I totally agree - with the whole TH-cam conversation at the beining; Hiker Trash taught me so much! I am so happy I had people to watch and teach me and help me get over my fears. This May I dipped my toes in the AT and can't wait to get back on the trail :-) Excellent video and good stuff - maybe see you on the trail :-)
+Florida Girl Adventures Absolutely. I will probably be making it on the AT a couple times this year. I am in the process of finalizing my 2017 vacation plans but that's a part of them.
Great video! As usual, after watching I feel more prepared, especially mentally, for my 2020 nobo thru-hike. The only downer in my life right now is that I've got to wait that long to go. Who knows, the buddy I'm going with may decide to retire earlier. I can only hope. Thanks again for the time and knowledge you give us. Birdman out.
I know the pain of anticipation as I planned my Hike about 3 years out as well. It is better to be prepared and understand what you will be experiencing then rushing it and having to quit because of injury or burn out. Have you had an opportunity to do any hiking on the AT yet?
Great advice. I was one of the people who did not make it this year. Georgia chewed me up and spit me out. I got off the trail In NC feeling like a failure. The biggest reason a feel is I had no clue what to expect physically. I hope people take your advise because Georgia is no joke. I heard your name on the trail a few times. (My Trail name was LittleFoot.) Glad I got to see your videos. I am getting myself ready to try again in 2018
+Littlefoot On the trail Hey Littlefoot! Thank you for sharing your personal experience. There were a large group of people I met that were in the same boat as you. Georgia can be a rude wake up call for many hikers. I still heard hikers complaining about Georgia in Vermont. I think a main reason was they were prepared for it and they just remember how hard it was in the beginning. I wish you the best of luck on your upcoming Thru-Hike in 2018 and I hope I can continue to share anything of value to help you prepare. Cheers
Great advice. I found your videos because of your Ozark Trail hike video. I had put up a video of a run I did on the OT, so I think that's why TH-cam recommended your channel initially.
I test gear at KT. Knobstone trail. Southern IN. Great place beautiful. (for IN) I don't want to drop for the dcf. But. I probably will. Tents leak. Im on my third. Just set it up in rain this morning. Hoping covid don't screw up 2021. I'll be in GA at the end of Mar. NOBO
Hey Bigfoot, your terrific videos inspired me to finally get mine together. Its my 1980 post hike gear review. A lot different from these days but I think you might get a kick out of it. Thanks for the encouragement. All the best to you!
Miss deb and myself do a lot of hiking in the Smokies and I am planning a thru hike next spring. Just checked your video,nice job and very informative...
I don't think I've watched any videos that discussed in detail AT hitchhiking. It was just a sentence if that. Also, the pre-hikes. Not done AT yet but done a month long thru hike, Elevation training is so important! I could smash out distances but any uphills and I had to build up that muscle over that month. I wish I did stairs training at least.
Bigfoot. I followed you 2016 from Springer to Mama K. You are an Ironman. My daughter and I did the GA section 80 in 2015 over a week after she grad Law school. You are so right. I "learned" more in 10 days section hiking than any weekend trip. All the crap I didn't use was nothing but useless pounds humping up the GA mountains. GA should be a mandatory pre-hike for all thru hikers. My 5 day pack, water, food, clothing will never top 30 lbs again.
+Rusty Blair Thanks Rusty for all the love and following me along my whole journey. It was so interesting hearing from other hikers their perception of Georgia and what they were carrying at the time (or still). I think many people could have been more prepared to know what to expect if they did some sort of pre-Hike in that section. When I was hiking into New Hampshire (before the Whites), I was still hearing horror stories NOBO's would tell SOBO's about Georgia and how it was the toughest state. I thought very different then them but it was just because it caught them so off guard.
Thanks so much. very helpful advise. Please address how you keep water out of the tent when setting up in the rain. Also best way to pack back up in the rain if there is such a thing
+Erik Giggey Glad you find it valuable. The more I can share my experiences, challenges and learnings to help others makes me continue to feel connected to the trail and live my commitment of giving back.
