Head space is critical, so thanks for your insight into yours. It does seem to be so personal that you cannot generalize, but if you can clear your own mind, then you stand a greater chance of success. If one is always wishing you back home, well, it will constantly be seeping away your mental strength. HYOH means dealing with your own head space (and timing!). Thanks Matt. Hike on! Tortoise
I for one enjoy your back ground stories. And your outlook and your insight on the trial and trial life. Your thoughts on doing the red lines and how you are a pierced.
This was a great positive affirmation for long distance hikiing. Keep on telling like it is. You have done more than most. Thanks for keeping it rolling along.
I really enjoyed most of my AT thru hike in spite of the pain in my feet. So much to see. New things every day. I looked forward to every day UNTIL New York. The cliffs and slippery granite faces in the constant rain were just dangerous and not really hiking or fun. I am not a mountain climber at all. I looked forward to NH and ME, but when I got there I found endless cliffs, sketchy dangerous stuff, dangerous trail conditions from lack of maintenance in NH and hardly any ‘hiking’ that I enjoyed. Added to that pain and physical exhaustion from miles already hiked. I didn’t start to enjoy hiking again until Northern Maine, when the trail turned back into actual hiking. It was tough but worth it.
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes The chattiness will come when it comes and must never be forced.... let the chattiness flow from the alkaloids after you swallow the bean juice and mind can hold no more
Thanks for the feedback! I do have a couple other little ones recorded and a lot more I would like to do. Getting them shot and edited on top of the dailies isn’t always something I can manage though. And for the last few days, there was too much background wind and traffic noise to risk recording. I will see about getting the post trail depression and rain gear ones up at some point. I just always feel like they should be edited so much better with more clips and pictures as I make my points.
I think it is great to hear what you think when hiking, a little life background and how you deal with stuff. Not just mountain tops, leaves, flowers trees and mud/paved roads, Your videos are different, that is why I picked your channel to watch. Thanks Matt and watch for dogs
Your mind set of just slog it through one day at a time is similar to how we got through a year long tour in Viet Nam. We always knew, to the day, how long we had before we could get back to "the world." Coming to terms with a situation such as combat or a through hike is a lot about bringing in your future horizons, getting through the hour, day, or week. A later military expression (from Iraq and Afganistan) sums it up, "Embrace the suck."
That’s the thing though. I don’t have an ending I’m constantly aware. I intellectually know it ends at some point, usually have some sort of a rough plan, but when it’s x months out that might as well be an eternity.
You'd have to be mental to thru-hike, especially traversing the entire country, east to west. I would say that someone that goes through this and does not develop pain is not super-human, maybe abnormal. But someone who does develop excruciating pain and continues on, that is super-human. This video was worthwhile and thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I’ve hiked the PCT twice both NOBO once in 93 again in 94, both times started in mid April finished 93 Oct 19th and 94 0ct 29th. Both times it was really cold and in 94 it started snowing one day out of Steven’s Pass around Dishpan Gap. It was super hard but I loved every single minute of it! I never stressed the miles, hence the late finishes, but it was important to me to actually hike end to end. In 95 I thru hiked The AT for the first time NOBO mid April start and climbed Katahdin on Halloween once again in the snow and once again loved every day on trail, so much I hiked The AT again NOBO beginning in November 98 and finishing in July of 99 and it was amazing to have The Appalachian Trail to myself for so much of that trip. During those hikes and other long excursions of course I was wet, cold, ravaged by bugs, got some kind of itchy inner thigh rash in Virginia, got really thirsty and hungry at times, and of course at times was very uncomfortable, but those days, months, years hiking were absolutely the best times of my life. It’s so much more than the destination, I love the process, the actual walking! I love living like a nomad! It’s been decades since those long walks and still to this day not a single day goes by I don’t flash back to some moment on some trail and long to be back out thru hiking again. I took decades off to raise my daughter also solo like most of my hiking but she’s a strong confident young woman now and the time is getting near for me to once again live like a nomad and rejoin The Hiker Trash tribe! Recently in 2022 I did get out and thru hike The Colorado Trail with my dog Shasta and it felt like coming home once back out on trail moving across the landscape roaming through the alpine dodging thunderstorms and angry moose. It was amazing! At home working my Union Laborer job, commuting every day on the I5 with all the traffic, writing that check for the mortgage every month which would be enough money to live on trail for several months is so unsatisfying. The constant pressure to make money to pay bills is crushing and unrelenting. My point of all this is, yah hike your own hike for sure! I’ve seen people I think were miserable and didn’t enjoy a single mile of their hikes complete them solely focused on just the miles and getting from one town to the next and seemed miserable most of the time. But if you really love the long walk, the sweat, the work, the journey itself, the hardest part of the thru hike is the end! Big Peace and Lotsa Love Hooper
I confess that I'm like a football fan, I don't play but I watch it on TV, and it is the same with hiking. I enjoy hearing about the mental side of long-distance hiking. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, do more of these. I'm not a through hiker, just a week-a-year backpacker. My pet peeve is when people say, "that must be so much fun!" about my trips. Interesting, challenging, but not fun (although there may be a few "fun" moments).
