Hikers

[smokingman]

Guys, the more I think about the possibility of actually doing the AT, I realize there’s a lot of skills that I would really like to learn on a much smaller scale, like a small overnight backpacking trip. My son also expressed an interest in this so I’d like to take him along to see what he thinks. Any advice for short, overnight trips where we can work on these skills?

I mentioned "You should try Shades State park back country loop." It would be a very good way to build some skills and miles. I think it is around 5 miles in.

Hike in and set up(pay attention to how things pull out of your pack. Did your water filter and pot make it out almost first?
Good filter water and as soon as you have enough for your mountain house unscrew the clean bag at the blue filter and put it in your pot quickly,screw it back on asap(clean good water is dripping on the ground hurry lol!).Start it boiling,pull out your tent and set it up.

If your water is boiling start your mountain house(takes 10-15min to re-hydrate),get in your tent and set your mat up. Clean your feet(put on your "water/camp shoes no socks) and self(if water was not boiling see previous step.
Eat and clean up your one dirty piece of kit(long handle spoon). Last water run of the day.
I used a 2l dirty water bag into a 2l clean bag at this point both would be empty and I would have a liter left,then I refill them for the am(1l for breakfast,one to drink, 1l to leave with). In the morning hike out to the gift shop(or anywhere as a destination,just know the miles)and then back to camp.

*side note. Last thing before bed. A hang. Get all food,snacks,and anything edible out of your bag and pulled up into a tree in one of your dry sacs.
Now you can pull out your sleeping bag and put on your night cloths(shorts and maybe a T usually for most)and get rest.

In the second(clean yourself again if you were sweating during the night with plain water) morning pack up(try to be organized, it is key and work on developing your packing). Hike out. A good base run to repeat a few times until you get it down. I also believe you are fairly close to it I think?

I carried a bottle of seatosummit soap. A very tiny one that had a leak proof lid,unlike camp suds which will leak and 3 plain white cotton(one was just for feet trust me on this and it gets bad,so really 2,the third was for everywhere else) handkerchiefs to clean myself with around 1/4-1/2 a liter of water. And a SMALL camp towel that I would wipe dry with(and rinse in the water source,but down stream of where everyone gets water!).I was also able to get more of it at couple times on the actual trail which has more outfitters than any where else on earth more than likely. Fail to keep clean and you will chaff...badly from your own salt drying.
*side note. You will likely chaff at some point. I recommend Bodyglide,the smallest bar they make I think it is .5oz.It can save you a ton of pain.

 

[Frosty]

I mentioned "You should try Shades State park back country loop." It would be a very good way to build some skills and miles. I think it is around 5 miles in.

Hike in and set up(pay attention to how things pull out of your pack. Did your water filter and pot make it out almost first?
Good filter water and start it boiling,pull out your tent and set it up.

If your water is boiling start your mountain house(takes 10-15min to re-hydrate),get in your tent and set your mat up. Clean your feet(put on your "water/camp shoes no socks) and self(if water was not boiling see previous step.
Eat and clean up your one dirty piece of kit(long handle spoon). Last water run of the day.
I used a 2l dirty water bag into a 2l clean bag at this point both would be empty and I would have a liter left,then I refill them for the am(1l for breakfast,one to drink, 1l to leave with). In the morning hike out to the gift shop(or anywhere as a destination,just know the miles)and then back to camp.

*side note. Last thing before bed. A hang. Get all food,snacks,and anything edible out of your bag and pulled up into a tree in one of your dry sacs.
Now you can pull out your sleeping bag and put on your night cloths(shorts and maybe a T usually for most)and get rest.

In the second morning pack up(try to be organized, it is key and work on developing your packing). Hike out. A good base run to repeat a few times until you get it down. I also believe you are fairly close to it I think?

Not to far away, close enough if I get into a pickle the wife can come get me at the hospital Really good info, thank you!

 

[smokingman]

Not to far away, close enough if I get into a pickle the wife can come get me at the hospital Really good info, thank you!

Here is my entire water setup.
A piece of paracord(or if fancy spectra line)
2 of these. One with an orange end(dirty water)one with blue your clean.

VECTO 2L Water Container, 28mmOrange

Fresh, cool, filtered backcountry water just tastes better. The Vecto portable water container allows you to easily collect, store and treat water, using your filter.

cnocoutdoors.com

Sawyer(NOT THE MINI it is terrible and will not last,it can not be really backfushed like the full size one is made for).

