along with that, I wanted to finish school. In the back of my head, I knew I had one more year to go, and I wanted to be done. I spent Memorial Day Weekend with Laura at Lake Keowee in South Carolina, after being picked up. It was then I decided I would stop this hike and do a complete thru hike when I was more firm with other things in life.”

Nadeau (far right) and others at Springer Mountain, Ga., at the start of the hike. (Photo courtesy of Chris Nadeau)

That move was probably the best for Nadeau as having thoughts, worries or doubts about other things wouldn’t be a good way to hike a massive trail, such as the Appalachian Trail.

Still, when you are doing something you’ve wanted to do, it’s not easy to back away as evidenced by the two weeks it took him to actually get off the trail.

“That was the hardest decision in my life to date,” he said. “I’ve never been faced with such a hard decision. I was deciding to stop the goal I’ve wanted to achieve for the longest time.

“I shed many tears for weeks after,” he continued. “I felt lost. I felt regret. I felt let down. … I had worked so hard for what?

As much hurt and regret Nadeau had at the time is now erased. He’s more than six months into a relationship with Laura, he’s getting excellent grades in the business program at ETSU and he’ll graduate in a year with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management.

Don’t think there aren’t moments, however.

“There are still nights I cannot sleep and feel very sad, but that is completely normal,” he said, especially knowing that many of the people he hiked with were still on the trail and several of them were scheduled to summit Mount Katahdin in Maine in early October.

Fear not — from the ashes of bad come good.

“Laura plans to hike the trail with me in 2013,” Nadeau said. “We both agree that if we can make it through the trail together, we can be together for life. With that said, we’ve been best friends for the longest time, and are still best friends today. I’ve always thought how great it would be to marry my best friend, and she is that.

“The last day I was on the trail a lady told me, ‘end you hike now before you ruin your love for hiking altogether.'” he said. “That was a very true statement and I did so without any regrets.”

Memories are still there

Despite not finishing the trail this year — something Nadeau said he will eventually do — the trail was full of memories and things happening. He made it 815 miles, which is something the majority of people in this world couldn’t claim. With those miles, he went through Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. The final state has more than 550 miles of the trail.

Nadeau at the Georgia/North Carolina border (Photo courtesy of Chris Nadeau)

“There are too many good times to list,” he said.

Even the bad times seemed to turn into the good times, Nadeau said.

The first could almost be a clip from an old 70s or 80s movie. He left Silers Bald Shelter in Swain, North Carolina at 8 a.m. with about five inches of snow on the ground. His goal was to make it to Newfound Gap some 13 miles away to meet his mother.

Knowing it was 2.7 miles to Clingmans Dome, he set out on the hike. But with nobody going before him, he was on his own. Most, he said, were going to wait for the snow to stop and get a half-day of hiking in.

But, Nadeau had a plan and he was going forth.

“After starting out, I realized it was the most dangerous move I had made yet,” he said.

He arrived at the shelter before Clingmans Dome at about 11 a.m., so it took him three hours to hike about two miles. He got lost twice. Couldn’t see the AT’s famed white blazes. Worse, his water was frozen and he was out of cigarettes.

When he got to the shelter, he was greeted by some medical students from Ohio, who gave him a cup of coffee and a smoke.

Of course they wondered what Nadeau was doing hiking in that weather.

“I simply said, ‘I want a hot shower.'”

Another hiker, Blue Stick, showed up 30 minutes later and said he would have never made it if not for Nadeau’s footprints.

Nadeau then set out for Clingmans Dome, hoping to hitch a ride from the summit. Alas, the road was closed because of the snow. Not seeing any signs and having a hard time staying on the trail, Nadeau wondered why it took so long to get to the summit.

Then he saw it. A sign with an arrow pointing to Clingmans Dome — 4.6 miles away.

“I had hiked right past the summit not even knowing it,” he said. “I was practically sliding down the trail of ice, my water was frozen solid, and I was mad to say the least.”

Six hours after leaving Silers Bald, he arrived in Newfound Gap. The road had since been opened and tourists looked at him funny. He kept getting the questions about where he had come from, what the AT and wonderment about hiking in the snow.

