Double Zeros

[Coffee]

I am currently trying to figure out a way to make either a SOBO AT thru hike or a NOBO PCT thru hike possible for 2015. There are a number of factors that will go into my decision but I'm very fortunate to have a flexible situation with respect to how I earn a living. It is possible for me to be gone for extended periods of time without ill effects, but 5 months is more than I've ever gone without actively monitoring my business affairs. The maximum so far has been the Colorado Trail where I was gone for a total of five weeks including travel time and a side trip over Labor Day after the hike. I kept marginally up to date with news and emails during my five trail town stops and during my two zero days I had time to sit in a cafe and do some reading, but I never felt fully up to date. And now I have quite a bit of catch up work to do over the next week.

Over a 4-6 month period, I think that I could stay reasonably engaged and informed if I take a "double zero" every couple of weeks. My previous plan was to take one zero day per week, on average. Now, I'm thinking that I will instead take a "double zero" every two weeks and one near zero ("nero") day during the weeks I'm not taking the double zero. In that way, the duration of my hike would remain the same. I found that the few neros I took on the Colorado Trail had nearly the same effect as a full zero in that it gave me time to clean up and eat some real food which is what I really wanted out of the zero.

What this boils down to is that I would take 10 or 11 "double zeros" over the course of a 22 week thru hike of the PCT, and maybe slightly less over the course of a shorter AT thru hike. I would use one of the days off for town chores and to decompress in general and devote the other day off to work activities. I would probably need to rent a motel room rather than stay in a hostel to allow for quiet space, unless the trail town has a library or a coffee shop where I could set up for the day. I might even bounce my laptop to each of the towns where I do this so I can have my full work setup.

If I hike the AT, I could additionally take several days off exactly halfway through the hike since I'll pass close to my home at that time ... so this could help as well but maybe really impede the "flow" of the hike.

Two questions: First, has anyone else done something like this to keep up with work/business during the course of a thru hike of a long trail? If so, how did it work out in terms of getting things done? Did it disrupt the flow of the hike or your mental state during the hike and would you do it again? Second, does anyone have any specific trail towns in mind either on the PCT or AT where a "double zero" of the type I'm contemplating might work out well? Thanks.

[garlic08]

About all I can address is one thing you didn't ask about: A 22-week PCT hike might be pushing the season just a bit, but it can probably be done in a good year with an early start and a slow pace to KM. I guess your double zeroes would take care of that.

It's been over ten years since my PCT hike and I didn't have your concerns. I'm pretty sure you can access full service towns every 100 to 200 miles with some hitching. Since you'll be working, you'll supposedly have some income so you can afford the motels, which will probably be necessary to continue working....

The real issue might be the "flow" of your hike, as you gathered. You'd be starting early and ending late, and would likely be alone at those times. It would be very unlikely for you to have a "trail family" at that kind of pace, and that was probably the best part of the PCT for me.

On the other hand, you'd be better-rested and better-funded than most. Your thru hike would be more like a series of section hikes with a decent physical rest between.

Good luck!

[Coffee]

The real issue might be the "flow" of your hike, as you gathered. You'd be starting early and ending late, and would likely be alone at those times. It would be very unlikely for you to have a "trail family" at that kind of pace, and that was probably the best part of the PCT for me.

That is probably the main concern. However, my goal would be to maintain a pace that would be roughly average in terms of how long it takes to complete the hike, which would be accomplished by hiking more miles per day on average to make up for the double zeros every other week. Of course, the natural pace of someone who would take 22 weeks for the hike and my pace would be different. I would end up probably leapfrogging with people a lot of the time, and if I started hiking with people who had a similar pace for a couple of weeks and then took a double zero, I'd probably never see those people again as they would keep up that pace and I'd be behind. I've been OK with being solo almost all the time so far. How I'd feel about that over 5 months is something I'm not sure about yet.

[Starchild]

I agree about interfering with the flow, the hike goes at the trail pace not the hikers. Yes we can force the trail to our schedule but we do give up a lot of what a thru hike is if we do that (IMHO). The large part of the experience is letting go of how we want it to go and our expectations for that, and just letting things happen knowing we only have one job - to walk.

If possible I would say it would be better taking a week or 2 off in the middle of your hike, go back home, take care of business, return to the trail, even skip ahead to where you would be and get to the skipped over section after you reach Springer if you want to keep the same social circle (yes it seems like not important to you but the trail has been known on occasion to change people or you may find someone you want to hike with).

Also for me zeros were never planned by me as a day off, it was the trail, visitors, weather, trail angels and my physical condition - how I felt that morning. It was flexible according to the moment. It was never, well that was 6 days hiking now time for a zero. I was actually quite surprised that it took me so long for my first zero (and NOC), but that was the flow of the trail.

[Coffee]

Good input, thanks. I definitely worry about putting too much structure into a longer thru hike and ruining the experience as a result. Perhaps I need to determine whether I can realistically take five months off without any structured plans to catch up, and if not, consider whether doing a long trail over two years rather than one may provide a better experience (as much as I'd like to do a thru hike in a single year... ) as I'm pretty sure I could pull of a 2 month period where I'm just hiking. I have some time to think about it.