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100 Tips for Prospective 2017 AT Thru-hikers

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    • Ok, gotta disagree with #29. If I had a significant other on effing vacation and they didn't bother answering my phone calls and help me deal with problems at home...well, they'd be handed walking papers. Then they can walk to their heart's content without any annoying interruptions to their immersive experience. :)
      Lost in the right direction.
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      Ok, gotta disagree with #29. If I had a significant other on effing vacation and they didn't bother answering my phone calls and help me deal with problems at home...well, they'd be handed walking papers. Then they can walk to their heart's content without any annoying interruptions to their immersive experience. :)
      Having run into Datto several times during my 2000 hike, I gotta say you've probably hit the nail on the head. I got the distinct impression he carried "walking papers" of some sort, though he may have gotten them before he started. Also, I knew one woman on the trail who said he could take a hike, or maybe I misunderstood.

      Disclaimer - he finished the AT and I did not.
    • I had to look up what my Tip #29 was to see what the commotion was about.

      Ha, walking papers? That cracked me up. Never got walking papers. Got a letter from the IRS that I'd avoided opening for the first 700 miles of my AT thru-hike. That letter turned out to be nothing (opened it at an AT shelter one day on my AT thru-hike when in Virginia).

      Tip #68 -- Dealing With Fears. I shoulda put that IRS Sidebar in there.

      Datto
    • On a side note, Datto is also a now billion dollar cloud based server company who's owner I happen to have met.

      If I meet him again I'll have to give him crap about using someone's trail name. :D
      Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
    • SarcasmTheElf wrote:

      On a side note, Datto is also a now billion dollar cloud based server company who's owner I happen to have met.
      Yeah, there's a bus company too -- I had my picture taken in front of one of the buses by a past AT thru-hiker.

      My trailname pre-dates all but I did put this into Datto's Tips v2.0:

      I have no affiliation with other companies or entities with the name Datto in their company name. I'm also not affiliated with any carnival.


      Datto
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      Ok, gotta disagree with #29. If I had a significant other on effing vacation and they didn't bother answering my phone calls and help me deal with problems at home...well, they'd be handed walking papers.
      You are not alone in your feelings and opinions about Tip #29 -- I've heard from others who feel the same as you about that particular subject over the course of the last few months while writing Datto's Tips v2.0.

      Datto's Tips v2.0 is about getting a prospective AT thru-hiker to understand what it takes to get from Springer Mountain, GA to Katahdin, ME -- PRIOR TO -- damaging existing relationships, prior to turning in their resignation at work, prior to spending thousands of dollars month after month while not having a job. Datto's Tips v2.0 makes a person better understand what some of the challenges are that an AT thru-hiker will face in getting from Georgia to Maine BEFORE any thru-hike commitment is made by the prospective AT thru-hiker.

      Not that AT thru-hiking is for everyone. It's not for everyone. In fact, I surmise my document is a deterrent to thru-hiking the AT for all who are not committed as their current first priority. Most people reading Datto's Tips v2.0 would be better off doing something other than thru-hiking the AT -- to take a different adventure or to take no adventure at all.

      That's one of the reasons why there are so few people who complete an AT thru-hike -- so many people have little idea about what it's about when they commit and then start an AT thru-hike. This is what Datto's Tips v2.0 is about:

      This document is as much a think-about document as it is a how-to document -- to help you figure out whether a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail is for you (or not). This is the single biggest question to answer for prospective AT thru-hikers who are reading this document.

      If a prospective AT thru-hiker has a significant other that is a huge consideration to take into account -- PRIOR TO -- making any commitment to thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail.

      But, impending divorces from significant others (legally entangled or otherwise, voluntary or involuntary) happens more frequently than what most people may think. Lots of people who I was friends with on the AT had their prior relationship ended while they were hiking on the AT or had just ended the relationship prior to coming to the AT.

      if I was a shrink or a family counselor or someone in the clergy then I'd probably write Datto's Tips v2.0 differently. Instead, I wrote it for people who intend to thru-hike the AT and carry their full backpack past every white blaze. it's not written for people who are stranded back home (although that may be a document someone would need to write -- but not me).


      Datto

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Datto ().

