The Appalachian Trail Advice

I am looking for some Post-ops that might have through hike the AT. After this weekend I have pretty much decided that a one year through hike will not be possible and I am ok with doing the entire trail over several years in smaller chunks. What I want to know is has anyone through hiked it and how did you keep your calories up? I will prob have more questions as I find people that have done it.

I am a day hiker-up to 20 miles in a day-but I do not do overnight in the woods.  And I have done parts of the AT.  When I hike I eat often-something every hour....I always have sandwiches, grilled chicken, fruit, trail mix, nuts, slim jims, and jelly beans close at hand.  Yes, jelly beans.  Sugar doesn't bother me and I need that sugar jolt for that last mile!

The key is to eat often and to keep your body fueled.....and of course, drink lots of water.  I use a Camelbak bladder in my backpack and the mouthpiece is always close by for a quick drink.

 Good luck!  I've hiked portions of it but always just for a day.  That's truly ambitious and a wonderful goal.

I have hiked extensively on the AT in Massachusetts and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  A through hike of the entire trail shouldn't take a year -- more like 4 months.  Still - it is hard to get that much time off.  I'm planning a long trip on the AT in September -- about 300 miles on the southern end of it.

When I hike the hilly terrain of NH, weighing approximately 200 lbs, carrying a 25 lb pack, I burn about 5000 calories per day.  It is hard to eat that much -- you have to do it with cookies, crackers, candy bars, beef jerky, etc.  All the high-calorie, high density stuff you now avoid!  If I am only out for a few days, running a deficit is not too big a problem.

Last week I made a quick two-day trip to climb The Bonds in the Pemigewasset Wilderness of New Hampshire.  I hiked 19 miles over the two days and climbed six 4000+ foot summits.  About 1/2 of the trip was on the AT.  I carried 6000 calories and ate about 1/2 each day, but I felt great.  You will also want to consider electrolyte replacement (tablets you put in your water), if you are drinking large amounts -- like a liter an hour.    I probably lost about 4,000 calories total for the trip or about 1 lb on the scale.

A longer distance hike would require more calories, but you will inevitably lose weight anyway, so don't worry about it too much.  Calculate your needs and do your best.  I use beef jerky for protein replacement.  I like to camp cold -- but you may want to bring a stove and cook.

If you want to learn all about hiking the AT, check out White Blaze:

www.whiteblaze.net

Is very active, kind of like OH, and you can find the answers to most of your questions just be reading old posts.

Good luck!

-Joe

 I do know that is only takes about 4 months to hike. The one year reference is to the guidelines that say to be a Through Hiker you have to fini**** within a 12 month period, I dont think I can do that but Im still going to do it over several years. I do dump on sugar and have problems with rice, wheat and potato products. So what are some optins for increasing calories without adding these things to my diet?

http://www.trailjournals.com/about.cfm?trailname=5488

 

This guy had Gastric Bypass and hiked the entire trail in 2007 at 61! You can read all his journal entries on that site.

 

Very very inspiring! A thru-hike is possible!

A good friend of mine (non-op) is hiking it right now.  Look on Facebook for Daddy longlegs on the AT

 

https://www.facebook.com/#!/DaddyLonglegsOnTheAt?fref=ts