LD-01: Refining the Dream

Refining the Dream

So you want to take a long hike, huh? If the answer is yes to that, then you have many more questions to ask and answer. This series of articles will cover the basics of taking that vague idea of "hiking the whole..." and refining it into a coherent dream, which then morphs into a plan and from there reality begins.

What is long distance hiking?
There are many types of long distance hikes. To clearly define what exactly makes a hike, long distance, is hard. It could be a five day, 100 or so mile trek along one of the long trails. It could be a month or two on the trail, making your way along as you can, until you run out of time or mileage. It could be doing a complete Thru-Hike of the trail, which is loosely defined as doing the whole thing in one year (just to keep it simple). It could also be a 35 mile hike on a long weekend. It's all relative.

I think, for the sake of these articles, I will approach it for what I will be doing next Spring. A long trek along the Appalachian Trail. We will be attempting a Northbound (NOBO) hike, starting in Georgia and making our way as far North as we dare. Katahdin, the home of Pamola would be our final goal for this hike. If you have read my other stuff, you will know that completing the Thru is a secondary goal. The Journey (with a capital J) will be the main goal. To get out there. To become an Outsider (with a capital O). To have an Adventure. (Yep, capital A)

Choosing the right trek
I have been wanting to tackle the whole of the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) for some time now. I had a vague idea of the A.T. as a kid, but didn't start walking on it until after the turn of the century, when I was stationed in Maryland and would travel under its bridged treadway as I drove back and forth on I70 on my way to and from PA. I would always wonder about those shadowed figures, with large packs on their backs, glancing down at us as we whisked by at 70 mph and they sauntered along at 3. How far were they going? How long have they been hiking? That peaked my interest and before long, I found myself walking the trail. Checking it out and feeling an idea, a need, a plan, start to take shape in my mind. I would hike this whole damn thing. One day I would.

So, for me, the right trek is to traverse the length of the A.T. That is how I choosed my trek. You may have read a book or an article. Maybe saw a TV special or movie about a trail and that spikes your interest. Maybe a friend had gone on an adventure and told you about it. How you choose your trek is based on how you feel when you look at the options in front of you. If it feels right, then give it a try.

Finding the time and money
This is a tough one and I think running out of time and money are right up there, (if not above), as the main reason that someone doesn't complete the full long distance hike they planned. If you wait for the perfect time, you may never go. If you don't have at least some money saved, you may be heading home earlier than you originally planned.

They say that there is never the perfect time to go on a long distance hike. You have to just make the committment to go out there and do it. For me, when I was young and stupid, I didn't really know about doing long distance hikes. My experience had been 3 or 5 days on one of the trails in Western PA. Even if I had realized that I wanted to do a long distance hike, I sure didn't have the funds to do so. I think when I decided to join the Coast Guard, I had about $800 in the bank. I still was paying off my car and a student loan and just didn't have the means to start hiking and staying out for months.

After joining the Coast Guard, I no longer had the time to take off and spend months hiking a trail. We only earned 30 days of leave a year and I usually used that to travel home and visit family. Before long I had a wife, then a child, then another child and then this thing called a career which held me in place. This continued for thirty years.

So, now that I'm old and stupid, I have retired from the Coast Guard and since I did 30 years, I get a decent pension for my service. I now have the time and the money for LoGear and I to do a Hike. Things won't be perfect as we still will have to maintain our residence, car insurance, health insurance, groceries for daughter and pets and the list goes on. But we like a challenge and this is so doable for us. More doable than it has ever been. So NOW is the time for us.

Finding a block of time that isn't perfect, but sufficient to do a hike, is paramount. Carve it out of your life anyway you can. Having a decent amount of funds saved (some say it costs about $2 a mile, but this is extremely variable) will be key to a successful long distance hike.

Understanding your "why"
To see my "Why", check out my other post Here. If that is TL;DR, then suffice it to say, that I want to hike to have an Adventure with my Bride. To become an Outsider for a time. To challenge and test my body and mind.