    • Not related to anything above but it's been my observation people who are considering an AT thru-hike frequently have a significant life change coming on their near-term horizon (end of college, leaving the military, retirement, job is ending, career is changing, relationship ending, those kinds of events). The emotional roller coaster seems to look like this for planner-type personalities (the roller coaster looks like a two-humped camel):

      ^__/\

      The left smaller hump is where the AT is discovered (or re-discovered) and initial info gathering takes place. Then after a while, logic and reason kick in, the wanderlust disappears or priorities change and the person says, Whoa, that is not for me or I can't leave [blank] responsibility for six months or I have an opportunity elsewhere I'd rather pursue or money/time is not available -- and the idea of an AT thru-hike is tabled/abandoned. All of that is completely normal (from my viewpoint) and is the way most big challenges are analyzed by planner-types (not just the analysis/consideration of an AT thru-hike). Planner types like me go through these same steps and frequently table (or discard) many ideas. I'd venture to say I abandon at least 10x the number of big-challenge type of ideas than those I end up pursuing.

      For a few, there's a lull of several months or even a year between the two camel humps, then the idea of an AT thru-hike resurfaces. An unrelated event or events take place bringing the idea of an AT thru-hike to light again. Re-exploring the idea begins anew, interest builds, planning take place. Sometimes an event like the Great Recession arrives and a job disappears and another isn't on the near horizon. Sometimes it's none of that and the person just wants to go and do something completely different than what they've been doing with themselves for the past several years. The right-hand hump on the camel starts to form and actions begin toward getting prepared to start an AT thru-hike (the most recognizable action denoting the 2nd camel hump is when the person determines the costs and logistics for getting to Springer Mountain, GA).

      For example, here are my events:

      Left hump started with me unexpectedly stumbling into someone's on-line trail journal and following it on a daily basis. That got me thinking and pondering with wanderlust. I went and did a weekend hike during that time frame just to get a feel for the effort/experience. A few months later, logic and reason kicked in and the idea of an AT thru-hike was set aside. During the lull between the tops of the two camel humps, my mom got sick (few things make a person recognize their own mortality and see time escaping than having a parent in a hospital bed for weeks -- she recovered and returned to normal activities). The company where I was employed for years got themselves involved with somewhat questionable business practices (again!) and I was losing all respect for the people running the show there. Then a friend of mine at work (he and I had the same position in the company) had a breakdown from the stresses of the types of work he and I were doing and he was on disability for six months (that had shocked the heck out of me). Somewhere on the rise to the second hump I was presented with a career opportunity that would triple my yearly compensation except I had to sign papers saying I would stay at that same company for 24 months. I'd only had a few days to figure out if I wanted to follow that career opportunity or not (it would likely have given me a gold mine of money for the rest of my career life but I really wasn't interested in that kind of work). Accepting that opportunity would have eliminated (or have at least postponed into the distant future) any chance to thru-hike the AT. In just a few calendar days I had to figure out what I wanted, where I was going, what my expectations were for how I viewed life down the road. I ended up thinking I could get as much opportunity that offer had presented anyhow, on my own, in something I was interested in pursuing. So I ended up turning down that career opportunity and committed to thru-hiking the AT. It all worked out very well for me. For someone else, it might have been better to go with the opportunity presented and just hunker down and grab for the money.

      In any case, I'd had a bunch of eye-opening events occur in a relatively short amount of time that set me on the course to thru-hike the AT. Eventually I came back to a sense of normalcy off the right hand camel hump after my AT thru-hike was completed (normalcy being a matter of opinion of course).

      Datto

      The post was edited 3 times, last by Datto ().

    • I note of encouragement for prospective AT thru-hikers. A couple years prior to me starting my northbound AT thru-hike I'd decided to drive over to the AT (about a 12 hour drive or so) and hike for a week during thru-hiker season -- just to see how actually tough the Trail was and see/meet some AT thru-hikers. I'd started north from Damascus, VA and hiked for several days to Troutdale, VA. I was a bit discouraged while on the Trail because the northbound AT thru-hikers had passed by me so fast while on the Trail. The steepness didn't seem to bother them much while I was completely wasted and out of breath all the time. But I did meet up with a nice group of very funny AT thru-hikers on that trip and had enjoyed their company immensely. When I'd returned back home I'd ended up believing I was completely unready and that's one of the things that had caused me to have two separated camel humps, separated by well more than a year.

      Then a few past AT thru-hikers began to help me along in my quest to thru-hike the AT and that would make a world of difference in getting myself prepared. By the time I then started my AT thru-hike much later I was as prepared as I was going to be. To have had the help of those past AT thru-hikers had made such a big difference when I'd started my AT thru-hike.

      After the first 450+ miles of my AT thru-hike I zoomed up that same part of the AT going north out of Damascus. It wasn't that big of a deal after all with that much preparation and that many miles under my belt at that time in my AT thru-hike. I still didn't have my Trail Legs yet but because of preparation and pre-hike prep hikes I'd no longer had the question of "Is this doable?".