Really enjoying following your journey. I'm here, trying to scheme my way into being equipped for another one of my trips, and watching you had been so helpful. Today I have to catch a bus and bring my bike which is one inner tube and two cables away from being all decked out and ready to roll for 2024. Basically I just appreciate your monitoring of the mental state. That encompasses so much and some of your points run congruent with me. Some things, like listening to recorded or streamed music; I'm totally an adherent of keeping my ears uncovered. Headphones for me left in the 80's with the tangle of the wires in my collar, catching on things, so annoying... I took to singing for my entertainment. I encourage other trippers to sing as well. One of my friends who used to ski the 100 mile, two day Canada ski marathon said that his mantra was to sing " gone gone gone, she been gone so long, she been gone gone gone so long..." ( Canadian rock hit by Chilliwack) But I think what you're experiencing is the endorphin equivalent to psychedelic mental states. In my experience, the tripping mind gradually achieves an 'airborne' state and life looks really interesting from that vantage point. Everything about blocking the time off, putting whatever in storage, taking a leave from work, or outright leaving a job, etc, all contribute to that tendency towards the nomadic mindset. I think Bruce Chatwin's Song Lines influenced me greatly in the 90's in learning to understand the main appeal of this kind of thing. Just want you to know that I get what you're doing. I hope you write stuff down on paper from time to time. Me, I always draw. Most of my big paintings come from really bad quick sketches while on a trip. Okay sometimes they're not bad. Be careful mate. A water bottle made of squeezable plastic has always my number one accessory. You can shoot a stream of water at a dog and buy yourself some time. I guess I'm saying don't be out there without a squirt gun.
No one deserves to be inflicted on what passes for me singing. And that includes taters and I. I have tinnitus pretty bad (not from listening to Loud music just genetic luck of the draw) and so just having my ears uncovered is not always the most pleasant. Also if the wires annoy you, Bluetooth earbuds are kind of a game changer. I basically switched back-and-forth these days.
Very interesting one! For me it's the mental aspect of through hiking that makes it a succes or a fail . The longest one i did is 1020 km (up to you US guys to convert to mls for once) : a good month of hiking . I had the luck to go from far to near my home , so the "drive" or "tempo" i had came largely from the feeling i was going home. The problem i had : the trail passed only 50km from my house (with my lady and pet , bed ,shower etc..) to continue for another 150 km to the terminus . I swear it was difficult to cary on hiking on to the terminus . So : Matt you are going "home" for once and luckily you will not pass at 30 miles from OC. Keep it on.
I will be walking past my parents place after 2000 some miles. There is always lot of difficulty in leaving comfort behind after you have acclimated to the lack of it for so long.
I really relate to the mentality of just putting your head down and not sweating the small stuff. Personally, I find that good preparation (mentally, physically and skill-wise) is really helpful to avoid the really big issues on trail. I trained for almost a year so my body could handle thru hiking without major injuries and that was incredibly helpful. I felt like I was strong, moving well, confident with my gear and able to enjoy it so much more. But smaller issues are unavoidable, I still accumulated lots of smaller stuff like chafing, blisters, a tendon injury... You have to be mentally prepared to suffer a little to make it to the end.
Interesting. I had been outdoors for years before I did my first real thru hike but honestly I went out without a lot of training beyond some short ish warmup trips right before to settle in with my gear. I don’t know that there is anything I could have done that would have helped me with the endurance aspects of doing a 2600 mile trail beyond when my warmup was something like the condor trail which was a real struggle due to cross country and such. To me all the shorter hikes including sometime like the JMT are very different because I was always cognizant that they had an ending up ahead
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Totally. I should clarify, I did not mean the endurance aspect. I think nothing can adequately prepare you for that. (Nor should it, it just comes with the walking). I was talking about joints and tendons. I have very problematic ankles that I used to twist and injure very painfully, very often and am also prone to tendon issues. I trained to stabilize my joints, so they could handle the hiking. I did not injure my ankle even once on the CDT and though I did get a tendon issue, I was in minor pain. I met a lot of people with way more painful injuries. Isn't that also what you did when you had your knee issue? I thought I remembered you talking about working with a PT to rehab your knee injuries prior to getting into hiking. It helped me to get these avoidable worries out of my mind to feel confident on a long trail and have a lot of mental space to deal with the unavoidable stuff.
