Zero days...

[No_trailname_yet]

Hiya,

Thru-hikers.... Did you plan your zero days into your schedule, or did they just sort of 'happen' according to aches/pains, creeping crud, etc?

Also... Do you know of any thru-hikers who did the GA > ME without actually planning to do so? I.E. They got to Damascus and decided to keep going... ?

I posted a few days back regarding health issues, so I honestly have no idea how far/long I can go. The condition I'm in, Springer to Damascus looks pretty daunting, but I've already green-lighted with the wife that if I make it that far and am feeling frisky, that I'll pick a 'new' goal.... walking across VA.

Anyways, was curious if the 45 days I estimated to make it to Damascus was a reasonable time (If I was my old self, I would have said 35 or less), and whether anyone decided to go.... just a few more days... and wound up at Katahdin. :>)

Thanks, and wish me luck. Should arrive at Springer :D around noon on the 30th.

[bearbait2k4]

I don't think most people plan on taking the amount of zero days that they end up taking.

I only hiked about 2/3 of the trail by the time I went home, and somehow racked up over 2 months of them. Definitely not planned. Sometimes you don't leave town b/c of weather or other ailments, and sometimes you skip towns you were going to stay in.

As far as getting to a goal point and continuing, I knew of 3 such hikers that did this. One, I believe, made it through almost the entire trail. Another broke his leg and had to get off the trail. The third left the trail due to a family emergency. It happens!

[Datto]

On my northbound Year 2000 AT thru-hike I enjoyed about 28 zero days on a thru-hike that lasted a total of 195 calendar days start-to-finish. I didn't have many short mileage days -- either I was hiking or I was taking a zero.

From Springer it took me 39 days to reach the town of Damascus, Virginia (I hiked into Trail Days). My hiking speed in miles per day is pretty typical -- not fast and not slow.

I just looked at a Year 2000 calendar. Wow does that bring back memories. Hard to believe that was years ago.

Datto

[zammy]

From my hiking experience, you can walk less miles every now and then, get to a town no later then noon and slpend the night there, this way you can have zero "more then half" day.
Gives you good feeling about not losing a whole day, normally I hiked 75% of my daily routine till lunch time.
I rather save those zero days in case I want to get of the trail for a couple of days , since I'll be time limited by my visa my plans are different.
I have "only" 6 months for the entire visit, some of it (no more then 3 weeks prabaly) I plan to visit friends and do some touring.

[Skeemer]

I had both planned and unplannned zeros. Some places with great hostels (like Miss Janets and Shaws) and great sevices (like Damascus) and a visit from my wife (Harpers Ferry) were planned. The unplanned ones were mostly due to weather like Fontana Village when it was snowing in the mountains. I was fortunate enough not to zero due to health or mail drop issues. I enjoyed every last one of them. The unplanned zero in Duncannon should have been planned as it turned out to be a great stop.

I still maiintain that zeros had a lot to due with the completion of my thru-hike. I didn't always eat and rest well on the Trail. I made up for it in town. I know some zeroed in shelters cause they wanted the experience and not spend the $.

I personally never met anyone who started out planning a section and changing into a thru-hike.

Take Care & Hike On!

[Peaks]

I supsect that people allow for zero days off in their overall schedule, but most days off are more spontaneous.

For example, you may have a committment during the summer that you need to take some days off for. Maybe you plan to meet up with family or friends someplace. Or maybe you plan to go into DC or NYC on your way by.

But, most are spontaneous. Several reasons. Maybe injury, or just plain rest. Maybe weather. Maybe you just get to a beautiful place and want to linger for an extra day. Maybe your trail friends want to hang out for a day some where.

Myself, I took nero's to do white water at NOC and a nero to bike the Creeper Trail in Damascus. I planned to do these things if everything worked out, which it did. On the other hand, I didn't do rafting at Caratunk because I didn't want to take the time off for it.

[Brushy Sage]

Seems to me it's well-nigh impossible to schedule zero days in advance and then to keep that schedule. Trail conditions change due to weather; one's physical stamina waxes and wanes; sickness or injury or family emergencies can become a factor; even planned stopovers to pick up mail drops aren't always reliable because of getting into town after the post office has closed, or the package didn't arrive on time; sometimes one might caught in a "vortex" of pleasant living in a given town or hostel, and just wait a few days before hitting the trail again. The thru-hike experience is dynamic; most advanced planning has to be adjusted to reality as the hike unfolds.

[jersey joe]

Brushy,
On my thru I scheduled zero zero days and did in fact keep to that schedule! I know this extreme example isn't exactly what you meant but It proves its possible.

[Brushy Sage]

Brushy,
On my thru I scheduled zero zero days and did in fact keep to that schedule! I know this extreme example isn't exactly what you meant but It proves its possible.