Amazon product ASIN B00B1OSU4W
and the key for the whole thing to work.
Amazon product ASIN B018NJC1A6
Setting it up. Connect the sawyer to both bags(with the blue cupler on your clean water the other end on dirty). Slide off the dirty bag end. Fill with water. Slide it back on(it really is easy to fill and do). Hang it(with your cord around a tree,not a sapling) and let gravity do all your filtering. A system that will last you 6 months or more for less than $100(*as long as you do not let the Sawyer filter part freeze at any point,and do your best to keep the bags from getting punctures).

IF it is below freezing use a piece of cord and hang just the filter around your neck with only your base layer between it and your body(shake the water out first and I tied one of my tshirts around my neck to stop it from hurting after awhile,plus well it was cold)....try that with any other filter....you can't and freezing will destroy any filter period. I hiked until the first week of October it was freezing some days,at altitude and at night quite a few days. When I summited on Katahdin it had snowed and had snow in any place that had a shadow. 2 weeks later the mountain was closed for the year.

Side note. If you have a little bit of clean water left. remove your dirty bag(depending on water source it may need rinsed as well)and with the sawyer still connected you can roll up the clean bag for pressure and gently tap the sawyer as you do it. Cleaned out filter.

I have had other systems. Vario for example and an MSR one. Both pumps and neither can last more than 500 gallons. A waste of energy,time,and money honestly. It would take around 10 minutes of hard pumping with the Vario duel piston pump to get 2 liters from a poor water source,and that is with maintaining it ...every....single...day(ceramic disk scrubbing). It was not worth it, the MSR was even worse. Plus they weigh over 10 times what a sawyer does,and you have a filter cartridge you have to find available on the trail.
Sawyer I listed is guaranteed for 1 million gallons.

 

[Frosty]

Here is my entire water setup.
A piece of paracord(or if fancy spectra line)
2 of these. One with an orange end(dirty water)one with blue your clean.

VECTO 2L Water Container, 28mmOrange

Fresh, cool, filtered backcountry water just tastes better. The Vecto portable water container allows you to easily collect, store and treat water, using your filter.

cnocoutdoors.com

Sawyer(NOT THE MINI it is terrible and will not last,it can not be really backfushed like the full size one is made for).

Amazon product ASIN B00B1OSU4W
and the key for the whole thing to work.
Amazon product ASIN B018NJC1A6
Setting it up. Connect the sawyer to both bags(with the blue cupler on your clean water the other end on dirty). Slide off the dirty bag end. Fill with water. Slide it back on(it really is easy to fill and do). Hang it(with your cord around a tree,not a sapling) and let gravity do all your filtering. A system that will last you 6 months or more for less than $100(*as long as you do not let the Sawyer filter part freeze at any point,and do your best to keep the bags from getting punctures).

Side note. If you have a little bit of clean water left. remove your dirty bag(depending on water source it may need rinsed as well)and with the sawyer still connected you can roll up the clean bag for pressure and gently tap the sawyer as you do it. Cleaned out filter.

I have had other systems. Vario for example and an MSR one. Both pumps and neither can last more than 500 gallons. A waste of energy,time,and money honestly. It would take around 10 minutes of hard pumping with the Vario duel piston pump to get 2 liters from a poor water source,and that is with maintaining it ...every....single...day(ceramic disk scrubbing). It was not worth it, the MSR was even worse. Plus they weigh over 10 times what a sawyer does,and you have a filter cartridge you have to find available on the trail.
Sawyer I listed is guaranteed for 1 million gallons.

I saw you mentioned those up thread, I looked at them on Amazon, I’m going to start piecing things together soon. I need to start making a list… and checking… ok I’m out

 

[smokingman]

I saw you mentioned those up thread, I looked at them on Amazon, I’m going to start piecing things together soon. I need to start making a list… and checking… ok I’m out

I did edits/additions after you quoted both. Just a little more info included now.

Oh,my advise on a poncho.
Do not do it. It really is that simple. Have a pack cover(most Osprey come with one)and a good rain coat. I have a north face one made for backpacking. Why you ask? Wind,at altitude above 4000 feet(you will hit over 6000ft) and the poncho does next to nothing to block high winds(turns you into a sail to). A good rain coat will block the wind period. I know I hit 87mph on Mount Washington in the rain(it was the worse day of my entire hike) 14 hours to make 8 miles. We were told at the summit gusts to 60 expected. No mention of rain. It started raining less than a mile out and the wind picked up from there. I could barely stand and almost sheltered in place,but that would likely have meant death.

I helped a woman as well who was stuck in the same ****,another thru hiker. We made it to the hut well after dark both so dead tired we did not even eat and pretty much passed out. She says(and still calls me on occasion)to thank me, says I saved her life that day(she had stopped and was not going to keep going,I got her to get up and move and kept her moving). Point being with a poncho I would have likely died of exposure. So my north face(she had a rain coat as well) is the piece of gear that saved my ass. Our pack covers were taken off and stored,they kept turning into sails. Wet back pack is better than dead.

