Julie Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -

I’M WALKING from Georgia to Maine this summer on a footpath called the Appalachian Trail.

Well, technically, I’m backpacking.  That is, I’m carrying everything I need on my back -- my tent, food, stove, clothes and a few miscellaneous items like my bear bagging rope and a first aid kit. I’ll be hiking all day and camping at night, either at one of the various 'shelters' built along the trail or in my tent.  Shelters are 3-sided structures, sometimes with a wooden shelf built around the top that serves as a bunk.  They are built generally about a day’s journey apart (8-20 miles) and nearly always built near a water source, such as a spring, stream, lake, etc.  Sometimes, if you’re lucky, there’s also a privy built near the shelter.  A good idea since a lot of human waste tends to get concentrated there.

There’s a website by a veteran thru-hiker who describes the Trail as such:
The Appalachian Trail, called simply the "AT" by most hikers, is the premier hiking trail in the United States, a continental-scale wilderness pathway set aside for recreational foot travel only.  The route of the AT closely follows the ridge line of eastern America's Appalachian mountain chain for 2,160 unbroken miles, beginning on the summit of Springer Mountain in northern Georgia and ending on the summit of Mount Katahdin in central Maine. As it winds its way through the mountains, it passes through fourteen states, eight national forests, six national parks, and numerous state and local parks. About 99% of the route is on publicly owned lands.

My departure date from Springer Mtn is April 1, and I plan to reach Maine before October 15 when access trails to Mt. Katahdin close.  Every year, about 3000 "thru-hikers" (those attempting to hike the entire trail in one shot) begin the trail, but only about 300 or so make it.  A lot of people discover that it is nothing like they expected, or they are too unprepared, or they get injured, or they run out of money and so on.   Although I don’t expect to be one of these drop-outs, the possibility is there.  If I am injured and cannot continue this season, I will plan to return next season and finish.  If I get three months down the trail and decide I don’t like it anymore and there’s no enjoyment in it (not likely) I’ll come home and eat the rest of my dried food at home.

I can hear the questions already, so I’ll answer them now.  Am I going alone?  Yes and no.  I don’t have a specified partner (these rarely work out anyway) but remember, there are 3000 of us hikers out there.  I will generally find it much harder to be alone than not, especially in the evenings at the shelters.  Am I carrying a cell phone?  No.  The "wilderness experience" is sacred to most hikers, including me.  We are there to get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life and all of its electronic technology.  We don’t want to hear loud phone conversations in the middle of the forest.  We’d rather hear birds and wind and streams.  Is it safe?  Yes, for the most part.  No where in the world is completely safe these days.  Over the past 50 or 60 years (can’t remember) that the trail has been around, there have been 9 murders of hikers.  I don’t believe any of them have been by fellow hikers, but rather by “locals.”  All hikers are aware of this and usually pair up before heading into town.
What will I eat?  The most important characteristics of backpacker food is that it is 1) lightweight and 2) has lots of calories.  Walking so much every day requires that we eat about 4000 daily calories while on the trail and about 6000 when we get into towns and have the opportunity to eat larger portions. I usually eat granola for breakfast, a high calorie bread and an energy bar (both home made) for lunch, and some combination of dried soups, pastas, rice with re-hydrated meat and vegetables for supper.  I also snack all day on trail mix, dried fruits, cookies, snickers, cheese and so on.  I am preparing most of my food right now at home with my dehydrator and Tony will send it to me approximately once a week.

Speaking of Tony, he is not joining me but instead will serve as ground control.  His main job is to package up my food, gear and other supplies and send it to towns where I have scheduled to pick up my mail drops.  He will also be receiving my handwritten journal pages back from me to type up and post on our web page.  For those of you who are interested in following the journal, our web address will be http://members.nbci.com/jtcrawford. He will also know the latest on my schedule and will be able to contact me in an emergency.  Besides that, all he has to do is keep making money to pay the rent, keep the apartment from burning down, keep the car running, do all the housecleaning and laundry by himself, make his own meals and meet me every now and then on a weekend.  In short, same as always!

Right now I’m in the midst of last-minute gear changes, lots of training hikes and jogging and dehydrating and baking food like there’s no tomorrow.  (anybody got some extra freezer space?)  There are lots of books and websites out there for those who want to know more.  One recent famous book is called A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.  I finally succumbed to society’s peer pressure and read it -- it is actually quite funny but like other serious hikers, I’m disappointed by his ignorance and lack of preparation.  Some websites to visit are www.atconf.org (the appalachian trail conference) and www.trailplace.com (the afore-mentioned thru-hiker’s site).

I will have a tentative mail drop listed posted on the web site as soon as I finish my schedule.  I welcome your letters, cards, photos, food and other gifts sent by mail to these mail drop locations, if you are interested. These should be sent at least 6-10 days in advance of my estimated arrival date.  For safety, you may wish to contact Tony first before sending packages to be sure my schedule hasn’t changed -- or you can send letters to our home address for him to include in the next mail drop.  I may even be able to check email a few times at the libraries in trail towns, but it may take a few weeks before I read any message you send.

So that’s it for news from our way.  Hope you all are doing well -- and feel free to drop us a line!