      Datto
    • Plan to finish my section hike this coming summer (442 miles to go from Hanover, NH). Just curious if very many have done a thru after sectioning the entire AT? Would love to do it in 2020 (before i turn 60), if I could work it out.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • WanderingStovie wrote:

      mental note wrote:

      Everytime i camel up, i spend the next 2 hrs peein' a lot.
      Every time someone lights up a Camel, I spend the next 2 hours coughin' a lot.
      Just talking with my son at lunch that the only time I am around people that smoke is the AT. But at least there is plenty space to move around.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • I know I'm risking adding fuel to a fire here....

      Datto, you're a very funny writer. I still remember the belly-laugh I got when reading the "umbrella drinks" scene in your PCT journal.

      I'm truly of two minds about some of your advice. I'm totally with you that a Big Hike is a massive task - and if it doesn't remain a priority, out of goal orientation, or fear of failure, or just plain cussedness, even when it isn't fun, it is Not Going To Happen. I totally get, too, that most people who can come up with that sort of singleminded devotion are at some sort of transition in life: newly graduated, newly divorced, newly bereft, newly retired, ... and are truly working on "what's the next thing?"

      But, the trail journals that I've read and identify most with are the ones that conclude with effusive thanks to the "home team" - the logistic support crew that made it possible. There seem to be a lot of those, as well as the sort that conclude that you have to let go of the world in order to succeed. The people who have an awesome support team have to be putting in what it takes to maintain those relationships. (I do notice that they're mostly an older bunch, so that they're usually starting off with some financial security and a lot fewer worries about children.)

      It's not surprising to me that someone who's starting from a different place than you might end up in a different place. For me, that place has never been a Big Hike, because I've always had responsibilities. Now that my daughter is grown and living on her own, I'm in a different place, where the responsibilities are different. They may someday be undemanding enough that I can step away for a few months, or I may have duties to perform right up to the day the Lord calls me home. In the one case, I might be able to step out and try a Big Hike, going in with my eyes open from a lifetime of Little Hikes. In the other case, I'll keep up the Little Hikes for as long as my health is spared.

      I like to think that my chances would be better than some. I think I'd be in pretty good shape to complete the first couple of weeks - during which a quarter drop out - because I've done longer and tougher sections. A Big Hike might also turn into sections because of illness, injury, or emergency on the home front. I know that I have it in me to come back to it - because I've come back to other projects after the same sort of problem. I can't say how I'd respond to the long-haul spiritual challenge, except to compare it with what I already do, which is to put in at least a couple or three miles of roadwalk with a heavy day-pack (heavier that what I'd bring for a long weekend in a warm season) every single day, rain or shine, summer or winter.

      I guess what it amounts to is that I'm describing an old man's approach, and you're trying to fit the world into a younger man's view. If I ever take the plunge into a Big Hike, the humps in my diagram would be separated by half a century. I surely don't want it badly enough to succeed at it. Yet. I don't say that won't ever happen in the future. Never is a long time.
      I'm not lost. I know where I am. I'm right here.
    • Some Top Reasons Why 85 percent of AT Thru-hikers Don't Finish:
      • It wasn't what the person had thought it would be
      • Financial issues
      • Commitment Issues -- no Beast Mode to work through obstacles



      Some Top Reasons Why 34 Percent Of First Marriages Fail:
      • It wasn't what the person had thought it would be
      • Financial issues
      • Commitment Issues -- no Beast Mode to work through obstacles



      Datto
    • The above explains the reason why Datto's Tips v2.0 was written -- to increase the percentage of AT thru-hikers who finish their AT thru-hikes (not necessarily the total number of thru-hikers who finish).

      That can be done through two approaches (individually or together):

      1. Inform prospective AT thru-hikers what the situation will be like and what is required in order to have more prospective AT thru-hikers be properly prepared and realize what is ahead.
      2. Awaken prospective AT thru-hikers to what they'll be facing so those who realize an AT thru-hike is actually not for them -- ahead of time -- go on to something more appropriate -- a different adventure, a different challenge or keeping the status quo.
      Both approaches have the potential to increase the percentage of AT thru-hikers who finish their AT thru-hikes (one increases the number who finish and the other reduces the number who attempt an AT thru-hike).


