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View Full Version : how long did it take you to plan for your thru-hike?



brightylow
10-17-2008, 13:34
Just a general discussion question...What is the longest /shortest ammount of time that you have allowed yourself for planning your thru hike?

2009ThruHiker
10-17-2008, 13:38
I have been planning for my through since 2007...i leave Mar of 2009. Planning for me constitutes getting to know my gear, the trail, and shuffling through lots of whiteblaze articles on various topics.

RadioFreq
10-17-2008, 13:38
When I hit the trail the first week in March it will be about 3 years.

Lone Wolf
10-17-2008, 13:49
Just a general discussion question...What is the longest /shortest ammount of time that you have allowed yourself for planning your thru hike?

i had the idea to hike the AT in july and left the following march. so 8 months. actual planning only took a week or so

Doctari
10-17-2008, 13:50
:D

Since I was 10, I'm 54 now. :eek:

I can retire in 9 years. :cool:

I will likely hold out the 2 more years for full benifits from SSI, if it still exists. :(

You do the math :p


SIGH!

max patch
10-17-2008, 13:56
Two weeks, at night, while I worked out my two weeks notice. Pre internet. And that was really more time than I needed.

KG4FAM
10-17-2008, 14:01
haven't thru hiked, but have done several long hikes and it takes me about a week to get everything straight, mostly travel arrangements.

DylanD
10-17-2008, 14:06
Been dreaming since i was 12, planing since this year, I'm leaving in March of 2011. So, serious planning will take 3 years. I probably don't need that much time, but all I can do is plan right now. Mom won't let me go till I'm 18 :( I need to save up money anyway.

Pedaling Fool
10-17-2008, 14:13
It's been a thought in my mind for many years, but one day it just hit me about a few months before I retired from the Navy. That was about 1 year before I hit the trail (March 2006), but I really didn't spend that much time planning; most my planning and preparations was done after I got back to my home in Florida -- which I'd been renting out for about 15 years -- around December 2005.

Blissful
10-17-2008, 15:14
30 years. :)

Actual planning as in gear, food, reading, etc. two years.

Stir Fry
10-17-2008, 15:38
I hiked the 100 mile wilderness in Me when I was !8, I turned 50 2 weeks ago. I got the bug then. Started planing and learning again in 2000. I have done 50-60 mile hikes each year and have gradualy gotten the weight of my pack down. 60 lb. in 2000 for a five day hike. 35 lb. for the same distance in 2008, most of the loss is thanke to WB. I retire in fall of 2013 and plane to through in 2014.

smaaax
10-17-2008, 15:59
Found out about the trail 5 months before I left. Decided to go for sure 2 weeks before I left. You don't need a ton of planning, some people plan way too much IMHO.

m0rpheu5
10-17-2008, 16:13
i have been planning for about a year. Not because i need that much time but ever since i got the idea, i havent been able to get it out of my head, if i am not at work, i am in school, if im not in classes i am on white blaze...i wish i could go on the trail in 2009 but my parents want me to finish my degree first. I guess its not too bad because my degree is outdoor education so i am just taking fun classes like kayaking and outdoor living skills anyways.

Stir Fry
10-17-2008, 16:16
i have been planning for about a year. Not because i need that much time but ever since i got the idea, i havent been able to get it out of my head, if i am not at work, i am in school, if im not in classes i am on white blaze...i wish i could go on the trail in 2009 but my parents want me to finish my degree first. I guess its not too bad because my degree is outdoor education so i am just taking fun classes like kayaking and outdoor living skills anyways.
Some schools will give you credits for a through hike, you will have to keep a jurnal and do a paper. You may get as many as 12 credit hr.

m0rpheu5
10-17-2008, 16:37
ill have to look into that

Mrs Baggins
10-17-2008, 16:40
Started talking about it in 2003. Seriously started planning for it in 2005. Started March 15 2007. Ended one week later. :(

jeremiah j
10-17-2008, 16:54
Meet some people thru hiking at tricorner shelter in GSMNP. 18 days later I had quit my job and was on the AT. An adventure had been in my blood for several years. This was 1994.

budforester
10-17-2008, 17:15
Some schools will give you credits for a through hike, you will have to keep a jurnal and do a paper. You may get as many as 12 credit hr.

Wow, is a thruhike deductable as an educational expense? I may want to go back to school.

Lone Wolf
10-17-2008, 17:55
Found out about the trail 5 months before I left. Decided to go for sure 2 weeks before I left. You don't need a ton of planning, some people plan way too much IMHO.

