Questions I get about backpacking

When I reached a point where lots of people knew about my thru-hike next year, I started getting a lot of questions about it.  I loved that, because it gave me free reign to talk about something I had largely kept to myself for nearly a year.  But the thing about conversations like that is that you often learn just as much from the questions as the other person does your answers.  For instance, it's easy for me to spot other backpackers, because they generally only have two questions: Northbound or Southbound?  and How much does your pack weigh?  After that, they may get into more details, like which stove you chose, or how you're going to treat water, but they always open with one of those two.

I'll start with those.

Northbound or Southbound?
Northbound (see also: NOBO or GAME).  Most thru-hikers go north for a reason: it saves the difficult White Mountains for the end of the hike.  By that time, you've been training for months, and are trail-hardened for anything.  My mom's uncle hiked it southbound, and even he recommended I go north.  Plus, a big part of why I want to hike the AT is to take Mom's ashes with me.  When I was in college, my brother, my dad, and I spread some of her ashes on Springer Mountain, in Georgia, and I feel like heading north from there gives the trip better continuity.

How much does your pack weigh?
With the gear I have now, ten days of food (I don't plan to ever carry ten days of food again if I can help it), and all my cold-weather gear, my pack weighs about 35 pounds.  That's what I remember from my Shenandoah hike in October.  I received a lighter water filter and bottles for Christmas, and if I get a chance to play with my new alcohol stove and get comfortable with it, I can shave some weight there, too.  However, 35 pounds doesn't take my passenger into account, so I'd like to cut more weight, if I can.  Unfortunately, I think I've reached a point where shedding more weight will get really expensive, and probably require changing my tent and the pack itself.  I think the more likely option is better food purchases.  I took a lot of food to SNP that I never ate, even accounting for the extra food I knew I wouldn't need.

I also get lots of questions from people who either aren't backpackers, or don't have much experience with this kind of backpacking.  These are some of my favorites.

Are you taking a knife?
Yup.  I have a tiny Leatherman (another good place to shave weight would be replacing this with a tiny Swiss Army knife that just has a blade, scissors, and tweezers.  I used to have one, but it's disappeared since I was in Scouts).
That's it??  What if you have to cut off your arm or something??
I don't think you understand where I'll be hiking.  I'm really not concerned about that possibility.

How many changes of clothes are you taking?
I'm not.  Extra clothes are what people use to fill up their dressers, and I'm not taking a dresser.  I want that space--and that weight--available for food.  I will take layers of clothing, so I can adjust my insulation according to weather, and a rain shell for when it gets wet, windy, or very cold.
Ok, but what about underwear?
Under where?  Most of the time I'll wear running shorts, which have a liner.  When it gets cold, I have a pair of merino wool leggings which are surprisingly cozy for something you can see through.

Aren't you worried about bears?
I'm only worried that they'll run away so fast that I won't be able to get a good picture.  Bears are generally timid and don't want to mess with people.  On the other hand, people doing stupid or foolish things in the woods have led bears to believe that people have the best food, and many people don't know how to store it in the backcountry.  When bears get accustomed to finding food in camp areas, they return to those areas for more food.  I may have to deal with a bear that has been trained by past hikers to steal my food.  Luckily, most shelters along the AT have some provision for hanging food out of ursine reach.  I'll probably take some cord so I can hang my own bear bag, should I be forced to camp in a place that has no such amenity.
Well, what about wolves?  or snakes?  or ticks?
In the past 60 years, there has not been a single documented case of a wolf attacking a human in North America.  Snakes are like bears; they're not going to bother me if I leave them alone, and besides taking pictures when I get the chance, I leave snakes alone (occasionally, when I can identify a species as non-venomous, I may move it out of the trail for its own safety).  Besides, the areas of the trail where snakes are most prevalent will probably be behind me by the time it's warm enough for them to be out gallivanting.  Ticks and pathogens are my only real concerns.  When Turtle and I hiked the overlooks in Virginia, we would stop at the end of every patch of high grass or other greenery that overhung the trail and checked our legs for passengers.  He led the way through most of that, so he found far more than I did, but that practice will continue this year.  If I find any ticks on me, I intend to do it while they're still looking for a picnic spot, not after they've made camp.  Dad provided me with a new filter for Christmas, and I'm confident that it will effectively treat my water.  Oddly enough, one of the bigger risks to hiker health is other hikers; many think that living in the woods means abandoning all hygiene practices, and those are the people sharing your shelters.  Online forums are full of reports of sick hikers sharing illnesses at shelters.  I plan to stick to my tent for a long time, and only accepting sealed food from others.

What if you wake up one morning and just decide that you're sick of it, and don't want to hike anymore?
I think that's unlikely.  But let's say it happens.  How often do you wake up in the morning and decide that you're sick of it, and don't want to go to work that day?  Starting March 10, my job is hiking to Maine.  If there's a day I don't feel like hiking, I'll probably hike anyway, because it's my job.

Are you taking anything for protection?
Someone asked me this question in front of The Girl, who immediately acted shocked and asked of them just WHAT kind of trip did they think this was, ANYWAY??  After we finished laughing, they clarified, "seriously? a gun, a knife, what?"  No.  Definitely no.  The most powerful firearm I own bears the NERF logo.  I've fired .22 rifles, and have no other firearm training at all.  Furthermore, guns are illegal on many parts of the trail, heavy over the entire trail, and entirely unnecessary.  People seem to think I'm trekking through a warzone.  It's Appalachia, for pete's sake.  I'll be safer there than I am in D.C.

The most interesting question I've heard was actually asked of The Girl by a friend of hers.
Aren't you afraid he's going to spend too much time in his own head?
I thought that was impressively insightful for someone I don't know, but if she had known me, she also would have known the right answer, delivered by The Girl: "He already does that."  Unemployment has given me two solid years to muck about deep inside my brain.  I won't meet any demons on this trip I haven't already taken to lunch.  At least, not the internal kind.

Have any more questions?  I'm not an expert on backpacking (yet), but I am the world's leading expert on my plans.  Ask soon--I leave in less than a month.