Zero Days

[TylerJ76]

On average how often did you take them?
I am not hitting the trail until 2020, but I am already training and researching.

I am watching a guys videos on YouTube now, where he takes them ever 2-3 days?
That seems a bit much. However he also stays in hostels/hotels every 2-3 nights as well.

[colorado_rob]

It varies all over the place. I took a grand total of 3 zero days hiking the entire AT. Lots or Neros, maybe a dozen, depending on how you define a nero, on resupply days and such.

[Spirit Walker]

It depended on a lot of things: post office hours, how tired/sore I was, and weather mostly. Mostly I would do a short day into town and leave the next day so I could get two breakfasts (my favorite meal) but only have to pay for one night's lodging. If it was pouring rain or hellaciously hot I would sometimes take a day off, or when I needed to heal a tendon strain or chaffing. On my first AT hike I had 10 zeros.

[Starchild]

Perhaps 8-10 over the thru, only one double zero, so about 1 every 2 weeks but not in any sort of regular intervals. Many more nero's.

[Puddlefish]

If you're not in shape, or think you might have a small injury, take them early, rather than later. I only took one zero early on, to stay with a hiking buddy that I met on the trail. Once I hurt my knee I was taking way too many. Without injury, I felt the zeros were overkill, and the neros were more than enough rest. You'll pretty much figure it out on the way for your own situation.

[dudeijuststarted]

i started 3/22 and finished 10/10 (alternative thru.) there were about 30 "zeroes," but i can only recall maybe <10 of them that had anything to do with recovering. got sick in the whites for a week and needed a rest day after finishing new hampshire southbound. the rest were visiting friends and family in NC, pennsylvania. with some travel for the flip flopping. point is, if you don't nobo you don't likely have to worry about it, at all.

[Old Hiker]

Several, if not lots, because:

Soaking wet after a few days of rain
5-7 days without laundry or shower and getting low on food
Burned out in a bad section
Getting to a town too late to resupply plus any of the above
Several times: a hostel or hotel that was part of the "AT Tradition" that I had to do, just 'cause

Neros for almost the same reasons - in town at 1500 or so, clean up, supply up, and good bed/sleep to start earlyish the next morning (plus breakfast like above !!)

[map man]

An "average" completing NOBO takes about three weeks worth of zeroes -- around one zero per 100 miles hiked. That figure is taken from the article at this link:

http://whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php/44-AT-Hiking-Rates-Section-by-Section

[rafe]

On my thru hike attempt I took way too many. To the point where I averaged 11 miles per day over sixty days.

On my last big AT section I took no zeroes at all and averaged 15 miles per day over forty days. I gave myself a half-day off every four or five days.

As a section hiker, I don't generally do zeroes.

[Slo-go'en]

As everyone else said, it depends. People who start out early in the season tend to take a lot of zeros early on. Once in town, it be really hard to leave if the weather is rotten. Later on when the weather is nicer and you've turned into a lean, mean, hiking machine, the need for a full zero becomes less necessary. Then it's just near0s, where you spend the night, but had a full or mostly full day of hiking done before you got there. Doing a near0 every 7 to 10 days, if for no other reason then to get a shower, is my typical schedule.

But, if you got lots of money to spend and can afford frequent zero's, then what the heck?

[Engine]

Caboose and I have found we can comfortably average close to 14 mpd with 1 zero a week. For our thru-hike we are thinking we will take a zero every 10-14 days, depending on physical and mental needs. So we should end up being close to 15 mpd overall.

[moldy]

The guy in the video who takes a zero every 2 or 3 days won't make a thru hike. Math is working against him.

[-Rush-]

On average how often did you take them?
I am not hitting the trail until 2020, but I am already training and researching.

There are notable places on the trail where everyone should plan to zero, but outside of that it largely depends on your hike and how you're feeling. This is one of those things you can't really plan. There are too many variables influencing it out there. For instance, I met folks who made it to the NOC and stayed there for 5 days because their friends were trickling in every day after they arrived.

[Hikingjim]

Depending on your preference, you can enjoy towns, hostels, relaxing, without taking many zeros.
When I'm going to hit a town, I usually prefer busting out 10 miles or so by around lunch and then taking it easy, resupply, having a beer or two, etc, for the rest of the day. Then I'm ok to carry on the next morning. The odd time you may want to take a full day, especially with nasty weather

[capehiker]

A word of caution is to avoid getting too far into the weeds in your planning. Give yourself 6 months to hike the trail. The zero's and nero's will fall into place when you want them. If you start crating an itinerary of how many days between zero's or set daily mileage goals, you will find yourself worrying about time. My biggest fault was I didn't allow myself to go with the flow enough.

