View Full Version : If you were to do it a second time what would you do differently?
snaef999
05-02-2014, 01:18
I might have the great opportunity to do an AT through hike again in 2015. I have my own thoughts and feelings on things I would do differently but I would like some input from the community on what you would change if you had the opportunity to do it again. My question falls into the things you wished you had done (like never cowboy camping), slightly off trail spots that you missed, attitude changes etc.
So...what would you change on your second hike?
Lone Wolf
05-02-2014, 06:03
walk SOBO for sure
+1 on LW's suggestion. No regrets at all from my first hike but would SOBO on the second one. Just because I think Maine/NH might be more fun on a fresh set of legs. It was a bit of a grind there at the end (for me anyways).
Starchild
05-02-2014, 07:06
Do the PCT
or if I had to do the AT, I would really want to hit the AT stops I didn't get the first time and might blue and aqua blaze this 2nd time. So in short try to create a new experience out of it. Yes much would be the same, but I did bypass lots of trail town stop options, and went to many, I would just desire to reverse them. I don't know how that would work out practically.
superman
05-02-2014, 07:40
I plan to re-hike the AT when I'm 70. I'm 67 now. I've hiked big sections of the AT since 2000 and it's different each time. A wise man told me to keep my miles at 10 per day until I get my trail legs. That was good advise. Another wise man said that it's just walking....don't over think it.
fiddlehead
05-02-2014, 08:51
Either do a trail that's not so popular, or go in a different season.
Or SOBO like Lone Wolf says.
Do a flip hike and cherry pick my sections for optimal seasons. Plus I suspect there would be less hikers out, too.
Do a flip hike and cherry pick my sections for optimal seasons. Plus I suspect there would be less hikers out, too.
Cherry-picking for seasons (or a desired amount of trail traffic) is what section hikers do routinely. Thru hikers don't have that luxury.
Want an empty AT? Walk sobo from DWG in early August. Nobos are long gone, and you're way ahead of even the fastest sobos. The sobo "wave" is barely detectable that far south. You're talking maybe 150 hikers spread out over several hundred miles.
Cherry-picking for seasons (or a desired amount of trail traffic) is what section hikers do routinely. Thru hikers don't have that luxury.
See the "Cool Breeze" plan for thru-hiking:
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hiking/thru-section-hiking/when-where-to-start
(Scroll down or do a CTRL-F and look for Cool Breeze)
That's more or less what I had in mind.
There is something about the continuous journey. No doubt about it. But having done the epic, multi-month, walking in a continuous line thing before, the romantic notions of it are more or less "been there, done that".
full conditions
05-02-2014, 09:57
+1 on Mags' suggestion. The ATC has some suggested variations on the traditional NB route - my favorite is the "cool breeze" option. The heat and humidity of the mid-Atlantic states adds to their already challenging nature when done in the traditional time frame not to mention avoiding the herd.
Different Socks
05-02-2014, 10:07
I will be doing the AT again in 2016, then again and again and again.
For this next thru hike, I expanded my menu to a greater number of things, I'll be sampling what each town stop has to offer more often, and I'll be lightening my pack weight but not so much that I would be labeled a gram weenie.
Spirit Walker
05-02-2014, 12:43
When I did my second thruhike, I wanted to make it different, but the timing meant I was going NOBO again. So I made a point of staying at different shelters, hostels, etc., leaving town in the afternoon instead of the a.m. so my timing on the trail would be different, etc.
If I were to do it again, I would probably go SOBO, just to see how different the trail is for sobo hikers. I know I wouldn't stay in shelters as much as I did on my first hike. I always enjoyed my camping nights a lot more, but somehow it is so easy to get sucked into the shelter to shelter mentality. Having hiked out west, where there are very few shelters, and none that are really usable, I've learned about hiking until just before dark, instead of being stuck with the shelters as endpoint to the day.
Monkeywrench
05-02-2014, 13:12
Depending on my mood on any particular day, I think I would:
1) Hike the PCT instead
2) Hike the AT SOBO
3) Hike NOBO but blue blaze whenever the mood struck me
4) Probably skip eastern PA entirely!
I would take some time in the months prior to learn more about the history of (and even more importantly, along) the trail.My hike would have better with a greater sence of place and curiosity.
Jack Tarlin
05-02-2014, 16:51
If memory serves, if you go to the "Articles" section of this website, there is a thread already there dealing with precisely this subject.
Jack is right. The thread is located here http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php?180
Jim Adams
05-02-2014, 21:20
Blue blaze as much as possible. I stayed true the first hike and blue blazed to many beautiful spots the second hike....well worth it!
