In the Spirit of David Letterman...

Top 10 Reasons why the AT is Hard:

1. Forget backpacking... try camping for 6 months!

Spending every night in a constricting sleeping bag and in a small tent gets tiring.  So does cooking on the same alcohol stove every day.  You stay dirty, smelly... you have to get your water out of streams and springs... it just isn't an easy thing to do!  It wears on you after a while, no matter how much you enjoy it, and it's never something that is completely comfortable -- you can't just sit down on the couch and watch TV whenever you get tired of doing it.

2. It's mental.

So much of the trail is just keeping your head in the right spot.  You have all these nagging issues and you get tired of doing the same physically taxing thing day after day.  Going back to an easier, more comfortable life is always an option, and you have to make sure you keep yourself focused on your goals.

3. Daily Life

This isn't so much a reason why the AT is hard - just more that every day in general can be hard.  People are still people out here, and you have to cope with many of the same things as back home still.  When you meet new people you won't always like them but you'll usually have to be able to deal with them anyway.  You might get bored or sad or annoyed just like you might get out home.  This isn't some magical vacation where you are only a hiker, you still have to deal with normal aspects of living.

4. Physically Taxing

Putting in the physical effort required of you every day is a feat in and of itself.  You need to keep yourself full of the right food to do this every day.  This isn't only a "do 1 day's hiking repeatedly each day" thing though.  Things from yesterday become today's problem.  Many hikers have developed bad left knees from favoring them over their healing bad right knee; also, favored pronation over supernation (correct words there? lefts and rights of the foot) and favored heals over balls of feet.  They say you're always going to hurt - you just want the hurt to move around the body so it doesn't get too bad in any one spot.

5. Unexpected Things

You have to be ready for anything out here.  If you're just on a day hike you can almost always get in and get out easily enough, but there are many things out here that may come up after being out here for so long.  Wildlife, physical ailments, personal problems... I don't know - just things.  Let me put it this way: if you get the flu, you'll cancel your weekend backpacking trip, right?  Well out here, you have to deal with it while you're already out here.

6. I don't have a title for this one

So you're tired from yesterday's 18 miles, you're sleepy because you couldn't find a flat enough spot to pitch tent, and you're hungry.  These are all very common problems, and you're quite likely to have to deal with them all at once even.  Then let's say you have blisters, too.  Now that's just another thing you have to deal with, and these things compound on each other.  And... then you notice you also just got poison ivy on the backs of your hands - and it's on your feet too somehow... and eventually you just don't know what's a mosquito bite you're scratching, what's poison ivy... and you're tired, sleepy, hungry, and sore.  You put on your boots and start hiking.

7. Un-ideal Camping

One day you can be planning on spending the night in a shelter, only to get there and find it inexplicably full.  I remember one time it was raining, and I had a very very difficult hike that day (very steep, and long, and in the rain, and fresh off a resupply of food (full backpack)).  We got to the shelter and people had been *squatting*.  That is, they didn't even leave the shelter that day!  Or, they hiked fewer than 10 miles, got in by 2pm, and snagged a spot in the shelter super early.  Well, we had to set up tents.  That's fine, but when you're planning on staying in the shelter... it's annoying.  It stopped raining by then, luckily, but there are times when you have to set up tent in the rain.  This isn't the best thing because you don't want to get your tent wet while you're setting it up since you don't want to sleep in water - esp if you have a down sleeping bag, like I do.

8. Back Home

Even though you're out here, there is always "back home".  The allure of the comforts of home, the friends of home... you remember these things, even when you're having a great time - and especially when you're having a rough time.  Additionally, it's a little difficult to live between two worlds.  I want to do it because I don't want to forget all of you, but to throw the switch between AT and CP or EC back and forth is tiring.  It is tiring to readjust yourself between two drastically different ways of life.

9. Logistics

This pertains to communicating with your resupply people (parents often) when you need new gear, and sometimes when you are getting food from them.  Also, Post Offices need to be taken into consideration.  They aren't open on Sunday, and they also weren't open on Memorial Day.  I couldn't get to Damascus in time to get there Saturday, so that meant I couldn't use the Post Office until Tuesday (today)!  A problem that I've, personally, been having is getting a debit card out here.  I had to get it linked to my new account, had to get a new PIN, turned out my card expired (they told me it would still be good)... so what I'm doing now is putting my and my friends' dinner on my credit card, and getting cash from them!  Things are easier and faster when you have your own phone and internet and you are at home.  Logistics are tough to organize.

10. Food

Where do I start... most people eat dehydrated food.  These naturally don't taste as good as fresh and normal food, although they are getting better.  There are only so many kinds to choose from generally, and you do get tired of it.  If you don't get dehydrated food you have to carry... well, hydrated food.  You have to carry extra water, basically.  Tuna fish, peanut butter, and sausage and cheese are common examples of these.  When looking for food you have to budget out what kinds of food you need, when (will you stop and cook a lunch?  do you have enough food of a "breakfast" nature... you don't want le mein noodles for breakfast, I mean.), and how much of it. 

If you're buying 5 days of food, you might want to get 6 days' worth.  If you have to slow down for whatever vast number of reasons, you'll need it - and a lot of people "discover" their appetites, and it just explodes on them... they end up bumming food off people, and owing a lot of people dinner when they get into town :).  Or, they go hungry.  I've been hungry for 3 days straight on this trip... never full for more than an hour or so.  A common sight 2 days from town is seeing someone pour out all the contents of their food bag, look at everything, and sort things into "days" - "I can eat this for breakfast, this can be a snack...  am I able to eat this candy bar now, or will I need it tomorrow... do I have to wake up at 5am and hurry into town so that I can be there by lunch?"  It's never an easy problem, and it is a very important one.

Well there you go!  Coming up next... Top 10 reasons why the AT is EASY!

Stay tuned!