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Bucket

Hiking

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I've been thinking about hiking The Appalachian Trail. I've done quite a bit of camping in my youth, and I spend a lot of time walking in the woods, so I think this is one of these lifetime goals I can tackle. It takes a long time to prepare (it's a six-month undertaking at best), and I'm hardly in tip-top shape-- so this wouldn't be for another year or two, if that.

So has anyone here actually thought about hiking on this scale? Are there any (former) Boy Scouts in here? Who knows; it's generally not a good idea to go it alone, so maybe we can organize a group.

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hello, looking at one right here- as a person that lives on one of the beginning mountains of the range, I've researched and explored through many trails here- a lot of civil war forts and furnaces all through that area. Worth a look, but I've only been through a small part of the "official" trail.

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Heh, I'd go with. Who knows if I'd even have a house by the time you're planning on leaving.

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I used to be a Boy Scout. Stopped my involvement before becoming an Eagle Scout. Camping and hiking are activities I used to do a good bit and wanted to get back into. That's a nice goal you've set, and probably a good idea in terms of making sure you have a parter(s).

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Bucket said:
So has anyone here actually thought about hiking on this scale?

Not sure what scale you mean exactly, although I did hike the Appalachians when I was like 5 years old. I've also hiked for like two or three weeks in the south here, maybe a month on occasion. Or once like two weeks followed by a (20 day? don't remember exactly) canoe ride down a lake and a river. Most of that was back in the '90s.

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So it takes 6 months to prepare.. how long will the actual hike be? And how many miles is it? What do you do for food and water?

I did alot of 'hiking' while I was in the marines but it wasn't exactly fun. I would love to do some hiking at my own pace (no high speed death marches) but I don't have time with college and work (otherwise I might join you). Its an interesting idea to organize a group of nothing but doomers though, hope that works out. You probably did alot of research already but if you need any advice I might be able to help.

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Huh? No, the hike itself would take about six months.

I'm not sure what would be done in terms of preparation, but it'd get more complicated the more people are going. Not to mention it slows the actual hike down. If it's a group thing, I'd say no more than 5. Or we can have teams...

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Hiking ,pfft just talk about walking.. i locked my keys in my car at a coin carwash today (keys/bag "o" quarters/wallet w/all phone no#s and cell) and some little menthol cigars i just bought for $1.17 and its the only place i can smoke them (out that is) i walked about a mile back to my sisters house to use the phone (my feet were numb by then) and i had a sharp pain coming up from my ankle into my calf. i play doom all the time. now thats a dooming wake up call for my level of being in shape. im thinking of airing up the tires on my mountain bike and see about this "getting in shape" biz.. cant hurt, but i doubt ill be doing any sort of "hiking" in the near future (but does sound like fun)

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Training for that you could try the Perkiomen Trail which I think starts in Green Lane and is supposed to go all the way to Philadelphia. I rode bike with some friends from Green Lane to Collegeville and back, 13 miles each way for a 26 mile ride. Some parts of the trail are really lame though and go along roads, even by an electrical power station with huge antenna towers and by Graterford Prison Property (didn't see any Prison buildings there though).

At 2175 miles the Appalachian Trail is just over 12 miles a day. Physically that's pretty damn easy. I can run at least two whole miles without slowing to a walk when I want to. The real challenge is in living on the move for such a time period. A major question is how the hell to handle laundry and bathing. Getting food wouldn't be too much of a problem if you have a nice bankroll built up and can get out of the wilderness to some places here and there. I suppose it would be good to have either no bills to worry about or have auto-pay set up with more than enough funds. Of course if you make it 25 or 37 miles a day that cuts the time required down considerably.

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Yeah, I can walk a mile in 15 minutes on a good day. Just how long I can keep that pace up is the question. Though let's say I can manage half that, for 12 hours a day, considering added weight... that's almost exactly three months. That's a low estimate; I'm sure there'll be a lot of stops for backtracking, hotels, sight-seeing, medical attention, and so on.

Ralphis said:

Do we need to hunt to survive?

If we were going southward, we'd reach the mountains in Atlanta during hunting season. Although you'd need a gun for anything but small game. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of opportunities to go fishing, so you can bet I'd be doing that.

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If one mile takes 15 minutes you should really work on improving on that.

I was looking through the info and though parts of the trail crossover into hunting area, they don't want hikers on the trail carrying firearms. I'm no hunter but hey, why not go hardcore and bring a spear. Idealy I'd bring just a nice sturdy bo or jo-like staff for hiking and have a spear end I could put on it for hunting. I wouldn't look forward to gutting and butchering though.

