Somehow it got into my mind that I want to hike the AT.
This is posting is to explain my thoughts on doing so as foreigner, involved logistics and maybe bring a different perspective for the US people planning a (thru-)hike.
I am a male married 31 year old german software engineer, by the way.
The Time
I need six months off work.
I have a nice job and in germany, we like to stay at the same company for decades. Besides quitting the job and then travelling would put you in a world of pain since you'd have to go to the unemployment office in person every month and a million other problems, in short quitting work is out of the question.
What we do have on the other hand is a law on part-time employment which basically states that every worker has the right to reduce hours to part time. So I went to my boss with the idea of working 50% in 2015, full time in the months of Jan,Feb,Mar,Oct,Nov,Dec and not at all in Apr,May,Jun,Jul,Aug,Sep for 50% of the salary throughout the whole year.
He was not amused. I asked my wife about hiking 6 months through the woods and she, too, was not amused and has absolutely no interest to join me.
And finally in order to legally stay in the US for more than 90 days, I'd have to get a 6 months B-2 visitor visa which may be cut short if the immigration officer at the airport CBP does not understand long distance hiking.
All in all, I deemed doing a classic thru-hike unfeasible relatively quickly.
So, if that is not possible, what is?
Well my boss said that three months off for 75% salary throughout the year would be okay, since in the summer where everyone is on vacation (we have 6 weeks of paid vacation anyways)
My wife is still not happy with me being gone for 3 months, but well, we've been together since 2002 I think 3 months apart won't hurt too much. Sometimes a man gotta do what a man's gotta do.
Visa Waiver travel allows for exactly 90 days, so that fits, too.
The question is which is the best plan if you want to hike the Appalachian Trail in 2 x ~85 days?
The Itinerary
While I have plenty of experience in dayhikes in the 15-20mi range, at times hiking each day for a week or two, I have never backpacked.
Its just not really a thing here, hotels, hostels or huts are everywhere, even on mountains in the alps. And there is no place to actually train for it, since it is forbidden pretty much everywhere but in developed campgrounds anyways.
So my initial idea was to go NOBO, start on Springer beginning of April 2015, get to the halfway point (or preferable up to NJ or NY) before my time would run out 90 days later and return 2016 in summer for the second part.
This would put me in the same spot as many other backpacking newbies and the learning curve starting NOBO seems better geared towards me.
Also flying into Atlanta is easy and getting from PA/NJ/NY to a major airport seems doable.
While this is still a valid plan, I started to wonder if there is an alternative that suits my plans better.
I checked the alternative itineraries on the ATC site for tips, but they seem rather complicated from a transportation point of view, but what I learned is that the NOBO thru-hiker basically has few spots where he hikes in optimal weather.
My current favorite is starting SOBO in mid-late July 2015, hoping to reach at least the Hudson, further south is a plus before time runs out first week of oct.
I would book a round-trip airfare to NYC and go to Bangor, ME by bus for the start, and return to NYC from whereever I happen to end up 2 days before my return flight.
Then return late April 2016 NOBO for the rest reaching the point where I left the AT before my starting date in the previous year, which would, per ATC definition:, make me a thru-hiker.A thru-hiker is a hiker or backpacker who has completed or is attempting to walk the entire Appalachian Trail in a 12-month period (not necessarily a calendar year).
As a bonus, this would free up the holiday-heavy 2015 May (we have 4 public holidays in May) for family activity but it leaves me with the SOBO learning curve and since I'd be pretty late for SOBO (after all I don't have to worry about snow in the south) I think it might get a little lonely. From a stream fording/mud/bug standpoint starting late July seems to be even better than June or early July from a SOBO perspective.
I am happy to hear your thoughts regarding this plan and if there are people having the same idea, speak up!
Regards
octide