Planning my own AT hike. You covered topics that I hadn’t even thought of, or heard other TH-cam thru-hikers talk about: hitchhiking dos and donts, wet clothes, etc. There are a lot of small, seemingly insignificant things, that can make ya’ or break ya’. Good stuff. One thing I’ve been wondering about: I need to loose quite a few pounds before I start my hike. Plenty of time to loose the weight. But, I have heard that men tend to drop a lot of weight, and quickly. How many pounds can an average size man (or woman) expect to loose week to week. I don’t want to get down to 160, let’s say, and find out I loose 20 pounds in the first few weeks, and be too weak to continue. Any thoughts on that?
I've only hiked 1 mile of the AT up at Newfound Gap in the Smokies, and I've stood on it at Nantahala Center and several other places where it would cross over the road 2 summers ago when I had a chance to drive south from Front Royal down to Cherokee on Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Pkwy. So practically speaking, no.
+ If you have the time, try spending a week on the trail and doing a section Hike. That will also help a little of the anticipation as you wait for your upcoming Thru-Hike. If you go, I would recommend doing the Georgia section because most Thru-Hikers starting out believe Georgia was hell and were not prepared for it. On a scale of 1 (easiest) and 10 (hardest) I would give Georgia about a 4-5.
Follow Bigfoot I've got the time, and my buddy James was wanting to do something like that and I've kinda been against it only because I'm the type that doesn't want to know what my Christmas gifts are until Christmas morning; but after hearing you say that I think I'll change my tune and go along with you and James and do a week section hike, and I agree with you that the start would be best, including the approach trail. I'm excited. :)
I am 6'2 240 pounds what would be my ideal weight? I am preparing for the trail! Cant wait to start doing tome pre hikes I am just 1 h away of the AT entrance.Thanks.
+Robert Rockwell If I had all the time in the world and didn't have to be done in 100 days, I would probably have taken 5 months. It was a awesome challenge that in itself was fun. But it would have also been nice to have the luxury of a little more time.
Hey there! I'm doing a section-hike of New England this summer and plan to do a three-day "test hike" about three weeks prior at Springer. Do you feel that is enough time ahead of my 700+ mile New England hike to get a good idea of what I need to do to prepare?
I would always say the sooner the more time you have to put things together. If you have most of your gear and feel good about it and you just want to get a feel for the A.T., then I think that's fine. If you are trying to "Dial In" your gear I would recommend a bit sooner so you have enough time to buy it and make sure that it works for you. Also, you will have more time to shop for deals. I usually always start with Amazon and if I can't find anything cheaper I always get it off of Amazon.
Really enjoying your videos, thanks for sharing your experience. I have a suggestion for a couple topics that you might want to mention in future videos. Did you take any precautions against ticks during your trip or do you know what others did to avoid tick bites? I'm interested in thru-hiking the AT with hammock, did you see many thru hikers who were using hammocks and do you think it's possible in most areas of the trail?
+Mark Bishop Thanks Mark, I think these are great questions and definitely worthy of spending time talking about them. I think a lot of people are thinking the same things, I'll put these topics in my que
One other topic comes to mind that many folks may be interested in is cellular service and specifically what carrier provides the best overall coverage. I have AT&T, which is great where I live, but I've heard that Verizon is much better on most parts of the AT. Do you know if that is true?
Do you know the first day to sign up for the PCT for 2018 I thought it was in January sometime but I'm not sure what day it was do you know if so thanks
+lifeisgood070 Yeah, I like to push myself to see what limit I have. Before the AT, the hardest challenge was completing the Rim to Rim to Rim in under 24 hours in the Grand Canyon. It's also known as the Death March. Thanks for watching!
Hey man. love your very informative video style. I'm from the UK and as far as planning hiking the AT one thing concerns me is the ease of resupply. I couldn't do the mail box route so would have to trust in going off trail all the time. Is is easily done?
+Tim Martyn Very easy on the AT. I only did drops to save some money or because of time. If you aren't restricted much to either of those you'll be fine. A lot of people send drops to Fontana Dam but there is a resupply there you have to take a shuttle to, it's just expensive. You can also bounce a package ahead while on the trail.any hikers so this a lot to save money or weight.
