[at-l] "Back then..." comparisons 1979-2004

[Sloetoe]

Originally posted August 18th, 2004

"back then..." 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mountain Dew
I love to read old journals from the A.T. I don't care
what people say....the thru-hikers of the 50's, 60's,
70's, and possibly the 80's were hard core
thru-hikers. Their gear wasn't even close to what it
is now and the trail wasn't in the same shape. Need I
mention that trail magic was almost unheard of as were
most hostels. Much respect to those that hiked back
then. 



Well, as of 1978 (when I was preparing for my '79
hike)...
### There was GoreTex. Mine was a pit-zipped little
number just like the current North Face "Mountain
Light." Used only sparingly since '79, the GoreTex
just failed in 2003.
### There was fleece (what's now termed "300 weight");
still use mine.
### Goose down is still the best stuff around for
lightness and longevity.
### People who bought non-Norweigian or non-Littleway
welted boots needed 2-3 pairs of boots to finish. I
just bought my third pair of boots ever: Limmer
"Lightweight" Norweigian-welted beauties.
### There were no water filters or chemical kits.
### MSR stoves were the rage, though the Svea 123R was
still lighter to carry. Alcohol and alcohol stoves
were available, as were fuel tabs, but none of us were
bright enough to use 'em. They were dismissed as
under-powered and bad in cold weather. I'll bet
ZipStoves were out there too, come to think of it...
### Lowe Alpine internal frames were just appearing;
most lusted after JanSport D3s and Kelty Tioga and
Camp Trails external frames. I used a way-ahead of
it's time flexible (PVC-frame) external from Alpine
Designs, with a vertically-adjustable hip belt just
like on Kelty packs since 1990; think of "load
lifters" from your hip belt instead of your shoulder
straps. Although the pack bag is straining at all
seems, with replacement shoulder straps and Kelty hip
belt, the frame remains "as new." No silnylon was
used, but as far as frameless packs go, Yak Works "Yak
Pack" was a 3,000-7,000 ci beauty that looked more
like living sculpture than a backpack. The best in
contemporary frameless packs could still use lessons
from the YakPack. I'd buy one in second. Just to fill
it and hang it on a wall. The shape just BEGGED for
adventure.....
### I used a Marmot Mountain Works "Marmot Burrow"
GoreTex bivy sac just like the Integral Designs "South
Col" that I use today, right down to the stealthy
Forest Green color.
### Ensolite ruled the sleeping pad end of things;
ThermaRest was reserved for the RV types ("where they
belong to this day, in my opinion" he grumbled). FWIW,
ensolite appears on a big rebound since the Mt.
Washington pad went off the market and people are
shopping for alternatives.
### RipStop nylon was pretty cool, but no one would
think of 1.1 ounce stuff. So tents were ruled by
two-layer designs going 5-7 pounds. Tarping was rare
(except for the ever-practical throughhiker in the
second half of the journey), and poly painting sheets
ruled groundclothdom. No Tyvek.
### Socks? No ergonomic designs, CoolMax fibers, etc.
It was instead Polypro liner socks and, if you were
*really* lucky, Merino wool hiking socks. I used
"Thousand Mile Socks" (came with a guarantee!); bought
six pairs, split 'em up 3 and 3, and barely produced
any "wear" on 'em. My sons will inherit them soon. My
number of blisters on the AT? 0. But having hiked in a
variety of SmartWools, Thorlos, and Bridgedales, I
think they all are comfy, though I favor SmartWools by
a goodly margin. (BTW, & FWIW, I think the Thousand
Mile Socks I wore were the same as the Rohner (?) sock
sold by Sierra Trading Post to this day. But, hey, I'm
a SmartWool guy.)
### Nearly everybody wore a cotton t-shirt, which
really sucked down south; those who wore soccer shirts
or the rapidly-coming-on polypro shirts stunk to high
heaven. "Duo-fold" was wool/cotton. Thank God for
CoolMax.
### Oh, and "sticks": I used the bottom of a bamboo
fishing pole, with a 5" ferrule of lightweight metal.
Strode with it every step, wore the metal down to a
nub which came off in Connecticut; the bamboo wore
down 1" per 100 miles thereafter. Naturally, still
have the stick. Komperdell did ski poles, which some
used; Leki was unknown, as were collapsible,
adjustable, left-right-handed, shock-absorbing,
multi-tipped, HEAVY stuff out there now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So the only gear differences come in alcohol stove
designs, tyvek, CoolMax, and sil. Not what you'd call
earth-shaking.

