They must like walking. Lots of walking. Because every year, Appalachian Trail hikers cover 2,143 miles. For the fun of it.
And somewhere along the way between Georgia and Maine, they spend the night in Hanover, where students gaze curiously at these rugged people with the huge backpacks.
Every year, of the thousands who start out, anywhere between 100 and 300 people from around the globe finish.
Over the mountains and through the creeks and in the mud and through the valleys, they walk and climb the trail from Springer Mountain in Georgia, through the center of Hanover and on to Mount Katahdin in Maine.
About 2,500 set out to hike the trail this year, according to Greg Knoettner, the New England Field Assistant for the Appalachian Trail Conference.
On the long and arduous journey, many of the thruhikers spend one or more nights in Hanover, staying at fraternity or sorority houses that rent rooms or, more often, at Foley House where they are housed in a separate room designated for thruhikers.
"We usually have some here almost every night of the week," said Sandy Maruszak '96, Foley's house manager, "and the majority of them are hiking the whole trail."
Thruhikers on the "AT," as those who trudge the Appalachian Trail lovingly call it, form an elite group as the months of hiking inflict enormous physical and psychological stress that not even the best planning can prevent.
The planning
Before setting out, usually in Georgia in early spring, the hikers must prepare themselves for the trip.
Chris "Buzz" Kaldahl, a senior at Virginia Technical University who is hiking the entire trail from south to north, began planning his trip two years ago when he was talking to a friend at school.
He said much of the physical preparation comes in the early weeks of the hike. "The trail gets you in shape for the trail," he said. "You just take it slow at first and build up."
John "The Wanderer" Cole, 30, said he figured out about how long each section would take and how much money he would spend on foodstuffs before setting out. Then, "when the time came I packed up the pack and went down to Georgia."
Kaldahl said food alone can run more than $2,000 for the trip. "It all depends on your appetite," he said.
When asked where he hails from The Wanderer appropriately replied, "Well now I call myself from Colorado."
Cole set out to hike the trail south to north in 1991, but his trip was cut short in Mount Graylock, Mass. by bad weather and shin splints.
In early July of this year, he picked up where he left off and said he plans to finish the trail this year. He spent Wednesday night in Foley.
Cole recommended a potential thruhiker begin by "check[ing] with your psychiatrist first, then check with a thruhiker." Finally, he recommended a three-week stretch to decide if hiking the entire trail is something you really want to do.
Typical day
A typical day for thruhikers starts even before the day's first drill class.
Cole, who rises at about 7 a.m. every day, called himself a "late riser." He said he is out of camp by about 9, or maybe 10 if he is really sore.
Breakfast is cold cereal with powdered milk; lunch a peanut-butter and jelly or peanut-butter with honey on wheat bread sandwich; and dinner fare is usually a Lipton side dish.
For a special treat Cole said he sometimes buys Oreos, Vienna Fingers or pretzel rods when passing through a town.
The towns along the trail offer the hikers a culinary gold mine. "EBAs is a favorite," Maruszak said, "and Full Fare is written up in the thruhikers guide."
Through miles and miles
A typical day's hike can vary depending on the terrain and the hiker, but to finish the trail in fewer than six months a hiker must average at least 12 miles a day.
Kaldahl, who said he has hiked as many as 30 miles in a day, said he averages about 20, which is easily more than double a typical day's hike on one of the Dartmouth Outing Club trips.
"I've been just cruising along having a blast," he said. "I'm on a kind of tight schedule."
Kaldahl started on April 16 in Georgia and hopes to be back for his first day of classes on Aug. 22.
Nights are often spent in shelters on the trail, or sometimes under the stars.
Shelters are spaced about 10 miles apart and feature a water source, often a creek, and a privy, according to Knoettner.
Hikers spend a lot of time thinking on the trail. "You have a lot of time to think, do a little writing, a little reading, it's really enjoyable," Kaldahl said.
Perhaps the thinking takes the hikers' minds off the weight on their backs, which often exceeds 50 pounds. Loaded with food and water, Cole's pack weighs 52 pounds.
Problems on the trail
Hiking more than 2,000 miles, often alone, is bound to cause physical and mental problems for the hiker.
"We've had a lot of people come in injured," Maruszak said. "By the time they get up here, their knees are shot." Knoettner said the most common complaint is old injuries that come back to haunt the weary hikers.
Hiking the AT is "physically and mentally demanding," Kaldahl said.
But Knoettner said most of those who make it the whole way do so without any serious physical problems.
When Cole began his hike on May 3, 1991, it was rainy and foggy for 28 out of the first 30 days.
Then the worst drought in many years hit the southeast, eliminating four out of every five springs in many sections of the trail. Sometimes he hiked 10 miles without water.
Stories
Even the biggest loners on the trail return full of stories.
Cole said once he was walking along the trail eating blueberries, when he rounded a bend and saw a bear sitting sideways in the trail, also snacking on the berries.
He said he and the bear stared at each other for a few moments, then the bear "boogied off down the trail away from me."
But the story was not over, the twists and turns in the trail caused similar encounters to occur seven times.
Do it again?
For some, hiking the full trail is a once in a lifetime opportunity. For others, like Ward Leonard -- a legendary thruhiker who stayed at Foley last week during his 10th time hiking the AT -- it is a little more common.
"We've got a lot of folks who like to hike it more than once," Knoettner said.
But Cole said he's only doing it once. "I might do a few choice sections again," he said. When asked what his favorite section was, he said, "Lots of different sections are good for different reasons. I guess it's whatever section I'm hiking at the time."