A teacher from the University of Kentucky gave Nadeau a lift into Gatlinburg and was dropped off at a gas station, where he promptly bough a soda and two packs of smokes. He chain-smoked five and 15 minutes later, his mother arrived to pick him up and take him to Asheville, where he rested and spent time with his girlfriend.

Nadeau said some other good times included meeting up with a lot of people at the Low Gap Shelter in Georgia for their annual St. Patrick’s Day reunion. He also had a good time at Fontana Dam Village when they walked up on a Frat Spring Formal and were invited to take part.

He said, too, his hike almost ended way before it did when his leg slid between rocks and he thought he had broke it. He hiked four miles into town, which took about seven hours. After going to the emergency room near Bland, Virginia, he was told to stay away from hiking for a week or two.

Being on the trail

First things first, Nadeau hiked under the trail name “Blue.”

He was ahead of a bunch of hikers one day and arrived at the destination, which was about 1.2 miles from civilization. So he hiked that distance with an empty pack to load up on beer. He ended up with about five cases of brew and worked his way back.

On his way back, he met a fellow playing a banjo on a footbridge. He stopped to listen to him play and chatted with — trail name — Shaw. He lived near there and made small banjos and other musical instruments. They had a beer and smoke together and Shaw said “You’re my boy, Blue.” That name stuck.

As with most things, there are positives and negatives of being on the trail.

“This depends on the person,” he said. “I believe everything that comes with hiking the AT is ‘positive’ for the most part.”

But, he said, there are days that you feel negative. Nadeau said he learned more on his 815 miles than in any classroom. You learn basic skills, but you also meet people you will stay in contact with for life.

Nadeau (far left) with a whole crew of hikers in Franklin, NC (photo courtesy of Chris Nadeau)

A fellow hiker noted to Nadeau on the first day that one will always want more. Nadeau said that is 100 percent true

The negatives are about things away from the trail, such as making sure you have bills covered, loved ones are ready for the mentality of you being away and things like that.

“Positives certainly outweigh the negatives when it comes to the AT,” he said. “What bad is to come while enjoying Mother Nature at her best?”

An average day on the trail is routine, Nadeau said. Wake up with the sun, drink some water, pack gear, some more water, eat breakfast and another liter of water.

He’d then strap on the pack and start walking. The hiking between breakfast and lunch went fast as he said he thought about everything. He said he tried to stop every 2.5 miles or so for five minutes. He always checked his guide to see where he was. Despite not having a “true” schedule, Nadeau said he knew where he wanted to be by the end of the day.

A big thing he said, was to always make sure he was drinking water and to fill up whenever he had the chance.

“I ran out twice and it isn’t a fun feeling,” he said.

One he got to his destination, he set up his tent and got things ready. he’d cook, drink more water and relax, which often included a smoke or two. Some people asked why he smoked on the trail and Nadeau said it was meditating.

At night, he would reflect on the day and drank Crystal Light mixed in with his water, which he noted tasted great after nothing by water all day. When it got dark, he went to bed and always wrote in his journal before sleeping, so he had an ongoing account of everything that happened on the trail

The future

Nadeau said he will attempt is again, in 2013. This time he won’t have 58 pounds on his back. The goal, he said, will be to have his pack at about 24 points.

“I’ll know what I am getting into, how to cook my meals, what to eat and how to make sure I sleep at night,” he said. “I know absolutely nothing about long-distance hiking last time, even though I had read numerous books about the trail.”

Nadeau (left) and others taking their first steps to the AT -- heading to the approach trail. (photo courtesy of Chris Nadeau)

And he’ll have time to prepare, too.

This time around, he walked every chance he got.

“Honestly, I don’t believe you can prepare for such a hike physically,” he said. “Your body will physically adapt to hiking every day within the first month on the trail.”

Mental preparation, he said, is the biggest part.

“Make sure you are ready to endure weeks of rain, very cold nights, and days without showers,” Nadeau said. “Get used to eating trail food, make sure you can cook your food or have a plan.”

In the beginning, it took him a long time to set up his tent. Now, he said, he could practically do it with his eyes closed. It all comes with practice. Everything eventually becomes routine on the trail.

And with 815 miles under his belt, that routine shouldn’t take too long to get rolling again in 2013.

Tidbits

Here are some quick-hitting tidbits from Nadeau’s thru-hike.