+Smantha Schaeffer I was lucky to be honest. I was still employed while I was on the trail. I was on a 15 week paid sabbatical from work (accrued baca time I built up over a 10 year period) so I was getting paid during 13 of the 15 weeks I was out there.
+Larry McCoy Yes, I did many big days. There was probably a good 3 week stretch that I was averaging over 30 miles a day when I was going through Massachusetts and Vermont and into New Hampshire before the Whites slowed me down a little.
listened to every word, and loved it. but stared at your hair all 23mins
+Javas Cript I know, it's hard to resist my locks 😂
I totally agree - with the whole TH-cam conversation at the beining; Hiker Trash taught me so much! I am so happy I had people to watch and teach me and help me get over my fears. This May I dipped my toes in the AT and can't wait to get back on the trail :-) Excellent video and good stuff - maybe see you on the trail :-)
+Florida Girl Adventures Absolutely. I will probably be making it on the AT a couple times this year. I am in the process of finalizing my 2017 vacation plans but that's a part of them.
Great video! As usual, after watching I feel more prepared, especially mentally, for my 2020 nobo thru-hike. The only downer in my life right now is that I've got to wait that long to go. Who knows, the buddy I'm going with may decide to retire earlier. I can only hope. Thanks again for the time and knowledge you give us. Birdman out.
I know the pain of anticipation as I planned my Hike about 3 years out as well. It is better to be prepared and understand what you will be experiencing then rushing it and having to quit because of injury or burn out. Have you had an opportunity to do any hiking on the AT yet?
hey fellow hiker! maybe we'll see each other in 2020. have you planned on what month you will be at Springer?
Hey darrick steele, I will be attempting a thru hike or the AT next year, we may ran into each other someday ;)
@@antoinegagne8037 That is great! are you going NoBo SoBo?
Thanks from Wisconsin!
Love this video, really helpful for an upcoming hike I have planned!
Great advice! Thank you. I've got a lot of weight to lose before I start my thru-hike next year.
+BlessingOf Adventure Your body, especially knees and ankles will thank you. I wish I would have been about 20 pounds lighter when I started.
Same here Blessings
Thank you for this Video!
Great advice. I was one of the people who did not make it this year. Georgia chewed me up and spit me out. I got off the trail In NC feeling like a failure. The biggest reason a feel is I had no clue what to expect physically. I hope people take your advise because Georgia is no joke. I heard your name on the trail a few times. (My Trail name was LittleFoot.) Glad I got to see your videos. I am getting myself ready to try again in 2018
+Littlefoot On the trail Hey Littlefoot! Thank you for sharing your personal experience. There were a large group of people I met that were in the same boat as you. Georgia can be a rude wake up call for many hikers. I still heard hikers complaining about Georgia in Vermont. I think a main reason was they were prepared for it and they just remember how hard it was in the beginning. I wish you the best of luck on your upcoming Thru-Hike in 2018 and I hope I can continue to share anything of value to help you prepare. Cheers
Great advice. I found your videos because of your Ozark Trail hike video. I had put up a video of a run I did on the OT, so I think that's why TH-cam recommended your channel initially.
I test gear at KT. Knobstone trail. Southern IN. Great place
beautiful. (for IN) I don't want to drop for the dcf. But. I probably will. Tents leak. Im on my third. Just set it up in rain this morning. Hoping covid don't screw up 2021. I'll be in GA at the end of Mar. NOBO
Hey Bigfoot, your terrific videos inspired me to finally get mine together. Its my 1980 post hike gear review. A lot different from these days but I think you might get a kick out of it. Thanks for the encouragement. All the best to you!
+PGHackman Fantastic! Did you post it on your channel yet?
Excellent video ... great advice .. thank you for sharing
+weagle89 Anytime. I will be doing another 5-6 videos on planning and then switch gears to advice/learnings on hiking the AT.
