This post is part of a  Q&A series written by Appalachian Trail hikers.  If you've hiked the AT or are planning to hike the AT, and would like submit a guest post, visit this page for more information.  If you want to read more posts from this series, click here.

Note from Jill:  Misti/Ridley is not only an AT thru-hiker, but she's also a Florida Trail (FT) thru-hiker.  When I first visited her site, I tore through the updates from both hikes.  I've always been curious about the FT and I loved seeing her pictures.  And check out this FAQ post on the FT - so great!  I also love that she and her husband hiked both trails together.  Hiking a trail with a partner is both tough and amazing - I have a lot of respect for couples who find the joy in it and go back for more.  Take it away, Ridley!

1. What is your trail name and what year(s) did you hike?
Ridley---March 13-August 11, 2010

2. Where did you start your hike?
Amicalola Falls State Park and the Approach Trail

3.  Where did you finish your hike?
Mt. Katahdin!

4. Did you start with a group/partner or solo?
I started with my husband, Panther.

5.  What’s the best thing about hiking?
Waking up somewhere new every day. The smells---oh man, the smells of the woods, they changed as we walked north. The little bits of beauty we'd find even if were bone tired---flowers, dew on the leaves, misty mornings, the sounds of the birds or even complete silence.

6.  What’s the worst thing about hiking?
Wet shoes, walking in unrelenting rain, and the inevitable last mile of the day, which seems like it is five miles instead of only one.

7.  Describe your best day on the trail
I think hiking up Katahdin was one of my best days on the trail, maybe *the* best day. We left Katahdin Stream at 2am, the earliest we were allowed to hike up the mountain, and hiked up the mountain in the dark. Coming around those first rocks above treeline in the dark is breathtaking and frightening all at once. It was a clear night but in the distance we saw clouds which freaked us out a bit, not knowing if they were storm clouds. We arrived at The Sign about twenty minutes before sunrise, but there were tinges of light already. It was pretty damn awesome to have the summit to ourselves for several hours, really not seeing anyone else until we descended mid-morning and were just below treeline. Of course the crappy part of that day was trying to hitch out of the park; we waited three long hours for a ride.

8. Describe your hardest day on the trail
I don't know if there was necessarily a hardest day---there were hard moments and hard portions of days. Several moments stick out, climbing up Sassafras Mountain the second day on the trail was eye-opening, a chilly rain in June while hiking through Pennsylvania---there was nowhere to stop for lunch until we came across a small bridge that we huddled under hoping for the rain to stop. It never did and we slept there like hobos with two of our friends for the night. Another hard moment was hiking up the bare Gap. We'd just met a friend in town for lunch at McDonald's and had a full, greasy belly; the humidity and heat from the day was overbearing. We were nearly to the top when a t-storm came up on us and it began to rain. With the heat I thought I was going to pass out. The rain cooled us off and we continued on down the trail after, but it was not a fun moment.

9. Did you ever feel like quitting your hike?
Yes. We had to get off trail for five days to attend the funeral of my baby niece. Being home was exactly what I needed as I had been going through a bout of homesickness and I think this trip home helped me later on in the hike, but it was incredibly difficult to go back to the trail after seeing the anguish of my brother and sister in law. Hiking seemed so frivolous right then.

10. How did you prepare for your hike?
We lived in Florida before hiking the AT so we hiked on flat trails. It might have helped our endurance on some level and to prepare for wearing a pack and using our gear, but nothing can prepare you for hiking up and down and around mountains every day for five months other than hiking up and down mountains for five months.

11. Do you stay in contact with your trail friends?
Yes, as much as I can. Mostly through Facebook, some through email.

12. Would you attempt another long distance hike?
We did do another long distance hike six months post-AT, we hiked the 1,100 miles Florida Trail. We haven't done another trail since then, but our long-long distance trails are probably on hold for awhile. I'd like to do shorter distance long trails in the meantime.