The hut personnel are the ones who told us what we made it through at breakfast. They even gave us a print out with the date and the hour by hour conditions from that day. They were not expecting anyone either that night when we showed up. It went from ugly to hell in the first 2 miles. They were shocked the personnel at the peak did not warn us of the front coming in(visibility at the peak was near zero,and we likely never meet the person we should have as thru hikers,most on top of that mountain take a chain train up,they may have thought we did as well and were taking it back down...in their defense). I lost mine somewhere before finishing(it was a single piece of paper with months of hiking left). I have some video from my phone of a little rock wall with the wind howling over it and the rain a few miles into that hell. It is on a USB stick now,I will look for it.

That is a mountain I will never set foot on again. Hardest day of my entire life. As I said the AT will push you and your body past the limits you thought you had. I hope you never have a day that bad.
Both her and I finished hiking down the next day,and continued on. A few days later and it was as if it happened in a different life. We both finished the AT. I waited an extra two days to summit for her to catch up to me. Hell of a thing to share,but everyone else I knew along the way had either already hit the summit or were more than a week behind. Though we did not share most of our hikes together we had hell on Washington and a triumph at Katahdin.

One funny thing did happen though. She gave me **** about it too lol. We could see the lights of the hut about 1/2-3/4 a mile out(all down hill). It was already well past dark. She is behind me and yells at me to come back(grumble hikes back 100 feet). Her phone is dead. We where maybe 800-1000 feet below the alpine zone. It was some kind of newt/salamander critter. She wanted me to take a picture of it. Mind you the wind here was maybe 20mph still and it was still raining. I get out my phone flash on and take a picture. Her "you get a good one" me(without looking but both of us barely standing "yea"). On to the hut we went. Oh, I got A picture. Blurry to the point you could barely tell it was a black critter with yellow spots. She asked me to see it the next morning(i had yet to look at it),and well...me "here"hands her my phone with the picture up. Her "What the hell you said you had it, that was so amazing, you suck". She was still giving me **** about it almost a year after we were done hiking.

Almost always followed by you saved my life that day you know that right? other times a we both know that.

She still never lets our conversation end with out mentioning that,and it bugs me. I have told her that too. She does not care. She always talks about getting to know her grand kids(we talk about our kids,and now grand kids) and to see her daughter again because I got her off that mountain. How do you tell someone politely to stop reminding you? I have tried. Honestly I would likely have blocked out most of that day if I had done it solo. Instead I remember how hard that struggle was,not just for me. I had to drive her down that mountain. When I first found her standing crying alone(standing at an angle back to the wind,her poles holding her up). I hugged her and told her we would get down together. Some steps you would take ended three feet from where you aimed. At moments I was not kind to her either. I got her back on her feet probably 10 times,almost every time I helped her up. I was down at least 5 myself,being behind her almost all the way I only had getting down the mountain and helping her too that got me back up. The wind was tough. Though at one point she was on her knees again crying,saying we were going to die. I got on my knees(mind you it is a rock rubble field the whole way down to the hut)hugged her for a good minute. Used every bit of strength I could muster and lifted us both back to our feet and got us moving again. I told her I would not let her die on that mountain. Every cairin had a single white blaze. Visibility was near zero for long time,and looking up often meant losing your footing in a down hill rubble field. More than once(she was in front)I had to yell and point with one of my trekking poles to a cairin. Miss one and you might still be on the trail. Miss a second.... When night fell the wind had let up to 20mph with maybe 40mph gusts on occasion.

It was still raining,now dark,and still a rubble field of wet rock for hours. We both had good headlamps. It helped. But was still tough. I saw the light of the cabin first. At least that was the only thing we thought it could be. She wanted to stop. I passed her and drug her in a towing fashion that last 3/4 miles or so. Never lost sight of her. Stopped to let her catch up many times. But we made it. Relief is a feeling I have not experienced often,not like that. But getting in that door and dropping my pack,and helping her get hers off and our sleeping bags out,the staff did not even have a room for us. We slept on the dinning room floor.(turns out they did but it was after 1 am and we woke them and pissed them off so they pretended they didn't so they would not have to check us in and do paper work,not that either of us were in condition to do much but only one staff got up and told me sleep in the mess hall,which is the room you enter through) I took off her rain coat and boots off, got her in her bag,and hung her pack. And I am pretty sure she passed out.. I got my coat and boots off hung my pack and did the same. I almost struck a staff member in the morning when I found out they had no guests in a single room,and he started bitching about the water all over the floor. Lucky for him a female staff member stood between him and me and made him leave the room(same guy that said sleep in the dinning room to). She then made us breakfast. Like I said toughest day of my life.