There are many reasons that hikers give when asked why they want to take on a long distance hike. It can be as simple as "just because", to as complex as "I want to raise awareness of _____ and will tell everyone I meet along the trail about it as I go", to somewhere in between. Finding and then understanding your "why" could be a long process and even after spending hours contemplating your why, it may still be very hard to explain, especially to muggles. Most people who have spent time "out there" will understand immediately. Others will wonder to no end why you would want to abuse your body and mind and get all smelly and walk for days on end, and will you carry a gun? and where will you go poop? etc. etc. etc...

The only person who needs to understand your why is you. Even if you can't explain it, if it feels right for you, then it is.

Rallying your team
Anyone who has spent time hiking, knows, that rarely do they do it all by themselves. There are so many people out there that help make your hike possible. From the trail angel who gives you a ride or maybe some food, to the people on the home front, that send you a piece of gear or a resupply box. All of them are making it possible for you to continue on. Just as no man is an island, very few hikes are truly solo. Having a team (or many teams actually) is very important in a successful long distance hike.

So your dream is becoming a reality. You know why you want to do this hike and you have found the time and saved the money to make a go at it. You have made sure all is good to go on the home front and your planning is well underway. Soon you will find yourself, with a pack on your back and your feet stepping amongst the roots, rocks and dirt, on a trail that goes far. You are on your way to becoming a Long Distance Hiker.

Peace,
EarthTone and LoGear

LD-01 - LD-02 - LD-03 - LD-04 - LD-05 - LD-06 - LD-07 - LD-08

Long Distance Hiking 101

In my continuing obsession with everything hiking, the A.T. and gear, I came across an actual class that you can take called Thru-Hiking 101 by Liz Thomas.  I saw the syllabus and I copied it for some future need.   It's really just an outline, but as I looked at it today, I decided that I could work my way through the topics and write posts dealing with most of them.  And that is just what I'm going to do.  


This won't be a Course per se, but will be a continuing series that will keep me busy as I wait for our time to hit the trail.  It will be a welcome retreat from my constant gear shaving, gear envy and hike planning. (but in its own way, is just that, hike planning)  

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert, but I do have some experience.  All information stated here is my opinion, based on my knowledge, skills, experience and pompous attitude.  Your mileage may vary.  Hike your own hike, etc, etc, etc...

I reserve the right to make shit up if I don't know all the facts.  

If you want to take the actual course and have $200 burning a hole in your pack, you can do so here.  

These articles will have no connection to her class other than the names of the topics that I will write about. 

This is the edited outline of what I think I might write about.  Most likely in the order shown, but prone to flexibility like everything else.

LD-01: Refining the Dream
What is long distance hiking?
Choosing the right trek
Finding the time and money
Understanding your "why"
Rallying your team

LD-02: Making It Real
The importance of planning
Physical fitness
Calculate your budget
Set the home front to autopilot

LD-03: Route Planning
Think about permits
Decide when you'll start
Plan your hard-stop end date
Decide where you'll start
Getting to and from the trailhead
Roughing out your itinerary

LD-04: Resupplies
The role of food on an LD-hike
Food rules for Long Distance Hikers
Decide on a resupply strategy
Grocery store resupplies
Mail drops
Bounce boxes
Using friends and family
The hybrid resupply spectrum

LD-05: Gear
Letting go of perfection
Joe's rules of gear
What's in my pack?
You don't need everything all the time
Start with the Big 4
Other key decisions
Fancy isn't always better. But sometimes it is.
Do your research

LD-06: Life on the Trail
What's it really like out there?
Eating and drinking
Making camp
Tricks for the long haul
Trail etiquette
Safety basics
Safety for women
Special concerns for older hikers


LD-07: More Life on the Trail
Staying smart around sex, drugs, and rock and roll
Common thru-hiker medical issues
Staying motivated
Making friends on the trail
Keeping in touch with loved ones

LD-08: Hike Your Own Hike
What "hike your own hike" means
Further resources

Peace,
EarthTone and LoGear

LD-01 - LD-02 - LD-03 - LD-04 - LD-05 - LD-06 - LD-07 - LD-08

In Which I Become a Gram Weenie

Although I always vow to never let any purist tendencies creep into my Hiking, my recent troubles with my back have made me take yet another look at my pack contents and their weight.  So I have entered the realm of the Gram Weenie.

