In two weeks’ time I will be driven to North Georgia and left for dead. While that may seem a bit dramatic, I am sure it will feel as such when I wave goodbye to my family and set off on a 2,200 mile walk in the woods.  

I woke up this morning at 4:00 a.m. and made a list of all the things I am afraid of for my upcoming Appalachian Trail thru-hike. At 5:00 a.m. I was two cups of coffee into a ridiculous list that encompassed everything from lightning strikes to pooping my pants. My overactive imagination was inventing ways in which I might die, and a Sasquatch encounter was not ruled out.

I am not alone in my angst. Several other upcoming thru-hikers have reached out to me regarding their anxieties. We as a class of crazy adventurers are all stepping forth onto the trail with a good deal of fear and trepidation. Our fears are heavier than the packs on our backs, and yet the excitement for a journey to surpass all journeys beckons us forward. Wonder awaits along America’s most beloved footpath and all fear aside, I plan on showing up for it.

In an attempt to “talk through” my fears, I have composed a list of the top ten concerns I have for thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail.

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Being Homesick.

Despite all the things that could possibly go wrong in the backcountry, my biggest fear is missing home too much. Home is comfortable. Home is safe. Home smells good and there is food there. Not to mention people who love me, and cats who allow me to love them. I am willfully giving up what’s comfortable for what will be miserable a good portion of the time.

I believe my biggest fear in missing home too much is the fact that at any time I can simply “tap out” and be back in my comfortable world surrounded by people and things that make me feel safe. Let’s face it, home is an easy out. It will be an especially easy out should something go wrong at home. If there is a problem at home I am typically the person who solves it, or offers direction in solving it. That sense of control will need to be set aside, and to be honest it scares me. I can’t bear the thought of something going wrong at home and me not being there to fix it. Call it a control issue if you like, but it is an anxiety that I am carrying with me none-the-less.

Remedy: Have a schedule for regular family visits and create a routine for “checking in”.

Scheduling regular family visits along the trail will help with homesickness. It will give me something to look forward to on those not so fun days. Additionally, family visits will allow me to resupply with items from home which will be comforting.

I use a Garmin inReach Mini 2 as a satellite communication device. This means that even when I don’t have cell service, I can check in with home via satellite. I am able to send and receive messages from home, which will not only inform my family of my daily whereabouts, but it will keep me updated on happenings back home as well.

The physical challenges of thru-hiking

I am not your typical hiker. I am heavier and slower than most. Strenuous climbs are doubly strenuous for me. This doesn’t mean I can’t do the difficult stuff, it just means that it will take me much longer than the average hiker. My hiking pace is ridiculously slow. If I hit 1 mph, I feel like I’m off to the races. I am faster on the downhills than the ups, but I am still considerably slower than most other hikers. This causes me anxiety for things such as getting to camp before sunset, or being too exhausted to pitch my tent properly, or prepare my meals. Exhaustion mixed with anxiety is not good.

The good news is that I won’t always be slow. I will get stronger, faster, and my stamina will increase with each day on trail. I am learning to accept the fact that no matter what everyone else is doing, I must hike my own hike. I can do this, I know I can, but I must do it my way.

Remedy: Focus on the day at hand.

I can’t worry about summiting Mount Katahdin, Maine before I have climbed Blood Mountain, Georgia. Focusing on the day at hand and it’s challenges, I hope, will help reduce the overall anxiety of this monumental task. “Dear Lord, give me this day my daily portion of trail.”, will be my mantra.

Injury

I’m no Spring chicken. At 55 years old I have aches and pains in places I never dreamed of. It takes time for these aches and pains to work themselves out. Recovery on trail will be crucial. My anxiety comes from fear that day after day of strenuous activity will not allow my body time to recover. This hike is going to be an everyday way of life, not a weekend adventure as I have been accustomed to in the past. The trail will be my home, and each day my body and mind will be challenged in ways I cannot yet imagine.

I must trust the process and really listen to my body. In the beginning there will be more “zero” days in which I stay in a hostel or motel to rest. This is crucial. If hiking my own hike means popping into town every few days to recover, then so be it. This trek is meant to be fun. It’s not a competition.

Remedy: Take as much time as I need and rest often.

I don’t have plans for big mileage days anytime soon. It will be shelter and hostel hopping for me, and I’m good with that. My body will dictate my pace, not my ego. I won’t be driven by other people’s expectations of me – they aren’t hiking my hike, I am, remember?

At the end of it all, I am the one who has signed up for this. I have no one to answer to but myself. Even more important than completing the hike, is coming home safely once it is finished.

Sickness

As with injury, I worry about getting sick while on trail. Whether that be from water-borne illnesses such as giardia, urinary tract infections, or just a common cold, I will need to rely on what I have in my first aid kit until I reach a town to get proper medical attention. I’m sure this fear has contributed to many a thru-hiker’s first aid kit weighing more than it should.

I am trying to dial down my fear of getting sick by balancing the “what might happen” with the “what probably will happen”. Taking care of myself on trail will be extremely important to avoid both injury and illness. Nutrition and hydration will place a big role in staying healthy, as will stretching properly before and after each day’s hike. I anticipate being a yoga master by the end of this thru-hike.

Remedy: Pay attention to details and listen to my body.

In terms of details, it is important that I am diligent in filtering water properly. This includes taking care of my water filter by preventing it from freezing and replacing it when in doubt. I plan on using the Katadyn Befree water filter, as well as carrying Aquatabs in my first aid kit as backup.

