[at-l] WAS sleeping bag?

[hiker 317]

I wonder if it would be of any help to Tortoise if those of us who had
difficult moments/days/months detailed what did or did not put us off the
Trail, and how we either continued, quit, or returned to hike another day:
I've done all three. My worst story is a wee bit hard to confess, since it
was a glaring mistake: what worked fine for footwear in the arid Southwest
was a disaster in the snow/slush/mud/ice of January in GA: I turned my heels
to hamburger in just a few days. Fortunately a relative's home was only a
few hundred miles away, so i had a handy place to heal the wounds and
rethink the sock/boot combo. A month of R&R and some lighter, quicker drying
boots and a new sock regimen worked, even though conditions weren't any
warmer or dryer in February. I completed that hike 6 months and a week
later, but failed to complete the next two attempts, one because of injury,
and one because of hellhounds on my trail...oh well, at least i got the boot
thing solved. Everyone who goes as far as they are everlastingly happy with
going is awesome, but the folks who really have my undying admiration are
the folks who walk thousands of miles with disabilities, be they physical or
mental, or both. Just realizing that about 4-5 *blind* hikers have completed
the AT is just amazing, and i always think back to the fellow with cerebral
palsy, and the famous schizophrenic, although i'm sure that there have been
others who have persevered through even deeper troughs of difficulty.
Sometimes (always?) the most difficult hurdles are those that can't
reasonably be predicted/expected.

On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 7:34 PM, Teresa French Wench <
WenchAT03 at tampabay.rr.com> wrote:

>  Excellent post!
>
> It doesn't really matter how much you spent on gear, or what gear you have.
> If you have gear that you are comfortable with and you are confident you
> can
> survive with your gear, then that seems good enough for me.
>
> I really had NO idea what I was getting into with a thruhike.  I'd hardly
> been backpacking either!  But for all the days of rain in '03, those
> moments
> (and sometimes in a week there were only moments) of sunshine were
> powerful!
> For me, one good view erased days of foggy, cloudy, non-views.  One ray of
> sunshine hitting the ground I walked upon erased days of rain.  I never
> wanted to quit.  There were times I missed family so bad that I wanted them
> to come along and join me, but I never wanted to quit.  If you WANT to do
> it, go for it!  The worst thing you can do is NOT try.
>
> And, enjoy it!  The worst day of hiking is better than the best day at
> work,
> right?  Right!!
> :-)
> Missing it,
> Wench
> www.trailjournals.com/wench
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <trailr at aol.com>
> Subject: Re: sleeping bag?
>
>
> >  I spent LOTS of money on gear to keep it light, but more important was
> > "keep your head in the hike", and  Know the realities you are going to
> > face.  AND don't give up because you are having a bad day! You WILL have
> a
> > bad day, and you WILL get over it. NEVER quit in town, hike out and you
> > will feel better.
>
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