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Appalachian Trail – FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions

Conversations with Gimpy

Scene:
On the Trail in Virginia somewhere….Gimpy is hiking along, enjoying the day and thinking about how many miles she’s going to put in for the day. Heading southbound are two burly-type weekend warrior men carrying HUGE packs and sweating profusely. Gimpy prepares herself for the interrogation.

Warrior: “Hello There!! Are you all alone?”
Gimpy: (looking around her, seeing NO ONE) “Uh, yes.”
Warrior: “Where are you coming from?”
Gimpy: “Georgia.”

Warrior: “Huh? Where are you headed?”
Gimpy: “Maine.” (Gimpy loves the shock value of this)

Warrior: “You’re going to MAINE??? Do you realize you are in VIRGINIA?”
Gimpy: “Well yes it’s going to be a long walk alright.”

Warrior: “What’s the matter, do your feet hurt?”
Gimpy: “No, actually my feet feel great when I hike in sandals.”

Warrior: “Don’t you REALIZE that you are going to hurt your ankle hiking in sandals? That is really not a good idea.”
Gimpy: (thinking to herself, dude I’ve already hiked 800 miles in this pair of sandals which is more than you will probably ever hike in your life)”I’m doing ok so far, but thank you for the concern.”

Warrior: “But you don’t understand that you must hike in boots for the ankle support. You can’t carry a backpack and wear sandals.”
Gimpy: “Well I think I am carrying a backpack and wearing sandals and so far I am doing pretty good but thanks again.”

Warrior: (after giving his friend the old “she’ll NEVER make it to Maine” look)”So what’s your name anyway?”
Gimpy: “Wondergimp.” (actually she didn’t transform into the wonder-hero until PA but it’s good for the story line)

Warrior: “Watergirl?”
Gimpy: “No, Wonder-GIMP.”

Warrior: “What, Wandergint?”
Gimpy: “No, W O N D E R – G I M P.”

Warrior: “Yeah, whatever. So how far are you headed today?”
Gimpy: “Well actually I’ve gotta get going because it’s already 1pm and I’ve got another 10 miles to put in to make it a 20-mile day.”

Warrior: “There is NO WAY you can do another 10 miles this late in the day…we’re only doing 8 miles total and we’ve been out since 8am.”
Gimpy: “Yeah, EXACTLY. Well I have a pizza in town with my name on it so I’ve gotta boogie. Nice meeting you and have a great weekend!”

OK, here are some real FAQ’s

Did you really hike ALONE?

Yes!! Actually I did not intend on embarking on this journey alone but that is how it happened to be. I started with a person who was my boyfriend at the time but he broke up with me less than 100 miles into the journey. I was determined to try to continue alone and not give up because I was afraid or disappointed in the circumstance. So I kept going and so did he, we just hiked separately. I got ahead of him in Virginia and never saw him on the trail again.

Weren’t you AFRAID?

In the beginning when I first started hiking alone, yes. But I got more and more confident in my hiking skills and my faith in “trail magic” as we call it and I really and truly met some of the kindest people in the world while hiking the trail. I never felt threatened or bothered by anyone. Let me just add to that that people are getting murdered and assaulted EVERY DAY on the streets of Philadelphia and yet no one really stops going there do they? I don’t believe in not pursuing a dream of mine because I am afraid that I MIGHT encounter a crazy person. With the murder rate on the trail being almost zero, I do not think that I was putting myself in a high risk situation.

Weren’t you lonely?

Well, you definitely have to be ok with being alone if you are going to hike and live in the woods for 6 months. But there are many other hikers on the trail and it is rare to go a whole day without seeing someone. During the day most thru-hikers hike alone and at their own pace but at night they will camp together or sleep in the same shelter and there is always someone to talk to if you are feeling lonely. The thru-hiking community is definitely a close-knit group of people and just meeting other people hiking the trail is one of the many benefits of the whole experience.

What did you eat?

Personally I chose to have mail drops which basically means that I bought 6 months worth of food before I went and boxed it up in 100-mile resupplies. My dad then sent it to me at post offices along the trail so that I could resupply as I went. Another option is to simply buy your food as you go but usually the price of food is higher in the small stores and you don’t always know what will be available. The downside of buying it all before-hand is that you get sick of your food REALLY quick. I STILL cannot eat granola. As far as what type of food I ate, well it varied but basically it was like this:
Breakfast: Granola with raisins and water or Pop-Tarts

Snack: Candybar

Lunch: Whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter, trailmix

Snack: Candybar

Dinner: Dehydrated Refried beans with rice in a tortilla

Where do you get water?

Basically from springs, streams, ponds, or lakes along the trail depending on what is available to you. You have to treat the water first, either with a filter, iodine, or bleach.

How do you GET to the post office or to town?

You use your thumb! Hitch-hiking is really the only way to get to town from the trail. Luckily the trail towns are pretty used to smelly hikers wandering around and most people are very generous in giving rides.

Did you see a lot of animals?

Yes, mostly deer and snakes, but I saw a few bears and 1 rattlesnake.

How long did it take you?

I completed my thru-hike in 5 months and 9 days.

What was your favorite state?