The trail...I regret nothing about doing it. It had some of the most wonderful days I ever had on this earth. Some moments though I would rather let go of though. wheeew. That was tough. I have never done that in that detail. Told anyone that is. Not sure why I did now. Maybe I need to. Thanks INGO. I did shed a few writing that last part, but in someway someone else knowing that story helps. No more edits. Done with that story now.

 

[Frosty]

I did edits/additions after you quoted both. Just a little more info included now.

I really do appreciate all the advice and guidance! I think I’m going to start small, moms got a couple acres of woods, I’ll probably take my son and practice the water filtering and setting things up and packing things! Thank you!

 

[ditcherman]

I really do appreciate all the advice and guidance! I think I’m going to start small, moms got a couple acres of woods, I’ll probably take my son and practice the water filtering and setting things up and packing things! Thank you!

Not to take ANYTHING away from smokingmans advice or methods but I do have a different philosophy on water. I’ve read and considered his way, and there’s no doubt he has more filtration capacity but I’m willing to give that up for my convenience.

I have a Katydyn pump, good to go for 750 liters, filters bacteria cysts and of course everything bigger and will fill 5 liters in a few minutes. The clean side of the pump hooks up directly to my small neck nalgene or my bladder. I just really like the idea that the creek water is dirty and all my water is clean with nothing to get mixed up.

I’ve seen pumps that take a long time but this one is quick enough for me.

 

[hooky]

I like the Sawyer Mini and use it for my gravity set up in addition to using the bags that come with it. I stopped pumping when I broke the handle on an MSR Sweetwater on Day 2 of a 5 day trip.

 

[Keith_Indy]

I really do appreciate all the advice and guidance! I think I’m going to start small, moms got a couple acres of woods, I’ll probably take my son and practice the water filtering and setting things up and packing things! Thank you!

Crawl, walk, run... all part of learning.

 

[smokingman]

Not to take ANYTHING away from smokingmans advice or methods but I do have a different philosophy on water. I’ve read and considered his way, and there’s no doubt he has more filtration capacity but I’m willing to give that up for my convenience.

I have a Katydyn pump, good to go for 750 liters, filters bacteria cysts and of course everything bigger and will fill 5 liters in a few minutes. The clean side of the pump hooks up directly to my small neck nalgene or my bladder. I just really like the idea that the creek water is dirty and all my water is clean with nothing to get mixed up.

I’ve seen pumps that take a long time but this one is quick enough for me.

The Katydyn Vario was my main filter before I started using the Sawyer.
It will do ok if your water source is clear running water. If it has been raining or your water source is dirty the ceramic filter clogs so quickly,and every pump gets harder. If the water is really dirty(or you did not clean the ceramic filter well enough) you blow out the outer seal where the pump handle screws on and it starts leaking some pressure with every pump(it does come with a spare seal for a reason).
Then you have the pleated filter. If you leave it wet, it starts to form a slime type mold fairly quickly in outdoor temperatures(not something the manual even mentions,but happened on one of my boundary waters trips before I switched to the Sawyer).

I still have it stored with a new clean filter in it,new disk,and it is ready to go if needed. I just think the Sawyer is a much better filter. It is a .1 micron filter as well,and uses tech made for dialysis machines. It really has nothing to break. No seals and if it clogs you simply back flush it and are ready to filter again.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Crawl, walk, run... all part of learning.

As I get older, I feel like I'm going in reverse order. Run, walk, crawl.

 

[Frosty]

As I get older, I feel like I'm going in reverse order. Run, walk, crawl.

Maybe your brain is so full you’re forgetting stuff???

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Maybe your brain is so full you’re forgetting stuff???

No, I'm talking physically, not mentally!

 

[smokingman]

I did edits/additions after you quoted both. Just a little more info included now.

Oh,my advise on a poncho.
Do not do it. It really is that simple. Have a pack cover(most Osprey come with one)and a good rain coat. I have a north face one made for backpacking. Why you ask? Wind,at altitude above 4000 feet(you will hit over 6000ft) and the poncho does next to nothing to block high winds(turns you into a sail to). A good rain coat will block the wind period. I know I hit 87mph on Mount Washington in the rain(it was the worse day of my entire hike) 14 hours to make 8 miles. We were told at the summit gusts to 60 expected. No mention of rain. It started raining less than a mile out and the wind picked up from there. I could barely stand and almost sheltered in place,but that would likely have meant death.