10-4 there for sure. the only real planning i did was picking the day to leave and travel arrangements to georgia. it's just walkin' :)

Mrs Baggins
10-17-2008, 18:01
10-4 there for sure. the only real planning i did was picking the day to leave and travel arrangements to georgia. it's just walkin' :)

Well, some of us had a house to sell, things to get rid of, things to store, bills to keep paying, leave of absence to arrange for, health insurance to buy, pets to be cared for..............it's not that easy for everyone. But getting all of that done made it extremely easy for us to end our hike and take off on a 3 month, 14000 mile road trip to Alaska and back. :D

sticks&stones
10-17-2008, 18:11
knew for a year I was hiking before my first thru hike

on my last thru hike, well, i cant believe it myself but I suddenly lost my job, and the following day I was on springer mtn. probly the most surreal day of my life, totally unplanned

Kirby
10-17-2008, 18:34
18 months, most of it spent getting school in order and browsing around here.

In January of this year is when planning for the hike itself went full swing.

Kirby

mnof1000v
10-17-2008, 18:52
I had been thinking about the possibility of a thru hike for months, but in October of 2005, I made the decision to hit the trail. I was hiking in March of 2006. I did most of my planning over about 2 months. I was fully prepared to hit the trail by January. Waiting till March was the hardest part.

Egads
10-17-2008, 19:34
First off, I am not a thru hiker nor have I attempted to be one. But I believe I could start a thru hike on Monday if I was inclined and had the time, and no responsibilities. I wouldn't send any bounce boxes ahead. My wife could send my winter gear when it gets colder.

superman
10-17-2008, 19:56
I don't need no stinken planning to hike the AT. Show up...walk north...everything else can be adjusted along the way.

PS Trailplace cautioned me about paying my bills on line so I gave my girl friend (at that time) access to my money to take care of stuff while I was gone. I smiled as I hiked thinking that I was probably one of the few who were saving money as they hiked. Wrong... said girl friend stole $15,000 while I hiked the AT. Since I didn't use any legal protection she smiled as she walked away. I sure know how to make women smile.:)

splash1986
10-17-2008, 20:16
Ouch, talk about an expensive hike. I bet she was smiling.

Pedaling Fool
10-17-2008, 20:26
...Wrong... said girl friend stole $15,000 while I hiked the AT. Since I didn't use any legal protection she smiled as she walked away. I sure know how to make women smile.:)
I'd go mob-style on that...

fiddlehead
10-17-2008, 20:37
My first thru took about 2 months.

next time, i was just driving a friend to GA and ended up hiking 1,000 miles so, no planning.

Next time, i decided a week before when i was in Bolivia. Took 4 days to get home, and 2 days to buy and box my food and a day to get to the trail.

Now, it would take me a few hours i guess. (would take longer to book a flight and set up transport to the trailhead then actual packing)

Getting your life in order so that you are not needed for 5 months is tougher than hiking isn't it?

superman
10-17-2008, 21:08
Ouch, talk about an expensive hike. I bet she was smiling.

My actual hike cost $7000 which included outfitting my son who only hiked to Gatlinburg plus I didn't scrimp along the way. I was in search of the perfect prime rib. Total cost of my hike was $22,000. That may not be a record but it's probably in the top ten. As I told those who hiked with me “hiking the AT was my reward…not my punishment.” Although better planning on my part may have saved me a few bucks.:)

superman
10-18-2008, 08:31
I mention this because it's just as important to plan how your stuff that you leave behind will be kept safe for you. Since my AT hike I began handling my finances on line. I've dealt with my financial issues on line from numerous states and a couple different countries without any problem.

Mrs Baggins
10-18-2008, 09:32
I mention this because it's just as important to plan how your stuff that you leave behind will be kept safe for you. Since my AT hike I began handling my finances on line. I've dealt with my financial issues on line from numerous states and a couple different countries without any problem.

We did everything (and still do) on-line as well. We were in Argentina a few years ago and got an email from our son that there was a problem with his financial aid app for his tech school and the deadline was nigh. I hopped on a computer at the hostel and took care of the whole thing in a matter of minutes. When we went to New Zealand in 2003 on-line bill paying was just getting started and I didn't trust it yet. Made it very difficult to figure out how to pay bills that would arrive after we were gone and would be due before we returned. I made out the checks and handed them over to a friend trusting they'd get mailed on time. They were but I decided after that I wasn't going sweat blood over bill paying and started the on-line system. Our fixed costs (car insurance, car payment, house payment, student loan payment) are all on auto-debit. On a 3 month road trip I had zero problems paying the rest of the bills on-line. Even bought and closed on a house from the road - all through emails and faxes.

