View Full Version : How fast can I finish a thru-hike?
shane6677
04-27-2007, 15:59
Hello. I am considering a thru-hike attempt next summer (2008). However, I cannot start the hike (college) until May 18th. I also need to finish (college) by August 25th. I'm aware that that is about 3 months and one week. Has anyone ever finished that quickly (without cheating)? I might add that I run full 26.2-mile marathons twice a year and am physically fit. I would also be alone (ergo, would not have to wait for injured or slower friends). Is this nuts... or doable?
Thanks.
SGT Rock
04-27-2007, 16:06
Some people do it. Get on and see how you feel.
Footslogger
04-27-2007, 16:07
I wouldn't call it NUTS ...but you have to ask yourself why you really want to hike the trail.
If you want to add it to your list of accomplishments then it is definitely doable in that timefreame.
If, on the other hand, you want to experience the hike and the trail then my suggestion would be to wait until you can devote more time to it ...or consider doing it in segments.
Just my $ .02
'Slogger
im planning on going in 2008 around may 18th and trying to push 20+ days to finish in 3.5 months......pm me
jch
max patch
04-27-2007, 16:21
Assuming you hike 6 days a week, then you'll have to average hiking a marathon every day. Thats way too aggressive for the vast majority of people. A few can do it.
Only way to find out is to try. And if you don't make it all the way then finish up next year.
shane6677
04-27-2007, 16:36
thanks everyone!
If your load is light then it is alot easier.
There was a hiker in 2005 name of Flash. He ran the trail southbound with support. He only carried a day pack. Did it in 3 months. I don't know how many miles he covered a day though. He passed me in Georgia. You wanna talk about thighs??? YOWZER! Made this old lady look twice.
I would highly recommend taking the spring semester off, working a few months, then starting in march. It worked out really, really well for me. I finished in 4 1/2 months, but never once worried about miles. My favorite part was meeting and hiking with people, and I don't think I could have done that if I'd gone much faster. Also, allowing a few months for work takes away a lot of the financial stress. Just a thought.
Just as an FYI, be aware that running and hiking are two completely differnt beasts.
Different set of of muscles, different pacing, different environment.. My buddy can run a sub 3:30 (road) marathon. My PR is a slow and plodding 4:30.
He thinks i'm nuts for doing an average of ~25 MPD for 4 mos on the CDT.
Apples and oranges.
Having said all that, you can do a swift thru-hike, just get your body used to it and carry a light pack.
Here's a great article on physical prep for a thru-hike:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=184425#post184425
Good luck! I'm sure you'll have a blast.
Totally doable. I imagine there are one or two every year who try/do what you are planning. I personally know of a couple in 2001 (names forgot) who successfully did the summer hike. This is why I remember. I was in Damascus and they rolled thru during a torrential rainstorm. They took one hour to eat lunch and then headed back out into the rain. If you can do that, you will not have a problem with the mountains.
Good luck. And pack light.
superman
04-27-2007, 18:23
...and if you don't finish in one season...there's nothing wrong with being a section hiker. ...Or pick a point to start going north to Katahdin with the NOBO thru hikers then come back and do the southern section time permitting. Take enough time to enjoy your hike. What's important...you decide.
Programbo
04-27-2007, 20:58
Well since you have over a year perhaps you should try going out to the trail and hiking that many miles a day for a few trail 2-3-4 days trips with a full pack and see how it feels and htne think if you`d want to do that for 3 months
aaroniguana
04-27-2007, 21:39
This is close to a problem I have. I'm going to attempt my thru in 09. I need tobe in Pittsburgh the last week in July. I'm not keen on coming off the trail for 10 days for Pennsic, so I was thinking about a Feb 1st start.
warren doyle
04-27-2007, 21:57
It is doable with discipline and intelligent determination. Very few rest days, if any at all. Walking steady (not fast) from dawn to dusk - possibly into the night or before dawn during the heat of the summer so you can take a siesta between 11am-4pm.
You will see much - without and within.
Well since you have over a year perhaps you should try going out to the trail and hiking that many miles a day for a few trail 2-3-4 days trips with a full pack and see how it feels and htne think if you`d want to do that for 3 months
I suggest that you listen to this advice. Think also of why you are proposing such a difficult task. Three months exploring the premier eastern mountains is a laudable goal. Three months devoted to "conquering." these peaks, is less so. IMHO.
