Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?

latimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–86 of 86 posts

Re: Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?

#81

Post by rtkaratekid »

mmmBacon wrote: post #63
jmnicolas wrote: post #58

> A black bear charged at one of them in Washington state. I'm a 43 yo French guy. In all my life, I only know one man that had problems with wildlife in France: he was charged by an angry wild boar and had to jump in a river to evade it. So I'm not worried at all about my safety when hiking in France. However if I was hiking in the US I'd probably carry a 44 Magnum at all times (the ultra lightweight one from S&W).…

I spent 5 days alone in the wilderness in Denali National Park with only bear spray and another week with a partner in Wrangell-St. Elias. Being in the wilderness in Denali was really unlike anything I had ever done before; hard to explain but I had never been that alone before. Despite having spent lots of time in wild lands in the lower 48, the only time I felt like I wanted a firearm was during my first 24 hours i…

I spent two weeks out there and had the same experience with vulnerability. I was a very experienced backpacker by then, but that was a a different experience in terms of wilderness.

Where did you go in the park?

Re: Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?

#82

Post by rtkaratekid »

oblib wrote: post #64

I appreciate the goals and tenacity to achieve them of the folks who do this kind of thing but it's not my style. I've spent a lot of time in our State and National forests and for the past 15 years most of it has been off trail and the past 10 most of my trips have been solo. Thru hikers tend to focus on the trail and their only goal is making miles. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not even close to the sa…

Interesting, I’ve never been asked for food etc. I don’t typically really bushwhack or go off trail a ton, but I guess I also don’t frequent really popular trails for the thru hikers.

There have been my own times where I’ve gotten very close to asking for help, but haven’t had to… yet

And I agree that fast hiking and making miles isn’t really my style, but it is fun to do 20+ mile days every now and again.

Re: Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?

#83

Post by jean-malo »

tjr225 wrote: post #27
jean-malo wrote: post #19

Incredible. I did the PCT in 2019 and considered quitting multiple times. I can't imagine the mental strength required to push through the AT, CDT and PCT back-to-back.

Sincerely jealous. The one thing I long for most in my lifetime is enough time off from work so that I can actually train for and hike the pct.

Yes dropping everything for 6 months is probably the biggest hurdle especially for people with kids etc. I was quite lucky, my boss liked the project and agreed to a 6 months unpaid leave.

Re: Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?

#84

Post by jmnicolas »

hodgesrm wrote: post #70
jmnicolas wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least I would have a chance. I have a hard time believing pepper spray is anything more than a fell good amulet!

Shooting a charging bear is harder than it sounds. If you don't kill it, chances are you'll just really piss it off.

It seems destiny is reading us: this morning in the news a 70 yo French hunter was charged by a bear and shot it 2 times. The man is gravely wounded (femoral artery) and the bear is dead (she had 2 cubs).

I completely forgot that they reintroduced bears in the mountains south of France (Pyrenees) a few years ago.

Re: Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?

#85

Post by subpixel »

ctrager wrote: post #29
subpixel wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trail runner here and I wholeheartedly agree. Life is defined by experience, not achievement. But some people never reach this realization. I live surrounded by very accomplished retirees, and some, on first meeting, give me a rundown of the highlights of their illustrious career.

There's some irony here, no, that a trail RUNNER is saying that the OTHER guy is going to fast to smell the roses. That's what I - I'm a trail lumberer - think when the trail runners zip by.

Point taken!

I'm actually quite a lumberer myself; I like running on trails, but my primary metric is time-in-woods, not speed.

Re: Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?

#86

Post by oblib »

ctrager wrote: post #73
oblib wrote: post #64

I appreciate the goals and tenacity to achieve them of the folks who do this kind of thing but it's not my style. I've spent a lot of time in our State and National forests and for the past 15 years most of it has been off trail and the past 10 most of my trips have been solo. Thru hikers tend to focus on the trail and their only goal is making miles. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not even close to the sa…

I do get that when there are too many people the experience is different. I do get that being in the wilderness with, like, earbuds in your ears is different than listening to the sounds of nature. I do get that being off trail can be different than on a trail. I do get that navigating with a map and compass can be different and fun versus using a GPS app on your phone. But I wouldn't say, "to really experience the w…

Yeah, that's fair. But there is certainly a difference when you bushwhack as opposed to trail hiking to a popular camp site or scenic spot.
Post reply on HN