Quick on the Draw: Things I learnt on the Appalachian Trail, an A-Z

Introduction to this final blog

I learnt so much from reading other people’s blogs before I started my thru hike. So, it was always part of my intention with my own blog to contribute to the preparation of future thru hikers. So, following my previous posts, here on the last day of 2024 is a gathering together of my thoughts both serious, and less serious.

Of course everyone is different, and everyone’s thru hike is different too. It depends on age, start time, direction, weather etc. So, some of the things below will be more relevant to some people than to others but I hope there is a bit of something for everyone. For context, I started on 19 March in Georgia, heading north, and I finished on Katahdin on August 1st. I met many great hikers and sometimes hiked with them, but most of the time I hiked on my own. I was there more for the nature and spent less time in town than most. I drew every single day I was on trail, and my only regret perhaps was not to slow down and draw more.

This is not an exhaustive list as that would run to too many pages, and it is only my views, and a contribution to all the other perspectives out there.

Thank you to my family and all the wonderful people I met along the way.

A

Angels: trail angels were undoubtedly one of the greatest things about my thru hike and one of my biggest takeaways. Being nice to people who you don’t know is infectious. Like a good virus spreading kindness and generosity. A thru hiker is constantly hungry, so trail angel food is always very welcome. But it was the generosity of spirit that carried me up the next mountain even more than the food. My encounters with trail angels were always unexpected and a wonderful surprise. Of many memorable encounters, my standout one was probably when I met a group of young people who had previously hiked the trail themselves (and quite a few angels are previous AT hikers). They had music, really good food with the best vegetarian options imaginable, and great beer too. Coming out of Erwin, I was labouring up a long hill with a 47 pound pack on a hot day when I heard music and then saw their sign. It was at a time when I thought I might have to return to the UK because of family illness, and to sit for a while with other hikers in a force field of goodwill was the best thing that could have happened to me that day. In a very tightly contested field, those guys win the 2024 Quick on the Draw Trail Angels award.

The Angels I met on the mountain out of Erwin

ATC: the Appalachian Trail Conservancy is so integral that it does not need many words from me. But every contact I had with people from the ATC was positive.

Approach Trail: in 2024 because of rerouting, this was 9 miles if you did the full version taking in the waterfall, meaning that effectively you start at minus nine miles rather than zero. I knew I would not be back that way again, so there was no way I was going to miss it. Definitely recommended, and by the end the additional nine miles makes no difference.

Audio: I made a lot of audio recordings. Thunderstorms, birdsong, the trickle or rush of water, the warning of a rattlesnake etc. These soundtracks of the trail transport you back there after you have finished. Everyone takes photos and videos, but consider audio too.

B

Blazes: the white blazes are so regular early on that you could almost navigate with them alone. But beware later on, in the last few hundred miles they often disappear altogether. On a couple of occasions, I met people going the wrong way after a lack of blazes and an unintended detour, then getting disorientated, and turned around after seeing a blaze. They did not realise it was a southbound blaze instead of a north. They were very difficult to persuade they were heading in the wrong direction. It can be very hard to work out where you made a mistake and get your head around it. And unless there are very notable landmarks that you realise you have already passed, the view coming down the trail you have already walked up, can be sufficiently different to convince you that you are not retracing your steps. I came across someone completely lost who after 3 hours hiking was very close to where they started.

The painted white blazes mark a rocky part of the trail

Bears: there is a lot of bear advice out there, so I will say little. Make yourself aware of the advice and don’t be that idiot that causes a bear to be killed because it gets habituated to humans.

A vermont bear on the trail

Beauty: I saw beauty every day and sometimes it was astonishing.

Sunrise from the top of Wildcat mountain

Blog: I highly recommend doing a blog. It is a good way of keeping friends and family informed as well as other hikers you meet along the way. It is also good for giving you some perspective on your hike as you go along.

Birds: Although the woods are virtually silent if you start early, they come alive with birdsong in the spring. This is such a joy. Well mostly (see the entry for “W” below).

