Thirteen Statements of Wisdom by Warren Doyle

Thirteen statements of widsom:

1) Walking the entire Appalachian Trail is not recreation. It is an education and a job.

2) Walking the entire Appalachian Trail is not 'going on a hike'. It is a challenging task - a journey with deeper ramifications. Are you willing to accept them and learn from them?

3) Don't fight the Trail. You have to flow with it. Be cooperative with the Trail, neither competitive nor combative.

4) Don't expect the Trail to respect or be sensitive to your domestic comfort level and desire (and past habits) to control your environment. In your avoidance of discomfort, you may become more uncomfortable. You can't make a mountain any less steep; a hot summer afternoon any cooler; a cold
morning any warmer; and, daylight any longer. But you can actually. How?

5) Time, distance, terrain, weather, and the Trail itself cannot be changed. You have to change. Don't waste any of your energy complaining over things you have no control over. Instead, look to yourself and adapt your mind, heart, body and soul to the Trail. Remember, you will be a guest in someone else's house the entire journey.

6) The Trail knows neither prejudice nor discrimination. Don't expect any favors from the Trail. The Trail is inherently hard. Everything has to be earned. The Trail is a trial.

7) Leave your cultural 'level of comfort' at home. Reduce your material wants while concentrating on your physical and spiritual needs.

8) "The more I know, the less I need." Yes, one can wear one t-shirt the entire journey; you don't have to take any showers; don't need to cook your meals; one does not need a roof and four walls around them at night; you don't have to carry a canteen of water with you all the time.

9) It is far better, and less painful, to learn to be a smart hiker rather than a strong hiker.

10) Leave your emotional fat at home as well. Feel free to laugh, and to cry, and to feel lonely, and to feel afraid, and to feel socially irresponsible, and to feel foolish, and (most importantly) to feel free. Relive your childhood and play the game of the Trail. Roll with the punches and learn to laugh in the shadow of adversity. Be always optimistic - things could always be worse; don't become mired in the swamp of sorrow. Don't blame your discomfort or depression on the Trail or the weather, but look at yourself for not being able to adapt. The more afraid you are, the heavier your pack will be.

11) If your goal is to walk the entire Appalachian Trail, then do it. People who take shortcuts, (i.e., blue blazes,) or hitchhike do so because it usually is shorter, quicker, and/or easier. So where is the challenge/honor in that? We have enough 'shortcuts' in the real world (i.e., ENRON, personal bankruptcies).

12) Expect the worst. If after one week on the Trail you can say that it is easier than you expected, then you will probably finish your journey.

13) However, remember we as individuals have our own acquired temperaments, levels of comfort, and thresholds of pain. If these three areas are congruent with what the Trail requires, you should succeed on your pilgrimage. Normally conditioned people should keep their pack weight to no more than 25% of their body weight. Your chance of injury is directly related to your pace and/or pack weight. People usually make the mistake of hiking too fast and/or carrying too much weight.

~Dreamer