Taught by the Trail Lesson 1: Nothing For Granted

Thru-Hiking the Appalachian Trail quickly changes all aspects of everyday life. Although as a backpacker you are removed from society, few individuals are more at the mercy of nature. You may be the captain of your own ship, but all captains must answer to the sea. Sunlight, water, wind, and rain- each of these can upend your mileage, your pace, or your mood. It didn't take long on trail before I began counting my blessings. This post is only a top ten.

Number 10: Water

“but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.” - Jn.‬ ‭4‬:‭14‬ ‭

In modern America we not only drink potable water, we also bathe in it. Water in our society is accessible, safe, and plentiful so it’s no wonder that it seems guaranteed. Just this winter Richmond VA, my home town, experienced a boil advisory. Tap water had to be boiled before anyone could drink it and this shut down schools and businesses for days.

After being on trail for over a month, filtering water has become second nature. Because the water is often infrequent and in small amounts the sighting of a babbling brook is delightful for more than aesthetic reasons.

Number 9: Food & Food storage

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!” - Ps.‬ ‭34‬:‭8‬ ‭

When what you have is limited by what you carry, food is rarely in abundance. The eventual strategy of most thru hikers is to carry a few more calories than the minimum needed to make it to the next town, and then to make up for the loss during your brief times in civilization.

All food must be shelf stable in order to keep in the back country and ideally it is sealed in single -serving packaging. Since water can be found on trail and is super heavy, food also must be as dehydrated as possible.

This diet commonly leads to hikers dreaming of delicacies such as cheeseburgers, fresh fruit and red velvet cakes as they plod into town.

In addition to the difficulty of getting proper nutrition on the trail, hikers also must securely store their food at night. Hikers are often required to hang their food from trees in bear country. Even in the winter when bears are fast asleep hikers still have to protect their food against mice and other wildlife.

Put together, the bliss of eating cooked food at a restaurant and the glory of sleeping indoors is no small thing after camp cuisine.

Number 8: Toilets

“And you shall have a trowel with your tools, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement.” - Deut.‬ ‭23‬:‭13‬ ‭

I do not take toilets for granted anymore.

On trail there are two options for disposing of “solid waste”. Privies and cat holes.

Prives are found near shelters and are essentially wooden port-a-potties.

Cat holes are six inch deep holes in the dirt that are “made to order” and must be dug away from the trail and water sources. When you are miles from a privy and get the call, you gain a lot of respect for indoor plumbing.

Number 7: Beds

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Ps.‬ ‭4‬:8

Mattresses, warm and comfortable, are gifts from above, although anyone who’s been camping knows that sleeping bags aren’t too bad. Still, the hassle of inflating a sleeping pad every night, only to wake up hours later to the sound of it leaking is enough to put beds at number 7 on this list.

Number 6: Showers & Laundry

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” - Ps.‬ ‭51‬:‭7‬ ‭

It’s delightful to be clean. Most people already acknowledge the luxurious nature of a hot shower, and when you’ve been in the woods for about a week the sensation only gets better. Even just putting on a pair of clean, dry socks in damp weather is like tucking in your feet into two warm cozy beds. Also after scouring myself with soap and putting on fresh clothes I find that I am a much more pleasant person to be around.

Number 5: Power

“The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.” - Ps. ‭135‬:‭15‬-‭18‬ ‭‬‬

When I’ve texted friends while on the trail, several have said “for some reason I thought you wouldn’t have your phone”. Yet technology has fought to make itself indispensable. Most of the Appalachian trail has some cell service and the FarOut app can run rings around paper maps. This leads to electronic power becoming very valuable on trail.

One night after setting up camp I walked half a mile to a gas station. I had known that gas station would already be closed but I was still able to charge my power bank through an external outlet.

Thru Hikers often aspire to only listen to the sounds of nature while hiking. But after weeks on trail, headphone usage quickly began to eat into my power supply.

All this to say, electricity is quite the treat. So I’m going to try to treat it as such.

Number 4: Injury

“Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.” - Isa. ‭35‬:‭3‬ ‭

Though many Thru Hikers are college-aged, due to rocks and roots and perhaps a love of complaining, it is not uncommon to hear us spring chickens complaining vehemently about our aching joints. One trick I learned is to hike until your feet stop hurting, instead of waiting to hike until your feet stop hurting (They usually warm up to it after 30 minutes).

If a thru hiker spends enough time building up their mileage over the first few weeks, the chance of an overuse injury lessens. When a hikers legs start to handle consistent long miles without stressing the muscles and joints, it’s said that they’ve gotten their “hiker legs”.

Injury, especially avoidable injury, is one of the toughest reasons to have to go off trail and every year it ends dozens of would be thru hikes. So on those days when nothing is sore, it’s important to give thanks for health and strength before leaving camp.

Number 3: Terrain

“Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.” - Isa.‬ ‭40‬:‭4‬

As thru hikers marching up and down mountains is part of the job description, but the type of terrain (like everything on this list) can easily make or break a day.

The main terrain differences in a day’s hike come down to three factors.

First, the simplest of the three is mileage. Is today going to be Big Miles or a Nero (Near Zero Miles)? Is the plan to hike from dawn to dusk, or just to the next shelter?

Second comes elevation gain. Are we just following a ridge line or going down into a valley and back up again? Does the trail utilize switchbacks to climb up and down the mountain or is it charging straight up the slope and back down the other side?

Lastly, the technicality of the trail. This relates to rocks, roots, flooding and blow downs.

Thankfully, long mileage days with loads of elevation gain over rough obstacles are few and far between.

Number 2: Good company

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.” - Eccl. 4‬:‭9‬

On the morning of March 6th I said goodbye to a group from the Kenyon College Outdoors club and a Section Hiker named Sassy, and began descending out of the Great Smoky Mountains. The night before we’d fit over 10 people into the shelter, and despite a leaky roof, spirits were high. Having spent the night in such company I left the Cosby Knob Shelter unaware of the challenge that the day would bring.

For the most part the day’s challenges were physical: snow coating the ground, large blow downs on the trail, and bitter winds. But the biggest challenge was mental. From the moment I left the shelter until the next morning I didn’t see a soul.

I used to think that I couldn’t feel lonely, and I still believe that I don’t get homesick. That night I would’ve been ecstatic for any company. I hope I learn to appreciate solitude more by the end of this hike.

Number 1: Sunny

“For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” - Matt.‬ ‭5‬:‭45‬

Weighing in at Number 1 is beautiful weather.

There’s an old rhyme that goes: “whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot, we’ll weather the weather whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.”

This is the life of most thru hikers. Time waits for no man and if a day is going to be rainy, then that means walking in the rain.

So when the sun is out and the sky is blue, the day is a great day. This is because a day of hiking in the dark, in the fog and in the cold is not worth comparing with the minor inconvenience of sweating.

To put it bluntly, Thru Hiking has taught me to not even take my Shadow for granted.