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The average human walking speed is 3.6 kph or 2.2 miles per hour. That's a 27 minute mile. And before I have to hear "OMG DON'T BE A PUSSY!!!1" realize that walking speed isn't determined so much by the subject's strength as it is by the length of their legs and the ratio of their tibia and femur.

A spear would be extremely ineffective without an atlatl, as you cannot generate effective velocity just by tossing the thing. And spears meant for use with atlatls are very light and have an attachment point at their butt to lock into the atlatl. Not the kind of thing you want to be mashing into the dirt.

Non-firearm based weapons would be extremely ineffective if you were hiking anyway, since they rely on stealth and ambush to bring the hunter and prey within effective range, which is why treestands dominate bow hunting.

I wouldn't count on hunting to provide food anyway. You aren't going to have many opportunities at game while hiking. The only time you see hunters hiking is in the west, where they hike to high points and use binoculars to spot game to stalk.

Oh, and small game hunting with dogs, although I doubt anyone has access to a trained hunting dog.

It could be cool to bring a small .22 pistol, rifle, or a 20 gauge or .410 bore shotgun and pick off any rabbits or squirrels you see in on the trail. Just don't count on it as a regular source of food. I'd think you would be suprised at how tolerant the southern states are of firearms in state parks and national forests (but NOT national parks). Always check though.

Fishing should be pretty good. Should be able to both fly and bait fish. Just make sure to know how to fillet.

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Fishing it is, then. I loves me some rainbow trout. Also, it's not uncommon for AT hikers to sidetrack and visit diners and such. I wouldn't want to spend more than a day off the trail, though.

Christ, the more people I talk to about this, the more who want to go. I bet with a minimal effort in organizing, I could amass a group of 20-30. You don't want to travel with that big a group, but if we split up into squads... made bets on who finishes first, who gives up first... and so on... hmm.

I've also been looking into what kinds of electronics I can bring. GPS, cell, MP3 players... I looked up solar powered chargers and it turns out there's quite a market for them. Not what I expected at all.

But yeah, next summer is looking VERY plausible.

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The average crackfiend walking speed is 12.7 kph or 7.8 miles per hour. That's a 8 minute mile. And before I have to hear "OMG THEY'RE REALLY RUNNING!!!1" realize thier walking speed isn't determined so much by the subject's length of their legs and the ratio of their tibia and femur as by how spastically their legs kick out as they search for crack.

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I decided to map out how far i walked back from that carwash, and it indeed ended up being just short of three miles.

In a car a mile traveled doesnt not seem all that much, but on foot its a lot different. but i didnt think i walked more than a mile as it felt more like the distance on a 1/4 mile track (witch is the local jr. high school track i ran a long time ago) and its not a small track by any means, and its four times around for that mile.

But for somebody who is not used to that straight concrete pounding (and self abuse of being such an idiot for locking his keys in his car) as myself, it was one hell of a work out and should be a wake up call for anyone who thinks there even remotley in shape. just put those runners on and measure a mile (or two) and go for it..

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Heh, in Britain it's not possible to walk 2175 miles in any direction but people get close to that figure doing the coastal walk. Six months is the duration for that too IIRC.

The closest I've got to that is doing something called Ten Tors. We have a national park called Dartmoor down here in Devon and when you're a teenage you can do three levels of challenge over two days and one night depending on your age - 35, 45, and 55 miles (Our miles are slightly longer).

I did the 55 miles and although I hike quite regularly over distances of a dozen miles or so, and almost every few days over 3 or 4 miles, I was totally unprepared for it. It wasn't that it was physically too much, the problem was my feet. Dartmoor is damp, and we all had atrocious blisters come the end. I think on any long-term hike, the feet are the major area for concern, even with good footwear.

Incidentally I define hike as cross-country walking, whatever surface conditions that entails.

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pritch said:

(Our miles are slightly longer).

Yeah sure pritch, just like your air is slightly cleaner, your grass is slightly greener, your water is slightly less contaminated, your land is slightly less depreciated, your citizens are slightly less delinquent, and your government is slightly less fradulent. We believe you.

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It is in fact a matter of faith, or mastering the technique of lightness. They're nautical miles. What really makes it tough is you have to walk on water like Jesus or a kung fu master or something.

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Ninjas don't need to swim, since they can either walk on water or stay submerged indefinitely.

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