      Datto
    • chief wrote:

      i sincerely apologize for responding to this thread. i'm afraid we have encouraged datto.
      Ha ha. I did not know who Datto was bit did a search on WB...now I see what you mean. But he is welcome here. His stuff is funny and thought provoking. I like philosophical discussions...especially when it involves camels and booze.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • One of the greatest joys I'd had on my AT thru-hike was meeting up with people who were entirely different than me. I'd come to the AT from the cornfields of Indiana and the only place where alternative lifestyles existed were Border's Bookstore on Friday nights. I believe it was zoned that way by the Plan Commission.

      Somewhere in New York on my AT thru-hike I'd come upon the crossing of the AT where four lanes combines into eight lanes of car traffic. At noon I'd hung out my thumb to get a 1.4 ride down to where Haagen Dazs was supposed to be available (according to my in-pack guidebook). I'd had this erotic romantic connection with Haagen Dazs all along the AT and I was so, so ready for another most enticing encounter. It was Romeo and Chocolate Juliet. Va-Voom.

      I think I stood there for at least half an hour at that intersection and I could not even make eye contact with any driver at that Y intersection. New Yorkers were just looking straight ahead -- don't look at that loser standing on the Y-concrete so he didn't expect nothin'.

      I remember thinking I will wait here forever. I will not miss the Haagen Dazs connection down the road 1.4.

      Just then I'd spotted another hiker coming out of the woods toward me on the AT.

      It was a hiker wearing a dress.

      Oh God.

      He's coming over here -- to where I was standing trying to get a ride.

      At this point, I'd assumed I'd never get a ride. As he'd approached I'd squinted and...

      He was also wearing eye make-up.

      Oh Geez.

      All wind had immediately escaped from my sails. I'd assumed I would be there until dusk trying to get a ride 1.4 down to the Haagen Dazs.

      I'm not kidding when I say we'd had a ride -- Avon and me -- in less than five minutes. A woman had pulled her car over to the berm and motioned for Avon and I to hop in the car.

      On the ride down 1.4 to the Haagen Dazs I'd asked the woman why she had picked us up. She'd said to me with a straight face -- "He was wearing a dress -- how dangerous could you two be?" I'd started laughing and so did the driver as well as the guy in the back seat with the eye make-up. After a little more conversation I'd asked the woman driving the car what her name was.

      She'd said her name was Sharona.

      Holy cow -- the guy in the back seat with the make-up and I started into a rendition of the song 'My Sharona' for the complete benefit of the driver during the next minute or so. The guy in the back seat with the eye make-up had known all the words to the song and so did I. We'd had a veritable Vegas act in her car.

      I'm sure she must have heard the singing of that song at least 1,000 times or more prior to Mr. Make-up and I showing up in her car.

      Turned out Mr. Make-up wasn't really all the odd after all. We'd spent a couple hours in that convenience store together waiting out the heat -- I think I'd told him I'd been in a band called The Fabulous Trouviers and he'd told me about his musical encounters. Turned out he was actually carrying a guitar on his AT thru-hike and could play that to the dickens. If only I'd had any musical talent!

      The next morning he was interviewed on The Today Show. Eye make-up and all. Ha.

      I remember thinking to myself this place -- the AT -- was such a fabulous unique place.


      Datto

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Datto ().

    • Datto wrote:

      Some Top Reasons Why 85 percent of AT Thru-hikers Don't Finish:
      • It wasn't what the person had thought it would be
      • Financial issues
      • Commitment Issues -- no Beast Mode to work through obstacles



      Some Top Reasons Why 34 Percent Of First Marriages Fail:
      • It wasn't what the person had thought it would be
      • Financial issues
      • Commitment Issues -- no Beast Mode to work through obstacles



      Datto
      I thought most divorces were caused because the wife is a beast?
      Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
      Dr. Seuss Cof123
    • Datto wrote:

      One of the greatest joys I'd had on my AT thru-hike was meeting up with people who were entirely different than me....


      I remember thinking to myself this place -- the AT -- was such a fabulous unique place
      That it is. It surely is. Full of people who are very different, one from another.

      Exempli gratia:

      You - a thru-hiker and raconteur.

      Me - a wordy guy (not nearly as good a raconteur) who doesn't aspire to be a thru-hiker but has more bag nights and trail miles than some of the thru-hikers around here. A failed thru-hiker, you'd say, and I suppose the shoe doesn't fit that badly, so I won't argue.

      Wolf - a very brusque and laconic individual who thinks we're both full of hot air, although he would no doubt name some less pleasant substance.

      All of us in different places because we started from different places.