13. Would you thru-hike the AT again?
Yes, probably when I'm older. Part of me wants to do it southbound but another part of me wants to experience the rush of the group heading north again.

14. Do you have any advice for the next class of thru-hikers?
It's all mental. Barring no injuries or bad illness, the mind is what you need to conquer. Take it one day at a time. There will be down days, accept them and battle through. Don't give up, the reward for accomplishing your goal feels awesome!

This post is part of a  Q&A series written by Appalachian Trail hikers.  If you've hiked the AT or are planning to hike the AT, and would like submit a guest post, visit this page for more information.  If you want to read more posts from this series, click here.

Note from Jill: Simply hearing the name Bearcub makes my insides happy.  Kelly and her husband (Guyline) are good friends of ours and I will forever be grateful to the trail for introducing them to us.  It's rare to find other hikers in Chicago and even rarer to find friends who are balancing corporate jobs with a life of adventure.  Kelly is doing a much better job of balancing it than I am, which inspires me each time I hear from her.  In fact, she and Brian are living and traveling in Ecuador, loving life and keeping the adventure going right now.  You can read through their thru-hike posts or follow along on their new travel posts at Brian and Kelly Hike the AT.   Bearcub, I love ya girl.  Now move your ass to NC, okay?  ;-)

1. What is your trail name and what year(s) did you hike? 
Bearcub, 2012

2. Where did you start your hike?
Springer Mtn., Georgia

3. Where did you finish your hike?
Katahdin, Maine

4. Did you start with a group or solo?
Started with my then boyfriend of around 10 months, Guyline (Brian).  Fun random story is that we started on Springer Mountain with a hiker named Day Glo - he took our picture for us from the starting point.  We hiked with him a few days and shared some navigational struggles before he quickly picked up speed and left us in the dust.  We never saw him again until Monson, Maine, and ended up hiking with him quite a bit in the 100 mile wilderness, and then summitting Katahdin with him on the same day.  He took our first and last picture on the AT - pretty cool!

5. What’s the best thing about hiking? 
That's a really hard question, because there are so many things I love about hiking.  But I think the best thing is that hiking helps me to cut through all of the noise I create for myself in the "real world" and start to perceive and appreciate the world around me.  This Thoreau quote captures the feeling that I get when I'm backpacking:
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”

6. What’s the worst thing about hiking?
When your super sweaty hiking socks get soaking wet in the rain, and don't dry out, and then you have to put them on cold and soaking wet and smelling like mold first thing in the morning.  Sorry, that was graphic. 

7. Describe your best day on the trail.
My husband described one of my favorite days in his post, so I'll take a different angle.  About 8 months after we finished our thru-hike, we went to CT for my sisters' graduation and returned to the AT for a quick two day trip.  The section we hiked wasn't particularly stunning or special, but all of the magic of the trail came flooding back.  We spent the evening over a campfire and boxed wine with a few section hikers and traded trail stories.  It was one of the happiest days of my life and I think that's when I realized how much the AT means to me (when we finished our thru-hike, we were so ready to be done that it took awhile to sink in).  

8. Describe your hardest day on the trail.
I've got some good ones to pick from :).  When we were hiking into Daleville, we ran out of water about 9 miles from town, and all of the sources there were completely dried up.  It was hot....maybe in the mid-90s, and the 9 miles into town was painful.  Guyline, who is one of the most even-keeled people I know, had a moment where he just stopped in the middle of the trail and screamed obscenities.  

9. Did you ever feel like quitting your hike?
Yes - specifically, I got giardia (a water-born bacterial infection) in Virginia and was super sick for about six or seven weeks.  We took a few zeroes in Waynesboro, VA where our friends from Chicago met us, and I called my Mom and told her I was going to fly home and take a break if I wasn't dramatically better after our time off.  Sure enough, that was rock bottom and I slowly started to get better - and that was the last time I thought about quitting.

