Southern NH and Vermont Trail Trail Pace?

[colorado_rob]

For the New England AT trail-savvy in this neck of the woods, I'm trying to coordinate transportation for a section (going SOBO) from the southern end of the NH white mountains (near Glencliff) to the very northern end of MA (at MA-2 near Williamstown), roughly a 200 mile section... May I ask what sort of trail section this is with respect to hiking pace? Would it be roughly the same as, say, the more southern AT in Georgia-NC-Tennessee with respect to a miles per day pace? Easier? Harder?

I know what my pace was for the southern 1350 miles of the AT, so can estimate from that, but might need to adjust if this New England section of the trail is substantially harder or easier. I have a time constraint on both ends, else I wouldn't worry about this pace and just hike it.

Any information appreciated!

[Slo-go'en]

The AT through Vermont is significantly easier then NH by a big margin. In NH your average pace is likely to be 1 to 1.5 MPH, in Vermont it will likely be more like 2 to 2.5 MPH most of the time. Of course, weather can have a big impact on your MPH rate.

[illabelle]

The AT through Vermont is significantly easier then NH by a big margin. In NH your average pace is likely to be 1 to 1.5 MPH, in Vermont it will likely be more like 2 to 2.5 MPH most of the time. Of course, weather can have a big impact on your MPH rate.

I've only done southern VT, but my impression was that northern VT and western NH would be similar in difficulty. I know the Whites are harder by "a big margin", but is this section south of the Whites also difficult?

[Kerosene]

I would estimate that your pace will be a smidgen lower than for the southern AT, maybe a quarter mile an hour slower. Of course, if there is a lot of mud then that could plummet, but you will still be a lot faster than you will in NH or ME.

[Slo-go'en]

I've only done southern VT, but my impression was that northern VT and western NH would be similar in difficulty.

The difference is day and night. Northern Vermont is insanely difficult. You'd be hard pressed to find more difficult hiking trail anywhere. Western NH, while not quite as hard as from Franconia north, is still much more difficult then southern Vermont. Southern Vermont is just a warm up and only hints at what is in store farther north.

[colorado_rob]

Cool, good info, thanks all. I'll back off on my calculated pace by a couple miles a day then over this stretch, and if it's really muddy, well, it will be what it will be!

thanks again.

[Just Bill]

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?99086-How-long-will-it-take-me-to-hike-the-AT

Rob- look at the sobo tab, bit more telling as it assumes you have trail legs for both sections.
Just plug in the section you know about- say Damascus to Fontana.
Plug say 20 MPD into the sobo calculator and it will tell you 12.7MPD Gorham to Glencliff, and 18.2 for Glencliff to Kent.

The NOBO hiker would post 20 in the south, and 22.1/16.3 respectively- mainly because of the slower travel through the smokies the average NOBO faces. For the average nobo- springer to fontana is slower than the whites.

As Slo says- night and day difference when you flip that switch.

Careful going with MPH comparisons. Hiking hours per day are just as telling for most folks. Yes you can hit some tough sections, but outside the record setters and tough hikers- your hours per day drop off more dramatically when there is no rush to keep hiking.

[Just Bill]

Or put another way- for an average sobo hiker-
You move 143% faster in the glencliff to kent section vs. gorham to glencliff.
20MPD versus 14MPD
20MPD versus 14.7MPD for Nobo's

[colorado_rob]

Or put another way- for an average sobo hiker-
You move 143% faster in the glencliff to kent section vs. gorham to glencliff.
20MPD versus 14MPD
20MPD versus 14.7MPD for Nobo's Excellent! And those are my numbers; 20 MPD average on the southern AT, and I'm actually figuring 13MPD in the Whites, so sounds like 18 MPD in western NH, VT and northern MA is reasonable, and I only have to average 16 to make my schedule. Yes, I should have my legs on, doing 50 this weekend and another 50 next weekend in Colorado, all up and down and at high elevation. That's pretty much all we do for fun: hike.