View Full Version : Thru hike spreadsheet
Not sure if this is helpful for anyone but I posted a spreadsheet of my day to day movement for my thru. It includes where I started and finished each day. What mile I started and finished at, miles hiked per day, average per day, average per hiking day, and total zero days. Hope someone can find this useful.
http://davidshiking.com/day-to-day-movement/
David, that is a very nice table. It is so much clearer and easier to comprehend than most similar spreadsheets I've seen. I looked at the rest of the website and was impressed by that too. And because your hike in some ways came so close to an "average" NOBO thru-hike (167 days to complete with 21 zero days) I would think a lot of prospective thru-hikers could find it useful to look at.
I see that you started on April 17th -- I hope you were able to avoid some of the early season cold/snow/wet weather that other NOBO hikers experienced in 2013. It looks like I just missed meeting you on the trail. I did a two week SOBO section hike that May from Damascus to Hot Springs and on the day you got back on the trail at Greasy Creek Gap, after Trail Days, I passed through that gap at about 1 in the afternoon -- I'm guessing you got a later start that day because you only covered a couple miles to the first shelter. I got soaking wet late that afternoon in a downpour in my last three miles of hiking before Cherry Gap Shelter. I hope you started late enough to miss that!
If Map Map approves it's good. :)
David, that is a very nice table. It is so much clearer and easier to comprehend than most similar spreadsheets I've seen. I looked at the rest of the website and was impressed by that too. And because your hike in some ways came so close to an "average" NOBO thru-hike (167 days to complete with 21 zero days) I would think a lot of prospective thru-hikers could find it useful to look at.
I see that you started on April 17th -- I hope you were able to avoid some of the early season cold/snow/wet weather that other NOBO hikers experienced in 2013. It looks like I just missed meeting you on the trail. I did a two week SOBO section hike that May from Damascus to Hot Springs and on the day you got back on the trail at Greasy Creek Gap, after Trail Days, I passed through that gap at about 1 in the afternoon -- I'm guessing you got a later start that day because you only covered a couple miles to the first shelter. I got soaking wet late that afternoon in a downpour in my last three miles of hiking before Cherry Gap Shelter. I hope you started late enough to miss that!
Thanks so much for the nice comments. And you're right, I did have a completely average hike as far as days and zeros are concerned. I wish I would have written to the blog more but I just was more interested in hiking and encompassing myself with everything the trail had to offer.
I remember before I started I was convinced I wouldn't take 20 zero days and turns out I took 21, which were much needed, except for trail days!
I was originally going to start April 1st but looked at the weather and decided to push it back to the 17th. I didn't see snow once on my entire thru.
Getting back on the trail after trail days was a big ordeal. Fortunately Rob Bird gave us a ride from Damascus to iron mountain. He offered to take us all the way to greasy creek gap but since it was such a pain to get to via car we told him iron mountain was fine. As soon as we got out of the car another hiker came up to the road named Oak. Rob pulled a deer tick off the back of his neck and gave him a soda. Then it started to downpour. Rob offered to take us back to his place in Erwin for the night but I felt so lazy having not hiked for three days I decided to push through the rain. I ended up rehiking iron mountain and got to Clyde smith shelter soaking wet. It was probably the worst rain I hiked in the entire thru. Even though the spreadsheet says 1.9 I ended up hiking about 6 I think.
I met stonewall, the first sobo hiker I encountered on the trail at Clyde smith. Did you happen to run into him?
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squeezebox
01-07-2014, 16:50
check out his gear list also.
Paul the Brit
01-07-2014, 17:01
Great spreadsheet and info. Did you use a wordpress plugin for the table?
Nice cel blog and congrats on the thru-hike!
Great spreadsheet and info. Did you use a wordpress plugin for the table?
Nice cel blog and congrats on the thru-hike!
I made the spreadsheet with excel, saved it as a .csv and imported it into WP table. Worked like a charm and thank you!
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Thanks so much for the nice comments. And you're right, I did have a completely average hike as far as days and zeros are concerned. I wish I would have written to the blog more but I just was more interested in hiking and encompassing myself with everything the trail had to offer.
I remember before I started I was convinced I wouldn't take 20 zero days and turns out I took 21, which were much needed, except for trail days!
I was originally going to start April 1st but looked at the weather and decided to push it back to the 17th. I didn't see snow once on my entire thru.