Weary
camojack
04-28-2007, 01:17
Hello. I am considering a thru-hike attempt next summer (2008). However, I cannot start the hike (college) until May 18th. I also need to finish (college) by August 25th. I'm aware that that is about 3 months and one week. Has anyone ever finished that quickly (without cheating)? I might add that I run full 26.2-mile marathons twice a year and am physically fit. I would also be alone (ergo, would not have to wait for injured or slower friends). Is this nuts... or doable?
Thanks.
I posted a similar question many years ago at Trailplace. :(
(Boo! Hiss!!!)
My reason for asking was like yours; I was going to have a limited amount of time in which to "get 'er done". People immediately assumed that I was some kind of glory hound, looking to set a record...without bothering to ask, of course.
Anyway, it can be done in 3 months without killing yourself, but sometimes things happen to prevent it. Best of luck, in any case!!! :banana
warraghiyagey
04-28-2007, 01:40
I wouldn't call it NUTS ...but you have to ask yourself why you really want to hike the trail.
If you want to add it to your list of accomplishments then it is definitely doable in that timefreame.
If, on the other hand, you want to experience the hike and the trail then my suggestion would be to wait until you can devote more time to it ...or consider doing it in segments.
Just my $ .02
'Slogger
All good feedback on this thread for the question posed but for my $0.02 this seems to be right on.:)
I'd put off college for a semester or just do a nice steady paced section hike and enjoy yourself. Ir you aren't enjoying it then you shouldn't be out there.
MileMonster
04-29-2007, 11:53
Certainly do-able. One thing I would suggest is looking into some type of flip flop to put yourself close to any leftover miles in the event you come up short when you have to go back to school. That way you have the ability to get the left-over done on weekends and holidays. For example, if you go northbound and come up 100 miles short then it would be hard to finish it off if you go to school at Georgia Tech. If your 100 mile shortfall is the Shenandoah and you go to school at James Madison, though, you'd be golden. Some "purists" might argue that this would not be a thru-hike, but it would be in one season, blah, blah, blah... You'll waste a few days of travel time on the flip, but it still might be worth it. If you go to school at UCLA then you're out of luck. LOL. Just a thought.
If you're seriously fit and seriously determined, it can be done. Most folks finish the trail in 5-6 months. Young, fit folks might do it in 4 to 4.5 months. To do it in 3 months basically means a marathon every day. In the woods, over muddy or rocky trails, a mile of vertical, in any weather, with a pack on your back. Your call. Not my cuppa tea, but then, neither is running marathons.
I believe you said you had 3 mo. and a week. Thats around 100 days. 21.8 a day. Say 22 a day. You will have upwards of 14 hours of daylight a day to hike. If you take your time and use the whole day, it becomes more achievable. For instance,
8-10 5.5 miles at 2.75 hr (Assuming from age this rate is attainable)
11-1 5.5 miles at 2.75 hr
2-4 5.5 miles at 2.75 hr
5-7 5.5 miles at 2.75 hr
22 miles in 11 hours with 3 hour long breaks. Now I know that is ignoring terrain, weather, body condition, mental condition, etc. and I would never hike on such a regiment program. But that faux schedule indicates that 22 a day can be not so severe.
As for enjoyment of the hike, you will definitely miss the social scene but, it seems from my vantage pt., you would have a deeper experience with nature and the trail then one who has frequent starts and stops.
Where is the rule book for hiking the AT? How can one cheat? You can hike the trail in one day with an airplane.
SGT Rock
05-01-2007, 11:28
You just have to walk the aisle the whole time. Amazing how they white blaze those things ain't it? Now you know why ;)
It is very doable, given the following:
1: You show up in shape
2: You are ultralight (base weight under 10, at the heaviest, I would say)
3: You plan your resupplies carefully so that you aren't hitching far from the trail to get food. I'd recommend maildrops to save yourself time in stores/towns, etc. Make sure you know what kind of food you will want. This will be tough.
4: You take very few rest days in towns and dont' get sucked in by hostels/parties/etc.
