Winds,
I meant to say Mid July...lol!!! All in all I would like to finish the hike in around 120 days....then I have to find a "REAL" job. Not many opportunities in life where you get paid a full pay check to hike....looking forward to meeting people on the trail and experiancing that trail magic I have read so much about.
Boondoggle
It seems that 2013 is my year as well. I am planning a NOBO hike starting in mid-late March. I am still in the planning phase. Never really been a hiker but I recently learned about the AT and want to do this before the real world steals the fire and passion I have toward it. My motivation is simple, I want to escape into something truely pure and 6 to 7 months in the woods is perfect for that. I am 25 now will be 27 when I hit the trail and I am looking forward to it. I have started getting into shape and am researching gear, so any suggestions are more than welcome. I know my gear may be night and day differnt from yours but I will listen to any intelligent suggestions, lol. I am so stoked about this! I told my mom what I was planning and she didn't even know that trails like this exsisted. Now she wants to go hiking with me during my training phase. I am rambling but its all because of the excitment I have looking forward to this adventure.
Boondoggle, still too quick for me. I am planning 7 months because I want to finish but not make the distance my master. I know many can't take that sort of time though. Let's keep in touch!
TK, nice to see you here, and hope you get the information you're looking for.
~ Mark
Count me in
Plan early April
I decided to scratch the "3.5 years from now plan" and move it to 2013. I'll have a summer sweating over the boulders in PA to fine-tune and update my stuff and save enough to risk my job going b'bye. I've already got the cost of the trip banked with a nice buffer.
I shared the 2013 start date with the family and I've got nothing but enthusiastic support to follow a 20+ year dream. Of course, my company won't know of my decision until the end of this year ......
I plan on a late February or early March start. NOBO.
Here's me officially saying I'm going to do a thru hike in 2013!
Going to start late Feb or early March probably, turn 21 on the trail. I'm also planning on hopefully doing some section hiking this year, maybe Harper's Ferry to Duncannon in late April of this year, or maybe Springer to the Georgia border so I get a feel for what to pack and whatnot.
Very, very anxious to do this! Just need to get into a pristine shape now.
I was rereading "Walking on the Happy Side of Misery" for the umpteenth time last night. Love that book. As I was standing in the shower this morning, it dawned on me that 2013 will be the tenth anniversary of my first thru. It took me exactly 20 minutes to decided it was time to once again give into Springer Fever and spend another glorious summer on the trail. Broke the news to my girlfriend this morning. She smiled, shook her head and said she wasn't surprised! 3 isn't enough. Drive for four sounds much better. See you all at Springer around April 20, 2103!
GA - NJ 2001; GA - ME 2003; GA - ME 2005; GA - ME 2007; PCT 2006
A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will.
—SPANISH PROVERB
I will be starting in early May. I graduate from college then so will be forced to start late. Im still trying to convince 2 friends to tag along, but regardless I'm pumped to do a long distance hike. The longest I've ever hiked before is 9 days. I look forward to meeting some of you!
I too plan on thru hiking the AT in 2013. If the world doesn't end . I am a 30 year Cancer fighter and feel the need. I have been working all my short life and am fortunate enough to be able to retire anytime from this day forward. The only thing I have to overcome now is being able to walk more than 2 hours after 12 weeks of setting in a recliner because of foot surgery. I do not yet know if I want to go NOBO, SOBO, or flip flop open to all forms as long as I complete it. I am not in a hurry by no means. I have been doing this hike for years, among other things, in my head and now I have the opportunity and support at home to do it.
I am a Displaced Troll for I spent 48 years living under the bridge in Michigan but now reside in Tennessee.
Hoping to see you all out there.
DanL
I start out the Day with nothing and by the end of the Day I still have most of it.
Well folks, I have made a decision to plan my thru-hike for 2014. If I could remove all my posts above, I would. Sorry for mucking up this thread. I wish all great success in your hikes!
~ Mark
I too will be thru hiking in 2013
Plan on leaving March 13
Trail name: GAMECock (University of SC Alumni)
My husband and I are planning on starting in March of next year.
I want to start on my birthday just because I think that would be fun, but we may push it off until later in the month for it to be a little warmer. We are a little afraid of running out of time. We are both newbie hikers, but we've got some good weekend trips (and longer planned this year).
Last big adventure before we start a familiy (which will be an adventure in it's own right!)
This is the first official announcement of Earthquake and my (Pancake) SOBO 2013 thru. We have hiked sections in Connecticut, and New York living around the area our whole lives. Currently stuck in Denver for another year, our heads are in the lush East coast mountains every time we are trekking up 2,000' on a dry, windy Rocky Mtn slope.
We have gotten the 2012 SOBO AT Guide in the mail and already have the first 200 miles roughed out for resupply and daily mileages. After that the plan is no plan.
Currently our (5-day supply) packs weigh 22 for Earthquake and 25 for me, however I still have a 5 pound monster of a pack in that weight so that number will drop markedly. We have a year to find some good deals on down bags and splurge on two neoairs. Our goal is to get down around 17lbs or so by the time we start.
We will see you all on the trail!
Hey there Milkman, you better change this post, there's a lot of untruth in it nowadays!!!
I am so very thankful that you have decided to do the "normal" NOBO hike!!
We are going to meet so many great folks and have so much fun in the process!!!
Let the truth be known and the untruth be now unknown and forever forgotten. Yes I have decided (thanks to you) that I (we) will be going NOBO on March 20th, 2013, on a Wednesday, on the first day of spring, right smack-dab in the middle of the (c)rush and loving every minute of it. After supper last night and us being updated about Bugger this year (which is literally killing me) having such a good time it's all I can think of and can't wait. Despite all this far off gazing and daydreaming I have managed to put together that Mid-May Pinhoti Trail Hike. Complete with resupplies and showers. (lol) It's not a total thru but it's a decent 12 day hike. PM me and I'll give you all the details. I think you'll like it. It's gonna be pretty leisurely and laid back. And, congrats on you first WhiteBlaze post.And
Hey Milkman, I'm thinking of doing something similar- starting in CT and going south to VA. Probably starting around early May. I will have to get off the trail around the end of June but plan on returning late summer and then finishing up in'14. May see you on the trail. jimmyjam.
Hey jimmyjam, I'm changing my original route plan. I have always wanted to do the traditional NOBO start from Springer, at the arch at the approach trail for that matter. I was going to do it the way you are talking about but I was doing it for someone else not myself. I was hiking someone elses hike not HMOH. I was trying to justify it by making the comments about the crowds and the herd and such. But that's not really me. I want to be in the crowd, I want to be in the herd. This is my first attempt at a thru. I've done a lot of sections but only in the south. After hiking with some former thrus and WhiteBlaze members on the O2L section of the FT earlier this year
I am convinced now this is the way for me especially since it's my first time. Hopefully, if things go right, we will meet on the trail. Good luck. Hope to see you too.
"Hiking is as close to God as you can get without going to Church." - BobbyJo Sargent aka milkman Sometimes it's nice to take a long walk in THE FOG.