Outside Reading 3- Amber Matkowski

The final outside reading I did what about planning a hike on the Appalachian Trail. The reason that most people decide to hike the trail is to explore, experience, and connect with nature. When planning a long hike, one must take into consideration how to get to and from the trail, weather conditions, safety of the hike, finding shelters and designated camping areas, food drops, and more. Hikers do not want to consider this before their adventure, but there truly are a lot of factors working against them. Hikers must be in great physical shape and be able to handle the soar muscles, blistered feet, and extreme hunger that will occur while on the hike. Also the hiker must be able to plan out how far he will travel each day in order to appropriately plan food drops and communicate with family. If a hiker is behind schedule, they may have to hike all day and into the night to catch up to his predicted location. Weather conditions are very frequently a problem for hikers on the Appalachian Trail because weather is not always predictable. Rain, snow, and freezing temperatures will certain slow a hiker's pace. Overall one must be mentally and physically prepared for all of the obstacles that he will face while hiking on the Appalachian Trail.