I have been constantly conscious of my pack weight, usually accepting what the scale said as my destiny, but I would make a gear change here and there to not only use something more functional, but also hopefully lighter.  Since my back went out, (and is pretty much healed), I have started to once again take a hard look at what I have in my pack and trying to finds ways to make the overall pack lighter.  They say, cut the ounces and the pounds take care of themselves.

So I have cut out what I can (or should).  Asking myself again and again: Do I really need this?  Will I be just fine without it?  Is it an emergency item, or are your fears filling your pack?  

They say that you carry your fears in your pack.  The more you fear, the more your pack weighs.  That is why my pack's name is Phobos.  

I think I'm at a point where I'm carrying just what I need.  There are probably still one or two things that I can drop, one that comes to mind are my small camera tripod, stick pic and clamp for my phone.  That's about 3.6 ounces.  But I do have a very small pack umbrella that I would like to bring, which weighs about 6 ounces if I remember correctly.

I go back and forth and play with this and that.  I have been weighing my stuff for quite a few years though and up to this point I was halfheartedly recording it on a website called GearGrams.  It works well, but I have never fully committed with a detailed rendering of all my gear and its true weight.  A couple of weeks ago I saw a new site that does the same thing, but with a cool graph and some better features and since the reality of our Thru Hike is now sinking in, I need something to do to pass the time until we can hit the trail.  Yesterday I started playing with the new site and about three hours later, I had everything listed and most of it freshly weighed.  What I saw as my base weight didn't satisfy me.

After making my first list and then refining that with the latest gear drops, I came up with a base weight of about 24 pounds.  That is still a little too high for my liking, so I started fiddling with some what ifs.  

Want...

I'm at the point that any further gear exchanges that cut weight are not going to be cheap.  For a while now, I have been wanting an underquilt for my hammock setup.  I do have a DIY underquilt made from a military poncho liner (commonly referred to as a Woovie) that does work, but weighs in at 1.6 pounds.  I also would like to replace my Big Agnes sleeping bag with a top quilt and the Blackbird Warbonnet hammock is on my "want" list.  If I could afford all three of these, it would only cost a mere $680 for a 2.2 pound reduction in pack weight.  If Lisa wants to upgrade too, that makes it $1,360.  

So, a full upgrade probably won't happen just yet.  But, If I can pick one, it would be the top quilt, which would shave off 1.5 pounds.  That's a start.

As I continue to tweak.  I play with the Lighterpack.com website and try different ideas.  My old pack weighs less than my Osprey.  Should I go back to that?  I always did like it, but had always wanted an Osprey and when we found a great deal at EMS, we bought two. 

To cut some of the 4 lbs that this comfortable pack weighs, I have removed the "brain" part of the pack (6 oz) and now use a Sea to Summit Dry bag as my "removable brain".  It will always sit at the top of the pack for easy access, just like the old brain did, so that helps cut the weight a little. 

The other day, I cut off part of the head strap on my headlamp saving an amazing 0.7 of an ounce.  Every gram counts, dammit.  I have become a weenie extraordinaire. 

Every gram counts, dammit.

Next, I went into my Osprey and cut out the small flap that sits near the bottom between the sleeping bag space and the upper compartment.  Since I load everything from the top and don't use the divider, I don't need it.  This reduces the pack's weight by another 1 oz. (Actually 30 grams sounds even better).