I helped a woman as well who was stuck in the same ****,another thru hiker. We made it to the hut well after dark both so dead tired we did not even eat and pretty much passed out. She says(and still calls me on occasion)to thank me, says I saved her life that day(she had stopped and was not going to keep going,I got her to get up and move and kept her moving). Point being with a poncho I would have likely died of exposure. So my north face(she had a rain coat as well) is the piece of gear that saved my ass. Our pack covers were taken off and stored,they kept turning into sails. Wet back pack is better than dead.

The hut personnel are the ones who told us what we made it through at breakfast. They even gave us a print out with the date and the hour by hour conditions from that day. They were not expecting anyone either that night when we showed up. It went from ugly to hell in the first 2 miles. They were shocked the personnel at the peak did not warn us of the front coming in(visibility at the peak was near zero,and we likely never meet the person we should have as thru hikers,most on top of that mountain take a chain train up,they may have thought we did as well and were taking it back down...in their defense). I lost mine somewhere before finishing(it was a single piece of paper with months of hiking left). I have some video from my phone of a little rock wall with the wind howling over it and the rain a few miles into that hell. It is on a USB stick now,I will look for it.

That is a mountain I will never set foot on again. Hardest day of my entire life. As I said the AT will push you and your body past the limits you thought you had. I hope you never have a day that bad.
Both her and I finished hiking down the next day,and continued on. A few days later and it was as if it happened in a different life. We both finished the AT. I waited an extra two days to summit for her to catch up to me. Hell of a thing to share,but everyone else I knew along the way had either already hit the summit or were more than a week behind. Though we did not share most of our hikes together we had hell on Washington and a triumph at Katahdin.

One funny thing did happen though. She gave me **** about it too lol. We could see the lights of the hut about 1/2-3/4 a mile out(all down hill). It was already well past dark. She is behind me and yells at me to come back(grumble hikes back 100 feet). Her phone is dead. We where maybe 800-1000 feet below the alpine zone. It was some kind of newt/salamander critter. She wanted me to take a picture of it. Mind you the wind here was maybe 20mph still and it was still raining. I get out my phone flash on and take a picture. Her "you get a good one" me(without looking but both of us barely standing "yea"). On to the hut we went. Oh, I got A picture. Blurry to the point you could barely tell it was a black critter with yellow spots. She asked me to see it the next morning(i had yet to look at it),and well...me "here"hands her my phone with the picture up. Her "What the hell you said you had it, that was so amazing, you suck". She was still giving me **** about it almost a year after we were done hiking.

Almost always followed by you saved my life that day you know that right? other times a we both know that.

She still never lets our conversation end with out mentioning that,and it bugs me. I have told her that too. She does not care. She always talks about getting to know her grand kids(we talk about our kids,and now grand kids) and to see her daughter again because I got her off that mountain. How do you tell someone politely to stop reminding you? I have tried. Honestly I would likely have blocked out most of that day if I had done it solo. Instead I remember how hard that struggle was,not just for me. I had to drive her down that mountain. When I first found her standing crying alone(standing at an angle back to the wind,her poles holding her up). I hugged her and told her we would get down together. Some steps you would take ended three feet from where you aimed. At moments I was not kind to her either. I got her back on her feet probably 10 times,almost every time I helped her up. I was down at least 5 myself,being behind her almost all the way I only had getting down the mountain and helping her too that got me back up. The wind was tough. Though at one point she was on her knees again crying,saying we were going to die. I got on my knees(mind you it is a rock rubble field the whole way down to the hut)hugged her for a good minute. Used every bit of strength I could muster and lifted us both back to our feet and got us moving again. I told her I would not let her die on that mountain. Every cairin had a single white blaze. Visibility was near zero for long time,and looking up often meant losing your footing in a down hill rubble field. More than once(she was in front)I had to yell and point with one of my trekking poles to a cairin. Miss one and you might still be on the trail. Miss a second.... When night fell the wind had let up to 20mph with maybe 40mph gusts on occasion.

It was still raining,now dark,and still a rubble field of wet rock for hours. We both had good headlamps. It helped. But was still tough. I saw the light of the cabin first. At least that was the only thing we thought it could be. She wanted to stop. I passed her and drug her in a towing fashion that last 3/4 miles or so. Never lost sight of her. Stopped to let her catch up many times. But we made it. Relief is a feeling I have not experienced often,not like that. But getting in that door and dropping my pack,and helping her get hers off and our sleeping bags out,the staff did not even have a room for us. We slept on the dinning room floor.(turns out they did but it was after 1 am and we woke them and pissed them off so they pretended they didn't so they would not have to check us in and do paper work,not that either of us were in condition to do much but only one staff got up and told me sleep in the mess hall,which is the room you enter through) I took off her rain coat and boots off, got her in her bag,and hung her pack. And I am pretty sure she passed out.. I got my coat and boots off hung my pack and did the same. I almost struck a staff member in the morning when I found out they had no guests in a single room,and he started bitching about the water all over the floor. Lucky for him a female staff member stood between him and me and made him leave the room(same guy that said sleep in the dinning room to). She then made us breakfast. Like I said toughest day of my life.