Cleanliness is next to godliness, said no thru-hiker ever. And yet, I will try to clean up as best as possible at the end of each day. This will include daily tick checks. Ticks, notorious for transmitting Lyme disease, are the most dangerous creatures on trail.

Proper nutrition/hydration.

I burn a tremendous amount of calories per day when hiking. The average daily range will be 7,000-10,000 calories burned. There is no question that I will lose weight on this thru-hike. The dilemma is, how will I keep myself energized? I anticipate carrying on average three to four days worth of food at a time. This food will need to be calorie dense while remaining as lightweight as possible. Complex carbohydrates will be crucial to keep me energized, as will protein-rich foods to aide with recovery.

Thru-hikers tend to be junk food connoisseurs, and why not? If you could eat anything you like and still burn off the calories, you might be tempted to reach for that extra-large bag of Cheetos as well. I’m certain that I will. While I have every intention of eating as healthy as possible while on trail, it goes without saying that my calorie-deprived brain is going to want a treat, or two, or six, from time to time.

Still, I worry about getting the right nutrition to fuel my body as I put it through day after day of strenuous hiking.

Remedy: Take vitamins and supplements.

I will be carrying daily vitamins – iron, magnesium, and B-Complex to help keep things in check. In addition, I will be taking a daily greens and beet root supplement. These supplements have really helped my stamina and mental clarity. I will carry these supplements in small plastic bags verses bulky containers, and resupply them when my wife Jamey meets me on trail. The weight is minimal and I am considering them part of my daily food haul. In addition to the vitamins and supplements, I will carry electrolyte powder to help with hydration.

Unpredictable weather.

It’s the Appalachian Trail – it’s going to rain, snow, sleet, thunder, lightning, hail – it’s going to be downright apocalyptic in terms of weather. And it’s all going to be unpredictable. That’s terrifying!

Remedy: Trust my rain gear, and my gut and get regular satellite weather updates. Then plan accordingly.

I will always err on the side of caution. My Garmin inReach device will give me an up-to-date weather forecast for my exact location. I plan to use this feature daily and make plans accordingly. Extra precautions have been taken to keep my vital gear such as sleeping quilt and change of clothes dry. I will change when I need to and head into the nearest town should the weather become inclement.

Resupplying.

This is not really a fear, but more of a logistics concern in terms of how much food and supplies I will need to carry from one town to another. My anxiety lies in not knowing what will be available where.

Remedy: Consult my AT Guidebook and other resources. Have a tentative plan in place – at least through Georgia.

The good news about the Appalachian Trail is that it is very accessible. The trail crosses through many towns where resupplying can be done at local supermarkets, outfitters, or hostels. I am learning that there is little need to mail myself resupply boxes, and in fact it could be considerably more expensive to do so.

Communicating – being without cell service.

I know I listed communication as a remedy to being homesick, but it is also a cause for anxiety in terms of communicating with hostels, shuttle drivers, making hotel reservations, etc. As I stated, I can send text messages via my Garmin inReach device, but my worry is that I won’t be able to communicate effectively with town services this way. Texting via satellite communicating devices isn’t that easy. Remember the old flip phones where you have to select the letter you want, then scroll up or down to the next to spell a word? A bear could rip my lips off before I finished typing H-E-L-P.

Remedy: Reach out to hostels/shuttle drivers in advance and leave a list of town services with my Jamey so she can make reservations for me.

Boom, problem solved. I will let Jamey run “basecamp” by being my mode of communication when I am on trail and can’t easily communicate with town services on my own.

I should also note here that the entire Appalachian Trail is not without cell service. There will be several situations in which I will be able to make phone calls, or send regular text messages.

Food storage.

Back to bears ripping off people’s lips. I’m sure I don’t have to fear this, and yet it’s natural to think about how you will best protect yourself, your food, and wildlife while thru-hiking across fourteen states.

Bear cannister or food (bear) bag?

The ATC recommends hard-sided cannisters for storing food while camping along the Appalachian Trail. It is a recommendation, and not a requirement (except for a 5-mile section of the Georgia AT from March 1^st to June 1st). Due to the weight of these cannisters, approximately two pounds empty, most thru-hikers opt for bear bags which must be stored in metal bear boxes, hung from bear cables, or tree branches. A good many of the shelters along the Appalachian Trail have bear boxes and/or bear cables, but a good many do not. So a thru-hiker must be proficient in doing a proper “bear hang”.

I am of the camp that I do not want to carry more weight than I absolutely need to, and yet I want to make sure I am being responsible with my food storage. So, I am stressing a little about the quality of my bear hang. It is not terribly difficult to do, but my lack of experience has me second-guessing my abilities.

Remedy: Practicing my bear hang.

Experience = confidence. Enough said.

Sleeping in shelters with strangers.

I know this may sound unbelievable, but I am shy. It takes a minute for me to warm up to folks. Sleeping in a crowded shelter, lined up like sardines with a bunch of smelly strangers (like myself), is going to take a minute to get used to. That will probably be the moment when a giant thought bubble appears over my head with the words “You choose to do this?”

Remedy: Make friends with the smelly strangers next to me.

We all chose to do this. There are no true strangers in a crowded AT shelter. That makes all of us weird and ironically – family.

Bottom line – there are no certainties. The only thing I know for sure is that what I don’t know, the trail will teach me. The anxieties will eventually fade, and the trail will become, for a season, my home. I will grow stronger, faster, and more confident as I make my way towards Maine. My body will communicate it’s needs if I only listen to it. God and the trail will provide those needs. I will learn what I need to know, as I need to know it; and I will become what I am meant to be with each step I take.  

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