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REI Course - Thru-Hiking the AT

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    • REI Course - Thru-Hiking the AT

      i think very few people need to take a course on how to thru hike the AT -- but if you're leaving on your thru in a couple months and you've never backpacked before - well then this course just might be for you.

      other rei's will offer this course on different dates; this rei just happens to be one the closest one to me.

      rei.com/events/thru-hiking-the…ive-class/kennesaw/129921
      2,000 miler

    • JimBlue wrote:

      I've been hiking before... are these classes worth it ? It would be around a 2 hour drive one way for me.
      jim, if i remember correctly you are getting back into backpacking after a 10 year absence. gear has changed a lot since then. and i don't remember if you have ever taken a week long backpacking trip before or not. i can not comment on this specific course. however, if you have the time i think such a course could be beneficial for you.

      and regardless of what you decide to do about this course, the best thing you can do is to get out there and hike. just a simple out and back, camping for one nite, will give you a wealth of experience.
      2,000 miler

    • I agree with Max.
      From experience all these kind of courses are about 80% waste of time and can make you question their worth, but there is always the 20% that teaches you something. The key is identifying the right 20%.
      ;)
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.

    • Well, unless one of my relatives wins the lotto and gives me money, the gear I currently have is it.

      I've hiked into an area, camped, and hiked out. But not hiked, with a backpack, all weekend.

      I am thinking abut hiking around Cheaha. I know that I can set up a tent, and hike each day there. Or pay the fee, hike and camp over 3 days. Setting up a new campsite each time.

      Wait until it gets warmer though. Probably March.

      I think that would give me more knowledge than a class I might fall asleep in.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.

    • Wilderness emergency? I had something like that after eating too many dried apricots. Seriously though, I have experienced the early stages of hypothermia, and bounced my forehead off a sharp rock. Some of you are thinking to yourselves that the latter explains a thing or two.
      I am human and I need to be loved - just like everybody else does

    • WanderingStovie wrote:

      Wilderness emergency? I had something like that after eating too many dried apricots. Seriously though, I have experienced the early stages of hypothermia, and bounced my forehead off a sharp rock. Some of you are thinking to yourselves that the latter explains a thing or two.
      I remember that story...you wrapped a turban around your head?
      Lost in the right direction.

    • There is a good chance of encountering stinging insects along the AT. Yellow-jackets attacked me in GSMNP. I avoided them along a boardwalk in NY, because someone left a note at the trailhead. I have slept in shelters with active paper wasp nests.

      Those who are allergic should plan accordingly, IMO.
      I am human and I need to be loved - just like everybody else does

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      WanderingStovie wrote:

      Wilderness emergency? I had something like that after eating too many dried apricots. Seriously though, I have experienced the early stages of hypothermia, and bounced my forehead off a sharp rock. Some of you are thinking to yourselves that the latter explains a thing or two.
      I remember that story...you wrapped a turban around your head?
      Bandana and toilet paper.
      I am human and I need to be loved - just like everybody else does

    • The wrst instance of hypothermia I ever had was ridding a motorcycle about 60 miles at night. The air temeprature was 25F. I had on boots, two pair of socks, long johns bottom and top, down pants, down mittens, down vest, long sleeve shirt, field jacket without the liner, silk blaclava, knit scarf. Couldn't stop shaking until I got about 20 miles from home. No change in air temperature... but I was slightly warmer. Yeah right. Three days later the undergrad advisor told me I wasn't dedicated to my class work. Yeah, riiiight ya Jerk.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.

    • WanderingStovie wrote:

      There is a good chance of encountering stinging insects along the AT. Yellow-jackets attacked me in GSMNP. I avoided them along a boardwalk in NY, because someone left a note at the trailhead. I have slept in shelters with active paper wasp nests.

      Those who are allergic should plan accordingly, IMO.
      This is why I switched from a red to a blue shirt.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General