As for cost, had we completed our hike we had planned to spend about $24,000 for the two of us. We were going to stay in hotels and eat real meals whenever possible. No skimping. But we had sold a house at a handsome profit and had the funds available. Instead we spent $10,000 on a wonderful pop-up trailer and the rest on the road trip. Had the time of our lives. :D

superman
10-18-2008, 09:43
We did everything (and still do) on-line as well. We were in Argentina a few years ago and got an email from our son that there was a problem with his financial aid app for his tech school and the deadline was nigh. I hopped on a computer at the hostel and took care of the whole thing in a matter of minutes. When we went to New Zealand in 2003 on-line bill paying was just getting started and I didn't trust it yet. Made it very difficult to figure out how to pay bills that would arrive after we were gone and would be due before we returned. I made out the checks and handed them over to a friend trusting they'd get mailed on time. They were but I decided after that I wasn't going sweat blood over bill paying and started the on-line system. Our fixed costs (car insurance, car payment, house payment, student loan payment) are all on auto-debit. On a 3 month road trip I had zero problems paying the rest of the bills on-line. Even bought and closed on a house from the road - all through emails and faxes.

As for cost, had we completed our hike we had planned to spend about $24,000 for the two of us. We were going to stay in hotels and eat real meals whenever possible. No skimping. But we had sold a house at a handsome profit and had the funds available. Instead we spent $10,000 on a wonderful pop-up trailer and the rest on the road trip. Had the time of our lives. :D

I love stories with a happy ending.:)

rafe
10-18-2008, 17:37
I made the decision to go in summer '89, and started early April '90. Summer '89 I was recovering from a broken femur, so I did a lot of weekend hikes to strengthen my leg. I was also determined to have most of the AT in New Hampshire "in the bank" before I started my thru. That was pre-Internet, so "planning" was based on written journals, the ATC guides, Philosopher's Guide, and my shakedown hikes. For fun, in February 1990, I wrote a ten-page "Functional Specification for a 2000 Mile Hike." Link to PDF here (http://www.terrapinphoto.com/at_fspec_081505.pdf). The hike ended in south-central VA in early June -- but not for lack of planning.

Bearpaw
10-18-2008, 18:28
I started planning in October 1998. I sat down with the maps and studied the profiles and Thru-hiker's Handbook, mostly to get a rough idea of pacing and where to send maildrops and gear.

I knew I could often buy food along the way, so I didn't plan too much food in mail drops. But it was nice to have slide film, disposable contact lenses, some stationery, and maps and gear swaps available. I wound up with 11 maildrops. If I did it again, I would go with maybe 4-6 at most.

Actual planning time was 3 evenings putting together a rough plan/calendar for mail drops and a couple of days in early March 99 addressing boxes and tucking in the odds and ends for those drops.

BTW, I quickly got ahead of my schedule, but the drops were fine since the only food were some freeze-dried meals I bought in bulk.

If I had every thing I owned in the corner of my grandmother's attic like the first time, I could easily start another one with a week's notice. Now the tough part would be planning the stuff to care of my wife at home while I was gone.

Chaco Taco
10-18-2008, 22:19
Decided to go in February 08 left in March 08. Threw my plan out, except for maildrops, at Hawk Mtn Shelter in Georgia. Dont overplan, just go with it

lonehiker
10-19-2008, 12:25
I probably spent 20 hours in planning. Printed Mr. Tarlins re-supply article and developed a tentative re-supply schedule spreadsheet (got the basic spreadsheet from a post on WB) based upon this article. I also incorporated "Map Man's"? average hiking times into this spreadsheet.

If anyone should want a copy of this spreadsheet just PM me and I would be happy to send it to you.

Serial 07
10-19-2008, 12:48
the first time i did the trail, i think i decided in december and was off in march...bought all my gear and everything in that time...knowing very little about long distance hiking, while fueled my 62 lb pack going up the approach trail (i kid you not), also provided me the full learning experience...and some great stories of my early struggle... :eek:

Jim Adams
10-19-2008, 17:47
First thru- 6 weeks

Second thru- 20 minutes...my bag wasn't packed.

geek

fiddlehead
10-19-2008, 19:16
PS Trailplace cautioned me about paying my bills on line

Why I wonder.

I've been paying my bills online since my brother showed me how in '95 when he lived in Brazil.
It took a few more years for the American banks to get it together but I started around '98 i guess. Now, it's pretty much automatic.

I've hiked with other's who trusted their girlfriends to help with finances and got screwed. Bummer

CrumbSnatcher
10-19-2008, 20:58
1st thruhike i planned for 4 years or so(93-97),living in nebraska. never hiked before i did the approach trail in 98' over those 4 years or so i bought a piece or two of gear each year. some of my gear was 4 years old or so before i ever used them:D. in 03' i went thruhiking because i couldn't find any place to rent to me, because of my dog. so we said screw it and went hiking again.