  • On why he wanted to hike the AT: After summiting Mount Katahdin on Sept. 10, 2010. “I’ve always loved the outdoors. I’ve always done a lot of car camping and so on. I had never hiked more than 60 miles before starting the AT.”
  • Going in, had he done any other long-distance hiking? “Not much.” Nadeau said he spent 10 days in the Grand Canyon with his mother when he was about age 12. They did day hikes and always returned to the same campsite. Last November, he hiked about 60 miles around Buena Vista, Virginia.
  • Plans to maybe do other long-distant hikes? Nadeau said if he won the lottery, he’d do the AT next year, the Pacific Crest Trail the following year and the Continental Divide Trail the third year, thus completing the United States Triple Crown of hiking. “I do not have the time or the money, so therefore I’ll stick to the AT for now. I have much support all over the East Coast and that is nice feeling to have especially when it is really needed.”
  • Best trail town? Hot Springs, North Carolina. “It’s the closest to my house and I had an unbelievable feeling when hiking down into town.”
  • Worst trail town? Gatlinburg, Tennessee. “I’ve been there too many times to count so it was old news for me and I had a very bad day hiking into the town,” Nadeau said. “It’s a great place, unless you don’t like tourists. It is a very tourist-friendly town and there are people all over the place.”
  • Anything he wished he did on the trail? Finished and hiked New England. Being originally from Maine, he thinks about hiking New England all the time. Too, he said sometimes he pushed too hard to get miles under his belt instead of slowing down and enjoying the surroundings more.

To read more from Nadeau, check out his Trail Journal, which he updated throughout his hike.

Below is a video that Nadeau’s brother put together using photos from the 815 miles that he hiked. It’s about 45 minutes long. Enjoy!

815 Miles on the Appalachian Trial on Vimeo.

Series schedule:

***

Reminder! Contest going on! I am holding a contest this week for an autographed copy of Bill Walker’s book “Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail”. It runs from October16- to 12:01 a.m. Oct. 28. You can see all the details on the contest page. Enter for your chance to win!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

On the Appalachian Trail with Amish

Amish on the Appalachian Trail. (Photo courtesy of Emily Harper)

Imagine setting out on a life-changing event basically alone. Sure you’ve made contact with a few people who are also doing the event and there are many more you’ll meet along the journey…

… but you are basically going solo.

Then add to this that you are a young female — 19 years old — and are hiking a nature trail from Georgia to Maine. You’ll be backpacking, camping, meeting all sorts of people and having to fend for yourself.

How many young females do you know who would spend a summer doing all of that? Many might be preparing for college. Working. Or doing whatever else.

Not Emily Harper.

Harper, a groundsman for a tree company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, had no thru-hiking experience. She said the goal was to lose weight.

So what the heck, let’s hike some 2,180 miles.

Harper also got the chance to live a care-free summer. She met people. Lived independently. But it wasn’t all cookies and cake for Harper, who noted the trail is long and can be quite boring.

Again, however, it wasn’t easy.

Harper took 5 1/2 months to complete the trail. She started March 5 and finished August 18.

That’s a long time to be out wandering a trail.

As for doing future long-distance hikes?

“Not anytime soon,” Harper said.

Who can blame her?

But the future of hiking for Harper, known in the hiking circles by her trail name “Amish,” isn’t something that she needs to worry about now. The reality is she did something that many people won’t ever even try, let along complete. Along the way, she met many people, had a ton of new experiences and found out all about hiking and herself.

She didn’t give in. She took the time needed to complete the hike and she finished. That alone is something to be able to be incredibly proud of. But along the way, she made memories that won’t ever leave her. And that, too, is something that makes a trip like this worthwhile.

Being female on the trail

It’s a good bet that if someone quickly thought about hiking a 2,180-plus, they would be a male. That’s because the bulk of the hiking people appear to be male.

Females are out there, too. And the number of female long-distance hikers appears to be growing. Harper is one of those female hikers. Though she started with a group of people, she eventually separated and began hiking solo.

“Hiking alone can be boring,” she said. “Solo can still be hiking with others, just not a solid commitment, which makes it more fun. People always ask ‘are you traveling alone? Isn’t that scary?’ It’s not that bad. Guys are friendly. If there’s a sketchy character, the other hikers are there to help.”