The trail...I regret nothing about doing it. It had some of the most wonderful days I ever had on this earth. Some moments though I would rather let go of though. wheeew. That was tough. I have never done that in that detail. Told anyone that is. Not sure why I did now. Maybe I need to. Thanks INGO. I did shed a few writing that last part, but in someway someone else knowing that story helps. No more edits. Done with that story now.

This post was a bad idea. I have had nightmares every night since I made it.
The little wooden signs "exposed ridge line next 100 yards"(I had forgotten this). The two of us behind a rock outcrop looking at it(was still light). The lightning,storm,and dense cold fog to our left. The blasting warm air coming from the right up the mountain causing the rain to go vertical. Cold foggy air rolling counter clock wise vertically all along the ridge,falling randomly back down on either side of the ridge. Steep drops you know meant death on either side. No cover. It was loud. Still in the alpine zone. 100 yards through THAT.
The conversation(after both of us watching knowing what we had to do). Me to her. Keep three points of contact,never take a step further than you moved your either of your poles,keep moving and take it slow. You can not stop, we got this(me internally we have to get off this mountain or we are dead).

It was not a one time thing. We had to do that many times on the way down.
Those signs on a sunny day would have meant a great view, on a day like that...

 

[cg21]

So I could start a new thread but seems lots of knowledgeable people in here…. Any advice or input on a pair of vortex binoculars to take with hiking? Just something to spot critters while I’m out.

 

[Frosty]

This post was a bad idea. I have had nightmares every night since I made it.
The little wooden signs "exposed ridge line next 100 yards"(I had forgotten this). The two of us behind a rock outcrop looking at it(was still light). The lightning,storm,and dense cold fog to our left. The blasting warm air coming from the right up the mountain causing the rain to go vertical. Cold foggy air rolling counter clock wise vertically all along the ridge,falling randomly back down on either side of the ridge. Steep drops you know meant death on either side. No cover. It was loud. Still in the alpine zone. 100 yards through THAT.
The conversation(after both of us watching knowing what we had to do). Me to her. Keep three points of contact,never take a step further than you moved your either of your poles,keep moving and take it slow. You can not stop, we got this(me internally we have to get off this mountain or we are dead).

It was not a one time thing. We had to do that many times on the way down.
Those signs on a sunny day would have meant a great view, on a day like that...

To be completely honest, I didn’t see that edit until you quoted it. What an amazing story. I’m sorry you’ve had to relive it over again.

I just finished watching a guy’s documentary on YouTube about through hiking the trail, in fact he also hike to through the night to get to the hut on Mount Washington. It seemed like it was right around this area that the vibe he gave off went from “it’s beautiful country and I’m making good progress” to “this could kill me if I mess up just a little” maybe that was just me seeing the harsh realities?

I don’t know, but in my mind I was seeing you through your words, you should write a book, and let me offer a sincere thank you for the encouragement, honest reality of your experience, and putting it out here for us all to learn from!

 

[Frosty]

This post was a bad idea. I have had nightmares every night since I made it.
The little wooden signs "exposed ridge line next 100 yards"(I had forgotten this). The two of us behind a rock outcrop looking at it(was still light). The lightning,storm,and dense cold fog to our left. The blasting warm air coming from the right up the mountain causing the rain to go vertical. Cold foggy air rolling counter clock wise vertically all along the ridge,falling randomly back down on either side of the ridge. Steep drops you know meant death on either side. No cover. It was loud. Still in the alpine zone. 100 yards through THAT.
The conversation(after both of us watching knowing what we had to do). Me to her. Keep three points of contact,never take a step further than you moved your either of your poles,keep moving and take it slow. You can not stop, we got this(me internally we have to get off this mountain or we are dead).

It was not a one time thing. We had to do that many times on the way down.
Those signs on a sunny day would have meant a great view, on a day like that...

To add to my earlier post, in complete honesty, this story has me doubting my ability to perform this hike… but these are the things I need, because I can figure out the logistics of the whole thing, I can figure out the monetary needs of this undertaking, but the harsh truth is if a person gets fed that Every peak is a magnificent view and it’s all sunshine and rainbows they aren’t at all prepared for the fact that some mistakes could cost you your life, or that ignorance isn’t bliss when Mother Nature gives you all she’s got and you have no choice but to keep moving. It’s very sobering. I don’t take your advice or experience lightly, in fact I’d say it instilled a very healthy fear in my heart, so much so that I couldn’t sleep last night because it was weighing on my mind. I’m not giving up, but I’m learning just how unprepared I am at this point and how much I have to learn.

