Waynesboro

[Trail Dog]

Hi,

i need to know about how long it takes from springer to Waynesboro. its about 845 miles or so. i need to leave the trail about 60 days into my trek and was wondering if 60 days is not enough time to get to waynesboro. yeah i know thats like 14 miles a day and i still have to figure in zero days.

should i aim for Montebello,Catawba, Pearisburg? any advice?
i need a grey hound or am track to get me back to NYC. i know Waynesboro has grey hound to NYC daily. and i need to return a few days later.

thanks

[chris]

I went from Springer to Damascus last spring in 28 days without feeling rushed or that I was doing anything other than strolling. Well, more like strolling while pouring out sweat. There were people moving slower (in the 10-12 mile range) who were perfectly happy and people moving faster (in the 20-25 mile per hiking day range) who were having a grand time as well. In order to average 14 miles per day, you should plan on shooting for around 18-19 miles per hiking day to account for half days in town, zero days, loafing days, etc.

Assuming you are in reasonable shape when you start the hike, averaging 14 miles per day (not per hiking day) should not be a problem, assuming you do not hurt yourself. Starting slowly (under 14 per day) would be sensible to avoid injury. Besides looking funny, walking backwards down hills really slows you down, as do shin splints.

If you do a buy-as-you-go strategy for resupplying and use a bouncebox for things like maps, then you don't have to plan for an exact ending location ahead of time and can stop when your 60 days are up. If you find that hiking at this pace isn't for you, then you can slow down without worrying about wasted maildrops. Pearisburg has a Greyhound stop and is the first, I believe, reasonably easy town to reach after Damascus that has a stop.

[Jack Tarlin]

Springer to Damascus in 28 Days is VERY good time; most folks take from 33-43, with 36/37 being right about average. Assuming you're in this approx. time frame, getting to Waynesboro in 60 days would be pretty good time, i.e., you'd either have to be going faster than most folks, or being very disciplined with your time of, town days, zero days, etc. Personally, I think Pearisburg or shortly after it is a more realistic goal; this also means you'd be close to Blacksburg and Roanoke which could make your travel plans easier.

[Jumpstart]

I didn't keep track of such things so I don't know where I was, when, but I do know that in Pearisburg, for some reason, it seemed like lots and lots of folks either left the trail or used that town as their point to get off the trail and honor previous committments. There we lots of injuries and illness when we were there, maybe 680 miles is just that point for most folks or something, but it is a realtively large town, easy to hitch around, and I'm sure you could get to a bus or train station easily. One of the locals, a complete sweetheart, Melvin, will take people just about anywhere for gas money and company...

[Peaks]

845 miles in 60 days is 98 miles per week. Based on a survey done by Roland Mueser and published in his book. "Long Distance Hiking", the average thru-hiker does 87 miles per week (overall). Doing 98 miles per week puts you in the fastest 20% of thru-hikers. 80% of thru-hikers do less than 98 miles per week.

Extending Jack's post, assume 37 day average to get to Damascus. It's another 386 miles from Damascus to Waynesboro. If you average 105 miles per week (15 miles per day), then it will take an additional 26 days for the average hiker to get to Waynesboro, or 63 days total.

So, like Jack says, it seems's do-able, provided that your are disciplined about your time off and hike a little faster than the average hiker.

But if you are not the above average hiker, then suggest that you plan a little shorter hike.

[Trail Dog]

good advice thanks. I just got to head home for the weekend and return so what is a good stoping point for my first 60 days? i dont want to rush anything. i do need a grey hound or am track though.

[gravityman]

I would suggest not trying to plan exactly where you are going to get off. Note the big towns that you can hit along the way, and then when the time gets close, go to one of those. Even if you don't know, there are plenty of people to ask in towns and on the trails that know the areas you will be hiking in, and can tell you were you can catch a bus, or whatever.

Chancing of being able to predict where you will be in 60 days from you start are almost zero. Much easier to go with the flow. We quickly learned that you have to be flexible!

Gravity Man