Sorry, I did a really bad job explaining here. I mean I felt confident and prepared and had less worries in my mind and then it was easier for me to just stay in the moment, take it day by day and not think ahead. Because at least for me if I thought about the entire distance, that seemed undoable, but today? Totally doable. Tomorrow? Also doable.
Liked the video, but not sure I'd watch it again. I follow a lot of hikers, you're obviously a favorite, I've followed you for a while now. Yes, I know those constantly "feel good" people on the trail, I pretty quickly drop them because, well, it's not realistic. I also don't like the whiners, specially when they start whining early in the hike, I just know they're gonna quit long before the end. Getting sick, now, that's different, unless you got sick because you did something stupid like going to a concert and catching Covid from it. Anyway, that's my two cents on watching hikers. I once posted what I thought was constructive criticism and the guy took offence, told I should get on trail and see how it is, well, as I told him, I would if I could, and if I did, I wouldn't be watching videos.
Hey Matt, may be you're no superman, but just a super-masochist. I'd miss my Buddy "The Wonder Hound" to much to much to do days on end, he's to plump to do as many miles as you do in a day. I guess we'll just camp in luxury in our shuttle bus.
Side note ... I would love to know what audiobooks you are listening to as you trek. I am currently at a loss for what to listen to next and would love some suggestions!
I always like talking books but it feels out of place putting it in already bloated videos. What I read varies and I have often been listening to a lot which Jen would say are just candy books. Litrpg etc that move quick. I did just finished the Priest of Bone series which I really liked. And if you haven’t listened to dungeon crawler Carl your really missing out
People often use a planed thru to try to restart their life, especially if it's the first one. It's just walking, what can go wrong? Physics for example. With every step you take, you have to lift up your gear and your body. For some, UL equals woke now, so they proudly start with 50 pounds on their back (the type of "I was in the military and have back problems but I can handle it"). Plus 50 pounds and more over a reasonable body index. Under AT hopefuls this has become a thing. You can absolutely start with 30 pounds of reserves but only if you know what you are doing. People would find a much better access to long-distance hiking if they would start out on the PCT, however that would require readiness to do research and maybe visiting a doctor. Instead people are busy ordering hats and t-shirts with their name on it, for merchandise. Then they nearly die of exhaustion going up Blood "Mountain". Even if you have tested and reasonable gear and you are in good shape, success is not guaranteed, since it is a mental thing. People with a certain age who have a comfy home and family to go back to, clearly have a harder time being out there.
Can I send you another audio book? Let me know what you'd like to listen to on this epic journey. You might have to remind me on your contact info. I think I sent you a book last year. I have too many credits on audible.
I always appreciate new books. I have a backlog but I’m always finding out about new things and wandering off in a tangent. Email is on the ending card with the drawing of Jen and I
Yeah, I don't like those over the rainbow bloggers. What you do is hard work type 2 fun. I also agree with just about everything you are saying and doing- even that sleeping with your food thing lol. So echo chamber?
This was filmed a while back on the C&O. New daily episodes will be a few days since I’m currently in a remote stretch
I find myself walking with you, even bobbing my head while you're walking. I love your videos because you show what it's actually like.
I’m way behind on your videos, but I totally agree about the skittles, I’ve come to call them emotional support skittles when I’m backpacking.
Ha! Love that
Head space is critical, so thanks for your insight into yours. It does seem to be so personal that you cannot generalize, but if you can clear your own mind, then you stand a greater chance of success. If one is always wishing you back home, well, it will constantly be seeping away your mental strength. HYOH means dealing with your own head space (and timing!). Thanks Matt. Hike on! Tortoise
I enjoy your honest commentary. Keep up the great work! Liked hearing about your filming as well. I’ve been watching since Key West.
I for one enjoy your back ground stories. And your outlook and your insight on the trial and trial life.
Your thoughts on doing the red lines and how you are a pierced.
