View Full Version : Is April 25th to late to start?
Brian321
04-20-2014, 20:56
Pretty sure I have decided to go for it. My question is will I still see a decent amount of people on the trial? I don't reall wanna miss the social part of it but I'm also not a big partier either. What can expect starting so late?
Meriadoc
04-20-2014, 20:58
Just go :). You're at the tail end but that's okay. Worst case, flip up to catch the SOBOs.
daddytwosticks
04-21-2014, 07:23
I do believe you will run into late thru-hiker starters. I've run into some down these parts even in May. :)
It's a fine time to start, unless you're really eager to mix it up with the rest of the northbound bubble. If you keep a proper pace you may even meet the bubble, or what's left of it, somewhere up the line. You obviously don't have as much time to dawdle as the folks who start earlier.
I started last year April 18th at Springer..... there were still alot of people to meet. Mostly the party crowd... and the slow pokes. All good people tho..... you dont have to constantly leapfrog epople either and hostels are usually not full!
Unless you're really out of shape and very inexperienced, you've got plenty of time. Make some forward progress every day. Don't take multiple zero days for no particular reason. You should avoid most of the early-season delays for snow storms and frigid weather.
Spirit Walker
04-21-2014, 10:12
If you're a fairly strong hiker, you won't have any trouble finishing before winter. On my first thru I started April 2 and finished September 11, so if I'd started two weeks later I'd still have gotten to K before October. I've thought that if I ever decide to do another NB hike, I'd start in mid-April, when it was a bit warmer and the days are longer. If you're not in good shape to start or if you have issues that make you slow, you can either flip to Katahdin somewhere along the way, or just start a bit farther north.
There will be other late starters - college students or people who have work or other issues that keep them home later, plus there will be a lot of weekenders and section hikers. You won't be lonely. And if you are a very strong hiker, you'll catch up to many of the early April starters.