Another easy and cost effective change out would be my blue 24 oz nalgene.  I have had that since around 2003 and I really like its wide mouth which makes it very easy to gather water in challenging places.  That is the main reason I have continued to carry it, despite its 5.5 oz weight.  If I can find something from GatorAde or some other product that has a wide mouth, I could save a few more ounces.   
So, as the days slowly trickle by, moving towards our Hike Date at glacial speed, I will continue to tinker, and emit strong hints for some specific birthday gifts, and tinker some more.  It will never be perfect.  I turn my favorite earthtone of green everytime I see someone else's base weigh figure sitting at a (to me) unbelievable number that is disgustingly low, like ten or twelve.  I know I will never get there, but I will always strive to get close.  

For now, I would be happy with a big four (pack, shelter, sleeping bag and pad) of under 10 lbs and a base weight (everything but consumables, food and water) of 20ish.  I'm getting close, but I'm not quite there yet.

Here is a link to one of my lists.  I will continue to update it as I tinker some more, but for now, this is "What's In My Pack".

Peace,
EarthTone

The Tentacles of the "Other World"

Baltimore Jack was once asked what he did in the "Real World" and his answer was, "I Hike".  For him (and for me, too) the Trail (no matter which one it is) is my "Real World"  I have started referring to that world of cities and concrete and highways as the "Other World".  I hike in the "Real World" and when I'm not hiking and I get pulled back to that world of cities and concrete and highways, I'm pulled back to the "Other World" (OW).

Now that we have that terminology covered, I'm here to talk about that shady huge octopus that has at least a dozen tentacles that are continuously waving back and forth, searching for a part of me to grab and pull me back to the Other World.  There are so many things that can do that and when you are on a long distance hike, those tentacles are everywhere.  

Just off of the top of my head I can think of things that will demand our return to the OW.  First there would be the family emergency.  Both Lisa's and my Fathers aren't getting any younger, so, (god forbid) something happens, we will be coming back.

Then there are the major household casualties/emergencies.  Something major breaks that Brandi (Home Base) can't handle and we will have to come back to take care of it.  In the last few months, we have replaced our hot water heater, washer and dryer, so we are hoping that the rest of our major appliances will last the six months we plan on being away, but you can never be completely prepared.  

I am diligently trying to teach Ms Home Base all the little things that she will need to be able to handle as the head of the household, but when I start to make a mental list, it grows to outlandish lengths.  I will need to start writing stuff down.  Bills that need the old fashioned check and snail mail payment, grass cutting, dog and cat care, grocery shopping, dish washing, laundry, trash day, etc.  I get a little anxious just thinking about it.  

I don't know if our life in the OW will ever settle down enough to enable us to spend time in the RW tentacle free.  As long as we have people and things that can possibly draw us back, the potential will be there.  We aren't selling the house or getting rid or our cars or anything major like that.  We will have to maintain our life there, even while we have left it for a time.  

I'm guilty of letting the OW suck me back in.  When I retired, Lisa and I headed down to Georgia to hike for three weeks from Amicalola to Fontana, but when Lisa twisted her ankle as we were coming down off of Springer, I immediately gave up the plan.  I decided that I didn't want my bride limping through Georgia in pain.  I decided to get us back to our truck and then go from there.  I know now that that was a major fail on my part.  First of all, I really didn't ask Lisa if that was what she wanted to do.  I fell into the "protect my baby" mode and just wanted to make it ok for her, giving up on the plan to hike around 175 miles.  What we should have done was rest for a couple days at a Hostel and then decide what to do.  There was no hurry.  I regret that I did that.  My baby is a lot tougher than I give her credit for.  A lot tougher.  So lesson learned and score 1 for the tentacle.  

My Ultimate Goal for this hike is to become an Outsider and have an Adventure.  Completing a Thru Hike is a secondary goal.  If it happens, fine, but I'm not going to obsess about it (too much).  The Journey is the Destination.  As I said before, getting to Katahdin will not be the end of my hiking.  Just another memorable mile post along the way.  I will hike until I can no longer walk.  