Miss deb and myself do a lot of hiking in the Smokies and I am planning a thru hike next spring. Just checked your video,nice job and very informative...
Very helpful vid ! Thanks
I don't think I've watched any videos that discussed in detail AT hitchhiking. It was just a sentence if that. Also, the pre-hikes. Not done AT yet but done a month long thru hike, Elevation training is so important! I could smash out distances but any uphills and I had to build up that muscle over that month. I wish I did stairs training at least.
There's my buddy. Great info.
+Roaming Gnome Very Welcome!
Bigfoot. I followed you 2016 from Springer to Mama K. You are an Ironman. My daughter and I did the GA section 80 in 2015 over a week after she grad Law school. You are so right. I "learned" more in 10 days section hiking than any weekend trip. All the crap I didn't use was nothing but useless pounds humping up the GA mountains. GA should be a mandatory pre-hike for all thru hikers. My 5 day pack, water, food, clothing will never top 30 lbs again.
+Rusty Blair Thanks Rusty for all the love and following me along my whole journey. It was so interesting hearing from other hikers their perception of Georgia and what they were carrying at the time (or still). I think many people could have been more prepared to know what to expect if they did some sort of pre-Hike in that section. When I was hiking into New Hampshire (before the Whites), I was still hearing horror stories NOBO's would tell SOBO's about Georgia and how it was the toughest state. I thought very different then them but it was just because it caught them so off guard.
what was your highest mile day? I'm really enjoying these. Glad I found them.
+Cathy Hall I did 52 miles when I hiked the whole state of Conneticut in a 24 hour period. Glad you are enjoying them!
Thanks so much. very helpful advise. Please address how you keep water out of the tent when setting up in the rain. Also best way to pack back up in the rain if there is such a thing
+Stanley Sutter Sounds good. I'll add this in one of my upcoming vids. Thanks Stanley!
Everyone says to go on shakedown hikes and all that but down here in Florida there really isn’t anywhere to hike like that.
excellent info. thanks for sharing and helping others who may one day do the trail
+Erik Giggey Glad you find it valuable. The more I can share my experiences, challenges and learnings to help others makes me continue to feel connected to the trail and live my commitment of giving back.
Planning my own AT hike. You covered topics that I hadn’t even thought of, or heard other TH-cam thru-hikers talk about: hitchhiking dos and donts, wet clothes, etc. There are a lot of small, seemingly insignificant things, that can make ya’ or break ya’. Good stuff. One thing I’ve been wondering about: I need to loose quite a few pounds before I start my hike. Plenty of time to loose the weight. But, I have heard that men tend to drop a lot of weight, and quickly. How many pounds can an average size man (or woman) expect to loose week to week. I don’t want to get down to 160, let’s say, and find out I loose 20 pounds in the first few weeks, and be too weak to continue. Any thoughts on that?
I've only hiked 1 mile of the AT up at Newfound Gap in the Smokies, and I've stood on it at Nantahala Center and several other places where it would cross over the road 2 summers ago when I had a chance to drive south from Front Royal down to Cherokee on Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Pkwy. So practically speaking, no.
+ If you have the time, try spending a week on the trail and doing a section Hike. That will also help a little of the anticipation as you wait for your upcoming Thru-Hike. If you go, I would recommend doing the Georgia section because most Thru-Hikers starting out believe Georgia was hell and were not prepared for it. On a scale of 1 (easiest) and 10 (hardest) I would give Georgia about a 4-5.
Follow Bigfoot I've got the time, and my buddy James was wanting to do something like that and I've kinda been against it only because I'm the type that doesn't want to know what my Christmas gifts are until Christmas morning; but after hearing you say that I think I'll change my tune and go along with you and James and do a week section hike, and I agree with you that the start would be best, including the approach trail. I'm excited. :)
How do u know where you are going and where u are allowed to sleep?
Can you discuss layering ?
+Michael Canning Yes. I'll plan on covering that within the next month. Thanks for the feedback
I am 6'2 240 pounds what would be my ideal weight? I am preparing for the trail! Cant wait to start doing tome pre hikes I am just 1 h away of the AT entrance.Thanks.
looking back would you today take longer 5 to 6 months to walk the tail now.?. good info.
