Special Edition: The People of the Appalachian Trail
We're bound by exposure, strange eating habits, and sleeping in bags. Gear, stink, and getting a zillion steps in. It's like a sport we play, but at the same time, the last one to Mt Katahdin wins.
(not a thru hiker, just a patriot)
(there's rain in the distance)
Everyone's got their reason why this was the year and at least one story that rips at a campfire. All this sweat, blood, tears, and chaffing for a chance to scare a bear, look a cloud in the eye, and finally have a good fun fact for those awkward icebreakers.
This is the most requested topic and it's not even close. I think I've finally done enough research. I've talked and listened for countless hours and shared enough beers and bowls to describe the people I've met on the Appalachian Trail.
BUT FIRST:
A big shout out to Alex Jeong of Boston, the only reader to score a 6/6 on Virginia or Costa Rica. Well done, my friend.
I've always admired your thoughtfulness, your appetite for nonfiction books, and the depth and breadth of your music appreciation -from Tiesto to Vivaldi, Alex has range, people! Mina is so lucky to have you as her dad.
__________________________
Preface: it's hard to write this because I don't want to dox people without concern or consent, and because each person could have their own post. It's hard to contort the fullness of these individuals into useful shapes for this style of writing. Here we go!
One of my favorite parts is you get to see a lot of different kinds of people interact. How often do you get to observe a bright eyed college grad chop it up with a spry retiree? What about a Midwestern swiftie and with an open carrying redneck? While he sparks a joint? By a sunny picnic table at a road crossing? With burgers and dogs flying off the charcoal?
Mrs Murphy, my 4th grade art teacher, said "anything worth doing is worth overdoing." Boy, did I take that advice and run with it. There is nothing moderate about hiking the AT. This act of repetition and adventure attracts a group of people that's hard to put a rope around. I think the only thing that everyone on trail shares is that they are thru hiking. Some people out here don't even like nature or exercise. Strange but true. I've met one asshole.
The most common types of hikers are defined by natural breaks in life commitments. The biggest cohorts are the kids (post college, pre real world) and adults (post career, kids are grown, retirees). There are a couple impressive teenagers and some elderly hiking legends. Another group out here is the well adjusted mid 30 year olds. We're the normal and cool ones.
There's also an elite class of hiker. You can tell by their attitude before their gear, by how casually they talk about heavy miles and other trails they've conquered. They come in all shapes and sizes, from clean and disciplined, to blunt blowing and real hiker trashy. Blink and they're a week ahead.
I spend hours with hikers who have their entire lives ahead of them. There are ambitious young people with their whole lives planned out and many young people who don't know what's next. It's refreshing to meet so many twenty somethings who want to work in conservation. People who want to be biologists because they're so fascinated by the natural world. They're a great hang for a walk through the woods.
The retiree / semi-retiree class is an inspiration. They have changed my expectations for myself in old age. Sometimes I sit quietly and watch my favorite show, two old guys swapping stories. Some hang with the young kids, others go solo, some pair up into odd couples which are always hilarious. A clean cut dad who commands a traveling Ole Miss tailgate and a similar aged former Marine whose greatest expression of friendship is "fuckin with ya!"
Learning is easy if you listen. Sure, trail and hiking stuff, but life stuff too. I'm amazed by all of the different life paths people have taken to arrive on the same street as me. Some corporate workers sure, but trades people, some who go from job to job, making it all work. Lots of people have said "fuck it" at some point and totally changed their situation and got on the path to getting on trail. I'm reminded non-stop that there's no manual to life.
There are people who have lived in one place their whole lives, people who have moved around like me, and bona fide nomads. There's a guy named Nomad.
People enter and exit the realm of having a hard time. Some stay longer than others. Sometimes its a choice, other times it's not.
I've received a few life lessons and I've hucked a few myself. Isn't it great how sometimes the right thing from the right person at the right time can just click? And isn't it so much easier to give people good advice than it is to take your own? I really try to remember the way I looked at the world when I was the same age as some of these hikers, and try hard to imagine what I'll think of my current perspective in fifteen years. What I've gathered is you make plans and god laughs, but it's mandatory to make plans and pursue them as if they're not already dashed. I hear about the plans that lie ahead from the young ones, then what actually happened from the old heads.
People you met are attracted to different parts of trail life. The challenge, the lifestyle, the social scene. Some people are out here because they get shit done and this is the next thing in line they get to stomp. Other people are here because they don't have shit to do. People of all ages and backgrounds plan to figure things out on the trail -a great many things. But I don't think a lot of cases get cracked. It's easy to get caught up in hiking, resupplying, and revelry. If you don't make a point it might not happen, because life keeps on happening and it's easy to just go with it.
