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Aldo Leopold
09-30-2015, 17:50
Hey Everyone,

I am planning to do a thru-hike starting in March 2017, but will need to finish by mid to late July. I'll be starting grad school in early to mid August after finishing the trail, and would prefer to have a few weeks before orientation and classes. From what I've read, allowing 5 to 7 months to complete the trail is adequate. My worry is that having a deadline would add an extra level of stress that would take away from the experience. Does 4.5 to 5 months seem possible for a first time thru hiker? I am in good shape, have experience backpacking and farming, and work in forestry/wildlife biology, but I still recognize the AT to be a great challenge and I rather not overestimate my abilities and sour the experience. The idea of having to quit early due to obligations is not appealing, especially if I were to complete most of the trail.


Any thoughts would or advice from experienced thru hikers would be greatly appreciated


Cheers.

map man
09-30-2015, 18:47
It's hard to know if you are a good fit for doing a NOBO thru-hike in less than five months. There are ways of estimating, though, once you've been on the trail a few weeks, what kind of pace you are on. This table from a WB article shows "typical" progress for hikers completing the trail in 4, 5, 6 and 7 months:

TABLE 4 -- Four Hypothetical Hikes

4#HIKE ~~~ 5#HIKE ~~~ 6#HIKE ~~~ 7#HIKE ~~~ LANDMARK
6 days...........7 days..........9 days..........10 days..........Georgia Border
11 days.........14 days........17 days.........20 days..........Fontana
29 days.........37 days........44 days.........51 days..........Damascus
50 days.........63 days........75 days.........87 days..........Waynesboro
58 days.........73 days........87 days.........102 days.........Harpers Ferry
72 days.........90 days........108 days.......126 days.........DWG
81 days.........101 days......121 days.......142 days.........Kent
98 days.........123 days......147 days.......172 days.........Glencliff
105 days.......132 days......157 days.......184 days.........Gorham
112 days.......141 days......168 days.......197 days.........Stratton
122 days.......153 days......183 days.......214 days.........Katahdin

I suppose if you get to Damascus and discover you are on or ahead of the pace you desire that could provide some peace of mind. If you get there and see you are behind your pace, I suppose that could cause some anxiety, but it could also provide motivation or it could let you know early on whether your plans are realistic or not.

Here's the link to the entire article:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php/184

And:welcome to Whiteblaze

rafe
09-30-2015, 19:03
Five months is about the average time for a traditional northbound thru-hike. That's about 15 miles per day, long-term, sustained average. That average has to include all "off" days and partial days (zeros and nearos.) It helps to be young and fit. And tall.

So, like MapMan says, you'll have a good idea once you've been on the trail a week or two or three. Bearing in mind that most starting thru-hikers take about that long to really find their legs and hit their stride. So if you're only pulling 13 miles per day through Georgia, don't sweat it.

garlic08
09-30-2015, 19:04
I met a few first-time hikers finishing a 4+ month hike in mid-July. They were very much in the minority, but it can be done.

A suggestion besides physical conditioning is getting in tune with trail life. At that pace, you can't spend much time in town, messing around with gear, waiting for mail drops, or recovering from injuries. Overdoing the hiking on one day might affect the next several days. Sustainability is key. Taking care of your skin, your largest organ, is paramount--blisters, poison plants, insects, fungus, sunburn, stove burns, cold injuries....

Good luck with your plan.

Scorpion
09-30-2015, 20:14
I started in 04 on March 10th, and finished on August 6th. That's less than 5 months, and I was in no hurry, that's just the time it took. It was my first thru-hike and I was 62 at the time. A young guy like yourself should have no problem doing a thru in 4 1/2 or 5 months.
Scorpion GA-ME 04

jockellis
09-30-2015, 20:36
Will the world end if you don't make it all the way to Maine in 4.5 months?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Venchka
09-30-2015, 21:02
A good weather March or a bad weather March could be the difference.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

Aldo Leopold
09-30-2015, 22:41
Great, thanks everyone. I really appreciate the information.

Anyone have any thoughts on starting mid-Frebruary?

Aldo Leopold
09-30-2015, 22:42
Ha, I hope not, but it certainly would be convenient for a number of reasons.

rafe
09-30-2015, 22:47
Ha, I hope not, but it certainly would be convenient for a number of reasons.

The earlier the start, the higher the risks. To the point of diminishing returns. Hiking in snow, ice, slush and wintry conditions, you're less likely to make good mileage, and more likely to spend time in town making no forward progress.

Fredt4
10-01-2015, 09:56
I lived in Tennessee for over 30 years. I noticed that weather seems to be:
one year no snow
one year a bit of snow
one year a month or two of snow
every ten years a lot of people snow & ice.
Generally snow starts in January
Seen snow as early October as Halloween and as late as April 1st.

Weather forecast are much better now, not sure if they're accurate 6 months out.

Hurricane Irene came through during my 2011 hike, don't think anyone predicted that by March.

Fredt4
10-01-2015, 10:11
That should have been snow as late as May 1st. Remember it snowed three times in April in 2011. Wasn't enough to slow us down, but many years ago there was a huge snow during April. I remember it snowing in May after Trail Days in Virginia, but need to check my notes to confirm.

rafe
10-01-2015, 10:27
Hiking nobo with the herd out of Springer, many years ago, I would run into clusters of young, fit thru-hikers who'd started weeks before me. I was no speedster, so how could that happen? Well, they got caught up in bad weather, went to town...

Seems to me, more folks should be considering late starts, if anything.

lemon b
10-03-2015, 04:37
Aldo 4.5 to 5 months is plenty of time for a 26 year old. Keep in mind hiking is not a contest if you wanna smell the roses do so. Can always return later if passing every single blaze is important. When I think back to the AT in the 70's I sometimes wonder if most did actually pass everyone. The trail wasn't marked all that well. The whites was a real cluster. And many other laces were confusing.