[dudeijuststarted]

I see alot of people commenting on neroes. If I get the chance to thru hike again, I would take a heck of a lot more neroes instead of zeroes. You save money, and shave off mileage guilt by even putting in 2-3 miles during the day. However, in terms of the AT, I do think there is tons of appeal to visiting the towns and the people if you are in a time and financial position to do so. The trail community really morphs as you hike through it, and by spending time in towns I've gotten inspiration for lots of places I'd consider retiring, as well as places I'd never consider retiring ;-) It really opened my knowledge of the east coast up.

[colorado_rob]

Depending on your preference, you can enjoy towns, hostels, relaxing, without taking many zeros.
When I'm going to hit a town, I usually prefer busting out 10 miles or so by around lunch and then taking it easy, resupply, having a beer or two, etc, for the rest of the day. Then I'm ok to carry on the next morning. The odd time you may want to take a full day, especially with nasty weatherThis was pretty much my exact MO. Remember, a true zero requires two nights in a town. I could hardly ever bring myself to doing that. I'm out there to hike, not spend multiple nights in the same town. Even soaking wet days can be managed by Neros; hike a bunch of hours in the pouring rain, then head into town and dry off (most of the time this works).

[Dogwood]

I don't like the term "Zero Days" as it's an oxymoron. It implies a hike is only about always hiking which is so very wrong. It implies a zero day is not as significant as a day being on the hike doing miles towards a terminus. It implies zero day time is somehow wasting time. It implies doing zero, or anything, sitting around a hotel room, or zero miles.

I consider my time just as valuable, just as valid, and spent just as wisely on "zero days" as making forward physical progress on trail hiking towards a trailhead or terminus. Zero days time can be just as valuable, spending quality time doing quality things, and having quality experiences that add to and further advance a hike.

Rarely, very rarely, are my zero days defined by sitting around hotel rooms watching TV, getting wasted, or in way imaginable experienced emotionally, spiritually, and physically static. Actually, some of my so called zero days included high mileage 35+ mile added on urban hikes walking around Washington DC, Harpers Ferry, NYC, Hanover area, Portland, Seattle, Boulder, Denver, Albuerqueque, Santa Fe, Sedona, Taos, Acadia, Glacier, Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Zion, etc. Zero days for me include taking in fall leaf peeping steam locomotive train rides, museums(art, natural history, etc), architecture, botanical gardens, historical sites, mending and cleaning gear, tending to or stabilizing a medical issue, realigning to a more empowering mental perspective even if it's looking up into a tree or sitting in an golden fall Aspen grove for a couple of hours or sitting near a waterfall or watching the peregrine falcons or dolphins and otters playing, beaver building a dam, or counting how many different colored starfish I can find, reviewing trail and "big picture" area topo maps for up trail for possible campsites/obtaining water/overlooks/worthy side experiences like waterfalls/caves/gorges, etc, doing added day hikes like summiting Mt Shasta, Mt Elbert, other CO 14ers, working/volunteering at organic farms/private and public botanical gardens, sharing with others about their gear, backpacking approaches, and world views, fishing, connecting with and gathering a greater appreciation for local and regional culture, studying flora and fauna that I want to identify I've experienced on trail, etc.

Backpacking can be approached as or likened to traveling where the idea is to enjoy the journey as profoundly as one wishes by opening themselves up as fully as they wish to embrace as much from life as they can or want during a hike.

There's a narrow focus of many backpackers and hikers that backpacking and hiking is somehow limited to having a backpack on or walking. WOW, could that be shortsighted? Could that mean missing out on a greater awareness?

So, when one asks about how many zero days I've averaged on a hike I have to ask first "what do you mean by zero days?"

[evyck da fleet]

Take zeros out of want and need. If you want to take a rest day or visit friends/places off the trail, do it. Its your hike. If you'd prefer to nero in and out of town that's great too.

As Dogwood mentioned, not all zeros are created equal. A zero sitting around the NOC to prevent blistered feet is a lot different than spending 12 hours walking around DC or getting drunk in a small town. A zero every five days when you're hiking 24 mile days will still get you done in 4 months while any zero when you're averaging 12 miles will make the hike last longer than six months.

[lwhikerchris]

About 10 zeros but you will master the art of the Nero.

[Christoph]

If I remember correctly, I think I took 3 zero's over the 750 miles I completed on my first attempt. Only reason for that many was due to a severe sickness with no energy. Went away the next day, but I ended up waiting it out "just in case it came back". The other day was another no energy day, but I think I even went a few miles so technically that would be a nero I guess. Just listen to your body, only you know it. You'll know when you feel like it's time. Enjoy a town or two, that's why they're there and it's part of hiking the trail. Good to take some time off work once in a while.