[at-l] WAS sleeping bag?

[Cody Girl]

Thanks hiker for your thoughtful response.  I would very much appreciate
anyone who wants to share their stories of the most difficult challenges
they faced.   It would be beneficial to have a complete and realistic
picture of the what to expect and I have SO MUCH to learn!

BTW - to all of you.  You are knocking me out with your positive,
thoughtful posts.
Tortoise

On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 8:29 PM, hiker 317 <hiker317 at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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>>
>
>
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