Because I can't do it right now, or for a while, I've started to plan for a future thru hike. I've been a section hiker for many years, and never really thought about a thru hike until recently. When I wrapped my brain around the idea, and figured out for myself that it is a possibility and not some cockamamie dream, it settled in like an old sweatshirt.
Right now, I think I'll plan my thru for when I'm 50. In a staggering 13 years. That will give my kids time to grow up and away, My husband and I time to figure it out on a personal level, and to have my finances where they need to be.
My first call for wisdom is simple. What direction? I am going to plan like I will succeed, so in that, which way to go? The summit at Katahdin seems like the perfect culmination. The exclamation mark at the end of my story. In contrast, the plaque at Springer....seems lacking. Kind of like the period at the end of my story. The crowds are a mark against going nobo. I'll be head and shoulders older that many of the other hikers. Age never makes much of a difference, but I wonder if it would. The more solitary hike sobo would fit me more too.
What are your thoughts and experiences?