As I was driving back from the ALDHA Gathering this past weekend, I has plenty of time to reflect on both my Appalachian Trail thru-hike and Mississippi River expedition. At first glance, these two things have nothing in common, but dig a little deeper and you'll find plenty of shared issues : clean water protection, open space planning, long-distance recreational travel, volunteer coordination, private / non-profit / government administration, and a host of others. More to the point, if I hadn't thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, I wouldn't have attempted to paddle the Mississippi, must less be writing a book about that experience.

For me, long distance travel is a means to an end, and the "trail between the ears" is often the richest experience of all. I'm changing the name of the blog to better represent the interests I have with the environmental protection, management, and recreation aspects of both Appalachian Trail and Mississippi River. I'm open to suggestions of where to take this, so join me for the ride.

I am conducting this study of thru-hikers as part of my continuing interest and research on the Appalachian Trail. It is adapted from Roland Mueser's 1989 study, my own thesis, and other related literature. As you well know, much has changed over the last 18 years, and it is my hope that this study will be helpful in contributing to the body of knowledge related to the Appalachian Trail and its users.

If you have attempted a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, regardless of the mileage completed, please take a few moments to complete this survey. Responses will be completely confidential. The survey is composed of eight pages, and pre-testers have indicated that takes about 30-45 minutes to complete. Feel free to "guess-timate" when you are prompted for numerical figures.

I anticipate that data collection will continue until August 2007. If you would like to receive results of the study, fill out the email address prompt on the last page of the survey. If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please feel free to contact me at johnny.swank@gmail.com.

I've been writing spree lately about thru-hiking and posted some more stuff on the Articles section. With the thru-hiking seaon coming up, I started with some general ideas on Thru-hiking on the Cheap, and I just posted an article about Cutting Down on Town Time.

Let me know what you think.

-John

At one point in time, potential thru-hikers could budget about a dollar per mile to cover their expenses on the trail. That day has long since past, with the average thru-hike costing about $3,000 - $4,000 dollars for on-trail expenses. Add to that figure your travel costs to and from the trail, medical expenses, equipment both before the trip, and living expenses immediately after you return. While $4,000 sounds like a lot of money (and it is), consider that your living expenses for 5-6 months back in the "real world" are likely much higher and it becomes sort of relative. At least that's the way I justify it.

Where does all this money go? All you're doing is hiking for six months, right? Wrong.

Here's a few common things you'll need to buy on the trail.

Food: This will probably be your biggest expense on the trail, especially "town food." All that pizza, beer, and ice cream adds up quickly, and only the most determined can get in and out of town without eating a meal somewhere. I budget about $7 per day just for trail food.
Lodging: This probably the second largest expense. It only take a few overnight visits to town to see how quickly hostels, motels, and other lodging adds up.
Major Gear replacement
Shoes and socks
Phone cards/long distance charges
Postage for maildrops, letters, and equipment sent home.
Stove fuel
Extra activities like movies or trips off-trail
Magazines and newspapers
Internet Cafes

I'll address some of these individually in future sections, but for now, I have another article that will give you head start on how to cut your expenses called Thru-hiking on the Cheap.

I had just a shoestring budget for both the Appalachian Trail thru-hike and Mississippi River Expedition, so every dollar had to count. Check out my penny-pinching tips and tricks in my new article "Thru-hiking on the Cheap."

Appalachian Trail thru-hiking

The Appalachian Trail (AT) is a 2,175 mile trail down the Appalachain Mountain chain running from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Katahdin in Maine. It's within a day's drive of over half the population of the United States, and about 6 million folks a year step foot on the AT.

In 2000, spent six months hiking the AT from Maine to Georgia. In many ways that time out on the trail changed everything for me.

I had spent 1o years thinking about hiking it, and finally after a divorce and all sorts of other personal drama I decided to get off my butt and make a go of it.

That first step was the sweetest of them all-just getting everything together and taking a risk to do something that had been festering around for a decade. It was the hardest six months of my life, but I wouldn't trade that experience for the world.

As I was finishing, I made a deal with myself to do something cool every five years. I don't want to look back and regret not doing something when I'm old and grey. Besides, it gives me better stories to lie to the grandkids about.

Here's a few links to some of the better Appalachian Trail and backpacking resources. Feel free to give me a holler if you have any questions about the AT or long-distance hiking.

Take care,

-John

www.appalachiantrail.org/
www.nps.gov/appa/
www.whiteblaze.net/
www.thru-hiker.com
www.trailjournals.com/