Preparing for a Thruhike.

Writing this section cracks me up.  I didn't do almost ANY prep at all before "doing one of these", back in 2009.  And yet, here we are- you're on on my blog, and you've clicked on this page.  So, wipe the cheetoh dust off your fingers and let's take a crack at it!

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THE DARKNESS's Rules for Getting Into Thruhiking

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1.  Do a Little Self-Assessment. (Gently.)

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Think about why a thruhike appeals to you.  Is it the time in nature?  Sense of escape? Promise of a group of fun friends?  Rockin' bod at the end of the Trail?

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1. I can assure you that, at some point on your hike, if it is over about 72 hours and the weather is anything other than 73 degrees and sunny with  a light breeze, you will loudly curse Nature, probably multiple times.  With or without tears.  

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2.  At some point on a multi-month hike, that skinny little trail spanning out in front of you will feel ludicrously confining and dumb.  You've done so much, and yet there it still is, merrily and innocently weaving away for hundreds more miles to go.  That's the moment where you might say,  "hmmmmm.  How much of this is a story my mind has created?  AM I trapped at home?"  But I digress.

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3.  If you hike one of the massively popular trails in the world like the PCT or the Camino de Santiago, you will be surrounded by people of all walks of life.  But you might wanna ask yourself-how is making friends normally for you? Do personal relationships feel emotionally loaded a lot of the time?  That element will be magnified x 10 on the trail.  How do you cope with culture shock, if this trail is not in your home country or continent?    

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4.  Sure, if you're never done this before, and you have a few extra pounds, you will probably lose a bunch of weight.  That can be life-changing. And still, like all dieters intentional or inadvertant around the world, the vast majority of thruhikers regain the weight loss that they experienced on Trail when they stop hiking  (unless it is a kickstart to radically change their lifestyle.)  Don't get me started on diet culture.  Also, while for some reason this sport seems to move women towards our culturally-defined ideal body, it  generally leaves men looking like prisoners of war by the end of a hike :D   It's an aesthetic, but it may not be the one you're looking for.

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Now that that's out of the way, I have one final and all-encompassing question that is more important than literally anything else that you need to ask yourself (and answer HONESTLY).  

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How OK are you with being Uncomfortable?

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Your honest answer to this is more important than your baseline fitness, your experience backpacking, and how much money you have.  The Trail WILL get you into shape.  You WILL learn the skills you need as you go (if you choose an appropriate first trail, see below.) You DON'T have to break the bank if you make a budget, get used and cheap gear, stay the hell out of trail towns.  But, for as long as you are hiking, you will feel a *little* damp, a *little* cold, a *little* hot, a *little* tired, a *little* itchy, a *little* achy, a *little* cranky (not all at the same time.)  Are you going to be ok with that?  This fact is generally blasted away by the freight train of endorphins your brain enjoys from everything else a thruhike entails (fresh air! all-day gentle exercise! sunshine! authentic friendships!  the views!  massively reduced screentime! no stress!  maybe the least overstimulated you have ever felt in your life! Concrete goal attainment! Breathing in soil microbes!) , but for some people, the difference between how they expected to feel and this fact is enough to end their hike.  Sometimes, within the first few days.

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Moving on.

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2. Choose a first trail that you will have fun on, and won't kill you.

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Are you a celebrated ultra runner and experienced mountaineer?  Hell yah.  Go right for the Great Himalayan Trail.  Does a five-minute jog in the city leave you asthmatic and wheezing, and your way to destress is primarily getting drunk with your work friends (this was me!!)  Start with a less technically challenging trail, in the normal season for that trail, that has a sane amount of elevation gain and loss-the Camino de Santiago in summer, the Appalachian Trail northbound in April, the Jon Muir Trail in July- September in a normal snow year.  Note that I am not saying a "Short" trail.  Just not a trail where you definitely need crampon and ice axe skills to be safe (all of the Sierra Nevada mountains this year until probably September), where significant route finding and river crossing skills are required (the Great Divide Trail in Canada), or the elevation gain and loss is so aggressive that you will get a stress injury and just generally hate your life until you quit (Italy's Grande Traversata delle Alpi).  

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When I started the Appalachian Trail in 2009,  I had zero backpacking or outdoors skills, and I was woefully out of shape.  But, I was surrounded almost immediately by gentle friends who taught me what I needed to know, knew where I was at all times, and took care of me when I made mistakes (getting hypothermic in the Great Smoky Mountains.)  That's because the Appalachian Trail is really DESIGNED with the beginner backpacker in mind, at least as a northbound thruhike.  The trail in the South is gently rolling hills.  Hostels and gear stores pepper the trail, and there are literally hundreds of trail angels around in the high season.  As you gain strength, the trail gradually gets harder and harder, finally culminating with the White Mountains and beautiful rugged Maine.  It's the right combination of sequentially increasing difficulty to not burn you out, and it's FUN.

This is what you want.  It's supposed to be pretty fun.  You're supposed to feel pretty good, not every day, but frequently.  

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3.  Maybe just stay off the Internet.

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I start this section wryly aware that you are reading my blog on the Internet, and that this page is just my unedited opinions.  That being said......

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Resupply plan??  Gear??  Shoes?  Miles per day??  SNAKES????

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You.  Will.  Figure.  All.  Of.  This.  Out.  

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Seriously.  SERIOUSLY.  

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Consider buying one good guide book for the trail you are going to hike.  For the big American trails, take a look at the website of the maintaining club for the trail, like the Pacific Crest Trail Association's website for the PCT.   If you are a new backpacker, you will get lost in the opinions of the masses on the various Facebook and Reddit groups, and you have no way of assessing if the advice is good, or really, really dumb.  The writer's confidence in their opinions will not correlate  with their skill level or experience, and you have no way of knowing if the year THEY hiked whatever trail they are advising on is similar to the conditions or season you are planning to hike.   

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"You don't need an ice axe in the Sierras.  Quit fear-mongering."

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"Most hikers don't wear underwear."

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"A thruhike costs about $10,000."

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I read all of these opinions this Spring on the PCT boards.  They're all dumb.  The writers were all very confident.  So, maybe just skip it?  You won't miss anything, I promise.

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4.  For God's sake..... Stretch.  

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 It's the end of the day, and you roll up on your campsite.  Your new trail friends are already setting up and cooking dinner.  You're tired.  You're hungry.  You quickly cook your mac and cheese and eat it in about 2.5 minutes.  It's cold, so you get in your sleeping bag.  Now the lampshades on your eyes are following that delicious circadian rhythm the Trail imparts as the sun sets and you think "I'm just gonna slip into my tent...."

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STOP!! Get out of your sleeping bag.  Put your puffy on.  Stretch!!!!

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The benefits of stretching are extremely well-supported by  decades of research in exercise physiology (AFTER the activity.)  You NEED to stretch your big hiking muscles in your  legs and butt to prevent stress injuries, to improve your sleep, and to make hiking more fun (Because it also improves your athletic performance.)  

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If you have Audible, I highly recommend Sue Fuller's "Strong AM-PM yoga," even just the evening sequence for after hiking.  Otherwise it doesn't need to be fancy.  Just google "post 

hike stretches."  5-10 minutes is great.  DO IT.  

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That's about it.  Shoot me an email if you have a question you (think) I can help with.  And I'll try my best.  See you out there!

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THE DARKNESS!

April 2023