5: Nothing unforseen goes wrong
Realize that thru-hiking in 100 days will be an athletic event. For some unknown reason, the AT culture is very against making hiking into any kind of sport, even a non-competitive one. I would recommend that you rarely disclose your plans on-trail. Even if done humbly, you will likely be scorned by the general trail community. Also, I would recommend that you don't talk about packweight or milage on the trail. It's like talking about politics and religion in off-trail company. If you have any more specific questions, feel free to PM me.
Hermes
Realize that thru-hiking in 100 days will be an athletic event.
Hmm. Not quite sure if I a agree with this assesment.
I did about that pace on both the Colorado Trail and the CDT.
While a quicker than normal hike can be an athletic event, it does not have to be.
All depends on the focus. As I like to tell people, I am not an athlete. I am an outdoors person who happens to be athletic. Many athletes are not outdoors people, but people who do athletic events that happen to take place outdoors.
A subtle but important difference.
A 100 day thru-hike could be a profound outdoors experience..or an athletic event.
All depends on each person's focus.
Just my .02 anyway.
(I agree with your other point: Try not to share your plans with people. More so on the AT than the other trails, there seems to be a mentality of "if you are going faster than me then you are going too fast!" :D)
Carve out 13 days from your schedule this summer and walk from North Adams MA to the Canadian border on The Long Trail. This is roughly 275 miles because the LT officially starts at the MA VT border, but you have to get there walking. If you make it all the way in 13 days, you should be able to cover the AT in the time you have. All you have to do is keep that pace for another 87 days.
Im in almost the exact same situation as you. In college, and i want to hike the trail before i get out and get a job and it doesnt happen. I have decided (as other people suggested) to take off the spring semester. This will allow me to get out in March and be finished before the Fall semester starts. Also, the extra time off will allow me to get in better shape the 2 months before i leave, and get some extra cash money too. I would consider taking this route. I might even be going in 08 as well. :)
Just as an FYI, be aware that running and hiking are two completely differnt beasts.
Different set of of muscles, different pacing, different environment.. My buddy can run a sub 3:30 (road) marathon. My PR is a slow and plodding 4:30.
He thinks i'm nuts for doing an average of ~25 MPD for 4 mos on the CDT.
Apples and oranges.
Having said all that, you can do a swift thru-hike, just get your body used to it and carry a light pack.
Here's a great article on physical prep for a thru-hike:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=184425#post184425
Good luck! I'm sure you'll have a blast.
This is so very true. A road marathon versus a 20+ mile trail hike on technical terrain with a backpack is quite a bit different. If you are not conditioned for continuous day-to-day hiking, you will likely suffer from overuse injuries by your 3rd week. I run too, but do ultras, and I still get sore by my 2nd and 3rd days. If I start off doing 20 mile days, I'll have an injury by the 2nd week. Of course I am not 19 either. :)
Most successful hikers are ones who start off with low miles, build up gradually, and take a periodic rest day. That is, unless they are on the trail year after year for months at a time. Then, there is not much conditioning required.
Just John
I'm in almost the exact same situation as you. In college, and i want to hike the trail before i get out and get a job and it doesn't happen. I have decided (as other people suggested) to take off the spring semester. This will allow me to get out in March and be finished before the Fall semester starts. Also, the extra time off will allow me to get in better shape the 2 months before i leave, and get some extra cash money too. I would consider taking this route. I might even be going in 08 as well. :)
Sounds like a plan to me. I did what you want to do when I was your age before matriculating at WVU. Best wishes to you.
:-? Surely you must already know the best place to train in Morgantown is the steps at the top of High Street. Put on your pack and hike and down up those steps every day. People may think you are crazy, but you are so what does that matter? Georgia will seem like nothing to you. Just don't forget to s-t-r-e-t-c-h your Achilles tendons to avoid an injury in the 1st few weeks on the A.T.
Realize that thru-hiking in 100 days will be an athletic event. For some unknown reason, the AT culture is very against making hiking into any kind of sport, even a non-competitive one. I would recommend that you rarely disclose your plans on-trail. Even if done humbly, you will likely be scorned by the general trail community. Also, I would recommend that you don't talk about packweight or milage on the trail. It's like talking about politics and religion in off-trail company. If you have any more specific questions, feel free to PM me.
Hermes
Good advice. When the thread starter reaches Pennsylvania, if we meet, he can tell me what he needs to hide from others about his itinerary. I won't give him any grief and likely will do what I can to help.