Blood: There will be blood!

C

Cell phone: probably the single worst mistake I made was to go with a T-Mobile affiliate. Before I took out the contract I explained where I was going. They did not say I would very rarely get a signal apart from in some of the middle more populated states. So usually, I could not phone ahead for rides or hostels. People with Verizon were much better off.

Chair: I got the Helinox zero chair. A quality product but an extra pound in weight to carry. A luxury I saw very few people with, especially further up the trail. I took it mainly for sitting in while drawing but it was wonderful to sink into at the end of a hard day. More comfortable than the ground and away from the ticks too.

Cold: April can be pretty cold at times, but any start before then is guaranteed some really cold days and nights. It really helps to be prepared and to have tested out your gear so that you know it works. I spent a few nights in my garden in the winter before hitting the trail. After you have been hiking a while it is nice to reduce your weight by sending home your winter gear. But I guy I was with in April had done that after a warm spell, only to find himself struggling in a late cold snap. If you are not super speedy, you could find yourself needing cold weather gear at both ends of the trail.

D

Direction: I went NOBO (northbound). To my mind after completing the AT, this is still the best way to go. This is because aside from other factors like starting times (you can’t start from Katahdin until June because of the cold weather), the AT gets much harder in the last few hundred miles, so your body is more conditioned by the time you get to them. However, other hikers told me that their bodies were more tired and broken later on in their hikes and so thought SOBO was better.

Diet and nutrition: there are whole blogs on this important topic. Many of them focus on calories and the difficulty in getting enough of them into your body. But also very significant, is getting good nutrition, which can be difficult on trail. Even more so if you have special dietary requirements (I am vegetarian but I met people with much more challenging diets, who had to get into complicated arrangements with package drops). I was pretty lean to start with so could not afford to lose too much weight (most people lose a lot!). Like other people I found a surprising lack of hunger in the first week, but after that I was pretty much hungry all the time. Without going into too much detail, here is typically what I did. Oatmeal for breakfast, Energy bars throughout the day, pretty much one an hour). Tortilla wraps with peanut butter for lunch. Ramen, often with mashed potato (the infamous “ramen bomb“), for the evening meal. To provide protein and extra nutrition I added a lot of nuts, seeds, raisins etc to my meals. This was also a way of adding variety to very basic cooking. I can honestly say that I never got sick of ramen and enjoyed every meal I had. I reckon if you don’t enjoy ramen at the end of the day, you have not walked enough miles! On top of this, I took vitamin and mineral supplements but I was surprised by how few other hikers did. When I hit town for resupply, I would binge on fresh fruit and vegetables before returning to the mountains. I would also eat a pint of ice cream outside my resupply store! It was strange after completing my hike not to be judging the best ice cream as the one with the highest calorie count. I was well and healthy throughout my hike and finished it a couple of pounds heavier than when I started.

E

EFI: “Every Fantastic Inch”: a motto for thru hiking with no shortcuts or slack packing. Passed on to me by triple crowners Ripple and Clouds and it was passed on to them by a hiker in New Zealand (but with a different word for the “F”). This was how I did it, but do whatever makes you happy.

F

Feet: pretty much the most important thing to take care of. I knew some people abandoned because of very bad blisters. I had very few and my first one was after several hundred miles. This is because of previous hiking experience and knowing my vulnerable spots and what works for me. This comes down to the right shoes and socks and for me, using an anti-friction application on a couple of toes. Do not embark on a thru hike without dialling this in first! I had a long-term pre-existing foot injury which can be very painful at times. For this reason I carried a second pair of trail runners and usually swapped them over at lunchtime or if I was getting a lot of pain. I was exceptionally unusual in having two pairs of shoes and I nearly did not take the extra shoes, because of the weight penalty. But I am so glad I did. It is also incredibly important to know what shoes work for you before you start and if possible have them lined up for you with someone who can mail them to you when you need them. I met people who had to change shoes on trail for models they had not used before and who had real problems with them.

