Thru-hiking: What does it really take?

Everyone has seen videos and photos of hikers trekking on one the three great long-distance trails: the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail or Continental Divide Trail. Most of those images highlight the incredible beauty of the trails. But what is it really like to thru-hike a long-distance trail? What does it really take?

Here's a video from Brett, Nate, and Tyler as they discuss their thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. Most importantly, these guys are mere mortals, not uber adventurers like Andrew Skurka, or even Bear Grylls. Prior to their hike, none had a great deal of experience with backpacking. So, from this perspective, they provide their thoughts on what it's really like to thru-hike a long distance trail. This video was produced for The Clymb a few weeks back:




Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com