I may have met our friend Hermes last year at 501 Shelter. If he's the hiker of whom I'm thinking, I enjoyed our conversation.
I'm looking into doing an independent study next spring, something along the lines of american literature of the eastern mountains with a nice long paper...
If I can find a proffesor to sign on financial aid is paying for my through :)
This is a bunch of fooey.
anybody can do the trail in one month with a 60 pound pack. My baby sister did.
Jester2000
05-10-2007, 19:18
It is doable with discipline and intelligent determination. Very few rest days, if any at all. Walking steady (not fast) from dawn to dusk - possibly into the night or before dawn during the heat of the summer so you can take a siesta between 11am-4pm.
You will see much - without and within.
I think Warren is dead on here. Excellent advice, as long as it's what you want to do.
But I do hope that you're not making the mistake of changing the wrong thing here. You may be changing your hike to fit your schedule. Others have suggested ways to change your schedule to fit your hike. Make sure you're able to hike in a manner that will make YOU happy.
. . .For some unknown reason, the AT culture is very against making hiking into any kind of sport, even a non-competitive one. I would recommend that you rarely disclose your plans on-trail. Even if done humbly, you will likely be scorned by the general trail community.
If he hikes the way he's planning on doing it, he won't be around any particular member of the "trail community" for it to matter all that much.
Usually when someone told me that they had to be on a strict schedule to finish in time for something else, my response was usually something along the lines of, "wow. That sucks. Too bad you can't stay out to play longer."
well.. yes I will agree that it can be done for reasons already stated.
But imagine..hiking 20+ miles a day through the whites and through Maine.. no days off.. perhaps serious bad weather in there?
Sounds more like an exersise in torchure than any thing resembling fun but that's me.
This is so contray to my personal hiking philosophy that I'd best not say anything more.
David
Jester2000
05-10-2007, 20:58
While we were all blathering about this shane6677 started and finished his hike.
gsingjane
05-11-2007, 07:06
I thought Rainman's suggestion about doing the LT in 13 days, as a test, was interesting... especially since I went to a presentation last fall given by a couple that did that very thing. These people are absolute legends in the trail running community here in CT... both the husband and the wife are about 3% body fat and do neat stuff like run 30 mile trail races for fun.
They found doing the LT in 13 days to be something of a stretch. In fact, the presentation made it sound like an incredible ordeal. Fun and beautiful, but an ordeal just the same. I don't think anybody came away from it thinking it was something they should try. I can't imagine what their response would have been if any had suggested to keep it up for 87 more days!
Jane in CT
The last sentence of my previous post was definitely a bit tongue-in-cheek.
Stringing together 100 twenty plus mile days without a single zero would be downright hard work. Most people need at least one day off in seven to keep that kind of pace. of course taking 14 days off in your 100 day hike would put you 300+ miles short of your goal. That means you have to do 25+ miles per day for the 6 days per week you are actually walking.
It certainly is possible to hike 20-25 AT miles every day with no zeros. However, that is something most often done by people who have extensive trail experience. That schedule does not even allow much time for getting to town for re-supply.
For a first thru, it seems a bit unrealistic. The only way to really know if you can do it, or would even want to, would be to take some "test" hikes at the same pace. Just my $.02.
I would recommend that you rarely disclose your plans on-trail. Even if done humbly, you will likely be scorned by the general trail community. Also, I would recommend that you don't talk about packweight or milage on the trail.
yes. lets be sensative, we would not want to offend the general trail community. HYOH has now been replaced with CTTGTC (conform to the general trail community) Damn kids, they think they can just come out here and hike and not do it correctly.
Sounds like a plan to me. I did what you want to do when I was your age before matriculating at WVU. Best wishes to you.
:-? Surely you must already know the best place to train in Morgantown is the steps at the top of High Street. Put on your pack and hike and down up those steps every day. People may think you are crazy, but you are so what does that matter? Georgia will seem like nothing to you. Just don't forget to s-t-r-e-t-c-h your Achilles tendons to avoid an injury in the 1st few weeks on the A.T.
I dunno if you have been there in a while, but there is a hell of a set of stairs going UP Law School hill from the stadium. My god....i think ill be training on those bad boys. :banana
I dunno if you have been there [Morgantown] in a while ...
Haven't and it's a great time of the year to be there. There really are quite a few good places to run, walk or train for an A.T. hike in Morgantown. I lived at the top of the High Street steps.
