I love to hike. Only problem is getting to go often enough and it hurts my knees. Thats why I took up biking. I went on a 27 mile hike last week and for the first time in a long time my knee did not swell up very much. In fact it was fine the first and second day and only hurt me when I got home after the third day and 13 miles. hiked 4 miles late on day 1, 10 miles on day 2 but in some pretty rough terrain with lots of creek crossings. then the 13 on day 3. The plan was to hike easy mileage all three days but I had some stuff to do so got a late start on day 1. I agree with Lucas who reccomended poles. That and keep the pack weight down as much as possible. My pack the other day was 27 lbs for 3 days and included 48 oz water. some folks go a lot lighter but the really light gear gets expensive. plus I was testing a 15 deg bag and 0 deg pad (for BGT) which added to my load. with my normal 30 deg down bag and a hammock (no pad as the bag pulls over my hammock) I can get by with around 23 lbs. This hike was up the Jacks River in Ga, then a hike up hemptop mountian and back down to the river. Nothing beats a swim in the creek right before bedtime. On the AT it's is much harde to get a good bath.