Getting back on the trail after trail days was a big ordeal. Fortunately Rob Bird gave us a ride from Damascus to iron mountain. He offered to take us all the way to greasy creek gap but since it was such a pain to get to via car we told him iron mountain was fine. As soon as we got out of the car another hiker came up to the road named Oak. Rob pulled a deer tick off the back of his neck and gave him a soda. Then it started to downpour. Rob offered to take us back to his place in Erwin for the night but I felt so lazy having not hiked for three days I decided to push through the rain. I ended up rehiking iron mountain and got to Clyde smith shelter soaking wet. It was probably the worst rain I hiked in the entire thru. Even though the spreadsheet says 1.9 I ended up hiking about 6 I think.
I met stonewall, the first sobo hiker I encountered on the trail at Clyde smith. Did you happen to run into him?
I didn't meet Stonewall, at least that I know of.
I must have just missed you at Iron Mtn. Gap. I walked through a brief shower on my way down off the mountain, then it stopped for a bit and had just started up again when I got to the gap. Then it really cut loose a mile or so south of the gap and I ended up just about jumping out of my shoes a couple times when the lightning got really close. I do remember seeing two or three hikers shortly before the gap but when it's raining you don't tend to stop and talk. I was wearing a yellow rain jacket, blaze orange cap and was using an unconventional external frame pack, if that rings any bells.
LIhikers
01-09-2014, 00:52
Let me make a comment on your spreadsheet for daily mileage.
Your cart shows you finishing a day at NY's Bear Mountain.
There really is no good place to camp on Bear Mt.
The Bear Mountain Inn has reopened but is kind of pricey, nothing under $100
Let me make a comment on your spreadsheet for daily mileage.
Your cart shows you finishing a day at NY's Bear Mountain.
There really is no good place to camp on Bear Mt.
The Bear Mountain Inn has reopened but is kind of pricey, nothing under $100
Stayed at the Bear Mountain Bridge Motel. Motel owner picked us up and dropped us back off in the morning. Great BBQ place across the street from the motel called Barnstormer BBQ, pigged out there for sure.
Very nice table, one of the clearer day by day ones that I have seen. How much did you end up spending on your trip, if you don't mind answering.
Very nice table, one of the clearer day by day ones that I have seen. How much did you end up spending on your trip, if you don't mind answering.
A little over $5,000.
It was interesting to look at and brought back some memories. Interestingly enough, I took 170 days (iirc) and 21 zeros as well. I thought I had heard here awhile back that the Alanberry in Boiling Springs had closed. Looking at your spreadsheet, I have to assume that they are back in business and that's good. one of the nicer hiker friendly places near the trail and a great value as well.
It was interesting to look at and brought back some memories. Interestingly enough, I took 170 days (iirc) and 21 zeros as well. I thought I had heard here awhile back that the Alanberry in Boiling Springs had closed. Looking at your spreadsheet, I have to assume that they are back in business and that's good. one of the nicer hiker friendly places near the trail and a great value as well.
The Allenberry is most definitely still open. And I agree, extremely hiker friendly and one of the best values on the trail. I think it was around $30 for the room and $5 for the continental breakfast, which was worth it. Value wise I would rank it right up there with the Grand Prix in Gatlinburg, TN.
You've got a nice little site there I liked it! Makes me wish I could go the whole way.
takethisbread
01-11-2014, 19:17
thanks for this! very helpful!
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xrayextra
02-17-2014, 15:48
Very nice! I made one similar but haven't posted it. Actually I came here looking to see if anyone else did the same thing.
My hike went from April 1st through October 9th, 192 days with 21 zero days, with stays at 30 Hostels and 15 Hotel Rooms.
Congrats on your thru-hike!
Odd Man Out
02-17-2014, 16:48
I especially liked your gear list. Many items similar to what I am assembling. I copied to use as a template and compare to mine, except I will adjust for summer section hikes rather than a thru hike. Dryer lint?
4eyedbuzzard
02-17-2014, 17:11
Nice site. Liked the spreadsheet and gear list, but I especially enjoyed the slide show of your hike - brought back a lot of memories.
Austin 2014
02-17-2014, 18:27
Thanks for posting. This is very helpful. Just subscribed to your blog.
I especially liked your gear list. Many items similar to what I am assembling. I copied to use as a template and compare to mine, except I will adjust for summer section hikes rather than a thru hike. Dryer lint?
Fire starter. :)
Tom Murphy
02-20-2014, 15:40
Thank you.
Downloaded it and came up with slightly different statistics due to 18 zeros rather than 21 ??
Average Per Day
14.97
14.87
Zero Days
18
21
Average Per Hiking Day
13.33
13.01
Tom Murphy
02-20-2014, 15:52
Thank you.
Downloaded it and came up with slightly different statistics due to 18 zeros rather than 21 ??
Average Per Day
14.97
14.87
Zero Days
18
21
Average Per Hiking Day
13.33
13.01
missed trail days, sorry