+Robert Rockwell If I had all the time in the world and didn't have to be done in 100 days, I would probably have taken 5 months. It was a awesome challenge that in itself was fun. But it would have also been nice to have the luxury of a little more time.
Hey there! I'm doing a section-hike of New England this summer and plan to do a three-day "test hike" about three weeks prior at Springer. Do you feel that is enough time ahead of my 700+ mile New England hike to get a good idea of what I need to do to prepare?
I would always say the sooner the more time you have to put things together. If you have most of your gear and feel good about it and you just want to get a feel for the A.T., then I think that's fine. If you are trying to "Dial In" your gear I would recommend a bit sooner so you have enough time to buy it and make sure that it works for you. Also, you will have more time to shop for deals. I usually always start with Amazon and if I can't find anything cheaper I always get it off of Amazon.
Really enjoying your videos, thanks for sharing your experience. I have a suggestion for a couple topics that you might want to mention in future videos. Did you take any precautions against ticks during your trip or do you know what others did to avoid tick bites? I'm interested in thru-hiking the AT with hammock, did you see many thru hikers who were using hammocks and do you think it's possible in most areas of the trail?
+Mark Bishop Thanks Mark, I think these are great questions and definitely worthy of spending time talking about them. I think a lot of people are thinking the same things, I'll put these topics in my que
One other topic comes to mind that many folks may be interested in is cellular service and specifically what carrier provides the best overall coverage. I have AT&T, which is great where I live, but I've heard that Verizon is much better on most parts of the AT. Do you know if that is true?
Mark Bishop I looked into it. the hammock and straps ect weigh more than most ul tents.
Do you know the first day to sign up for the PCT for 2018 I thought it was in January sometime but I'm not sure what day it was do you know if so thanks
Oh wow you've done a marathon. Impressive. I was curious what you meant when you said you've been through a lot of physical/mental challenges.
+lifeisgood070 Yeah, I like to push myself to see what limit I have. Before the AT, the hardest challenge was completing the Rim to Rim to Rim in under 24 hours in the Grand Canyon. It's also known as the Death March. Thanks for watching!
You will have the most fun if you just wing it
Hey man. love your very informative video style. I'm from the UK and as far as planning hiking the AT one thing concerns me is the ease of resupply. I couldn't do the mail box route so would have to trust in going off trail all the time. Is is easily done?
+Tim Martyn Very easy on the AT. I only did drops to save some money or because of time. If you aren't restricted much to either of those you'll be fine. A lot of people send drops to Fontana Dam but there is a resupply there you have to take a shuttle to, it's just expensive. You can also bounce a package ahead while on the trail.any hikers so this a lot to save money or weight.
Hey ,Johnny Neutron ,Love the trail talk
Thx for sharing the vid. Helpful stuff to consider. Question- people have told you that you look like GSP, right?
+MrBoomie00 Actually you're the first to mention GSP. Since I got off the trail I have had about 20 people say I look like Macklemore.
HAIR great HAIR video HAIR i HAIR learned HAIR a HAIR lot.
Expecially? I thought it was especially.
How where you able to sustain financial while hiking and not working?
+Smantha Schaeffer I was lucky to be honest. I was still employed while I was on the trail. I was on a 15 week paid sabbatical from work (accrued baca time I built up over a 10 year period) so I was getting paid during 13 of the 15 weeks I was out there.
How many "0"s did you take on the AT?
+Larry McCoy I took a total of 5 Zero's.
Wow, that's more than I thought since your completion in 100 days. Great daily mileage.
+Larry McCoy Yes, I did many big days. There was probably a good 3 week stretch that I was averaging over 30 miles a day when I was going through Massachusetts and Vermont and into New Hampshire before the Whites slowed me down a little.
Thanks for your reply and post AT videos. Good luck on your Superior Hiking Trail challenge. I'll be watching for it.
😷👊
gooch mt shelter...
Haha it is a younger Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg 🤣🤣 don't believe me look it up