So have at it tentacles.  I will avoid you if I can, but I like to think I'm flexible enough to be able to be pulled back for a  time and then to return to the Real World, when I can and hiking on.

Peace,
EarthTone

Social Media, Journaling and Hiking the Trail

Since I started seriously hiking the trail, I have always enjoyed sharing my journeys with the world.  I’m sure only my family and a few friends actually read my shit, but I really write it for me.  I like to be able to go back and read what I wrote and have it bring back memories and good feelings from my adventures.  Sometimes, it also brings back the pain and that is a good thing.  It’s good to remember the pain. 

I have used various methods of logging my hikes.  Trail Journals (TJ) is one where I have recorded all of my hikes, both on the A.T. and elsewhere.  The website has good and bad attributes.  It is really good at keeping track of your miles and your stops. Where you sleep and pictures you take and a few other good things, but you must fill out the entry form correctly and string them together properly.  The bad is that it is a little hard to navigate using a phone with spotty signal out in the bush.  Many times I have abandoned posting from the trail and just took good notes.  When I returned home to my computer, I would update the journal.  I have seen long distance hikers use the app throughout their hike.  Updating from the mountain tops and staying fairly close to real time.  I will try this during our long hike, but make no promises.

I also have maintained a blog using the blogspot (blogger) website. (This Blog, right here)  The site has an easier interface both at home and on the go and has a better layout than the TJ site.  What I have learned is I can create something here with pictures and links and then copy its html over to a TJ entry and it will look the same.  Pictures and links and all.

So this blog has all of my hikes on it too with additional content about the weird and special things I think about, then write about in this world.  This is sort of my Central Information Center, my Home Base.

Facebook has also come in handy where it is really easy to post a quick update with a little bit of signal.  You can even post pictures if the signal is strong enough.  This is the old go-to if I’m feeling lazy, but still want to update.  I have created this Like Page, Adventures of EarthTone and Logear to also track our journey.  We will see how it works out.

There is another site, not unlike TJ, called Postholer.com.  It could do a lot of things and had a great app for your phone, but it was spartan looking and the app disappeared from Google Play.  (I heard that the author of the app died and when the license ran out, the app was removed).  I have an account on postholer, but I don’t plan on using it any time soon.

There are multitude of other sites to use.  Snapchat, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter and Wordpress to name a few.

Regardless of which site(s) I choose to use, I will always have my handy dandy lo-tech notebook where I record the particulars of the day and can refer back to when it is time to write the journal entry, which will be written into my phone in the Google Keep app.  From there I will be able to cut and paste to whichever app or site I want. 

The big question is, will I be able to maintain my journaling while we are hiking?  I have seen it happen countless times.  The hiker starts out updating every day, then it falls off to a couple times a week.  Before too long, the hiker is updating about once every week or two, before they throw in the towel and admit that after hiking for 10 to 12 hours, getting water, eating dinner and any other chore that needs to be done, writing a journal entry loses to sleep.

If that happens, so be it.  I will have my notes and eventually, I will be able to tell my story.

Peace

EarthTone

What is a Thru Hike?

It is said a lot in our Hiking Culture, that a Thru Hike is just a six month vacation.  In the most basic sense, this is true, but as I think about it, it is also so much more and sometimes not a vacation at all.

Let's explore some definitions of the word:

va·ca·tionvāˈkāSH(ə)n
1. an extended period of recreation, especially one spent away from home or in traveling.  

2. a period of time that a person spends away from home, school, or business usually in order to relax or travel

3. the number of days or hours per year for which an employer agrees to pay workers while they are not working 

4. a ​period of ​time to ​relax or ​travel for ​pleasure ​instead of doing ​your ​usual ​work or ​school ​activities

Looking at these definitions, the words recreation, relax, pay and pleasure stand out.  Although all of these things are experienced during a Thru Hike (except pay, unless you are real lucky), there are so many other words that come to mind during a long distance hike in the outdoors, such as pain, wetness, hunger, stink, blisters, work, hardship and pain. 

