I am a late starter to long-distance hiking (50 years old) and my first introduction was a 5 1/2 month hike of the AT, with my son! Talk about hitting it hard. Trail folks call me "BigTex" which as I am neither big nor Texan confuses me, but I guess they just smoke too much green stuff. I miss the trail, I miss my trail family and I hope to be a part of your hiking success!