This was a great positive affirmation for long distance hikiing. Keep on telling like it is. You have done more than most. Thanks for keeping it rolling along.
I really enjoyed most of my AT thru hike in spite of the pain in my feet. So much to see. New things every day. I looked forward to every day UNTIL New York. The cliffs and slippery granite faces in the constant rain were just dangerous and not really hiking or fun. I am not a mountain climber at all. I looked forward to NH and ME, but when I got there I found endless cliffs, sketchy dangerous stuff, dangerous trail conditions from lack of maintenance in NH and hardly any ‘hiking’ that I enjoyed. Added to that pain and physical exhaustion from miles already hiked. I didn’t start to enjoy hiking again until Northern Maine, when the trail turned back into actual hiking. It was tough but worth it.
You made this video especially for me because you know how much I love chattiness Thanks!
Might have a few more coming if I don’t start struggling too much…
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes The chattiness will come when it comes and must never be forced.... let the chattiness flow from the alkaloids after you swallow the bean juice and mind can hold no more
I would absolutely love more content like this!
Thanks for the feedback! I do have a couple other little ones recorded and a lot more I would like to do. Getting them shot and edited on top of the dailies isn’t always something I can manage though. And for the last few days, there was too much background wind and traffic noise to risk recording. I will see about getting the post trail depression and rain gear ones up at some point. I just always feel like they should be edited so much better with more clips and pictures as I make my points.
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Format does not matter when experiience talks! But I do understand your point.
ditto!
I think it is great to hear what you think when hiking, a little life background and how you deal with stuff. Not just mountain tops, leaves, flowers trees and mud/paved roads, Your videos are different, that is why I picked your channel to watch. Thanks Matt and watch for dogs
Your mind set of just slog it through one day at a time is similar to how we got through a year long tour in Viet Nam. We always knew, to the day, how long we had before we could get back to "the world." Coming to terms with a situation such as combat or a through hike is a lot about bringing in your future horizons, getting through the hour, day, or week. A later military expression (from Iraq and Afganistan) sums it up, "Embrace the suck."
Thank you for your service
That’s the thing though. I don’t have an ending I’m constantly aware. I intellectually know it ends at some point, usually have some sort of a rough plan, but when it’s x months out that might as well be an eternity.
You'd have to be mental to thru-hike, especially traversing the entire country, east to west. I would say that someone that goes through this and does not develop pain is not super-human, maybe abnormal. But someone who does develop excruciating pain and continues on, that is super-human. This video was worthwhile and thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Enjoyed the video. Really good insight! Hike On!
Such great information! Appreciate you taking the time to lay this down on video!
I’ve hiked the PCT twice both NOBO once in 93 again in 94, both times started in mid April finished 93 Oct 19th and 94 0ct 29th. Both times it was really cold and in 94 it started snowing one day out of Steven’s Pass around Dishpan Gap. It was super hard but I loved every single minute of it! I never stressed the miles, hence the late finishes, but it was important to me to actually hike end to end. In 95 I thru hiked The AT for the first time NOBO mid April start and climbed Katahdin on Halloween once again in the snow and once again loved every day on trail, so much I hiked The AT again NOBO beginning in November 98 and finishing in July of 99 and it was amazing to have The Appalachian Trail to myself for so much of that trip. During those hikes and other long excursions of course I was wet, cold, ravaged by bugs, got some kind of itchy inner thigh rash in Virginia, got really thirsty and hungry at times, and of course at times was very uncomfortable, but those days, months, years hiking were absolutely the best times of my life. It’s so much more than the destination, I love the process, the actual walking! I love living like a nomad! It’s been decades since those long walks and still to this day not a single day goes by I don’t flash back to some moment on some trail and long to be back out thru hiking again. I took decades off to raise my daughter also solo like most of my hiking but she’s a strong confident young woman now and the time is getting near for me to once again live like a nomad and rejoin The Hiker Trash tribe! Recently in 2022 I did get out and thru hike The Colorado Trail with my dog Shasta and it felt like coming home once back out on trail moving across the landscape roaming through the alpine dodging thunderstorms and angry moose. It was amazing! At home working my Union Laborer job, commuting every day on the I5 with all the traffic, writing that check for the mortgage every month
which would be enough money to live on trail for several months is so unsatisfying. The constant pressure to make money to pay bills is crushing and unrelenting. My point of all this is, yah hike your own hike for sure! I’ve seen people I think were miserable and didn’t enjoy a single mile of their hikes complete them solely focused on just the miles and getting from one town to the next and seemed miserable most of the time. But if you really love the long walk, the sweat, the work, the journey itself, the hardest part of the thru hike is the end!