With the given that a basic Thru Hike is leaving a job or school and spending all of your time hiking all day, for days, weeks and months on end, to achieve a goal of completing a trail in one long undertaking, I would like to explore some of the other possibilities of what a Thru Hike can be.  

Work:  Some hikers say that hiking the trail is like work.  They get up each day, strap on their pack and walk.  That's it.  Menial, arduous, mind numbing and a lot of the time painful.  You may get a day off every once in a while, but if you want to "complete the project", you need to get up each day, strap on your pack and make some miles.  The flaw here is usually this is work without pay, so maybe a better term would be "volunteer".

Deployment: I rolled this one around in my head as I contemplated this article and after a while, pretty much dismissed it, but for some, it can be looked at as just another deployment, especially from the home front.  The differences are, in the military, a deployment is an Order to go here, do this, for this long.  A hiker can approach their hike as a deployment, but in the back of their minds, there is always the option of bringing your deployment to an end at a time of your own choosing.  Not possible in the military world.  

When the first Warrior Hikers, Sean Gobin and Mark Silvers made plans to hike the A.T. after their deployments in Afghanistan to raise money for wounded veterans and made public their plans on a well know A.T. bulletin board named White Blaze, they were told that their detailed schedule, with stops at local VFWs and a firm time frame looked more like a Mission than a Thru Hike.  Well, they ignored the naysayers and accomplished their Mission, pretty much on time and raised a good amount of funds to buy specially equipped vehicles for disabled veterans.  

The Warrior Hike has grown into a "Walk off the War" program now called Warrior Expeditions, where combat veterans can apply to hike (or bike, or canoe) and be sponsored by the Warrior Hike with gear, and other help to get them out on the trail (or path or water) to walk off the demons that plague them or to just experience nature and the healing it offers.

Pilgrimage: For some, the trial of walking the trail has an almost religious sense to it.  To move along the trail from one end to another becomes their pilgrimage.  There are also some who will preach along the way, but most, just show their good intentions with their actions.  The faith that they have in a higher being, gives them the strength to continue along, through the pain and hardship, until they reach their destination in glory.  

Homeless Unemployed Hiker Adventure:  A pretty simple concept.  Quitting (or ending, or suspending) your job and hitting the trail.  Using your saved funds (hopefully you have saved some funds) to keep you going as you work your way up the trail.  Your home is your tent or shelter or hammock.  You live each day to its fullest, with no other obligations other than doing your miles, eating what food you have and continuing along on your hike. Total and complete freedom.

There are a few other types that I won't go into, as they pretty much explain themselves.  The Hiker for (insert your favorite charity here), The GoFundMe Hiker and the "I'm really not doing a Thru Hike, but I will move along the trail and party my ass off until I run out of money" Hiker.  

So in summary, a Thru Hike (or any long distance hike) can be a vacation.  It can be work or a pilgrimage.  It can be nothing more than a walkabout of homelessness and unemployment, but it will always be something special, to yourself and to others who know.  An Adventure of a Lifetime. 

I don't think we fit into any one category mentioned above.  We can approach it as work (and my pension is money coming in, which is good) and our pilgrimage that I call the Quest of Pamola will give us the motivation we need, but for the most part we will just be homeless, smelly hikers, having the adventure of our lifetimes and hopefully finding something each day to bring us joy and happiness, even as our pains work against us. Are we up to the challenge?  I surely hope so.  

Peace,
EarthTone

Making the Commitment - Taking the Plunge

They say there is never the perfect time to do a Thru Hike. That serendipitous confluence of happenstance and preparedness that tell you, Now Is The Time. You must make the decision to "just do it" to steal a phrase. If you don't "cease the day", you will possibly regret it. Or you just won't do it. Since I Need to do it. The time is at hand.

