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Live - Appalachian Trail Thru Hike ... GA to MA

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    Congratulations on this accomplishment, and thank you for taking us on the journey with you. It has been a pleasure to read. Best thread of all time!

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      Congrats! Truly inspiring journey. Thanks for allowing the rest of us to enjoy your trek!

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        Congrats and thanks for taking us along. Awesome journey!

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          I've done two treks at Philmont. Had the time of my life.

          I've never actually though about thinking the AT....until now. Thanks for this journey.

          Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

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            Congratulations and thanks for taking us along. And with all the posts along the way, you have the base laid for a book or memoir.

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              Congratulations on the completion of an incredible adventure.

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                Congratulations and thanks for taking us along on your journey.

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                  Click image for larger version

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                  A while back someone asked about my fears that I had going into the hike and if
                  I could do a recap when I was done with my hike. Here goes.....

                  Sleeping pains:
                  If I could not sleep well I knew I was done. To ensure good sleep, I carried a large Sea to Summit inflatable sleeping pad and a Sea to Summit inflatable pillow. The pillow gave out midway and I used stuff sacks filled with the few extra clothes I carried for a pillow. This served as a good pillow the rest of the way. The inflatable mattress was more comfortable than what I had hoped for. Truthfully, at the end of hiking each day I was so tired, sleep was never a problem. I did carry Tylenol PMs and would take one if I felt getting to sleep would be an issue. I slept well in my tent, shelters and in hostels. I guess I am just sleepy?

                  Towards the end of the hike my hips and rear ached after a long night of sleeping. This had to do with the fact I have very little far to provide cushion and due to shorter and cooler days, I was in my tent more.

                  Back pain:
                  My knees hurt, my feet hurt, my shoulders hurt...back never my back! This fear never materialized.

                  Feet/blisters:
                  My feet swelled no long after starting out of Springer Mountain and my boots became too small. I developed one or two small blisters due to that. The blisters went away when I switched to bigger boots. I do have callouses on my big toes and they would hurt at the end of the day at times.

                  My feet hurt...bad! They started aching at the end of the whites and never seemed to get better. Many hikers had the same issue. Despite the pain, they look good, but there is soreness that had to be contended with on a daily basis.

                  Idle time:
                  This one is funny. I had to move and keep moving. I had unbelievable good times taking zeros and neros and enjoying towns, but when hiking I kept moving. Therefore. idle time in the woods early on was non-existent. Towards the end (in 100 mile wilderness) I went slow and felt the idle time a bit more, however at this point I needed the down time because my body was getting close to being worn out.

                  Prior to walking into the 100 mile wilderness I took a double zero at Shaw's Hostel in Monson, Maine. The idle time here was welcomed and despite resting, when I went into the wilderness I immediately felt trail worn.

                  Hunger:
                  I carried perhaps too much food, but dialed that in as the hike progressed. I never went hungry. I resupplied well in towns and was not afraid to hitch into a town for food and then get back out early next day. Additionally, I scored big on trail magic at times. Also, there were times when trail magic appeared in the right gap or notch and really fueled me for days. In Maine I was running low on food and I would have definately experienced hunger, but as luck would have it, a nice couple were cooking burgers for hikers on a back road.

                  I never did grow tired of eating "hiker food". I didn't even switch things up too much. In the heat of the summer in NJ, NY and CT I lost my appetite for big meals and ate very little at night. After the Whites I had an appetite that was incredible, but I kept from going hungry by carrying more food and more snacks throughout the day.

                  The food I ate was not the healthiest and I will have to come off it now that I am not burning mega calories. So this means the glazed honey buns for breakfast are done.

                  Cold:
                  I prepared well for cold. I started my hike April 5th to edge out some of the early coldness. It worked. Folks starting in mid-March talked about brutal temps. I saw some 20 something degree nights at first and the Cinco-DeMayo cold snap came in cold and wet, but I was well prepared.

                  Wet cold was the most challenging as keeping what little clothes I carried dry as I hiked in the rain was important. When good rain fell, I walked wet and dried off at camp.

