View Full Version : Could you have hiked further?
vaporjourney
09-28-2006, 11:48
Curious to see how many people didn't want to stop when they reached Katahdin. I'm sure there are mixed emotions about this. I'm contemplating adding the IAT to the end of my hike at katahdin if it feels right once I get to that point. Maybe you felt so incredible toward the end of the hike, that you could have hiked another 1000 miles into Canada? I know that some people have had their eyes set on Katahdin for years, and for these people I'm sure that getting there would be the ultimate fulfillment. For others who perhaps didn't care so much about the ending destination, but were just looking for a long journey, maybe they could have gone longer?
vipahman
09-28-2006, 12:03
Sure, it's called the International Appalachian Trail. It adds about 1500 miles to the AT. The Newfoundland section officially opened just 4 days ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Appalachian_Trail
The route is as follows (from wikipedia):
The IAT runs northeast from the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail at Katahdin, Maine to Mars Hill before following the US-Canada border north to Fort Fairfield, Maine, where it crosses the International Boundary into Perth Andover, New Brunswick. Upon crossing the border into Canada, the IAT continues up the Tobique River valley before crossing the Miramichi Highlands to the Restigouche River valley and along the Chic-Choc Mountains of the Gaspé Peninsula, ending at the easternmost point in the peninsula - Cap Gaspé in Forillon National Park.
From Cap Gaspé, the IAT skips over the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the island of Newfoundland where the trail picks up again at Channel-Port aux Basques and follows the west coast of the island up the Great Northern Peninsula before terminating at the island's northernmost tip - Cape Bauld. From there the IAT skips over the Strait of Belle Isle to the actual northern terminus of the Appalachian chain at Belle Isle.
P.S. I wonder if Crocs will do while fording the Gulf of St.Lawrence. ;)
Footslogger
09-28-2006, 12:04
My mind could have but my body needed a break.
'Slogger
max patch
09-28-2006, 12:12
I could have but I was ready to go home and see my family. I was actually planning on riding my bike back home to Georgia when I finished, but, like I said, I was ready to go home.
vipahman
09-28-2006, 16:17
I think I jumped the gun when I said that the Newfoundland IAT opened on Sep 23rd. According to the NL IAT website http://www.iatnl.ca that is not the case. Sorry!
The IAT from Katahdin to Cape Gaspe is about 687 miles long. If you finished your AT hike in early August , you could probably get it in.
....or you could always turn around and yo-yo the AT!
I would have yo-yoed if circumstances would have allowed.
hikerjohnd
10-02-2006, 15:22
I question the viability of making that decision when you reach K. Will you be equipped to continue heading north into early winter? When will you reach the final northern terminus? Logistics? If you begin planning for the whole trip and then decide when you get to K then I think you will be better prepared to go on from there.
SalParadise
11-14-2006, 02:33
I enjoyed hiking more and more each day, but at the same time, once I hit Vermont, I started mentally gearing up for transition back home. Man, that Trail is long. It's really not a physical question, but a psychological one.
Plus Katahdin (or I guess Springer) was so climactic, I couldn't imagine that being anything other than a conclusion than just another stop along the way.
Jim Adams
11-14-2006, 02:39
in 1990 i bicycled 991 miles home. in 2002 i headed back south for 3 days but then ran out of time and had to go home. at least if you yo-yo you get to run into all of the nobos that you past or didn't meet yet.
geek
i would of i a second . what held me back was the fact the i had exactly 10$ left to hike with. that's right i made it with 10$ to spare
Okie Dokie
11-14-2006, 15:43
If someone had walked up to me when I came down off Katahdin and offered to fund me until I got tired I'd probably still be out there....
Sleepy the Arab
11-14-2006, 23:33
Curiously, this thread was started the day I summitted.
Had I the money, I would have kept on going after coming down Katahdin. I would have yo-yoed until I got bored or tired. I wonder how long that would have taken? 100 miles at least, though had I made it thru the Presidentials I suspect there would have been no stopping until Georgia.
Jan LiteShoe
11-15-2006, 00:04
Curious to see how many people didn't want to stop when they reached Katahdin. I'm sure there are mixed emotions about this. I'm contemplating adding the IAT to the end of my hike at katahdin if it feels right once I get to that point. Maybe you felt so incredible toward the end of the hike, that you could have hiked another 1000 miles into Canada? I know that some people have had their eyes set on Katahdin for years, and for these people I'm sure that getting there would be the ultimate fulfillment. For others who perhaps didn't care so much about the ending destination, but were just looking for a long journey, maybe they could have gone longer?
I was ready to be done with hiking. However, I wasn't ready for the trail experience to end.
I'm starting my SOBO thru with $5,000 not counting my mail drops. If I get to Springer uninjured and still have $2,000 I'm turning around and heading back to Maine!
hammock engineer
11-15-2006, 11:03
If I have the money and it left in my body I am going to go hit the sections of the LT that I missed this year. If you already have your trail legs, it could be a nice 3 week ease from life on the trail. Although there are not many people out there in October.
Crash! Bang!
11-15-2006, 14:23
o hell yea. unfortuneately, i had to borrow 40 bucks to just to finish
Maxwell_Allen
11-15-2006, 14:38
Same as many others have said, I woulda and coulda kept going for a yo-yo, but was just a bit short on cash and I had already had a ride from K. But there is always next time.
4-cheese
warren doyle
11-15-2006, 14:43
Katahdin and/or an unbroken circle have been the goals of my eight thru-hikes from Springer. Once one or both of those goals were attained, it was time for me to enter the 'regular' world which I feel just as comfortable in as the world of the trail.
It is the 'yin' and 'yang' of my life.
The same applied at the points I finished my six section hikes of the entire AT: Stecoah Gap in NC; Rt. 60 in VA (twice); Arden Valley Rd. in NY; and, Angels Rest in VA (twice). I left those points with a serene sense of completeness.
whykickamoocow
02-09-2007, 22:03
im planning on walking the AT 2008 and am giving some serious consideration to the whole idea of adding the International appalachian trail to my adventure, im just a bit worried that id have to start my AT journey so early that id miss out on alot of company of other hikers, robbing me of much of my experience
hopefulhiker
02-10-2007, 06:49
Yes, I wanted to hike futher.. I still want to hike further.. but I do have responsibilities and things like that...
superman
02-10-2007, 14:29
Physically I could have kept going, financially I could have kept going, mentally I could have kept going how ever I summated October 7th...time was up. The snow came right after that.
A guy said "you've come far pilgrim" "I said "felt far." Oops that might have been in a movie.
Jester2000
02-10-2007, 16:58
Why not think about finishing at K, jumping up to Cape Gaspe, and southbounding the IAT? That way you could summit Katahdin as the end of your hike twice, from two different directions.
Physically I could have kept going, financially I could have kept going, mentally I could have kept going how ever I summated October 7th...time was up. The snow came right after that.
A guy said "you've come far pilgrim" "I said "felt far." Oops that might have been in a movie.
maybe my favorite movie, ever :)