Big Peace and Lotsa Love
Hooper
I confess that I'm like a football fan, I don't play but I watch it on TV, and it is the same with hiking. I enjoy hearing about the mental side of long-distance hiking. Thanks for sharing.
What you talked about is some of what I have been thinking about. My hope is to hike the AT after I retire, it’s coming sooner than later.
My advice is always sooner is better than later. I have just seen too many people who lost out on the Chance.
Good video, hope to see more.
Yes, do more of these. I'm not a through hiker, just a week-a-year backpacker. My pet peeve is when people say, "that must be so much fun!" about my trips. Interesting, challenging, but not fun (although there may be a few "fun" moments).
This is interesting, what your mental set is when you hike, what you get out of long hikes. Thanks for sharing.
yes, love the mental side of things.
Great video, thank you for sharing. Stay safe!
Really enjoying following your journey. I'm here, trying to scheme my way into being equipped for another one of my trips, and watching you had been so helpful. Today I have to catch a bus and bring my bike which is one inner tube and two cables away from being all decked out and ready to roll for 2024.
Basically I just appreciate your monitoring of the mental state. That encompasses so much and some of your points run congruent with me. Some things, like listening to recorded or streamed music; I'm totally an adherent of keeping my ears uncovered. Headphones for me left in the 80's with the tangle of the wires in my collar, catching on things, so annoying... I took to singing for my entertainment. I encourage other trippers to sing as well. One of my friends who used to ski the 100 mile, two day Canada ski marathon said that his mantra was to sing " gone gone gone, she been gone so long, she been gone gone gone so long..." ( Canadian rock hit by Chilliwack)
But I think what you're experiencing is the endorphin equivalent to psychedelic mental states. In my experience, the tripping mind gradually achieves an 'airborne' state and life looks really interesting from that vantage point. Everything about blocking the time off, putting whatever in storage, taking a leave from work, or outright leaving a job, etc, all contribute to that tendency towards the nomadic mindset. I think Bruce Chatwin's Song Lines influenced me greatly in the 90's in learning to understand the main appeal of this kind of thing.
Just want you to know that I get what you're doing. I hope you write stuff down on paper from time to time. Me, I always draw. Most of my big paintings come from really bad quick sketches while on a trip. Okay sometimes they're not bad. Be careful mate.
A water bottle made of squeezable plastic has always my number one accessory. You can shoot a stream of water at a dog and buy yourself some time. I guess I'm saying don't be out there without a squirt gun.
No one deserves to be inflicted on what passes for me singing. And that includes taters and I. I have tinnitus pretty bad (not from listening to Loud music just genetic luck of the draw) and so just having my ears uncovered is not always the most pleasant. Also if the wires annoy you, Bluetooth earbuds are kind of a game changer. I basically switched back-and-forth these days.
I too have the infliction of “realism.” It’s a struggle.
I hope you are okay. Usually you include your "home sweet home for the night" 🙏😊
Very interesting one! For me it's the mental aspect of through hiking that makes it a succes or a fail . The longest one i did is 1020 km (up to you US guys to convert to mls for once) : a good month of hiking . I had the luck to go from far to near my home , so the "drive" or "tempo" i had came largely from the feeling i was going home. The problem i had : the trail passed only 50km from my house (with my lady and pet , bed ,shower etc..) to continue for another 150 km to the terminus . I swear it was difficult to cary on hiking on to the terminus . So : Matt you are going "home" for once and luckily you will not pass at 30 miles from OC. Keep it on.
I will be walking past my parents place after 2000 some miles. There is always lot of difficulty in leaving comfort behind after you have acclimated to the lack of it for so long.
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Jeez , forgot about passing by your parents . Yep , i know it's going to be a hard one.
I really relate to the mentality of just putting your head down and not sweating the small stuff. Personally, I find that good preparation (mentally, physically and skill-wise) is really helpful to avoid the really big issues on trail. I trained for almost a year so my body could handle thru hiking without major injuries and that was incredibly helpful. I felt like I was strong, moving well, confident with my gear and able to enjoy it so much more. But smaller issues are unavoidable, I still accumulated lots of smaller stuff like chafing, blisters, a tendon injury... You have to be mentally prepared to suffer a little to make it to the end.