Flowers: the flowers on the AT, and especially their concentrated burst in the spring, are truly wonderful. I was amazed day after day. They ended up in quite a lot of my drawings. If I had enough time, I could have happily drawn flowers every day.

Pink lady slipper orchids

Fungi: almost as amazing as the flowers are the plentiful and multi coloured fungi. They have a big part to play in maintaining the forests, and the range and variety of them on the AT is truly remarkable. Thanks to Primo and Ice Queen for a chanterelle meal too.

Fire: a Ranger who escorted me through a controlled burn, explained how fire prevention measures in the past had altered the ecology of the forests. Fire, mostly from lightning strikes, has been a natural part of the life cycle of the vegetation on the AT. But hikers have to be responsible with their own campfires, and in some places these are prohibited.

Farting: you are alone in the woods, so enjoy farting like a kid again (made more satisfying if you round it off with a comment like,“you dirty dog “). Just remember you might not always be alone. I once caught up with somebody climbing up some rocks and he had not heard me coming. He let rip with a thunderclap which nearly blew me off the mountain. Also remember to break the habit once you get back to civilisation!

Falling down: it will happen! I did not fall down for the first 450 miles and arrogantly thought I might make it all the way without a fall. How wrong I was.

G

Gypsy moths, also known as spongy moths. There was a population explosion of the caterpillars when I was on the trail. There were literally millions of them defoliating oak trees for mile after mile in some places, reducing mighty trees to completely leafless skeletons. One night all the hikers kept thinking it was raining because of a rain-like patter all the time. It was the sound of thousands of chewed through leaves falling to the ground. I met a hiker who had two falls on rocks made slippery from caterpillar bodies. Yes, and in a plague year like that some will fall on you!

H

How hard is it? This is a question hovering over any thru hike attempt. The answer is, insanely hard. There were a number of occasions when I asked myself, “can this really be the AT route?” A triple crowner is someone who completes the three premier long distance American thru hikes, and I did not meet a single one who did not say that the AT was the hardest physically. But as they say, the greater the challenge, the greater the reward.

Hostels: these are almost universally run by brilliant people and a great meeting place for hikers while they recover for a day or two and resupply. I cannot really give a fair ranking of the many hostels on the trail as I only stayed at ten and one B&B. Of those ten, several were really good. But the Quick on the Draw 2024 hostel award jointly goes to, The Maine Roadhouse, and Shaws in Monson. Thanks to the two Jens at the former and the legendary Poet at Shaws.

Poet’s famous pancake tree

Hunger: if you are really putting in the miles, you will be hungry like never before. I carried on being very hungry for a good while after I had finished and had stopped moving very much every day.

I

Insects: oh man, the insects once the weather warms up! Seriously, are those flies in tag teams or can the same flies go on for mile after mile? Luckily, I do not react too badly to insect bites so generally laid off the deet during the day. But often had to give in when I was completely still drawing as I was a sitting target. There are plenty of biters, but most irritating are the little black flies that bombard your eyes seeking moisture. Insect head nets are worth considering and don’t weigh much.

Insect cloud on the trail in Massachusetts

Injury: anyone’s hike can end through injury, and sometimes this is just going to be down to luck. I had a few falls which did not amount to much but could have done. Typically, they came when I was tired and should have taken a break. They can also be a fine judgement call in knowing whether an injury will worsen or resolve by carrying on. It helps to have prior hiking experience. But know your body and listen to it.

J

Journal: KEEP A JOURNAL and try not to skip a day, because before you know it one day become several. Everyone I spoke to who had started journalling and then stopped, regretted it. Hiking the AT will be one of the most amazing things you will ever do, so don’t rely on your memory alone. Days start to merge together and only a journal will keep them separate. It is really hard at the end of a tiring day to keep it up, but I am glad and slightly surprised I managed to draw and write every single day. Vlogs are good for this too but very high maintenance and can be testing on your audience if you don’t keep them short.

Front page of Journal book 1

Front page of  journal book 2

K

Kindness: I make no apology for mentioning kindness again. It drives the AT experience.