Well, I am just in awe of that kind of accomplishment! As I remember you from the one day we met in 2002, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

[Sleepy the Arab]

Well, I would plan on taking one zero in most towns. Then it would expand once I was there. Sometimes this was because of laziness, sometimes there was a hiker who had fallen behind that I wanted to see again. On the far end of the spectrum, were the zeros taken for injury. Off the top of my head, I can only think of a few taken for that reasons. Oh, and one for terrorist attacks (9/11).

Yeah, I was a bit of a slack-hiker. All told I took around 60 zero days, but I have no regrets.

[Bankrobber]

I took quite a few unplanned zeroes during the first portion of my trip. Tough weather and not being prepared for living in the woods kept me indoors. Once I adjusted to trail life, zeroes became a rarity. On the second leg of my trip (Central VA to Katahdin), I only took two zeroes. One was at the Doyle, and one was at my parents' place in Vermont. The South is full of great places to zero. Elmer's, Miss Janet's, Kincora, Dave's Place in Damascus, and Rusty's were some amazing places to spend a day off. If I was not in such a hurry, I would have stayed longer in a few places, most notably Hiker's Welcome in Glencliff, NH and Shaw's in Monson.

[Mags]

My most memorable zero on AT was the Lost Mountain shelter just before the Greyson highlands.

1998 was an El Nino year. All of March, with the exception of a few days, involved snow, rain, sleet, fog. The sun was a non-existent entity.

Woke up in the AM and looked outside the shelter. It was snowing. I refused to deal with snow any longer! Did not want to go through the expanse of the Greyson Highlands in an April snowstorm.

Hardly moved all day. Read a book. Relaxed.

The following day went through the Highlands when it was full of snow. Absolutely beautiful and a memory that will stay with me as longas I live.

Did not see any more snowstorms on my thru-hike after that day.

[Moon Monster]

I also had planned and unplanned. It felt great to wake up to cold rain and decide to sleep in and not hike.

I knew one guy who originally intended to hike for just one month. Five months later he finished at Katahdin.

[screwysquirrel]

A lot of zero days will come if you hike with some other hikers. I had plenty of times I said I wouldn't go into town but the person or persons I was hiking with at the time wanted to take a break in town and it wound up I took a lot of zero days not planned. But I had a helluva good time. It would be a mighty dull hike if you never took a zero day in a town you've never been in or a zero day at a nice stream to go swimming like Dismal Creek Falls before you get to Pearisburg or at a hostel. All hiking and no Zero days make Hiker a dull boy.

[Ramble~On]

I hiked in 1996. I had my entire hike planned to the mile each day...that went out the window after about.....2 days. "Zero" days will happen when you need or want them.
More than likely you'll fall in with other hikers and will stop in towns because it's way easier to split the costs of motels and bar tabs...splitting up bulk items with other hikers when you resupply helps too.
As for people starting a hike without planning or previous knowledge....YUP, in 1996 there was a guy we called "ChainSaw" because he snored like a Grizzly Bear....He was from New York City and one day just bought some gear and headed to Springer.

Happy Trails

[bobgessner57]

On zeroes-my favorite of all time was a rainy foggy sloppy day spent in my sleeping bag in Old Orchard Shelter near Mount Rogers. I just woke up tired and stayed put while watching the fog pass by and the berry briars turn more purple. I only got out of the bag to pee and fill my canteen (not fill the canteen with pee). The next day was bright and sunny and I bounded north feeling wonderful.

In 1974 a guy from Oregon named Kip was hitching around the country and took a notion to hike for a few days. He was pretty laid back as was the fashion at the time. He asked a guy in North Georgia if there was any place to hike. Fella said yea and gave him a ride to Neals Gap and dropped him off at a trail crossing. Kip looked both ways and turned left. Three or four days later he asked a hiker he met where this trail went anyway. You know the reply. Kip's response was "indeed". He kept walking north and wound up at Katahdin. In 1975 he was a vista worker in Pearisburg and lived at the Catholic church. He sort of honchoed the hostel activities there after his day job with the local anti poverty program. This was before the barn was built. He never did go back and hike from Springer to Neals. His trek was literally one day at time with no specific goal and certainly no plan, it was all about the journey. Beautiful!

[Footslogger]

Well ...when I was getting ready for my thru-hike last year I knew that I'd be taking some. Not sure that really constitutes planning them in advance. I think it's darn near impossible to get from Springer to Katahdin (or vice versa) without some zeros and neroes.

Funny thing was that the closer I got to Katahdin the more I appreciated a break now and then. Maybe that's just me but after 4 - 5 months on the trail the body and the mind need a break every now and then.