      But all of us are Out There regularly - and we'd all happily share a laugh at a shelter or bend an elbow in some trail town dive. At least sometimes, what we have in common trumps the differences.
      I'm not lost. I know where I am. I'm right here.
    • Datto wrote:

      Some Top Reasons Why 85 percent of AT Thru-hikers Don't Finish:
      Some Top Reasons Why 34 Percent Of First Marriages Fail:
      • It wasn't what the person had thought it would be
      • Financial issues
      • Commitment Issues -- no Beast Mode to work through obstacles

      One major reason that I don't have thru-hike aspirations: My first marriage hasn't failed yet, and I fully intend to keep it that way. It surely isn't what we thought it would be. There have been financial issues along the way. After 26 years, I still don't know if we have commitment issues. We've managed not to break up so far, as hard as I am to get along with.
      I'm not lost. I know where I am. I'm right here.
    • Rasty wrote:

      I thought most divorces were caused because the wife is a beast?

      I have certainly seen that too and I am one of the fortunate ones to have long-ago encountered a woman who is naturally kind, generous and loving. Plus, she enjoys long-distance hiking and puts up with me when I've ranted out loud (to no one in particular) about some injustice or foe. Every man should have such a relationship with a woman during their lifetime.

      Datto
    • Datto wrote:

      One of the greatest joys I'd had on my AT thru-hike was meeting up with people who were entirely different than me. I'd come to the AT from the cornfields of Indiana and the only place where alternative lifestyles existed were Border's Bookstore on Friday nights. I believe it was zoned that way by the Plan Commission.

      Somewhere in New York on my AT thru-hike I'd come upon the crossing of the AT where four lanes combines into eight lanes of car traffic. At noon I'd hung out my thumb to get a 1.4 ride down to where Haagen Dazs was supposed to be available (according to my in-pack guidebook). I'd had this erotic romantic connection with Haagen Dazs all along the AT and I was so, so ready for another most enticing encounter. It was Romeo and Chocolate Juliet. Va-Voom.

      I think I stood there for at least half an hour at that intersection and I could not even make eye contact with any driver at that Y intersection. New Yorkers were just looking straight ahead -- don't look at that loser standing on the Y-concrete so he didn't expect nothin'.

      I remember thinking I will wait here forever. I will not miss the Haagen Dazs connection down the road 1.4.

      Just then I'd spotted another hiker coming out of the woods toward me on the AT.

      It was a hiker wearing a dress.

      Oh God.

      He's coming over here -- to where I was standing trying to get a ride.

      At this point, I'd assumed I'd never get a ride. As he'd approached I'd squinted and...

      He was also wearing eye make-up.

      Oh Geez.

      All wind had immediately escaped from my sails. I'd assumed I would be there until dusk trying to get a ride 1.4 down to the Haagen Dazs.

      I'm not kidding when I say we'd had a ride -- Avon and me -- in less than five minutes. A woman had pulled her car over to the berm and motioned for Avon and I to hop in the car.

      On the ride down 1.4 to the Haagen Dazs I'd asked the woman why she had picked us up. She'd said to me with a straight face -- "He was wearing a dress -- how dangerous could you two be?" I'd started laughing and so did the driver as well as the guy in the back seat with the eye make-up. After a little more conversation I'd asked the woman driving the car what her name was.

      She'd said her name was Sharona.

      Holy cow -- the guy in the back seat with the make-up and I started into a rendition of the song 'My Sharona' for the complete benefit of the driver during the next minute or so. The guy in the back seat with the eye make-up had known all the words to the song and so did I. We'd had a veritable Vegas act in her car.

      I'm sure she must have heard the singing of that song at least 1,000 times or more prior to Mr. Make-up and I showing up in her car.

      Turned out Mr. Make-up wasn't really all the odd after all. We'd spent a couple hours in that convenience store together waiting out the heat -- I think I'd told him I'd been in a band called The Fabulous Trouviers and he'd told me about his musical encounters. Turned out he was actually carrying a guitar on his AT thru-hike and could play that to the dickens. If only I'd had any musical talent!

      The next morning he was interviewed on The Today Show. Eye make-up and all. Ha.

      I remember thinking to myself this place -- the AT -- was such a fabulous unique place.


      Datto
      Datto,
      Got to ask, you related to Just Bill by some chance?
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Datto wrote:

      One of the greatest joys I'd had on my AT thru-hike was meeting up with people who were entirely different than me. I'd come to the AT from the cornfields of Indiana and the only place where alternative lifestyles existed were Border's Bookstore on Friday nights. I believe it was zoned that way by the Plan Commission.