Killer trees (previously known as widow makers). Look up before you pitch your tent. Dead trees and branches are a real danger and a calm evening can turn into a windy night. It can be tempting to camp on that perfect pitch, flat and without roots and stones, and think that dead tree has been there a while so probably will not come down tonight. Don’t; move!

L

Lost: very few people don’t take a wrong turn at some point (see also the entry for blazes). But don’t plough on and hope for the best. Retrace your steps or check the GPS on Far Out if you have it, which I highly recommend that you do.

Luck: Prepare well but you can’t control everything. You may not succeed just because you are unlucky with injuries, family emergencies, and other events beyond your control such as Hurricane Helene. I was lucky.

M

Miles: there are many forms of measurement, kilometres, miles, nautical miles, the li (Chinese mile). But longer than all of these is the AT mile. You might have an idea in your head about how far a mile is (for example twice round a field near my house; ten minutes at a very gentle jog). This notion will have no relevance on the AT!

Metrics: if you are one of those people who like to quantify everything with your smart watch, try and forget it for the AT. On my very first day of the trail, my watch suggested a workout of 100M sprints. And every day after that apart from rest days, my watch said, “Recovery Time Delayed: A high level of activity today increased your recovery time.” The fact is that my watch did not really know what I was doing, and because it measures steps through arm movement, it was constantly confused by using trekking poles. Some days it told me I had done 10,000 steps after I had covered around 13 miles. I have a long stride, but not that long! My watch also told me I was detraining. I was surprised to find out after 5 millions steps that it was right about that when I tried to run again when I got home.

Maintenance of the trail: A big thank you to all the trail crews who give their time to maintain the trail. Sometimes I heard people complain about the condition of the trail in places, without taking account of how sparse the population is in the northern end and how much difficult trail there is to maintain. Hikers should just be prepared that in the warmer months, some sections of the trail can quickly become overgrown making the path difficult to discern sometimes. Be attentive to your navigation when you get in the north (but even some sections of New York State were tricky), especially as has been mentioned above, the white AT blazes can become sparse too. The trail around Bear Mountain in New York State is incredibly well maintained, which is not surprising as it is used to train maintenance crews and that section is particularly well visited by families and non-hikers. But the Quick on the Draw 2024 trail maintenance award goes to the Pennsylvania crew for their fantastic stonework for several miles of the trail north of the climb out of Palmerton.

A trail crew in Maine

N

Never give up on a bad day: This is a through hiker expression that you will often hear when the going gets tough. But there is wisdom in this.

P

Privies: you will get used to them! Also never skimp on TP. You are going to get a little ripe on the trail, but you don’t want to be that kind of smelly! So, TP should not be one of your super ultralight targets.

Privy in the Smokies (there are not many there, so be grateful for what you get…)

Partying: I was not on the AT for partying, but it accommodates all types. However, in my highly unscientific assessment, the dropout rate with the party crowd was high. But that could just be that they were having so much fun that it took them longer! I just did not see many, if any, of those guys further up the trail, and I know that some of them that I met early in the trail did not make it all the way. The social aspect of the trail is very important for some people, and significant to most people to some extent. But after a while you might need to prioritise and let go of the trail family that is taking you into every town along the way.

Preparation: You can start the trail without training or experience and pick it up along the way. But quite a lot of people doing that quit early. Someone I finished the hike with, only decided to do the AT a very short time before she got on trail. But she had prior hiking experience. Testing out your gear before starting is going to give you a lot of reassurance. But for me the most important thing was conditioning my body in the period leading up to the start. That meant carrying a full pack at every opportunity I got. Walking to work with my pack, hiking to the shops and returning with heavy loads etc. I do not live in an area that has climbs that are similar to the AT but my body was habituated to carrying my pack for long periods. That really helped, and I was able to put in reasonably long mile days from early on.

R

Rain: it rains. A lot! Take appropriate cover (see “U” below). Also follow the ATC advice on river crossings (ATC River Crossings Advice). People have died through a lack of caution or understanding.        