10. How did you prepare for your hike?
We had never really hiked (other than day hikes) before the trail!  We read books and blogs, but most importantly, we spent a lot of time with our friend The Griz, who had thru-hiked the trail a few years ago.  He coached us, gave us shakedown, and helped set our expectations for the hike.  If you have want to do a thru-hike and have access to someone who has, I highly recommend adopting them as a mentor!  Also - people at outfitters like REI and Moosejaw were super helpful and many of them had done a long-distance hike before.  

11. Do you stay in contact with your trail friends? 
Despite the fact that life has taken us out of country, we try!  Fellow thru-hikers have a bond that can't be tried by time and distance :). 

12. Would you attempt another long distance hike?
Yes - I think so.  It's just a matter of find the right time!

13. Would you thru-hike the AT again?
I just might!  I would love to do it slower.  

14. Do you have any advice for the next class of thru-hikers?
Give yourself a lot of time and go slow and steady.  Find a mentor in someone who has already hiked the AT.  Journal when you have the energy.  And pack light :) - be willing to spend money on lightweight, quality gear before you start - it is worth it!   Oh, and trail runners are way better than boots.  And peanut butter is really good in ramen (though Guyline disagrees).

Guest Post by Jake

This post is part of a  Q&A series written by Appalachian Trail hikers.  If you've hiked the AT or are planning to hike the AT, and would like submit a guest post, visit this page for more information.  If you want to read more posts from this series, click here.

Note from Jill: I met Jake through out blogs and I'm so glad that I did.  Even over email and blog posts I can tell that he is a kind and genuine person.   Plus he's a vegan with a cute dog!  We were destined to be blogger friends.  Jake is preparing for his first AT thru-hike, but he's no stranger to backpacking.   With his positive attitude and his dedication to charity, I have no doubt that he will finish the trail.  And we're excited to follow along!

If you’d like to learn more about what Jake is doing doing to support People Serving People and Minnesota’s homeless families, I encourage you to visit the 2,000 Miles From Home blog and follow his progress on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram.  Please join him in helping some very deserving families find their way home!

1.            When are you planning to start your hike?
Right now I’m planning to hit the trail in mid-March 2014, although I don’t have a date picked out just yet.  I should probably get on that!

2.            Where are planning to start and finish your hike?
I’ll be a NOBO, one of many, so I’ll start at Springer Mountain, GA and finish at Mount Katahdin, ME.  I’m PSYCHED about hiking through the Whites and the Hundred Mile Wilderness, and being from Minnesota I’m partial to the northland!

3.            Do you already have a trail name or are you waiting to let the trail name you?
Believe it or not, I’m torn about this!  I don’t want to name myself, and while I’m inclined to let the trail name me I’ve also considered allowing donors to bestow my trail name as a way of generating contributions for the charity I’m supporting, People Serving People.  I’m not sure how I feel about that, but if it helps those in need I may be able to abide it!

4.            Are you starting with a group/partner or solo?
I’ll be starting alone, but I’m really looking forward to meeting other aspiring thru-hikers and hopefully making some new friends.

5.            Why did you choose the AT over another trail?
The AT is an American tradition.  It’s ingrained in our culture—so many of us dream about escaping to the trail, living close to the land, and experiencing high adventure.  I considered the PCT and CDT, and while I’m passionate about the west I feel the AT is better suited to what I’m trying to achieve through my fundraiser, 2,000 Miles From Home.  The charity I’m supporting is dedicated to serving homeless and highly mobile families in the Twin Cities, and sadly the circumstances that led to their poverty and homelessness are as much a part of American life as the vision and perseverance that produced the AT.  Ultimately I believe thru-hiking the AT will help focus attention on family poverty in Minnesota and enable some very deserving parents and kids to complete their journeys home from homelessness.

6.            What are you most excited about?
The Whites!  I love big mountains; I’ve climbed in the Rockies and the Cascades and recently completed my first ascent of Mount Rainier (on my second try), and I feel like the Whites are as close to that as I’ll get on the East Coast.  But I’m also really looking forward to meeting other aspiring thru-hikers, taking each day as it comes, and doing my best to inhabit the moment.