It won't be easy. Adjustments will have to be made in every sector of our lives, but now... is... the... time... But that is the challenge that I seek. To get out of my comfort zone in areas that I haven't had to go out of for I don't remember how long. Financial... Mental... Physical... I'm ready to ask the question and see what the answer is.

It's time to shit or get off the pot. They say that there is never the "right" time to attempt a Thru Hike. Each time I think of doing a Thru Hike, about a dozen reasons why now isn't the best time enter my head. So as many advisors say, "you have to just do it", it is time for us to just do it.

The Mission: To traverse the length of the trail, having adventure, challenge and fun along the way. To be a Long Distance Hiker (LDH)

So in what has become almost a prerequisite to starting a hike according to "The Good Badger", Zach Davis, of Appalachian Trials fame, here are my "lists":

“I am thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail because…”
(I amended to) Why I want to Hike the AT:
1. To be an Outsider for a time.
2. To join the "club" of 2000 milers.
3. To experience extreme challenge.
4. To rediscover my wild spirit.
5. To commune with the Mother and her environment.
6. To live simply for a time.
7. To immerse myself in the Hiking Culture.
8. Sorry to copy JFD, but I too feel that I am meant to hike the whole trail. One way or another, I feel a need to do every mile.
9. To spend quality time with my bride.
10. To have an adventure.

What's not important to me: (a list I thought of all by myself)
1. Being called a Thru Hiker and expecting special treatment.
I don't let the term Thru Hiker hold any power over me. It is defined in so many different ways, that it has lost a lot of meaning. I choose to not use it to describe myself. Here are some terms I am thinking about: Just starting out I will be a THA (Thru Hiker Attemptee). This lasts until you enter Virginia. At Damascus, I will become a Long Distance Hiker. Not until I have started the down hill slope of the mileage chart will I even consider being called a Thru Hiker.
2. Being a purist in any way.
If I want to take the other trail out of a shelter area, so be it. If I want to Aqua Blaze, I will. Blue Blazing? Maybe. Yellow Blazing? Most likely not, but I have learned in hiking that you never say never. This is an adventure, I don't want to constrain it by trying to be a purist. That's too much like the "other" world.
3. Worrying about making miles.
4. Worrying about not "finishing".
5. Earning that special "2000 Miler" certificate by strictly following their rules.  I can always make a "HYOH" certificate on my handy dandy computer.  It's just a piece of paper.

“When I successfully thru-hike the Appalachian Trail I will…”
...have a feeling of accomplishment.
...start looking for my next adventure.
...continue to be a part of the A.T. Culture in many different ways.

“If I give up on the Appalachian Trail I will…”
...be dead, because the trail will be with me for the rest of my life. I'll never "give up on" the trail as long as I draw breath.

I made a Blog Post back in 2014 that I called That List of Failure.  I know Zach meant that third list to be used as a motivational tool to help a hiker find the strength to keep going, but I couldn't stop feeling that it was just a lot of mental brow beating.  My list became a positive thing because, as you can see above, completing the Thru Hike isn't my be-all-end-all goal.  The adventure is the goal.  Here is my list from that post.  It still rings true two years later.

 ...most likely try again.
 ...know that the trail will always be there... waiting for me... to come back.
 ...realize that being ON the trail is the place to be.  Why rush the journey?
 ...believe that a goal not yet achieved, is still a challenge to be taken. 
 ...still have a bucket list item to strive for.
 ...still love the trail with yearning.  Wanting to be hiking on it, experiencing the world of the AT, always.
 ...not be afraid to adjust my goals and work my way towards them at a life enjoying pace.
 ...not think of myself as a failure.
 ...learn a lot about myself that I didn't know.
 ...know that I did so much more than those who never leave their front door.
Remember: The journey is the destination.

Peace,
EarthTone