http://www.megwilsonauthor.com/blog

http://www.megwilsonauthor.com/blog

http://www.megwilsonauthor.com/blog

Originally Posted by Rock Lobster

I hiked SOBO, my best friend hiked NOBO. Both of us, for at least part of the hike, walked with the other and went the "wrong way." Our combined experience:

NOBO: Many more people, much more social. Many trail services are geared toward NOBOs, you'll see more trail magic, and you'll hit all the trail festivals if you want to. You start easier (many will say Georgia is hard; it isn't, relatively speaking). You hike with slightly warmer weather (assuming you don't start early, as many do). You walk toward a big, magnificent mountain to end on, and will probably finish with several long-term friends. Downsides: everything, everything is crowded early on. You will find 50 people at a shelter. This can be fun, but for some is a pain, especially every night. There will be more temptation to stay in towns. People will drop out in bunches as they hike with a group and one person calls it quits, which can make it easier to quit yourself.

SOBO: Solitude is yours, if you want it. Approximately 300 start SOBO and 50 or so finish. You can also hike with a group if you choose (I did for a while) so don't skip it just for that reason. There will almost always be space in hostels, campsites, and shelters, and you will get to know those who run them better because they have time to sit down and chat. There is less peer pressure either way, so your decisions are yours alone. Hiking with fewer people can result in stronger bonds with those few - like a marriage, you tend to get over the little stuff instead of just joining another group, because there isn't one. Downsides: stuff closes - hostels, restaurants, shuttle buses, etc may not be there when you are. You will probably hike in the cold and get snowed on at some point. Loneliness can be a drag over time, even if you do enjoy solitude - after a week without a substantial conversation with anyone, I was really tired of solitude.

Hope it helps.

FWIW, both my friend and I agree that our way is the best :) He is more of an extrovert, and I'm more of an introvert, so we both chose the direction more suited to our personalities. I'm sure you'll have a great experience either way.

http://megwilsonauthor.com/?p=936

See you at Trail Days!!!

Folks have been asking me how Wander Women, the book, is coming along. In the interest of brevity, you may go to my BLOG and follow the progress there. I chronicled the adventures and misadventures of ten lady thru-hikers in 2012. I followed them - solo or two at a time - down the AT from Maine to Georgia. Eight of the ten are now 2,000-milers.

Now I am very busy writing WANDER WOMEN: What Ten Thru-Hikers Taught One Angel about Pleasure, Pain, and Pink- Blazing on the Appalachian Trail.

Check out www.megwilsonauthor.com/blog and say hello if you're in Damascus for Trail Days. I'll have a little booth set up in front of the Montgomery Lodge, so stop by and let us know how you heard about the Wander Women. You might even meet one or two living, breathing ones while you're there!

http://megwilsonauthor.com/766-at-on-my-mind

Greetings!

In 2013, I resolve to share the Wander Women blog entries while we move closer to the publication of WANDER WOMEN: Dream Meets Reality on the Appalachian Trail. Grab a hot drink and visit http://www.megwilsonauthor.com/blog .

Once there, scroll down to enjoy videos and photos of all ten lady thru-hikers whom I chronicled as they backpacked southbound during the 2012 season. Some Wander Women may already look familiar to you. Others you will get to know over the coming months. Either way, they will all be like old trail-mates by the time the book comes out later this year.

Happy New Year!
Meg Wilson

Greetings!

In 2013, I resolve to share the Wander Women blog entries while we move closer to the publication of WANDER WOMEN: Dream Meets Reality on the Appalachian Trail. Grab a hot drink and visit http://www.megwilsonauthor.com/blog .

Once there, scroll down to enjoy videos and photos of all ten lady thru-hikers whom I chronicled as they backpacked southbound during the 2012 season. Some Wander Women may already look familiar to you. Others you will get to know over the coming months. Either way, they will all be like old trail-mates by the time the book comes out later this year.

Happy New Year!
Meg Wilson

Originally Posted by moldy

Deep Gap North Carolina. You drive up a dirt road about 6 miles. It's just South of Standing Indian Shelter. One way to draw a better crowd is to walk up to the shelter in the evening(.9) and invite any hikers either to breakfast or dinner. The other thing to do is to go into Franklin and talk to the folks at Budget Inn and hang a note about your feed. Also the outfitter might be a good spot too. Another good place for a note is Rock Gap shelter which is near the road at Standing Indian Campground. If approaching hikers know where you are set up they will plan to visit. Deep Gap is a good spot because it's a couple of days from any re-supply spots. Later in September is better for catching South bounders, it's about 90 miles north os Springer. You will probably get more section hikers than Thru's. The AT goes 10 feet from the parking lot which will be empty. It's a good place to sleep in your truck.

Originally Posted by rockdancer

September is a tough month since the NoBo hikers are done with NH and are in Maine racing to the finish. If you can help up there the hikers would love it since they are sincerely in need of it. They are achy, tired, worried about finishing and there will be a lot of people to help. I like to base myself in Stratton to do the most good.

Southbound the hikers won't be accumulating much until the weather is getting cold. Try Bob Peoples at Kincora in Hampton, TN around November. The hikers will pile up at his place if anywhere. I've been there at Thanksgiving time and found them coming in 5 at a time. By that time there is snow occasionally and the hikers are more interested in hosteling it than staying outdoors every night. Bob is also a great guy and can answer any question you have about the trail. If you stay there a few days he'll rope you into doing some small amount of trailwork as well I'm sure.