7.            What are you least excited about?
The food!  I’m a vegan, and I’m gravely concerned about being able to stick to my plant-based chops.  I spent time in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and the lack of wholesome food was extremely challenging for me during those six-month tours.  I just don’t know how well I’ll do eating the same thing day after day for 4-6 months!  Thankfully there are folks like Serial and Jill out there to offer both moral support and expert advice!

8.            Have you ever camped before?
Frequently.  I can’t get enough of it!  Although thru-hiking the AT just might scratch that itch for a while!

9.            What's the longest distance you have previously hiked?
I did a 30-ish mile section hike of the Superior Hiking Trail in Minnesota in 2007 and a 26-mile ascent of Pikes Peak in 2012, but those are really the longest hikes I’ve done.

10.       What are you doing to prepare for your hike, mentally or physically?
I’ve done a great deal of reading about the AT, and I feel like I have a realistic expectation for how mentally challenging the trail will be.  Zach Davis’ book Appalachian Trials was particularly helpful in that regard.  Physically, I’m trying to strengthen my legs through weighted stair running, cycling, and conditioning hikes.  I have…particular…knees and I’m doing whatever I can to decrease the risk of developing an overuse injury before gaining my trail legs.


11.       How do your friends and family feel about your hike?
Everyone has been incredibly supportive.  I’m leaving a stable job and a comfortable home to pursue this fundraiser, and while I sometimes question my sanity my friends and family have been uniformly encouraging.  I’ve also been humbled and inspired by the outpouring of support for my project and the willingness of complete strangers to donate on behalf of families in need.  My experience to date has only underscored the goodness, the generosity, and the compassion in our community and our nation.

12.       How concerned are you about your gear list and pack weight?
I’m not terribly concerned.  I already own most of the necessary gear, and I’m aiming to go light (no more than 25-30 pounds).  I’m training with more weight than that, so I’m hopeful the load won’t be too burdensome when I hit the trail!

13.        Do you have any questions for hikers who have completed a section or thru-hike?
Does anyone have any advice on the ideal pack size for an AT thru-hike?  I’m debating bringing my Osprey Aether 85, but I’m worried it might be a bit too large.  The pack weight is also a little high at roughly five pounds.  The pack has been great for heavy loads in big mountains, but I’m not sure it’s the most efficient choice for a 2,180-mile hike.  Help me, Obi Wan!

14.       Anything else on your mind?
I welcome any and all guidance concerning how to preserve my vegan credentials while on the trail, how to hitchhike effectively, how to reduce the risk of foot and knee injuries, and how to minimize “eau de thru-hiker!”

 

Guest Post by Mackenzie "Progress"

This post is part of a  Q&A series written by Appalachian Trail hikers.  If you've hiked the AT or are planning to hike the AT, and would like submit a guest post, visit this page for more information.  If you want to read more posts from this series, click here.

Note from Jill: Mackenzie and I "met" online, but I wish we had met on the trail because I think we would have hit it off big time.  We have a few core things in common (healthy diet, not drinking, hiking with our significant other) and I know we'd get along in real life.  Mackenzie and her husband, Beau, blogged while they hiked and they continue to keep it updated while they save up and plan for their next adventure.  You can check out their site here -www.beauandmackenzie.blogspot.com.

What is your trail name and what year(s) did you hike?
Progress, 2012

Where did you start your hike?
Springer, April 2nd

Where did you finish your hike?
Katahdin, Aug 20th

Did you start with a group/partner or solo?
I started out solo, and my husband joined me a month in. Pros and cons- The biggest thing, for me, is having someone to bounce ideas off of and plan your days with and talk to you when you're bored of walking. Cooking and grocery shopping is way better with two people. We had more variety since we shared everything, and we could buy a whole package of something like tortillas to split instead of a solo hiker buying the whole package and leaving half in the hiker box. Some people, I guess, would get sick of their significant other or have fights, but it was fine for us. :) I was worried about moving slower as a couple, since it's double the chances of injury or bad days. Instead, we moved more quickly. I think it was because  when you're solo, it's easy to be swayed by a group decision, which is usually to take an extra zero. :) The one thing I think I missed out on in hiking with my husband as making closer bonds with other hikers. I made lots of friends, of course, but it would have been a deeper relationship if I were forced to rely on them instead of my husband for support.