Anywhere I went required walking up the steps, down the steps, up the steps, down the steps and up the steps. When I went for a run, I went down Price Street, up High Street or by Oglebay Hall and up Cornell ... you get the idea.
Mountaineers are always free and fit too!;)
Haven't and it's a great time of the year to be there. There really are quite a few good places to run, walk or train for an A.T. hike in Morgantown. I lived at the top of the High Street steps.
Anywhere I went required walking up the steps, down the steps, up the steps, down the steps and up the steps. When I went for a run, I went down Price Street, up High Street or by Oglebay Hall and up Cornell ... you get the idea.
Mountaineers are always free and fit too!;)
Yes sir. Morgantown is definitely a good town. Been here all my life. :cool:
Morgantown is definitely a good town. Been here all my life. :cool:
I agree, but have you walked at Core Arboretum lately? It's this time of year when I'm most apt to think of Morgantown and it's Core Arboretum where I'd want to be. There's no better place when the neotropical migrant birds return and the spring wildflowers bloom.:)
You aren't old enough to have met Earl Core (http://www.newberrynet.com/sabs/Awards/CoreObit.htm). I feel fortunate I did. A number of his books occupy my shelves. He was quite an entertaining speaker too. :-? Maybe his greatest contribution is Core Arboretum (http://www.as.wvu.edu/biology/facility/arboretum.html) where he conducted dendrology labs and where I presume they still occur today.
I agree, but have you walked at Core Arboretum lately? It's this time of year when I'm most apt to think of Morgantown and it's Core Arboretum where I'd want to be. There's no better place when the neotropical migrant birds return and the spring wildflowers bloom.:)
You aren't old enough to have met Earl Core (http://www.newberrynet.com/sabs/Awards/CoreObit.htm). I feel fortunate I did. A number of his books occupy my shelves. He was quite an entertaining speaker too. :-? Maybe his greatest contribution is Core Arboretum (http://www.as.wvu.edu/biology/facility/arboretum.html) where he conducted dendrology labs and where I presume they still occur today.
I actually run through the Arboretum anytime i go running. Never met Earl Core but i have driven on the road named after him ;)
icemanat95
05-17-2007, 11:18
Hello. I am considering a thru-hike attempt next summer (2008). However, I cannot start the hike (college) until May 18th. I also need to finish (college) by August 25th. I'm aware that that is about 3 months and one week. Has anyone ever finished that quickly (without cheating)? I might add that I run full 26.2-mile marathons twice a year and am physically fit. I would also be alone (ergo, would not have to wait for injured or slower friends). Is this nuts... or doable?
Thanks.
That's an awful lot of pressure to enjoy a hike under. Put away that end goal and go out with the intention of hiking as much of the AT in one session as you can manage to ENJOY hiking. In 1995 I ran into two different people hell-bent for leather to finish the AT, one of whom was on a severe deadline. Pounding out 30+ miles a day. He was an ultramarathoner. His feet looked like hamburger and he was turning his liver into a piece of stone. The other guy was thoroughly driven to finish, and was hating every minute of the experience. He finished, but that's a testament to the man's incredible personal drive. (He's a PhD. Engineer and top-level executive.)
Just take it easy and enjoy the walk. It's NOT a race or a contest, it's a journey. Put a bit more spirituality into it and it's a vision quest or a Musha Shugyo...you cannot put a schedule on those things.
sixhusbands
05-17-2007, 11:23
I would say that you could do it. You will need to coordinate every drop well and discipline yourself to get up and on the trail early. If this is your time for the AT , then go and enjoy the hard work. It is about 25 miles a day average ( every day with out any breaks).
Stay healthy and you can do it with days to spare!
I actually run through the Arboretum anytime i go running. Never met Earl Core but i have driven on the road named after him ;)
I'm beginning to like this thread -- at least the part that you and I create. You give me all kinds of hooks.
I like the concept touched upon in your first sentence. Do you think I could hike in Core Arboretum anytime I go hiking? I think that would be way cool.:D
BigwaveDave
05-19-2007, 13:24
Shane give yourself some time to stop and smell the roses, 30+ miles a day? Relax, its not a race. IMHO you'll come to hate the day you turned it into an ordeal. You might get your 2000 mile flash but would it have been worth the price paid?