View Full Version : Where is the Bubble?
Hello, I hope to start hiking at Top of Georgia hostel about April 20th nb for a section hike. Would the bubble of through hikers be past that area by then or would I be right in the middle of it? I can deal with a small amount but I would prefer not to be in large group.
your thoughts?
My guess is 80-90% of thru hikers will be on their way by then. That doesn't mean shelters will be empty.
Christoph
01-26-2017, 00:13
I started my thru attempt on April 19th 2 years ago (has it been that long already??) and ran into very few people. Every shelter had at least one person but as for crowds, I didn't run into any.
Hello, I hope to start hiking at Top of Georgia hostel about April 20th nb for a section hike. Would the bubble of through hikers be past that area by then or would I be right in the middle of it? I can deal with a small amount but I would prefer not to be in large group.
your thoughts? A few years ago we hiked through GSMNP the first week of May, which would equate pretty well with your April 20 start, and we saw 4 or 5 thru-hikers the whole trip.
ScareBear
01-26-2017, 07:13
Any you see at that point are either excellent athletes or those destined to fail. But, you will see a couple of both types...you will easily recognize the difference...just sayin...
It's not just the thru hiker bubble that crowds the trail. Spring will have sprung about that time and with comes plenty of company. The effort by the powers that be to spread out the bubble has hikers flipping and flopping every which way. "One ship drives west as another drives east, all on the self same wind that blows, tiz the set of the sails and not the gales that tells the way to go"
Starting at Dick's Creek Gap on April 20th you will be among NOBOs who left Springer in the April 11th through 15th time frame. The period with the highest departure numbers starts the last couple days of February and runs through the first week of April -- so you will not be among that bunch.
Thanks guys. Yes I can handle a dozen or so people at the shelters seeing how I'll be by myself but not interested in 3 dozen. So I think that is when I will go.Once again thanks a lot
interesting question!
I'm hoping to do a week long section in the South, maybe amicalola to Neels gap, or maybe up into NC someplace. My hike would be in the June or July time frame. Would I be getting into a SOBO or flop/flip crowd bubble by then?
interesting question!
I'm hoping to do a week long section in the South, maybe amicalola to Neels gap, or maybe up into NC someplace. My hike would be in the June or July time frame. Would I be getting into a SOBO or flop/flip crowd bubble by then?We did that section and beyond to Dicks Creek Gap last July and ran into 1 SOBO who had started in SNP. It was the weekend after the 4th and we always had company. The least people at a shelter sight were 4 counting us and a couple from France. We had as many as 20 at one site.
bigcranky
01-26-2017, 14:28
Looking at start dates and AT thru-hiker registrations (http://appalachiantrail.org/home/explore-the-trail/thru-hiking/voluntary-thru-hiker-registration/2016-thru-hiker-registration-charts), there is a bell curve with the first two weeks in March at the top. By the end of the first week in April it has tailed off quite a bit.
We're looking at doing the GA section in April, and expect plenty of hikers but not the wall-to-wall crowds that I had the last two times I did that in early March.
Tipi Walter
01-26-2017, 14:34
Hopefully by April 20 we'll have a freak snowstorm and/or temps in the 20Fs which will certainly thin out the herd and the Just Right folks.
We did that section and beyond to Dicks Creek Gap last July and ran into 1 SOBO who had started in SNP. It was the weekend after the 4th and we always had company. The least people at a shelter sight were 4 counting us and a couple from France. We had as many as 20 at one site.
wow, 20 at a campsite? I'm surprised that time of the year.
I knew it would get crowded in the bubble at each end of the season with all the through hikers...and every now and again slugs of people flipflopping or section hiking. I guess I just haven't thought this one through fully.
so do I have this about right?
in the Southern sections.... Georgia and Southern NC
there is the big bubble of NOBO in the spring
then I'd assume a smaller bubble of SOBO hikers that is more strung out in the fall
then a random but somewhat steady stream of weekenders and summer vacation section hikers throughout the summer all mixed in with some random flip floppers
so in the end it's fairly steadily crowded through the summer then?
Not that I mind people mind you, just learnin' how the trail flows.....
Beyond, say, southern New England, the southbound bubble is barely detectable.
Early April still sees a lot of northbounders starting, but by the third or fourth week of April it's probably down to a trickle.
So if there's not really a SOBO bubble, it must be section hikers mostly then, eh?
what do you mean by a trickle? 2 per day? 10 per day?
is 20 campers a normal thing mid summer?
So if there's not really a SOBO bubble, it must be section hikers mostly then, eh?
what do you mean by a trickle? 2 per day? 10 per day?
is 20 campers a normal thing mid summer?
Can't give you hard numbers, there are too many variables. Weather and day-of-the-week being two of the biggies. Holiday weekends (Mem. Day, 4th of July, Labor Day) also bring out the crowds. End of August/ early September you see "freshman orientation" groups out and about.
Parts of the AT are busy all the time with day hikers and weekenders. Eg., the Smokies, Shendandoah National Park, the White Mountains, or the "Hundred Mile Wilderness" in August and early September. Or, say, the area around McAfee Knob, or Bear Mtn. State Park, both of which are popular and highly accessible.
When you're thru-hiking or hiking a long section, you often lose track of the day of the week -- but you know it's Friday or Saturday night because suddenly you start seeing shelters and campsites full.
Generally speaking, the more difficult the access, the greater the likelihood of solitude.
Seatbelt
01-26-2017, 17:25
I thru-hiked GA in 2nd week of May last year and about half of it the year before(also in May). I was going southbound and saw numerous would-be thru hikers northbound. The shelters and hostels were pretty full(reservations recommended). I don't know if I would call it a bubble but you will have plenty of company. The day-hikers will be plentiful around Albert Mtn and Bly Gap if it is a weekend.
The night with 20ish was at Gooch Mountain Shelter, still early on as the trail goes. It seems there were a lot of people that were doing Springer to Woody\Neel Gap. Once we got past Neel, the most we had was 7 at Blue Mountain and 6 at Tray Mountain. We will be out there again after the 4th this year as well. Not sure if we will skip ahead to avoid the recent fire damage or not.
Longboysfan
02-03-2017, 16:23
interesting question!
I'm hoping to do a week long section in the South, maybe amicalola to Neels gap, or maybe up into NC someplace. My hike would be in the June or July time frame. Would I be getting into a SOBO or flop/flip crowd bubble by then?
Maybe try what I am doing.
Week long - from Neel's gap up to Rt 64 in N.C.
Hello, I hope to start hiking at Top of Georgia hostel about April 20th nb for a section hike. Would the bubble of through hikers be past that area by then or would I be right in the middle of it? I can deal with a small amount but I would prefer not to be in large group.
your thoughts?
In my experience, assuming a Mid-March/Early April start, a good bit of the bubble is working their way through Franklin/Smokies/Erwin area around this time. Top of Georgia probably as hikers, but not the bubble.