What’s the best thing about hiking?
While I was hiking, the best things were.... not hiking. Like food! And town. And dinnertime at the shelters or campsite. Looking back, the best things were meeting new people and the community of the AT. I miss the feeling that every day I am one day closer to my goal, and that I'm working towards something really big, and going to sleep every night tired and accomplished.

What’s the worst thing about hiking?
1) Rain. 2012 was a good weather year, and luckily, we didn't have all that much rain. Enough to know I don't like it, though. :) 2) Being overhwelmed. In the middle states, it sure gets overwhelming to think about how much trail is ahead of you. And also, 3) looking in your food bag and being sick of everything.

Describe your best day on the trail.
I loved it when things just "clicked". A really good day I can remember is when we unexpectedly got the opportunity to slack pack, caught up to a couple friends we hadn't seen in a while, and then were able to have dinner at a restaurant and camp in the yard (so not having to spend money on a night in town, but still got town food!). Then, since we caught up to a friend, it just so happened he lived nearby and his parents slack packed us the next day and let us stay at their house the next night. Everything just fell into place for us to have an awesome couple of days. Other really good days were when we got to "famous" parts of the trail, like the Grayson Highlands, McAfee Knob, or the Mahoosuc Notch. You've been hearing about them for so long and then you FINALLY get there.

Describe your hardest day on the trail.
I don't know if one specific day stands out. The hardest times for me were at the very beginning when I was mentally adjusting to everything (and adjusting to being alone) and then when my husband joined me, because then he had to adjust to life on the trail when I was raring to go. But I do remember one day in Vermont when we were wishing we had zeroed in the last town are were really dragging our feet. It was raining and we had no desire to keep going. Instead of beating ourselves up we took a nero and a trail angel took us in and we had a nice relaxing day. We were always ready to get back on the trail after a nero or a zero.

Did you ever feel like quitting your hike?
No. I put way too much into planning my thru hike to not complete it. Towards the end, I remember feeling really ready to be done. I didn't want to quit, of course, but I was just ready to fast forward the next few weeks to be finished.

How did you prepare for your hike?
I had been thinking about it for years and years. But I actually decided to go a year in advance. I was always researching by reading blogs and books and whiteblaze.net. I would go to REI and talk to the employees who had thru hiked for advice. I am a runner and a gym goer, so physically I was prepared. I did a pretty good job researching and buying gear, because I really didn't change anything once I got on the trail. I kept the same style of hiking shoes, tent, rain gear, etc. And actually, all of my stuff held up fine and I still use it today.

Do you stay in contact with your trail friends?
Yes! Facebook, Trail Days, and texting. I'm hoping I can get together with some of them to do the John Muir Trail or something.

Would you attempt another long distance hike?
Yes. We will do the PCT one day. During our thru hike and immediately after, we proclaimed that we would be retiring from long distance hiking. Of course, it only took a couple months to reconsider that statement. The PCT is not in our immediate plans, but that or the AT again will happen one day.
Would you thru-hike the AT again? Yes, we will as an old retired couple. I like to say we'll take it slower and relax more, but that's probably a lie because I will be just has focused and driven at 64 as I was at 24. :)

Do you have any advice for the next class of thru-hikers?
Oh goodness, I could go on forever. Make progress every day! Remember that you can change your mind about gear and scheduling while you're out there. Don't do mail drops. Take lots of pictures of "mundane" daily things (not just views and cool things). Be open minded about making friends with lots of different people. Nothing is ever as good or as bad as other people tell you. People will convince you you're going to die in the Whites, or that such-and-such restaurant or hostel is the BEST EVER and your hike will not be complete if you don't go there. Neither will meet those expectations. Remember that everything will work out in the end, even if it's not how you planned.