 

[smokingman]

To add to my earlier post, in complete honesty, this story has me doubting my ability to perform this hike… but these are the things I need, because I can figure out the logistics of the whole thing, I can figure out the monetary needs of this undertaking, but the harsh truth is if a person gets fed that Every peak is a magnificent view and it’s all sunshine and rainbows they aren’t at all prepared for the fact that some mistakes could cost you your life, or that ignorance isn’t bliss when Mother Nature gives you all she’s got and you have no choice but to keep moving. It’s very sobering. I don’t take your advice or experience lightly, in fact I’d say it instilled a very healthy fear in my heart, so much so that I couldn’t sleep last night because it was weighing on my mind. I’m not giving up, but I’m learning just how unprepared I am at this point and how much I have to learn.

Mt Washington has the most extreme weather in the USA, to the point it is one of a very few peaks with a weather observatory. It certainly was the worst peak I encountered.

Current Summit Conditions - Mount Washington Observatory

www.mountwashington.org

By the time you reach that you have peaked 30+ times. Cligmans dome in the smokies being the highest at 6,643 feet(when i hit it ,that day was amazing with 70+ mile visibility,but in the 17 days prior it had rained 15).

Why do you want to hike the AT? For me it was to test myself, to see if I could do it. I had no delusions about what it was. I knew going in things like being wet,hot,cold,pain,danger and just being miserable were going to be a part of it. I was not looking for a hike,a walk in the woods,but a challenge. Something I knew would test me.

What were the rewards?
I learned more about myself and not just physically. You are alone most of the day everyday. You are not just putting one foot in front of the other admiring the views. You are stuck in your own head. Aside from nature it can be your worst enemy or if you choose your greatest ally. I became much more aware of the state of my mind.

Not just the limits,but how to alter them. How to change a thought pattern. An example. When I started a 3000 foot climb was mentally draining. Not just physically, but mentally. Hours of climbing up a mountain and it was a mental torture. How much further to this peak? Checking were I was and how far I had to go to the peak, wanting to be done. Followed by "wow nice view" and climbing down.
I changed that pattern around day 40. I knew I had to or there was no way I would continue. Instead of draining me I decided it needed to mean something other than a nice view. It meant I had actually accomplished what I set out to do that day. I had something positive to think about and stopped worrying about how "close" to the peak I was or how much further I had to climb. When I got to the top I was happy. Yes,the views were still nice but meant much less to me(and some days it was a fog bank,rain,or with just no good view). I had done what I set out to do that day. I had days I failed to. I just did better the next day...and the next. Climbs still were physically draining,but mentally uplifting. It worked on non peak summit days to. I will make it to some shelter,town,or location today. Like I said I failed some days and that did bring me down,but I had way more days I accomplished what I set out to do.

If you start your hike with the "goal" of Katahdin it is so far in the future it is almost meaningless. Great long term(6 months later) goal, but a really ****** motivator when you have been wet,cold, and hungry hiking up and down mud in the Smokey mountains for 6 days in the rain. But a daily goal that you can challenge yourself to and hit(or miss)has meaning. As does something like how fast can you pack everything and get moving. I was not always fast, but I got better. What took an hour I got down to 20 minutes or so. Why? 40 minutes faster was not just more trail time,but less total time. Weeks worth.

I broke my planning down to weekly,with goals set and adjusted every day. The variables are just to great to do any longer plans. Not just nature either. Your body itself is a variable. Your endurance and strength increases, but if you push to hard you will actually do less the next day. You will learn what your body can do. Trust me even having been in the military I had no idea what my body could do day in and day out for 6 months. Very few do.

There are dangers on the AT,and yes people die. I knew someone who died the year(3 trail deaths and one murder that year) I was hiking. He was a great hiker to. Better than me. He made a mistake though,a big one. He had done over 20 miles that day and was setting up at mountain lake. He was alone(like most usually are),and he decided to swim. He drowned. His body had cramped so hard it tore muscles,another hiker found him floating a few hours later. The water was 48 degrees.
You have physical danger like falling(I fell at least 20 times with 1/4 of that being in one day), temperature,snakes,bears,and even plants. I once spent 3 days at an A.R.E camp with a physical therapist because I could not put weight on my knee without incredible pain(over extending going down hill...to many times). I had been averaging 18s and in 4 days I did just 6 miles. After three at that camp I was ok. I also learned from it(the therapist)to never let my leg hit the ground with a straight knee(either knee). It was not something I had been paying any attention to up to that point. After few days of consciously making sure I didn't not do it, it became second nature to me. I was apparently not done learning,had not finished and knew I wanted to continue.

