Section Hiking The AT General Thoughts:

[bamboo bob]

I've thruhiked and sectioned the AT. Reading this reminded me how much easier thru-hiking is.

[JumpMaster Blaster]

I've thruhiked and sectioned the AT. Reading this reminded me how much easier thru-hiking is.

Maybe so, but some ppl have jobs and committments that preclude us from taking 6 months off at a pop. I dont want to wait until I retire.

[Gambit McCrae]

Great update for myself, I have made some good progress since I started this thread, and am now 11% done witht he trail. I started experimenting with dayhiking all weekend so to speak while in hot springs this weekend and well, I like it alot. I get in 20+ miles a day while not feeling dead at the end of the day, and by doing solo trips staying at the hostel allows me to still have the social time I enjoy. I think I will stick with this "slackpack" thing for a while to mix up the monotany of lugging a pack through the mountains when going alone on trips. Thanks for all your help it changed how I thought about doing the trail in a positive way!

[FarmerChef]

So much good advice so far.

I've completed a bit over 1,800 miles over the past 3 years and 2 weeks. Like many others, I had dreamed of hiking thru but life and 4 kids kept plus a crazy schedule and a commitment at church on the weekends kept me from doing any serious backpacking. But then I took a hiatus from the heavy schedule and finally started using my saved but hardly used vacation time to start hiking. To maximize my PTO (paid time off) I started with 3 or 4 day section hikes over company holiday weekends. Living near Harper's Ferry meant that I had much of the trail within an easy 1 to 3 hour drive and, like you, we would drive up and start hiking Friday evening, pushing on through the weekend and back out the other side. In the beginning we used two cars and did the crazy double shuttle thing (we could all fit in only one of the two cars). But as we moved further and further from home to the extreme ends of the trail we moved from 3 to 4 days to 9 or 10 day trips again leveraging holiday weekends to minimize time off. We found friends, family, even friends on WB that helped us move our car from one end to the other and sometimes we paid for shuttles to take us back or forward. The best part is that in 9 or 10 days you get the flavor of hiking thru which is really just a combination of 4 or 5 day segments repeated over and over again. You resupply like everybody else unless you LIKE to carry 10 days of food (some do!).

The great benefit of section hiking is you choose when to go and often the weather. For a simple 2 day weekend you can just wait for the weather forecast to be good and go rather than being stuck in torrential rain for 3 days because you're on a thru and HAVE to go. Plus you can pick your season to maximize views, minimize bugs, soak up the heat, or whatever else tickles your fancy. My wife and I have decided that by far and away our favorite time is mid to late fall and early spring (provided there's no snow as we don't have that equipment). The views are spectacular, the bugs are nonexistent and the crowds are lowest. Win, win, win. But that could be completely different for you.

Finally, don't worry about a time limit other than Kerosene's notes about using your body at it's peak. But I'm somewhat older than your stated age and in the best shape of my life. So don't worry too much about it Take your time and enjoy it. Whether it takes you 4 or 40 years to finish the trail. The magic of the trail will come to you whatever way you approach it. And I really do mean it's magic. There are some experiences over several seasons we would not have had had we not section hiked. We have lasting friendships as a result.