Before I thrued the AT again I would preferably thru the PCT again but if I did thru the AT again as one continuous unbroken hike(I presently have no plans to thru the AT again though, there are far too many other great trails to hike here in the U.S. alone not to mention all the great routes that are available or I could come up with!) ) I would take a different route(blue blazes, BMT through GSMNP or some other GSMNP trail combination, different route through SNP, different route through the White Mts, Grafton Notch SP loop, etc) as often as seemed reasonable. I would do the IAT possibly starting at the Pinhoti Trail southern terminus in Alabama and finishing in Nova Scotia on Prince Edward Island. If I was to start at Springer Mt doing a conventional non IAT thru-hike I would probably start later NOBO and go faster averaging 25+ mpd but still finishing up in the fall at Mt K and then jump over to the northern terminus of the Long Trail and hike that south. I would say "thank you" more often to all who support the AT and hikers. I would stop to do trail work more often.
Giuseppe
05-09-2014, 19:26
Did a nobo in 2013 and am going out for a sobo in July 2014. Other than a directional shift, the changes will be
1) avoid the a few hostels that were the pits for one reason or another
2) use my tent more often
3) take a little more time to savor the good people and enjoy the sights on the trail and off it
PCT got thrown out because of the drought- maybe next year, CDT trail is to for 2016
The Solemates
05-09-2014, 21:19
leave 15 may if going nobo
Larry Boy
05-10-2014, 22:34
Skip Pennsylvania.
Probably the most earnest thing I've ever written in a shelter log: "If I ever hike the AT again, I'm hitching Pennsylvania. And New York. NJ was okay."
leave 15 may if going nobo
This is my plan or next year...... only think im worried about is the heat.
Probably the most earnest thing I've ever written in a shelter log: "If I ever hike the AT again, I'm hitching Pennsylvania. And New York. NJ was okay."
Why would you skip this section? This section of the trail was enjoyable, just like all the rest was, for it's own reasons. By saying what you said you are incouraging first time thru-hikers to skip this section of the trail.
Some hikers complain about Rocksyvania. I thought it a great opp to practice rock hopping. Seriously. I used basically two techniques that I thought really helped me fly through PA on my AT NOBO thru-hike. By the time an AT thru-hiker gets to PA they should be well in thru-hiker shape and form! Depending on the terrain I chose 1) stay on top of the rocks, this was great when the rocks were larger or firmly embedded in the trail, you'll soon learn what rocks are solid at a glance 2) stay between the rocks like when they weren't spaced close enough to safely hop on or when they were rolly poly type rocks 3) use both techniques off and on.
These days I cherry pick, Blue Blaze a lot, don't worry about miles or goals.
Jack is right. The thread is located here http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php?180
Perhaps it just my computer, but I see the first post in this thread, but all the content looks to have been deleted.
I remember seeing it before, so not sure what's up.
On my 96 flip-flop i was a purist passed every WB, on my second 06 GA-ME thru i did the same thing stayed true to the trail and i did pass every single WB, But on my third thru in 2012 I did alot of Blue Blazing to views and secret camping spots and i also Aqua Blazed the SNP, and visited different towns that i did on my previous thru's which broke up all the Monotenous crap and made it alot more exciting, when i do the AT again it will diffinately be a SOBO.
ShelterLeopard
05-22-2014, 06:25
SoBo. Or go from Katahdin to VT and then head back up North.
I started out as a NOBO hiker. Being a slow hiker and a late start I decided to flip from Duncannon to Maine. It was anti climatic to finish my hike at the Doyle Hotel.
The worse part was finishing my hike alone and not with a great bunch of friends that I had met along the way on top of Katahdin.
Old Hiker
05-22-2014, 10:34
Trying again in 2016: cut down on weight (started), relax more (not happening yet), carry less food (you carry your fears), walk AROUND mud puddles in the Grayson Highlands, just past Thomas Knob shelter.
pistol p
06-30-2014, 21:33
I would slow down. I believe that 6-7 months is a good time frame for this hike. I would also eat better, and take more breaks during the day. SOBO would be something to try, but I've always seen the trail as a NOBO hike.
RockyRoo
07-06-2014, 06:41
Go SOBO, complain less and NOT break my wrist!
skip everything from Harper's Ferry, WV to kent Connecticut.
http://www.pmags.com/if-i-did-it-again-the-big-three-trails
I'm lazy..I'd write it once and always link it. ;)
I am lazy AND I procrastinate. I bookmarked Mags' answer. I will read it as soon as I find my Round-To-It.
Wayne
Sent from somewhere around here.