Recovery: There is recovery on the trail, and recovery after the trail. The first is more obvious. You need to listen to your body and take rest days or easy days so your body can keep going to the end. What I had given less thought to was my physical recovery after completing the hike. Mentally, I was not too bad as I was prepared for a transition period from the wilderness back to city life. But beware that a lot of people have difficulty with that. But it took me a lot longer to recover physically than I expected. I did not know about “Christmas toes” before I finished and looked up why my feet were numb. They are called that because it can take several months for the numbness to go if you get it. By Christmas, my feet were just about getting back to normal! I am a runner and had wondered if I would be super strong in my running after so many miles in my legs. But it was quite the opposite. I was good for walking after all those miles, but not for running. My joints ached when I ran and I seemed to have lost all the running fluency I had before went on the AT. The good news is that it comes back. Most people I hiked with were younger than me, and it came back to them more quickly, so age is likely a factor.

Rocks and roots: they are out to get you, so watch out! Especially for rock bergs hiding in grass. They are the ones which are mostly hidden below the surface but have just enough above the ground to try and trip you up. In Maine, erosion has made much of the trail a tangle of roots, which can make even sections with a friendly elevation profile, quite challenging.

A rockberg waiting for a hiker in Pennsylvania

S

Stealth camping: personally I do not like the term as it carries the implication of wrongdoing. But it is widely used by thru hikers for the perfectly legitimate practice of dispersed camping/ wild camping in places where there is no official campsite or facilities. This is permitted on much of the trail but not everywhere. If you follow the State, ATC and Leave No Trace guidelines, there should be no issues. The freedom that dispersed camping gives to you is one of the joys of the AT. Some people are nervous to be alone in the wild but I loved the solitude in nature. Make your risk assessments and never camp too close to a road crossing. Take care of yourself and the environment.

Summits: if you think you are nearly at the top of a mountain, you probably aren’t. Unless you are one of those hikers glued to the navigation app on your phone. With so much of the trail in the woods, the view ahead is usually obscured by trees, leading to multiple false summits. The break you promised yourself at the top of the mountain can see a long time in coming! Katahdin is the best and hardest summit.  Another reason for going NOBO as it is such a fitting climax for the thru hike.

Images of Katahdin in the background

Snakes: I saw six different kinds of snakes on my thru hike and there were several stretches when I saw snakes on most days, and I felt privileged to do so. Not everyone is so relaxed about snakes (hey Wonder woman!), but remember no snake wants you as a meal. Treat them with respect and they will leave you alone. Some shelters have residential black snakes, which are not poisonous and keep the mice down. You will be grateful for that once you have had mice running over you in the night or chewing holes in your sleeping bag.

Rattlesnakes in Pennsylvania

T

Trail names: these are usually descriptive of some aspect of an incident, personality or behaviour on the trail. A bit like the way people used to acquire names based on their profession, such as Smith, or Baker. This year for example, Tomcat got his name after encounters with mice in shelters. Salamander got his name after a salamander swam into his drinking water bladder. I was Quick on the Draw because I drew every day. Trail names are something the outside world generally does not get, but which are treasured by thru hikers. By the end of a thru hike they are so much a part of your identity, that it can be difficult to shrug them off. Even though following their thru hike, people begin to adapt to contacting friends they have made on the trail using their real names. But in their heads, they are still that trail name person.

Trekking poles: in some forums you get people asking whether they should use trekking poles for the AT. If you are asking this question, you may not have done enough hiking in the mountains beforehand. The numbers tell you everything; very few people do not use them, and for most people they are a great help.

Ticks: I was not worried about bears. I was about ticks. I met three people on the AT in 2024 who contracted Lyme disease, which can be a debilitating legacy of the trail that you do not want to have. I was surprised how many people trusted to luck as in some places there are a lot of ticks. I used permethrin on my clothes and my tent and reapplied it on trail. The other precaution I took was a nightly tick inspection. Very boring but if you remove a tick that has not attached for too long, you will probably be alright. Take tick tweezers and know the best techniques for removal. It is likely you will need to use them. I did.