      Somewhere in New York on my AT thru-hike I'd come upon the crossing of the AT where four lanes combines into eight lanes of car traffic. At noon I'd hung out my thumb to get a 1.4 ride down to where Haagen Dazs was supposed to be available (according to my in-pack guidebook). I'd had this erotic romantic connection with Haagen Dazs all along the AT and I was so, so ready for another most enticing encounter. It was Romeo and Chocolate Juliet. Va-Voom.

      I think I stood there for at least half an hour at that intersection and I could not even make eye contact with any driver at that Y intersection. New Yorkers were just looking straight ahead -- don't look at that loser standing on the Y-concrete so he didn't expect nothin'.

      I remember thinking I will wait here forever. I will not miss the Haagen Dazs connection down the road 1.4.

      Just then I'd spotted another hiker coming out of the woods toward me on the AT.

      It was a hiker wearing a dress.

      Oh God.

      He's coming over here -- to where I was standing trying to get a ride.

      At this point, I'd assumed I'd never get a ride. As he'd approached I'd squinted and...

      He was also wearing eye make-up.

      Oh Geez.

      All wind had immediately escaped from my sails. I'd assumed I would be there until dusk trying to get a ride 1.4 down to the Haagen Dazs.

      I'm not kidding when I say we'd had a ride -- Avon and me -- in less than five minutes. A woman had pulled her car over to the berm and motioned for Avon and I to hop in the car.

      On the ride down 1.4 to the Haagen Dazs I'd asked the woman why she had picked us up. She'd said to me with a straight face -- "He was wearing a dress -- how dangerous could you two be?" I'd started laughing and so did the driver as well as the guy in the back seat with the eye make-up. After a little more conversation I'd asked the woman driving the car what her name was.

      She'd said her name was Sharona.

      Holy cow -- the guy in the back seat with the make-up and I started into a rendition of the song 'My Sharona' for the complete benefit of the driver during the next minute or so. The guy in the back seat with the eye make-up had known all the words to the song and so did I. We'd had a veritable Vegas act in her car.

      I'm sure she must have heard the singing of that song at least 1,000 times or more prior to Mr. Make-up and I showing up in her car.

      Turned out Mr. Make-up wasn't really all the odd after all. We'd spent a couple hours in that convenience store together waiting out the heat -- I think I'd told him I'd been in a band called The Fabulous Trouviers and he'd told me about his musical encounters. Turned out he was actually carrying a guitar on his AT thru-hike and could play that to the dickens. If only I'd had any musical talent!

      The next morning he was interviewed on The Today Show. Eye make-up and all. Ha.

      I remember thinking to myself this place -- the AT -- was such a fabulous unique place.


      Datto
      ...today is national "coming out" day
    • One of the things most notable about my AT thru-hike was that I had met people who's character was exemplary. These were people, individually, who were true and real. I had just loved that about them. There was just no BS about them at all on the AT. And I had recently come from an environment where BS was highly valued prior to me having arrived on the AT. That past experience for years on-end had made me suspicious of everything. The AT had become a relished breath of fresh air. When you see people under duress day-after-day and how they could still keep a positive attitude, keep going northward, just keep going. That is when you have encountered people who are as dedicated as you. They are your kind even though they may not appear as you.

      Later on, you find out more about them and they open up about who they are.

      It was then I had realized I'd run into truly great people. I suppose some would have considered themselves normal. To me they were what Society was intrinsically striving to achieve. Each was nobody and somebody at the same time. People who I'd admired (and I do not admire many people, even today).

      In the entire scheme of things they were also funny. Absolutely hilarious. Some of these people could have made a living as comedians. Instead they were history teachers or hair stylists or FBI agents or carpenters or firefighters.

      Somewhere in North Carolina I had met up with a woman from whom I had read past shelter register entries. Sometimes it's amazing to see the actual person who had written shelter register entries ahead of you on the Trail -- they're not who you expect them to be. During an extended break she had asked me what I had done prior to coming to the AT and I'd explained truthfully (rather than the usual "I'd escaped from an asylum"). I had asked her cordially what she had done prior to coming to the AT and she had responded that she had previously been a cube farmer. Eventually I'd surmised she was into space planning for some furniture company. We would hit it off and when I had velcroed my camera to nearby tree to jump into a timed photo op, I'd told her on the camera countdown to act crazy. That had ended up being one of the best pics from my AT thru-hike.

      The people just kept getting even better the further north I went on my AT thru-hike.

      Just plain good people.


      Datto