But fear not for the female hiker. Harper said it’s better to be a female on the trail.

After all, if hundreds of guys are hiking the trail and see one another for many miles. Having a female to talk to and get the different perspective is a good thing, usually.

Amish (right) with a fellow hiker. (Photo courtesy of Emily Harper)

“On the trail, it is a whole lot better to be a female,” Harper said. “People are more friendly to females.”

And how?

Well, Harper said, females are more likely to be given rides into town quicker (hitching), get food or be invited into people’s homes.

“It’s a real treat,” she said. “I’ve met guys who would have to wait hours to hitch a ride. I’d take 10 minutes. Because there are so few females on the trail, I was rare, and felt more special.”

She noted that many guys complain, however, about how females look on the trail and that the females like going into towns. Yet, she said, guys don’t seem to have a problem heading into town as well and beer and meat are two of the things they like to delve into when hitting towns. So, it would appear both males and females could have something to complain about with one another.

Hiking her hike

The original goal, she said, was to lose weight. Seems simple enough. But to hike through sometimes rugged terrain, by yourself, on a 2,180-plus mile trail?

It turns out that this trip became more than losing weight.

For starters, she learned a lot about herself.

“I get lonely and very attached to people,” Harper said. “More so than some. I don’t like hiking by myself and I love staying at other people’s homes.

“I am persistent,” she continued. “Don’t judge people. Everyone has something to offer.”

Persistence goes a long way for Harper, who did things here own way it seems. From hiking with different groups to hiking at night, she did her own thing.

But, even those things could give her the chills a little.

“My first time night hiking was kind of scary,” she said. “I was alone by choice. I was trying to catch up to some other hikers but even so, there were other hikers planning to leave an hour or two after me. I was to anxious to go and I couldn’t sleep.

“I jumped when I heard things rustling and freaked out when I saw eyes staring at me,” she continued. “Which, once I got close enough, I saw it was just a deer. A whole herd of deer.”

Those weren’t the only things that could get to Harper’s spirit.

“It can also be a bit nerve-racking when you start to run out of food,” she said. “And it’s plain annoying when you run out of toilet paper.”

Looking back

Harper said she had her highs and lows on the trail. Though mostly a positive experience, some things weren’t perfect.

“I wish I took my time,” she said. “Being that I started out with a group that had 20-mile days normally, it was hard for me to justify being slow. I felt like I could enjoy myself sitting all day in a shelter. Or stopping to talk to people. I did though. I tried.”

She said some of her best times were hiking at night and being able to watch the night turn into day. As for the bad, she said there were times when she would push herself too hard and everything hurt, which made her break down and cry.

There were regrets, too.

One included when she was hiking through the White Mountains in New Hampshire. She said the only places for hikers to stay are huts where hikers can work to stay (instead of paying). Hikers would work and get cold food, having to wait until about 7 p.m. to get fed.

The last hut she stayed at was called Madison Hut. Thru-hikers were given a small room instead of the cafeteria floor. The hut people made sure the hikers were fed well.

“It was, by far, the best treatment of all the huts I stayed at,” Harper said.

But, Harper said she did a lousy job of helping. She ended up leaving and said later other hikers were disappointed in her because of her actions.

Funny times also happened for Harper.

Take a day she had a long day and got to a shelter. There were two guys in there and Harper said she knew right away they weren’t thru-hikers. At that point, they were digging for worms to go fishing.

After not finding any worms, Harper said she suggested slugs as they were everywhere.

Turns out the two guys also didn’t have a hook.

“They seemed undaunted,” Harper said. “The one carved out a hook from wood.”

The two replaced that wood hook with a safety pin that Harper gave them. And, being she was looking for some really good food, she even offered to help the two.

“I can just imagine the fish sizzling,” she said. “So I tell them that I’ll make the fire.”

The two fellas had fishing line and tied it to a hiking pole. They kept losing the slugs as bait and then tried leeches, which didn’t work well. In the end? No fish.

But, better than the food was that this was pure entertainment. Other thru-hikers were entertained and the two guys gave Harper their extra food.

“Which I took, most happily,” she said.