                  Maine at the end was getting cold, but mid-thirties was the coldest. Again, I was prepared, having received back my cold weather clothing in Hanover, NH. Still, evenings were cold. It was odd climbing into a sleeping bag at 7:30 pm to stay warm and staying there for almost 12 hours, but here again, my body needed the rest.

                  I did experience some wet cold in Maine and this by far was the worst. A night in southern Maine in a shelter with a small group of older thru hikers will always be remembered. It was cold, wet and dreary and we were in our bags at about 5:30 pm. I stayed warm that night, but it was cold outside!

                  In the end I feel I planned well and addressed the fears I had going in. I definately was prepared for most of what was tossed at me.

                  What fear should I have addressed, but didn't....possibly the bigness of the entire thing? But then again, if one ever sits down and tries to comprehend how they will hike the entire trail the bigness of the plan might become overwhelming? I focused in and around the proximity of where I was standing and worry about the next 100 miles later.

                  My gear selections for the start were good. Along the way I may changes to my backpack and completed the hike with an Osprey Exos 58 backpack. I was very happy with the change, although my first backpack was not horrible.

                  I can talk about this stuff for hours, so if anyone else has any questions I am open to answer them.

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                    This may be the best all-time thread ever on TBH. This will become Legendary

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                      An absolutely epic journey. Brandon, thanks for taking us along.

                      Congrats sir!

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                        Great Recap!

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                          Sheer awesomeness!! Congrats on your amazing journey!!

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                            Brandon, I had asked earlier on your journey about the best decisions and the worst decisions you made or didn't make regarding gear and prep. That was about 1/2 way through the hike.

                            Now that you completed the trail and have some time to reflect back on the entire experience, what are some of the major decisions you had to make and were they good or bad.

                            BTW, great thread and thanks for letting us go along with you!!!

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                              Wow. Just wow. Congrats friend.

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                                Originally posted by junkmanhunter View Post
                                Brandon, I had asked earlier on your journey about the best decisions and the worst decisions you made or didn't make regarding gear and prep. That was about 1/2 way through the hike.

                                Now that you completed the trail and have some time to reflect back on the entire experience, what are some of the major decisions you had to make and were they good or bad.

                                BTW, great thread and thanks for letting us go along with you!!!
                                Junk man, thank you. The two greatest decisions were 1) to hike my hike and 2) pay attention to the fact that I had to keep moving north daily.

                                The term "hike your own hike" is tossed around a lot out there. It starts with having a reason for being out there and an expectation of how one wants to experience the trail. I feel I hiked my own hike and when that was being compromised I made adjustments accordingly.

                                Focusing on the end goal (Katahdin) and that miles that laid between me and Katahdin was also a good decision. To be clear I did not try to hike say NH while I was in CT, but understanding what I need on a daily average to finish by Oct 1 paid off.

                                I also paid close attention to how much time I spent off trail and really limited the zero days (and doing not near zeros when in town). Sure, I finished a few days early and could have enjoyed a few days, but it seemed some hikers really fell into the town trap and are still hiking or quit!

                                I started April 5 to edge out cold weather. It worked. I hiked with many March starters who talked about brutal cold weather in mid to late March. However that being said if I had to do it over again I would have started around March 25 and giving myself a few extra days. This would have also enabled me to hike into Damascus Trail Days (as opposed to shuttling up and back when it was over). There is a very good social hiking bubble that forms after Damascus and I always was a little behind it for a while.

                                I believe I positioned myself with the right hikers for the most part. Early on I hiked a lot with one individual who ended up not being compatible. I made the decision to hike on and that was the right decision (although hiking on meant hiking alone briefly).

                                Another decision that was right was staying on the trail. So many young hikers left for weddings, music festivals and other reasons for extended periods of time. From the time I started to the time I finished I was always "on trail" with exception to getting off 24 hours to see Dead & Co who was playing near AT and the trip to Gettysburg when Kelly came up July 4th. Both of these sidebars were good distractions as I was not off trail long.

                                I am blessed I stayed healthy the entire time and there were no family emergencies. Several hikers either became sick or had to get off due to family
                                issues.

                                Me on day one (April 5). In so many ways I was so prepared and in so many ways I was clueless! The gut was the first thing that would go!!!

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