Beginner Guide - Level 5
(The Trail Teaches...Take Notes!)
Welcome to the final of Sponge's Beginner Guides: Level 5. Here we embark on the trails and add to our knowledge base with actual experience. How you process and record this is important, however, so give this end lesson a good read before you set out to conquer that big trail.
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Give Yourself the Gift of Grace
A mbition can be amazing motivation - but just devastating if efforts don't match expectations. So as you start off, know that you will make mistakes. It's perhaps the ONLY certainty of the trail. No one does it perfect. If they say they are, you can bet their trail name is "Pinocchio." Give yourself a break - even before you begin - as you'll need it. It may help to remember that you tend to learn more from your mistakes than you ever do from your easy victories. That's because, when you suffer setbacks, you have to slow down and process what has happened. And that, Sponge says, is what will make you stronger
Painful to look at - even more painful to feel. One of Sponge's feet after several straight wet days on the AT. He learned he value of extra DRY socks!
"School Days"
When hiking a decently long trail, the hundreds of miles will be chunked into something much easier for hikers to understand: days. That's because most of your progress will take place during daylight - at night, you simply recover and rest up for the next dawn. This is similar to, well, your childhood "school days." Maybe you looked FORWARD to nights and weekends, but it was those weekdays in classrooms that made you a smarter at Math, Science, Social Studies and English.
So treat the trail like a school day - every 12 hours of light is a new opportunity to learn, grow and build off prior mistakes. At dawn, another school day gets started. And the best part? Just like a random Wednesday in 6th grade, if you had a really, Really, REALLY, REALLY bad day - you can wake up on Thursday to a clean slate and fresh start. Ok, so yesterday you did burn the morning coffee, took a spur trail 2 miles the wrong direction, misjudged the depth of a mud patch and ended up pitching camp in a thunderstorm after squeezing in 3 extra miles. Your trip is not ruined in a single day...just like a 180-day school year isn't ruined by one bad Wednesday. Tuck away what you've learned and tomorrow - more to learn (and hopefully love).
And just like school - it's important to take notes. Some lessons you'll learn without recording your observations, but some you may need some data to interpret. Know how many miles you can hike daily? How many liters of water you drink while on the trail? What time you get up, go down - or how many hours of sleep you function best on? Sure, you can "guestimate" many of these, but if you have the data, you can use it to your advantage when plotting future days on the trail. Use a electronic notepad on your cell phone, or a small notepad and golf pencil.
It's also important to write down questions (or take pictures) that you may need to look up answers to later. Questions like: why are there TWO blaze marks on that tree? Is that round, red berry edible? Why did the tent pad next to mine completely become a lake, when mine stayed dry? Later, you can ask experienced hikers at camp for their expertise, or look up information when you have stable internet or more cellular bars of service. Btw- the answers? Two blazes signify a sharp turn in the trail (be careful, or you could lose your way) , they're probably poisonous and that adjacent tent pad wasn't completely level.
Look closely and you can see Sponge's tent in corner. Luckily he didn't choose this sloped tent pad to pitch his tent in the previous night (before the rain hit).
Even BIGGER lessons...
S ome lessons you can only learn and apply after the trail trip is done. The biggest among these is answered with this simple question: is THIS the trail for someone like me? There is no shame in learning that you're not a fan of a desert or mountainous trail. Or in discovering that you prefer a trail with less road walk connections. Maybe you took a flight to get to your trail and discovered that transporting your gear and arranging shuttles was far more trouble than expected. The good news is - no matter where you live - there are more trails to discover than you have time left on earth to discover them with.
So take the 'big' lesson to heart and seek a new adventure that may be better suited to your skillset and preferences. If all else fails, you can always return to that former trail in the future, when perhaps your experience and perspective are changed. And hey, if you're a section hiker "bummed" that you won't finish an entire long trail like the AT, PCT or CDT, don't despair. Betty Kellenberger, in Sept. 2025 became the oldest female hiker to finish the Appalachian Trail. And hey, that was her THIRD attempt. You have time to make history - all of ours or just yours.
Sponge has learned this with the Appalachian Trail - which he planned to section hike over a decade to completion. While he certainly hasn't sworn that off entirely - he has decided to try a variety of trails instead of putting all his eggs in the green tunnel. Next - Minnesota's Superior Trail. Next year? Maybe the Colorado Trail. Maybe even the PCT at some point. The United States is a buffet for trail enthusiasts - you're only limited by your budget and appetite for adventure.
Spotted at a picnic area a short spur trail from the Appalachian Trail. Makes it sound SOOOOO easy!
A Final Word - Pass it On!
You have made it to the FINAL block of text in the final Beginner Lesson. So what will Sponge teach the beginner who will soon not be one at all? Pass it on. As you shed the 'rookie' tag, put hundreds of miles under your hip belt and feel like you can do 15 miles in your sleep...it's time to help others just starting off.
Every single year there are new, green hikers starting off on the same trails you are. Some will be ok without a nudge or wise word. Others will quit hiking altogether. We are all the product of fellow teachers, guides and helpers along the way - try to pay it forward and help those who need guidance as they start off.
It's very much like the story of a boy who is confronted on a beach littered with thousands upon thousands of stranded starfish. A man sees him throwing them, one at a time back into the ocean. He stops the boy, asking: "Young man, look around you. How can you hope to possibly make a difference with this many stranded, as far as the eye can see?"
The boy pauses, looking at the squirming starfish in his hand.
"It makes a difference to this one," he replies, throwing it back into the sea.
So, be that boy...helping the starfish.
...suggests a Sponge.