Interesting. I had been outdoors for years before I did my first real thru hike but honestly I went out without a lot of training beyond some short ish warmup trips right before to settle in with my gear. I don’t know that there is anything I could have done that would have helped me with the endurance aspects of doing a 2600 mile trail beyond when my warmup was something like the condor trail which was a real struggle due to cross country and such. To me all the shorter hikes including sometime like the JMT are very different because I was always cognizant that they had an ending up ahead
@@FirstChurchofTheMasochistHikes Totally. I should clarify, I did not mean the endurance aspect. I think nothing can adequately prepare you for that. (Nor should it, it just comes with the walking). I was talking about joints and tendons. I have very problematic ankles that I used to twist and injure very painfully, very often and am also prone to tendon issues. I trained to stabilize my joints, so they could handle the hiking. I did not injure my ankle even once on the CDT and though I did get a tendon issue, I was in minor pain. I met a lot of people with way more painful injuries. Isn't that also what you did when you had your knee issue? I thought I remembered you talking about working with a PT to rehab your knee injuries prior to getting into hiking. It helped me to get these avoidable worries out of my mind to feel confident on a long trail and have a lot of mental space to deal with the unavoidable stuff.
Sorry, I did a really bad job explaining here. I mean I felt confident and prepared and had less worries in my mind and then it was easier for me to just stay in the moment, take it day by day and not think ahead. Because at least for me if I thought about the entire distance, that seemed undoable, but today? Totally doable. Tomorrow? Also doable.
Very interesting! Keep it coming. What got you into long distance hiking
I made of a video you can find in our features playlist about who we are and why we got started
Interesting!
I wondered how people handled this. I concluded get to lunch, get to the tent, get to breakfast.
Rinse lather repeat.
Liked the video, but not sure I'd watch it again. I follow a lot of hikers, you're obviously a favorite, I've followed you for a while now. Yes, I know those constantly "feel good" people on the trail, I pretty quickly drop them because, well, it's not realistic. I also don't like the whiners, specially when they start whining early in the hike, I just know they're gonna quit long before the end. Getting sick, now, that's different, unless you got sick because you did something stupid like going to a concert and catching Covid from it. Anyway, that's my two cents on watching hikers. I once posted what I thought was constructive criticism and the guy took offence, told I should get on trail and see how it is, well, as I told him, I would if I could, and if I did, I wouldn't be watching videos.
I found it interesting
Hey Matt, may be you're no superman, but just a super-masochist. I'd miss my Buddy "The Wonder Hound" to much to much to do days on end, he's to plump to do as many miles as you do in a day. I guess we'll just camp in luxury in our shuttle bus.
Side note ... I would love to know what audiobooks you are listening to as you trek. I am currently at a loss for what to listen to next and would love some suggestions!
I always like talking books but it feels out of place putting it in already bloated videos. What I read varies and I have often been listening to a lot which Jen would say are just candy books. Litrpg etc that move quick. I did just finished the Priest of Bone series which I really liked. And if you haven’t listened to dungeon crawler Carl your really missing out
😎☮ I can relate to much of what you described.
People often use a planed thru to try to restart their life, especially if it's the first one. It's just walking, what can go wrong? Physics for example.
With every step you take, you have to lift up your gear and your body. For some, UL equals woke now, so they proudly start with 50 pounds on their back (the type of "I was in the military and have back problems but I can handle it").
Plus 50 pounds and more over a reasonable body index. Under AT hopefuls this has become a thing. You can absolutely start with 30 pounds of reserves but only if you know what you are doing.
People would find a much better access to long-distance hiking if they would start out on the PCT, however that would require readiness to do research and maybe visiting a doctor. Instead people are busy ordering hats and t-shirts with their name on it, for merchandise. Then they nearly die of exhaustion going up Blood "Mountain".
Even if you have tested and reasonable gear and you are in good shape, success is not guaranteed, since it is a mental thing. People with a certain age who have a comfy home and family to go back to, clearly have a harder time being out there.
This was interesting. (wink)
Can I send you another audio book? Let me know what you'd like to listen to on this epic journey. You might have to remind me on your contact info. I think I sent you a book last year. I have too many credits on audible.
I always appreciate new books. I have a backlog but I’m always finding out about new things and wandering off in a tangent. Email is on the ending card with the drawing of Jen and I
Yeah, I don't like those over the rainbow bloggers. What you do is hard work type 2 fun. I also agree with just about everything you are saying and doing- even that sleeping with your food thing lol. So echo chamber?
Walking man by James Taylor. Walking man walks.