Harper said some of her best days included ones with views — such as being able to see wild ponies on the trails. Some of the worst days included one where she was swarmed by mosquitoes all night as she attempted to sleep and it was too hot to be inside her sleeping bag.

Helping others

Now a veteran of the trail, some people might as Harper for thoughts if they wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail.

Her advice?

Research. Put money toward a backpack, sleeping bag and tent. Don’t have mail drops.

“Be friendly to everyone,” she said. “You don’t know when you might see them again. Be friendly to day hikers. They might give you food and take your trash.”

And now that she’s done the hike, it might be a little easier to prepare for the long commitment it takes to complete it.

“It’s all mental,” she said. “Make sure you have the support of your friends because you’re going to need it.”

Small things that are important include getting pack weight done and knowing why you want to carry each piece of gear.

“You’d don’t want to spend money on things you don’t need and you don’t want to carry something you never use,” she said. “I had a luxury deck of cards, but even that I didn’t hold onto the whole trip.”

Tidbits

Here are some quick-hitting tidbits from Harpers thru-hike.

  • On what she did in the days following her hike: Organized things, met with friends and started cooking, other than boiling water.
  • How many sets of shoes she went through on the trail: Two pairs of trail runners and got a third pair in Hanover, New Hampshire, though she said she did that unwillingly. Her old shoes had no grip and would slip all the time. “It was nice to be sure-footed once more,” she said.
  • Best trail town? Damascus, Virginia. “I hiked my highest mileage (33 miles) into it. I took two days at “the place.” It was such a milestone (that) I was at this town. I knew I had a chance of completing the trail.”
  • Worst trail town?: “Any place I couldn’t find a free place to stay.”
  • Her trail name, “Amish,” comes from being from Lancaster, Pennsylvania where there is a large Amish population. Whenever she told people where she was from, they asked her if she was Amish, so the name was born from that.
  • Would she do the AT again? “Perhaps. I’d want to go with someone nice.”

To read more from Amish, check out her Trail Journal, which she updated throughout her hike.

From her journal, she also had a brief video on YouTube to show her first few months on the trail. This seems like a great way to really be able to keep track of a hike like this. Document it all! Have a look:

Series schedule:

***

Reminder! Contest going on! I am holding a contest this week for an autographed copy of Bill Walker’s book “Close Encounters on the Appalachian Trail”. It runs from October16- to 12:01 a.m. Oct. 28. You can see all the details on the contest page. Enter for your chance to win!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Thru-hiking through the eyes of others

The Appalachian Trail is a long and winding road.

For those of you who don’t know what the Appalachian Trail is, allow me to give you a quick background.

The trail — officially known as the Appalachian National Scenic Trail — is a marked hiking trail that runs from Georgia to Maine. The starting and ending points depend on where you start (northbound or southbound), but the points are Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine.

The trail is about 2,180 miles long (give or take a few with any trail changes) and it covers 14 states (Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine).

According to Wikipedia, the trail is maintained by some 30 trail clubs and other partnerships. It’s managed by the National Park Service and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, a non-profit organization.

Much of the trail is through the great wilderness of the East Coast, going up and over mountains and through amazing scenery. The trail also goes through towns, follows a few roads and crosses a few rivers.

Though it’s likely the most famous of the long-distance hiking trails in the United States, it is also part of the “Triple Crown” with the Pacific Crest Trail (West Coast) and the Continental Divide Trail (goes from Mexico to Canada through more Midwestern-area states).

Thru-hiking, to many, is a lifestyle. It’s not easy, either. Don’t think of thru-hiking as a walk in the woods. It’s much more than that. Not everyone can hike 2,180 miles. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy estimates that just 1 in every 4 who attempt the AT thru-hike will complete it.

It takes a lot of planning, endurance, patience and time to tackle one of these trails. Someone hiking the AT could take upward of six months to do it.

The speed record for the AT, which was set this year by Jennifer Pharr Davis (trail name: Odyssa) is 46 days, 11 hours, 20 minutes. She beat the previous record of 47 days, 13 hours, 31 minutes, which was set by Andrew Thompson in 2005.

Now, take into account, too, that Pharr Davis was doing a lot of power days in excess of 30, 40 and 50 miles per day. One day, she did 60 miles.

Hiking!