You first must decide why you want to do it. It is not glorious,and the only people who will ever really understand what you went through are those who have done it themselves. It will change you. You will appreciate the things everyone takes for granted every day. Water on demand...hot water on demand. Those things suddenly have more meaning than they ever did. I finished my hike almost 3 years ago,and still appreciate things like that. Everything will be more valuable to you. Cars,grocery stores,refrigeration,heat,ac,flushing toilet,and the list goes on and on. Why? Because you learned and experienced life without them...for a long time. You know you can do without them though.

Figure out the why and you are already half way to Katahdin. Point being if you know why you want to do it,I mean really know. You are already ahead of most who try. Less than 25% who start the trail finish(I think it is more like 10% who actually hike the whole thing from the year I hiked with the other 15% who claim to have finished not actually having hiked the whole trail).

Yes the trail has harsh realities. A few weeks in you will have something you did not have when you started though. You will be more aware and focused. Something that might cause a weekend hiker hiker to go "no way I am doing that" to you will be easy,because your skill level and knowledge will increase that much. Not even the most experienced hiker on earth could hike the entire AT and not learn something new about themselves and about hiking in general.

No one is ready to hike and finish the AT when they start. I mean no one. I do not care how practiced they are or how much experience they have. Nothing will train you to live for months away from everything you have ever know life to be,but you can have knowledge and you can attempt to prepare as best you can. Until you start though your daily life will continue as it mostly has.

 

[smokingman]

I’m sorry you’ve had to relive it over again.

You know I read that and it made me think. Yes, it was tough. I learned something that day though about what kind of man I was ,no I made a choice about what kind of man I was that day. What I did not say in that story was how it had to be a choice.

Was I going to risk my life for a near total stranger I had meet a few times in passing? I knew she would not make it down by herself, she would be dead by morning(I knew people had died from exposure on MT Washington in July,and we were there on the 11th of August in a sever storm).
I knew helping someone already frozen in fear was a huge risk.

I did not know fully what we where about to go through,or just how much she would slow my decent,but I knew I was risking my life for hers. I had made the choice,but did not fully understand it for about 2 hours. I did get angry a few times. I mean really angry(she only knew/knows about the one time I yelled at her,and I regretted it the moment I did it and it was because she kept missing markers and was in front of me). At some point it hit me. You choose to risk your life to help save hers,getting angry or upset is not going to help either of us. I became totally calm. A rock for her to lean on the rest of the way down. I still understood the danger,but at that point a switch in my brain said "shutting down fear and anger,only logic and reason are getting you and her out of this alive" After all it was my choice to slow down and help her get down.

I guess remembering and writing about it my brain forgot why I was not afraid at the time,I did not have any nightmares last night though Back then I just knew what had to be done to survive and did it(for her and me). Writing about it reminded me of the parts I had shut down and I may have actually felt some of those emotions almost 3 years later, and it hit pretty hard for a bit. All better now.

This story is from 18 days ago. Those hikers in the picture are either not hiking up the mountain or are still very low(grass,none of that in the alpine zone,and shorts/tshirts). I am not trying to scare you. I will tell you once you start your decent off that mountain you can not stop until you get to a hut. Not for any reason. It is unforgiving. More than 40 have died on it in just the last 20 years. You will not be one of those numbers. Know how I know? Because you will not stop and keep three points of contact when/if you need to. Some guy named smokingman scared the **** out of you so bad no way you are stopping.

Hiker dies on Mount Washington

The man was found unconscious and not breathing on Mount Washington's Jewell Trail on Saturday afternoon.

www.bangordailynews.com

Another died June 14,2022 in 60mph winds it was 12 degrees at the summit. I may have failed to mention how cold it was. It is always much cooler any time you get to higher altitudes and the alpine zone with no vegetation to slow it down the wind speed is always higher.

Mount Washington climber dies after hiking in freezing temperatures

A woman attempting to hike up New Hampshire's Mount Washington in frigid temperatures died after suffering an unknown medical condition, officials said Friday.

www.foxnews.com

Point bring I have no regrets in what happened or in the telling of it.

 

[jaymark6655]

I add a 3rd vote for sawyer filter, with that CNOC bag you can scoop water out of some shallow puddles. The bags that come with the sawyer have too small of an opening to be effective in anything shallow which is almost everywhere around here until most sources dry up.

AHT is awesome AT training, a friend who has hiked both said the AHT is harder. Its about a 2 day hike. Its part of the Indiana Triple Crown, Tecumseh and Knobstone are the other two. According AllTrails Tecumesh is rated medium and the other two hard. BTW check out AllTrails if you haven't.