___________________________
Some people want to be tested to see what they're made of. We want to know how strong we are, but we know facing that measuring stick should scare us. It scares me. Some tests are stern. Here are two people who have really been tested. Dreamer on this trail, and Retriever on another. Besides being in their 30s and therefore cool and normal, they don't have a ton in common.
Dreamer had boiling water spilled on her, a days hike from the nearest "town." She was back on trail a couple days later to make up miles before taking a longer rest. Retriever was biking across the country and got attacked by a pack of wild dogs, nearly costing him his life, yet he is open to more adventure.
Everyone out here has anted up and gets to play the hand they're dealt. That deters most people. Most don't even approach the table. They stroll by with their friends and their glances might linger on the green felt, but that's it. Dreamer and Retriever sat down at the game, and instead of a bad hand, got dealt a vicious kick in the face. Then they bought back in. Are the people on the trail taking a test or gambling? I'd say both. There's potential for both failure and catastrophy. These are the people of the Appalachian trail.
_____________________
Here's a list of people I've met. I don't like to reduce some people to their jobs, but it helps make my point.
Portuguese dentists, sea-faring southern arborists, swifties, dead heads, artists, professors of agriculture, tarot card readers, the nature lovers nature lovers, moon landing truther, lots of engineers, hunters, airplane mechanics, mouse murdering preachers, heroin addicts, crack addicts, a fair few bird addicts, alcoholics, world travelers, flat earthers, physicians, professional hikers, bartenders, scientists, millionaires, homeless people, veterans, trans folks, trans veterans, musicians, coffee lovers, Germans, Czechs, boiler repairmen, foresters, yurt technicians, ultra marathoners, couch potatoes, rock climbers, spelunkers, dock builders, burn outs, people who were just burned out, gardeners, cops and robbers, and a guy who sets up radio towers in Antarctica.
No nurses or practicing lawyers, no bankers either. Not that I've met.
________________
Progress: 1480 miles. In NY. Delis galore.
Lack-of-electrolyte-depression kicked in during a rainy stretch leading into a tough week. I had to slow down and take an unexpected very short day into town on a Sunday since I had a resupply box held hostage at the post office. Learning lessons multiple times is one of my least favorite activities.
Then it rained for a few days and my meditation, stretching, and journaling practices suffered. Then my phone screen had enough of the bumping, bruising, and general wetness, so it quit on me. I'm sad to report I don't have any pictures of the transition from New Jersey into New York. You missed the boardwalk through the nature preserve, cows, cool bridge, and bears. My home state greeted me with the toughest hiking since Georgia. It was equally pretty, green, and steep. The kind of trail where your eyes widen and you look around like, "you expect me to do this?" Some of the rock scrambling was sketchy, especially after the rain, especially at night. It's a little preview of New Hampshire, which is exciting.
But it kicked my ass, and I had miles to make since I promised to meet Tia at Bear mountain. Thank you again, Tia, for ferrying me between as many counties as cell phone repair kiosks, and for feeding me barbecue. I was ready for my phone back after a few days. I liked the extra disconnect, but once I was close enough to feel the warm glow of screen time, navigating who had the right parts for repair by when...it was a fiasco.
This resulted in an unplanned zero where I binged on dopamine and stayed up real late. It's the same way I deal with stress in real life. On zero days, my routines and diet go to shit. Kind of like weekends in real life. The trail strips so much away and you walk a lot so reflection floods in once you're building momentum again. I do well with structure, I indulge when it's gone, but I deserve a break from rigid routine. I'm not a man of moderation. A rough week handled well can still make for a bad day. I can find that release valve when pressure builds up, or my lizard brain is gonna find it without my help.
In When Things Fall Apart, Pema talks about giving up hope -to understand and relate to your actions.
"We may still have addictions of all kinds, but we cease to believe in them as a gateway to happiness. So many times we've indulged the short-term pleasure of addiction."
"We've done it so many times that we know that grasping at this hope is a source of misery that makes a short-term pleasure a long-term hell."
Amen, sister.
Updates on Gear: New shoes. Swapped out my first bag for my summer sleeping bag. My base weight is officially under 19 pounds. Hell yeah.
Reader request: Elliot from Buffalo asks "what has changed about your expectations of the Appalachian trail"
I did not expect to meet so many nature nerds. It's great. I've learned so much about forestry. Yes obviously I knew people on the AT would be all about it and I probably could have expected it, but guess what I didn't.
I definitely did not expect to occasionally be treated like a minor celebrity. People gawk, and ask if I'm a thru hiker. They give me gifts of food and drink, tell me stories, or ask a bunch of questions. I feel important and rare. I am the world's leading expert on my through hike, after all.