View Full Version : nOBo or sObO If You Could Pick
What would you rather do if you could pick either?
Heliotrope
01-14-2016, 23:54
SOBO for cool temps, fall colors and less bugs.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Starchild
01-14-2016, 23:59
NoBo for life in the awesome, wonderful bubble, nothing else like it and the reason for the AT.
SOBO for cool temps, fall colors and less bugs.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Less Bugs SoBo??? Ever heard of black flies? How does a SoBo avoid them?
full conditions
01-15-2016, 07:22
IMHO, one of the flip-flop options gives you tons of flexibility and potentially the best of all worlds. If we're limiting solely to the two choices given, then SOBO unquestionably. If you go NOBO in the spring you become part of the problem - and it has become a real problem. The environmental impact that repeated nights of 60+ hikers per night for weeks on end is having on backcountry campsites is palpable - and its likely only going to get worse. I wouldnt want any part of it. Leave Baxter sometime in early July - most of the blackflies will have died off; you'll have great late summer weather thru New England; fall in the mid-Atlantic states and late fall in the southern Appalachians. Pretty nice.
What do you mean? "If" i could pick? What's preventing me from making a choice? The choice is already mine and I choose a flip flop or Sobo. Flip flop would start in April and Sobo as soon as I could drive on the Tote rd. In Baxter. Bugs be damned :-)' but mid July would also work.
SOBO AT for sure but waiting would be the hardest part as I'm finding out with my planned SOBO of the pct this year. Not sure I can make it to July.
Since I have already section hiked most of the trail south of Damascus -- and since I would only have about a 25% chance of seeing the entire trail in a thru-hiking attempt -- I would choose SOBO since that would let me experience trail that was new to me. It would also mean less crowded trail, shelters and hostels for most of the journey.
SOBO because of the smaller crowd and to be different from most.
One Half
01-15-2016, 16:15
NOBO for me as it would be hiking back to home. I grew up in Maine and have lived in MA and NH as well until 6 months ago.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Heliotrope
01-15-2016, 23:09
NoBo for life in the awesome, wonderful bubble, nothing else like it and the reason for the AT.
Less Bugs SoBo??? Ever heard of black flies? How does a SoBo avoid them?
I live in Maine. I would start from Katahdin around August 1st.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Probably flip flop. I have already done it nobo. I think flipping allows to one to hit peak weather conditions. and to get 'trail legs" under easiest of conditions. (Easy being a relative term here).
swisscross
01-16-2016, 12:29
I like the idea of walking home, thus SOBO.
Stay home and surf WB. Avoid crowds, bugs, dirt..... :rolleyes:
Flip flop would work best for me. I'd like to finish at home.
SOBO AT for sure but waiting would be the hardest part as I'm finding out with my planned SOBO of the pct this year. Not sure I can make it to July.
Agreed. I'd prefer to SOBO the PCT this year, but I don't think I can wait until July.
Agreed. I'd prefer to SOBO the PCT this year, but I don't think I can wait until July.
I'm having the hardest time with this as I follow blogs and Facebook posts of people starting NOBO in just a couple of months...
I'm having the hardest time with this as I follow blogs and Facebook posts of people starting NOBO in just a couple of months...
One of the biggest reasons I chose a NOBO hike. After you decide to attempt a thru hike, the waiting around to start is tough. I didn't want to hang around for 3 more months or so to begin. the wait sorts of recaptured the feeling you get as a child waiting for either Christmas and/or the end of school.
I was on the fence for a long time about this. The lure of NOBO was strong, but only because I have read more journals and books about NOBO thru-hikers, and getting to Amicalola Falls SP is easier than getting to Katahdin. However, after reading about all of the issues caused by and associated with NOBO hikes beginning in March or early April (mid-late April is too hot in the south), I have finally made my choice for SOBO. Flip-flop still remains an option though; but there is a yearning in my head to do the entire trail as a continuous thread. It's just how I like to do things. For that same reason, I WILL be doing the Amicalola Falls Approach Trail as part of my thru-hike, whether it be one direction or flip-flop.
Arden
Sobo for solitude, and getting the hardest part of the hike done first. Deal with cold at the end.
Nobo if you like company.
firesign
01-23-2016, 10:44
Sobo for solitude, and getting the hardest part of the hike done first. Deal with cold at the end.
Nobo if you like company.
+1 sobo again
Plus i could hopefully watch your fire lighting skills again at the Hikers Welcome Hostel in Glencliff!)))
4eyedbuzzard
01-23-2016, 11:01
I'd start NOBO to see how the trail has changed since 1976 (it wasn't very crowded compared to recent year's numbers in early April back then). Then I'd flip to Katahdin (hopefully in better trail shape as well) in mid to late June and finish SOBO.
Id still go nobo because you get the highlights at the end. If Katahdin is your first day and the 100 mile wilderness is your first week or two, what have you to look forward to for the remaining months??
Lone Wolf
01-23-2016, 11:18
Id still go nobo because you get the highlights at the end. If Katahdin is your first day and the 100 mile wilderness is your first week or two, what have you to look forward to for the remaining months??
most nobos don't enjoy the highlights at the end. they're tired of walkin' and just wanna be done
Id still go nobo because you get the highlights at the end. If Katahdin is your first day and the 100 mile wilderness is your first week or two, what have you to look forward to for the remaining months??
Just the satisfaction of having seen it all... and getting to do the easy part last.
most nobos don't enjoy the highlights at the end. they're tired of walkin' and just wanna be done
I've seen and heard this many times over the years. They can't say it out loud, but they've had enough already. Really a shame 'cuz Maine is the purdiest state on the trail. IMHO of course.
I do everything backwards -- hiked both ends of the AT long before I got to the middle. I laughed my way through Shenandoah Nat'l. Park. The reward-to-effort ratio was through the roof. Easy peasy walking, wonderful views and amenities. The only downside was the traffic noise from the parkway.