This tick as it ran up my leg

A trail for everyone:

Trees: trees, trees, trees. Then after a while the trees transform themselves into other things.

An open mouthed monster masquerading as a tree

The Trek: shout out to The Trek! Thanks guys.

U

Umbrella: apart from AT training hikes, I had never used an umbrella before. I contacted a previous AT thru hiker (Lookout) after seeing him with an umbrella in his videos, and he recommended I give it a try. I am definitely a convert. While people were wet, cold, and miserable, I was able to hike on in relative comfort in my own micro climate. It was especially useful in the earlier colder weeks but I kept it right to the end. Even though I used it a lot less further up the trail, it was still a very useful canopy to the entrance to my small tent when it was raining. I had a big Euro Hike umbrella, and even though it came in at about 1 lb in weight, it was worth it. Umbrellas do not work for everyone and if you are not mindful of your environment, you will snag them on trees, and there was evidence in some hostels of abandoned damaged umbrellas. Some parts of the trail are very overgrown, particularly some Rhododendron sections, and umbrellas are of limited used there. But that affected me on very few occasions.

W

Weight and carried weight: almost everyone will tell you that weight is one of the most critical issues. If you can afford it and are happy with the environmental impact of swapping out all your previous gear, ultralight is probably the way to go. For several reasons, ultralight was not a description that applied to me. I had my art materials, my umbrella and chair, and extra pair of shoes. I also dropped into town less frequently than most. So, when I did, I usually had a heavy resupply. My pack weight reduced after I was able to swap out some of my winter gear but I was still pretty heavy compared to most. But I was happy with my choices and used what I carried, which is the crucial test. If you don’t use it don’t carry it apart from some first aid items. Two things to warn about though. Firstly, I thought some ultra lighters I met were taking a risk with their minimalism, should the weather take a bad turn. Secondly, food is heavy, so there can be a temptation to minimise that too. I met some hikers who did that, lost a lot of weight and got a bit sick. As mentioned above, good nutrition is important if you don’t want to compromise your chances of making it to the end.

When is the right time in your life to hike the AT? Of course there is no real answer for this. However, if there is something you really want to do in life, find a way of doing it rather than just talking about it. You will have to make some sacrifices, and it is likely that some of your loved ones will have to as well. Make it up to them afterwards! I believe most people emerge as a better person after hiking the AT, so everyone should be a winner.

Water filters: these are so brilliant. Just remember to not let them freeze in the colder months. Take the filter to bed with you and put it inside your coat on a freezing day.

Whippoorwill: this attention seeking bird has a “song“ that becomes part of the soundtrack for many thru hikers and is renowned for interrupting a night’s sleep. It was a long time after I heard these birds before I actually saw one, and they are much smaller than I imagined for such a mighty noise. On the day I reached McAfee knob, I spent the night at the nearby Pig Farm campsite. At around 1:00 am a whippoorwill started its display call and woke up everyone on the campsite, and then kept its insistent, repetitive, and very loud three note song going for hours. Some hikers take ear plugs.

Woodpeckers: also provide a soundtrack for the trail, especially in the early months before a lot of the migrant birds have returned. Sometimes a single woodpecker, and sometimes a percussion battle between woodpeckers, but always a joyful affirmation that the forests are alive.

X

Existential: the trail provides plenty of thinking time. One of the greatest gifts of trail life and I found it very valuable. I really did meet people who sorted themselves out on the trail. Two admirable people I had the privilege of meeting, got themselves off drugs on the trail. Others decided on career changes or moves to different parts of the country. I have discussed elsewhere how the trail was therapy for the death of my son.

Y

Why? Everyone will get asked this question by family and friends, but knowing your own why before you start will most likely give you firm foundations and motivate you to prepare properly. Whatever the reason, it will be one of the most challenging and rewarding things you ever do.

Z

A-Z: for me the A was the Approach Trail, and Z was Katahdin. Whatever your end point, the echoes will continue, the echoes will continue, the echoes will continue…