Guest Post by Jake "Solsbury Hill"

Note from Jill & Serial:  we hiked with Solsbury in 2012 and he was part of a group that we saw regularly.  We shared many laughs with him and are so glad that the trail made him our friend.  We split up from that group somewhere in VA, but we always kept up on where they were on the trail and we were so happy for Solsbury when he finished in Maine.  Many congrats to you, friend.  We are looking forward to our paths crossing again!

Describe your hardest day on the trail.
For me it was right outside of Pearisburg at the next shelter. It was when i had that damn dog ginger and i had to face the fact that I had to let my friends go on and figure out how to get rid of the dog. I got really depressed and mad at myself for the rest of that day. It all turned out okay, i went to "the captain's" where Hot Pants Michael Moore and Chief showed up and waited with me for a couple days until my brother came to take the dog home. He drove us to 4 pines hostel (yellow blazed like 40 miles) where we had an amazing time my little bro slept in a hostel  when to the Homeplace restaurant and then us four would go to Mcafees knob, tinker cliffs and so on to Daleville.

Did you ever feel like quitting your hike?
At the end in the 100 wilderness i really was tired of it all and wanted it to be over. I wouldnt say i wanted to "quit" but definitely wanted to be done. Ghost Smoke told me very early on what a lady told him when he was in Georgia and she said " If you ever feel like quitting, just give it a week. " which made me laugh, its like " damn! i gotta give it a week? holy fuck" which it was awesome advice.

How did you prepare for your hike?
I prepared very poorly, I didn't have a clue what i was doing. We have a really nice trail in my hometown that a lot of people use to prepare for the AT so i hiked that a bunch, did a little research and brought way too much shit like everyone else.

Do you stay in contact with your trail friends?
I stay in contact with a lot of them and talk to them very often. I miss them all dearly and cherish the moments we all had together. There will never be a nicer, more loving group of people i could possibly find.

Would you attempt another long distance hike?
Yes absolutely! I am in the process of saving for the PCT for this spring of 2014. I can almost comfortably say it is almost come to fruition.

Would you thru-hike the AT again?
Yes I will redo the AT later in life but no time soon.

Do you have any advice for the next class of thru-hikers?
Don't take it for granted, take plenty of pictures, save your money, and enjoy it while you can.

This post is part of a  Q&A series written by Appalachian Trail hikers.  If you've hiked the AT or are planning to hike the AT, and would like submit a guest post, visit this page for more information.  If you want to read more posts from this series, click here.

Note from Jill & Serial:  Guyline and his wife, Bearcub, are dear, sweet friends of ours.  We met them on the trail in 2012 and they were living in Chicago when we moved back there after our hike.  They are adventurers at heart and we couldn't be more thankful to have them as friends.  As far as couples go, they're pretty much the cutest.  They were dating when they decided to thru-hike together (only couples who have hiked together will understand the true test that the trail is), got engaged shortly after their hike and were married this past year.  Now they are living and traveling in Ecuador, loving life and keeping the adventure going.  You can read through their thru-hike posts or follow along on their new travel posts at Brian and Kelly Hike the AT.   We love and miss you guys!

1. What is your trail name and what year(s) did you hike?
Guyline - thru-hiked in 2012

2. Where did you start your hike?
Springer Mountain, Georgia

3. Where did you finish your hike?
Mount Katahdin, Maine

4. Did you start with a group or solo?
I started with my then girlfriend, now wife (proposed on our 1 year anniversary of starting the AT), Kelly...AKA Bearcub.

5. What’s the best thing about hiking?
There are many great things about hiking, but if I had to boil it down I would say living a simplistic life close to nature. The real world contains nagging problems that can go unresolved and continue to gnaw at you, but all problems on the trail can be solved with a meal, shower, or a set of dry clothes. And both the beauty and the hardships of the trail will help you to put all of those real world problems into prospective. Actually, maybe the best thing about hiking is the person that you become by the end of the journey.