I think my personal favorite was Vermont because the trail itself was beautiful and very-well maintained and also the weather was incredible during the time that I passed through. Also they have really good radio stations in Vermont!

What was the best thing that happened to you during your hike?

There are definitely specific moments that stick out in my head as being totally awesome, like hearing “Ain’t no Mountain High Enough” by Diana Ross on my radio while climbing a killer ridge from hell in Virginia, or getting the funniest hitch on the entire trail with Good Vibe and Special Agent in North Carolina (“Three R-E-G-U-L-A-R biscuits, where’s my medication, hide the rose my boyfriend can’t see THAT, everybody in this town is on oxy-codin”), or getting trail magic from Flash and Hot Flash when I had totally run out of food – and VEGAN muffins of all things – that was sooo wonderful, or listening to the most incredible Irish music while hiking down to Pearsiburg through the greenest forest of huge ferns after a 25-mile day, or seeing my first bear, or crossing the half-way point in Pennsylvania, or getting drunk at the Inn at the Long Trail with No Whey, Good Wheels, and Good Vibe and laughing so hard at Woodchuck until he started throwing up in our hotel room that is (ok maybe that wasn’t one of the BEST moments)….but as you can imagine there are just too many memories to be able to pick out just one, and believe me there are just as many low moments, feelings of despair, and so much physical pain to endure that it’s just amazing how you can feel such high highs and low lows all within a single day. So what I usually say when I am asked this question is : The best thing that happened to me overall was that I DID NOT QUIT!

What exactly happened to your foot and how is it now?

I was diagnosed with a Morton’s Neuroma in my right foot. Basically it is nerve damage that cause a tremendous amount of pain, especially when the area is under pressure. After my hike I decided to have surgery in an attempt to correct the damage. For more details and to see some gory post-op foot shots click here.

WonderGimp on the Appalachian Trail>Back to AT index & List of Journal Entries

If you have additional questions, please email me and I will try to post them here!

Journal Index

Georgia – Overview And the poop on the Trail Divorce

0 (miles from Georgia) – Springer Mountain, Georgia Whose idea was this again??
87.7 – Georgia / North Carolina Aint no all-inclusive package vacation story…
161.7 – Fontana Dam, North Carolina No Rain, No Pain, No Maine
204.6 – Great Smoky Mountains National Park I My deodorant gets the heave-ho!
268.7 – Great Smoky Mountains National Park II The Food Appreciation Trail
336.5 – North Carolina / Tennessee & Trail Names How the Gimp got her name
390.7 – North Carolina / Tennessee The famous Roan Mountain hitch
452.9 – Crossing into Damascus, Virginia 3 states down, 11 to go!
516.7 – Grayson Highlands State Park Roughin it at Partnership Shelter
573.3 – Bland, Virginia My wonderful trail angels!
665.3 – Pearisburg, Virginia The switch from boots to sandals
767.4 – Catawba / Troutville, Virginia Heat wave in Virginia
839.4 – Montebello / Rockfish Gap, Virginia ‘Hiking with Gimpy Sr.
920.0 – Shenandoah National Park Rattlesnakes, Jack Daniels, and bears – oh my!
988.3 – Front Royal, Virginia Invasion of the Boy Scouts
1001.1 – Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia The mental half-way point
1061.4 – Maryland / Pennsyltucky Y’all done drank enough beer!
1123.8 – Duncannon, Pennsylvania The Half-Gallon Challenge
1208.9 – Port Clinton, Pennsylvania $1 Yuengling drafts and the rocks of PA
1283.9 – Pennsylvania / New Jersey Friends and family visit WonderGimp
1334.2 – High Point, New Jersey Rain, rain, rain, trail magic, and more rain
1440.7 – Bear Mountain, New York Hike Naked Day!
1486.1 – Kent, Connecticut Gimpy Sr. and Barkeater hike with W.Gimp
1543.8 – Great Barrington, MassachusettsWelcome to Mosquito Hell
1618.0 – Massachusetts / VermontPhoton and strobe lights for the 4th of July
1687.3 – Killington, Vermont The Inn at the Long Trail
1738.1 – New Hampshire Live Free or Die!
1794.4 – North Woodstock, New Hampshire Gettin’ above treeline
1814.4 – AMC-land, New Hampshire Entering the White Mountains!
1854.0 – Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire Mooning the tourists on Mt. Washington
1869.2 – Gorham, New Hampshire My first Moose sighting!
1920.7 – Andover, Maine The way Life should be…
1979.3 – Rangeley, Maine Closing in on the end
2015.6 – Kennebec River, Maine Eye of the Tiger!
2095.7 – Monson, Maine 100-mile Wilderness
2152.0 – Abol Bridge, Maine Katahdin is in sight!
2167.1 – Baxter Peak, Mount Katahdin, Maine Goodbye Capilene – Hello Cotton!!

Other Pages:
Map – Yep, 14 states
Gear – What to Bring
FAQs – See for yourself
Glossary (learn the AT lingo)
Links to Additional Info
Trail Injuries Everything from blisters to swampfoot
Trail Privies Bring your own TP
Class of 2000 Katahdin Thru-Hiker Pictures