Pack loads? Leaving Amicalola in 1979, I thought I was
doing well at 49.5 lbs with water and 3-4 days worth
of food for one. (But 12 days ago, I left Monson with
8 days of food for three, and with water my pack
weighed 47 pounds.) When I left Pearisburg in 1979, I
weighed my pack empty of food and water, and it came
in at 16.5 pounds -- pretty close to the 12-15 I'd
expect now.

Is the trail in the same shape? No. No way. It is much
closer to a McTrail than anything else -- a
homogenized, monotonous tube funneling unsuspecting
travelers from Georgia to Maine with as little
"exposure" to the actual historical, sociological, or
economic geography through which they travel as the
trail routers can manage. The loss of exposure is a
crime. The worst trail routings are gone (mud sluices
in TN down which might hang a rope, or frictionless
shear rock faces in Mahoosucs that... ("he shudders at
the memory..."). So the trail in TN is now graded for
future auto travel, and the trail in Maine now
parallels the smooth tote roads on which it used to
travel, in favor of amazing ankle-busting root/rock
tank traps that reduce your lake country travel to
10-15 miles/12 hours looking at nothing but your feet.
MAN does that get old. And some AMAZING rock steps
have put the Mahoosucs way behind the Whites in
overall toughness, leaving the northern LT all alone
in the race(?) for "Gnarliest Piece of Long Distance
Real Estate."

Trail magic was (back then) magic, but there were
still places like "Roger Brickner's Appalachia
Cottage" near Greenwood Lake NY. He would send little
hand-painted signs to hikers with specific
instructions to nail them up in the middle of some
nasty climb on so-and-so mountain. Then every hiker
who followed would read something like "Come on,
Hiker! Only 873.4 miles more to Roger's Appalachia
Cottage!" Stories of great steak dinners abounded, and
seeing that sign kept me going on more than one
occasion. But the stories I hear of individuals' acts
of magic now are no different than what I experienced
in 1978-1979.

Hostels were more prevalent back then, including Hot
Springs Jesuit facility, Waynesboro Fire Department,
and the Gorham Congregational Church, all of which
(and more) are now closed to hikers. Today, a small
industry has sprung up to tap the flow of hikers -- in
some cases, these facilities are a real treat; in
others, they make it plain that you're really not
welcome, but are only tolerated for your money.

So where *is* there a difference, if at all? Trail
intelligence is way up -- videos like Lynn Wheldon's
"How to hike the AT" and "Lightweight Backpacking
Revolution" let everyone start the AT with knowledge
they might have only gained a thousand miles up the
trail. The ALDHA Companion and Wingfoot's Guide
started life as a two-page mimeograph that I didn't
see until DWG. But we all got by, and used registers
more. But the videos, etc. allow people to set better
expectations, and arrive ready for their share of
difficulties. Or somewhat ready...!

Are throughhikers now less "hard-core" than before? No
way. Hurricane Bonnie hit Katahdin on the morning of
Friday the 13th, and dumped 4.75 inches on the front
side, and 10.5 ("ten point five") inches at Chimney
Pond. The two crossings of the Nesowadnehunk (at 9
miles(?) and 7 miles(?) to go) were sluices -- I was
standing with one leg knee deep and one leg ankle
deep, and was getting washed down stream. Whole trees
were washing by. Wild stuff. (To make a long story
short...) At 17:00 or so, four throughhikers (Squish,
Spam, Condor, and "Doug") came steaming up to the
Katahdin Stream ranger station, having just spent the
day tackling those crossings that waylayed my sons and
I earlier in the day (and lower in volume). They were
exhausted, sallow-eyed, played, and OBVIOUSLY
sufficiently hungry for the climb that they would have
eaten Katahdin bite-by-bite right there, had someone
suggested that as a course of action. THAT is "hard
core."

So: gear is little different, hikers are no different,
trail intell is much improved, and the trail's hardest
and easiest points are McTrailed to a "long green
tube" only hinted at before. And ANYONE who traverses
that long green tube, in one go or in many, deserves
as much respect now as before.

Sloetoe
Ga->Me'79