6. What’s the worst thing about hiking?
The worst thing about hiking isn't the lack of delicious home-cooked food, regular showers, or a bed every night...it's the monotony. The AT is incredibly beautiful, but some days you just can't get psyched about a hike through the middle of the woods in Virginia with nothing to look at but the same trees you've been staring at for weeks. Hiking also gives you a lot of time to think about how you want to live your life - things you want to do differently, new hobbies you'd like to try, but the catch is you can't actually do any of it for another 6 months.

7. Describe your best day on the trail
There was a day in the 100 mile wilderness when we finally realized we were going to complete the whole trail by our deadline, and we finally were able to completely relax (a piece of advice - always let yourself completely relax, don't worry about whether or not you're going to finish). We stared into a waterfall for about an hour during our lunch break, went swimming in a pristine lake that evening, and watched the sunset over the same lake during dinner. I also found an awesome hat that I still wear every day.  Side Note: If anybody lost a Blue Ridge Parkway hat in Maine in 2012, I'm sorry but at this point I'm not giving it back.

8. Describe your hardest day on the trail
There was a 24 hour stretch in Pennsylvania where we couldn't find any water for hours even after going down multiple steep side trails, it stormed on us, and the man whose hostel/hotel we were staying in passed away. I remember at one particularly low point during the day I just started laughing because I was so angry. But after that day, things just started to get better. I finally realized that no matter what went wrong, nothing was going to stop us. And even if it did, so what? At that point I finally stopped stressing so much. Meeting someone in the evening only to find out the next morning that they passed away in the night really puts your own selfish problems into prospective.

9. Did you ever feel like quitting your hike?
Yes. I think everybody probably does. Things happen. You get sick, you get hurt, you get bored or question why the hell you're even doing this. But just keep going, I promise it's worth it. Besides, in the grand scheme of things, what's a few months of adversity when there's so much glory at stake?

10. How did you prepare for your hike?
We didn't do all that much to prepare. We read a couple AT books, bought all of our gear, and tried to stay relatively healthy. In reality, the first few weeks of the hike were our physical training. It almost seemed like the only way to prepare for it was to get out there. I do regret, however, that I did not read Appalachian Trials before we started the hike. I read it recently and realized that it really would have helped prevent some of the emotional hardships of the trail. The hardest part of the trail is the emotional/mental/spiritual aspect.

11. Do you stay in contact with your trail friends?
I do! Unfortunately, I don't live near any of them anymore, but we still keep in touch and I know that we'll always spend time with each other whenever possible.

12. Would you attempt another long distance hike?
Some days I think never again, and some days I want to just grab our packs and go. I guess I have to say it's a possibility. To clarify, this answer refers to a hike as long as the AT. I would love to do a hike that was a few hundred miles for about a month or so. Regardless of your AT experience, if you completed even a few hundred miles of it...you're pretty much a hiker for life.

13. Would you thru-hike the AT again?
Possibly, but if I was going to invest all of that time, I'd probably try a different trail this time around.

14. Do you have any advice for the next class of thru-hikers?
Read Appalachian Trails before you start...have an open mind...know that there will be points where you will hate the AT and want to quit...don't worry too much about your daily miles and do NOT go so hard that you hurt yourself. Most importantly for me...do not stress about whether or not you're going to finish the whole thing. If you do or you don't, either way you waste your time worrying. The chance to be on the trail and live so close to nature is an amazing opportunity! Don't let anything get in the way of enjoying it.

I am so excited to tell you guys about a new series that we are starting, in hopes of connecting with even more hikers.  We love hearing from our readers and answering their questions about hiking, but we're just one opinion so we wanted to share the love.

You can find all of the details on this page.  It may grow or change as we get more participants, but for now we started with a simple Q&A format.  A get to know you of sorts.  So whether you've already completed your hike or you're planning one now, we'd love to hear from you. 

Much love -

Jill, Serial & Rooney