But for us mere mortals, those types of days aren’t the easiest things to accomplish. No, the reality is that many people start out doing 10-mile days (or about) and work their way up. 20-mile days are good, strong days.

The journey is what it’s about to many.

So, in this series, I am going to bring you the tales of four people. Three who have completed the trail and one who had to pull off from the trail.

Each story is different.

Take Bill Walker, a nearly seven-foot tall hiker who has completed the AT, the PCT and the Camino de Santiago in Spain. He’s gone from the crazy world of Wall Street to realizing what life is about and hiking is a major part of it for him.

Take Emily Harper, a 19-year-old from Lancaster, Pa., who hiked the trail solo this past summer. Think of being a young female, alone, on a trail like this. It’s a different perspective to see if from those eyes.

Then there’s Chris Nadeau, who hiked 815 miles of the trail before deciding he had to attend to things going on in his personal life. It’s a different view of the trail from someone who still has plans to thru-hike the AT, but for now is among the 75 percent who start the trail and don’t finish.

You’ll also meet Tyler Bedick, a chemist from Morgantown, WV, who completed the trail this year in 139 days.

Each of these people has a story with their hiking. From personal sacrifice to the difficulties and triumphs on the trail.

Their story will be told as part of this series.

Over the next two weeks, I’ll bring you these stories to the best of my ability. The dates below show the dates each will run.

I hope you enjoy the series and it’s my hope that this won’t be my last in-depth series of stories or journalistic-style posts (I have others in the works).

Enjoy and I welcome any feedback!

The schedule of the series is as follows (links will be provided for the days that have already passed):

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

A hiking contest

In conjunction with an upcoming series of blog posts I have on thru-hiking, I am having another contest.

And the prize in this is a doozy!

It’s an autographed copy of Bill Walker’s book on his thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.

It’s a great book.

If you enjoy reading a humorous and — at times — serious look at hiking the Appalachian Trail, this is for you. If you like good stories, this is for you. If you like adventures, this is for you.

This book made me laugh many times. And it really gave me a different view of the Appalachian Trail. It showed the human side and, well, it showed me what it’s like for someone who isn’t a “big time” hiker to give a go and finish the Appalachian Trail.

Over the next two weeks, I’ll be running a series of stories about people who have hiked or attempted the trail. In all, there are four stories on the people, one other as a preview and then I’ll wrap it up at the end with the winner of this contest.

That means, this contest will run until 12:01 a.m. Friday, October 28. The winner will be announced Friday, Oct. 28 in a post on this blog.

So what do you have to do?

It’s simple. All the details are below, but the short of it is this — I want a hiking story! (There are several other ways to earn extra entries, but you must do the first one before the others will count!)

So think deep about it. Decide your story. Enter soon!

The series of stories starts tomorrow, too. So check back to see the start and follow the series of stories!

The contest: Hiking stories.

How to win: In the comments section, give me your best hiking story. It doesn’t have to be major hikes. It could be a quarter-mile hike to find a geocache. Or a 25-mile hike to an amazing view. Just try and make it something in nature. Though I’m sure getting nearly attacked by a house cat on your way to the store would be a funny story, it’s not hiking!

The story can be serious or funny. Short or long. Just give us some details!

Other ways to enter: You have to first do the main contest entry. After doing that, you can earn additional entries by doing the following (a person can do each one, but only once each. So you can earn a total of five entries into the contest.):

  • Like A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook (on the right side of the blog at the top of the page. If you have already liked the blog, let me know and I can give an entry that way, too).
  • Write a post on your blog about this contest (make sure you let me know so I can check it out!)
  • Tweet about this contest by copying and pasting the following (please copy this exactly… it will fit in a tweet):

@softball29 at A ‘lil HooHaa is having contest! Enter at https://hoohaa.com/?p=2491 !  #hiking #contest #skywalker #billwalker #appalachiantrail

What can you win? An autographed copy of Bill Walker’s book, “Close encounters on the Appalachian Trail”!

Who can enter: This contest is open to anyone. (Note, this is a larger package — so if an international person wins and there are any customs, you will be responsible for it. I don’t know if there will be or not. Shipping is on me).

How decided? Random draw.

Entry deadline is 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time) Friday, October 28. Results will be announced in a blog post here at noon on October 28.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!