Flip-Flop Ouestion

[trekkngirl]

I started the trail NOBO on March 17th.I know a looooog time ago. LOL. I was having a friggin' blast!! But, I had to get off the trail at Hot Springs,NC because of left foot pain possible stress fracture.I got back on the trail soon after that just to have to get off again because of the same reason. After my orthopaedic doc saw me, it turned out to be artheritis(DANG!) I was MRI' ed,injected and given a bill of "no stress fracture" of the foot diagnosis,but ironically, I was still stuck at home due to to storm damage repairs to my home for a few weeks and now I am ready to hike.I don't move real fast ( 12-15 miles per day pushing it real hard) on the trail so could you help me in deciding when I should Flip my hike. I have been to Big K already so "The Summit" is not that important to me but "a Thru-Hike" is. I want to finish this year. I don't mind the "cold" weather but I would rather not have to use(won't use crampons) to hike in ice. I kinda like what bones I have left. They gotta last me a few more years.Know what I mean? Ha! Please don't discourage me if you can help it ,but if it is so,it is so. I can take it.I think. Thanks for your help! Whiteblaze.net.You are in a lot of the trailjournals.com so don't let me down.

[warraghiyagey]

I have been to Big K already so "The Summit" is not that important to me but "a Thru-Hike" is.

Can you have one but not the other??

[fiddlehead]

I think Sept. 1st would be a good time. Or maybe a week or so earlier than that.

[El Toro '94]

If summitting Big K isn't all that important, if I were you, I would get back out and hike north until late August/labor day or so, then flip. That way you can be as physically prepared for Maine and New Hampshire as possible, believe me, you will need every bit of physical conditioning you can get to go thru western and central ME and the Whites. I got there after hiking myself into decent shape and found my mileage cut from 18-25 miles/day down to 9-12. If you are in Hot Springs now and can make 10-12 miles/day
Or you might try what I did, I started off out of shape, and it slowed me down so much, I was only to Deleware Water Gap by the end of August. So to give me the illusion I was still hiking to Katahdin, a skipped ahead from DWG to Manchester VT, hiked to Katahdin(summit on Oct 14), then caught a ride to Bangor, and a bus to Manchester, hiking south back to DWG. Only snow and ice I saw was a couple of inches in the Bigelows and Saddleback in Maine. By doing this I missed most the crowds in the Whites, and had for the most part beautiful weather during my trip. Only a few thru hikers left in mid Sept and October so the shelters were never crowded, but there were enough people so you weren't alone for weeks at a stretch. Also got to see New England foliage for the first time. The trip back from VT to DWG was easy, nice cool temps in late Oct and early Nov. not humid nor buggy or cold hardly. Daytime temps in the 50-70 range, with nights in the 30's and 40's. And not crowded. That part took 3 weeks more or less.
If you flip now, bugs, mud, and nasty trail conditions await in Maine. If you flip around labor day, only mud and nasty trail.
Just my 2 cents.

[trekkngirl]

Thanks for the good advice.

[TJ aka Teej]

Thanks for the good advice.

Let us know what you decide to do!

[stranger]

You can't to to Maine now, well you can do anything you want, but realistically Maine will be so muddy now, and f'ing blackfly city. I would head back to Hot Springs in the meantime and hike to Erwin, to help get your legs back, maybe take is super easy and doing like 10 mile days.

From Erwin, it's easy to get to Johnson City where you can catch a bus to Maine, or to a airport or Amtrak station.

If you have already done Katahdin, a good place to start would be Abol Bridge, plus you don't have to deal with all the BS of Baxter.

[High Life]

i flipped in 07 WVA - maine sooo
i started june 6 th i think and got to K on sept 4
sat on my ass for a week and got back to harpers sept 10
finished on nov 15 it was chilly at time but nothing beats VA in sept , cept maybe OCT ..idk imho flippin is the way to go ! nice weather all the way