View Full Version : 2Q's:May start and student loans
I am considering a NOBO 2005 hike but cannot start until early May (10th or so) due to classes and board exams. Are there a good number of people still starting at this time? I would prefer to not be very isolated but also unterstand missing the big crunch in March/April will be a small blessing. :o
Secondly ... did anyone ever have student loan repayment put off because of a hike? Most of mine start repayment 6 months out, which would give me about two weeks after the end of a successful thru-hike. Any advice on this?
Thanks so much!
Alligator
04-04-2004, 00:42
Most student loan lenders will sell/transfer your student loans, typically to Sallie Mae. You can get a deferment for financial hardship. Not having a job will probably qualify. Usually, the deferment will allow you to either pay the interest or compound it.
hungryhowie
04-04-2004, 08:22
Fortunately for me, I can't answer the student loan question (I attend a University at which my father teaches, so I get the "My daddy works here" discount.), but I have been on the southern section of the AT in May/June.
On my way to Traildays in 2001 (May ~17-20), I drove past several Georgia Trail crossings to see if there were any hikers that I could help out. Just at the road crossings, I ran accross a couple of hikers, so I'm sure that there were several more. I even picked one up in Hiawassee and took him to traildays.
After traildays, I hiked the section from Fontana to Amicalola (the southernmost ~170 miles). During that time, I only passed about 2-3 thruhikers, about 10-15 section hikers, and about 20 day hikers. So by mid-late May, I would suspect that there aren't too many thru-hikers still starting. At the beginning of May, however, there are still some.
Something to keep in mind: begining May 10 will mean that you'll need to average about 18-19 miles per day to reach katahdin before it closes. The mountain traditionally closes on Oct 15, but it can be open after that. That said, you'll want to be there by Oct 1 to be safe.
If you hold out for another month or two, you could hike the trail southbound begining in June or July. If you wanted to start in May, however, you could start in Georgia, hike to Damascus, VA, and flip-flop up to Katahdin and hike back to Damascus with the southbounders. This would alleviate the need to hike at a faster pace, and still get you with a group (albeit a small one) of other hikers.
-Howie
I am considering a NOBO 2005 hike but cannot start until early May (10th or so) due to classes and board exams. Are there a good number of people still starting at this time? I would prefer to not be very isolated but also unterstand missing the big crunch in March/April will be a small blessing. :o Secondly ... did anyone ever have student loan repayment put off because of a hike? Most of mine start repayment 6 months out, which would give me about two weeks after the end of a successful thru-hike. Any advice on this? Thanks so much!
SIMROSE:
Hikin' without the crowd is a blessing (IMHO)...but, you'll probably catch a few of the March-April starters by Damascus anyway...most take a few "zero days" to enjoy TRAIL DAYS Festivities. (and recoup some energy by downing mega-food, etc.,etc.,etc.).
As far as your student-loan holder goes...you might want to go to your Campus Student Services office (or whatever you call that on your campus) & ck with who will be holding your loan after graduation & contact them as to the specifics of payment & possible start date. This would take a bit of stress off you having to finish on an exact date & worrying about a "bill" that will be "waitin' fer u" when you get back home.
good luck! :D
Thanks for the opinions and information. It's nice getting all this "miraculous" money for 6 years ... but I guess I'll have to start thinking about what happens to the miraculous debt afterwards a bit sooner than most. But it is completely worth it!
I'm pretty stubborn on the May start for GA->ME, and from what I've read it is very possible to do in 5 months with a bit of zero day control.
Time to start getting organized! Thanks again. :clap
I did a section hike starting May 1, 2002, from Springer, ending at Damascus on May 28. There were enough thruhikers in the area to make things interesting, but not enough to get annoying. I ran into, or passed, about 20 thruhikers between Springer and Damascus and lots of times had shelters completely to myself. A large part of the people starting then seemed to be fairly experienced and were hiking longer miles than most.
I can't help with the student loan part, but one of mine had a 1 year grace period. You might be able to consolidate all of your loans into one and get a 1 year grace.
Something to keep in mind: begining May 10 will mean that you'll need to average about 18-19 miles per day to reach katahdin before it closes. The mountain traditionally closes on Oct 15, but it can be open after that. That said, you'll want to be there by Oct 1 to be safe.
-Howie
I think you are more than fine starting in May. In fact if I were to thru-hike again I might start much later (I left March 1). Besides some nasty heat, you'll have less people around, great flowers and green from the start and hopefully good autumn foliage to end. If you left May 10th you would have 5 months and 5 days to get to Katahdin before it officially closes on OCT 15th. You wouldn't need to avg 18-19 miles as Howie suggests, actually more like 14-15. I hiked the Trail in exactly 5 months with about half a month of zero days and averaged 14.5 miles a day overall and 16 miles a day during hiking days. If you are motivated to, you will have no problems finished. I think with some sort of a timeframe it'll keep you a bit strict about lagging behind a bit. Not to say you have to be on a schedule for 5 months, just that you have something to shoot for. Good luck!
Dean Machine
04-04-2004, 21:02
A-train is definitely right on this one. Starting later in the year has a lot of other perks too like when you get to the half way point the ice cream place will actually be open (doesn't open during the week until after memorial day), Fontana wouldn't be such a ghost town and you might actually be able to get a hitch out of there (of course then you'd miss out on the whole "Shining" experience, and the Hike Inn is probably where you want to go anyway), Hiker boxes are fuller later in the year (so you can cut down on your resupply cost's by being the person that swipes everything from the boxes), starting later means warmer weather (so you don't have to invest in and carry as much (any?) cold weather gear), the camp stores in the shenandoahs dont' open until later too, there were other times last year that I remember hitting things that were closed until later in the year too, but can't remember them at the moment. Have a good hike!
hungryhowie
04-04-2004, 21:57
Hmmmm....
I'd like to make a retraction and an apology.
It's been a long week, heaped on top of a stack of other long weeks, and not all of my synapses are firing on command. It seems that I mis-calculated the time spent on trail. For whatever reason, I thought this would leave only four solid months of hiking, when in fact it would leave five.
I apologize for any confusion incurred from my previous post. My hike lasted five months and three weeks, but I took more than 35 zero days. I could easily have done the trail in five months had I taken fewer zero days. This is totally and utterly doable.
In fact, I too would prefer to begin my next thruhike at a later date. Like A-Train, I yearn to experience Autumn in New England. Definately on the to-do list.
Thank you for the correction.
-Howie
Did you take out federal loans for school? I had a few and got a forebearance (I think that's what it was called.) The "rules" were more lenient than having them deferred. It was no problem. Just apply for it, tell them why, and I'm sure they'll accept it. You can hold them off for a specific length of time - I postponed mine again once we got back last year. Not sure if this is what you were looking for, just skimmed all the posts. :D
snowshoe
04-08-2004, 12:45
you can get up to a 6 month deferment. Any lender will do this although depending on you state you may have to register with a state unemolyment agancy or something like that. It is very easy to get. they should not give you a prolem. Just call your lenders they will tell you how to do it.
A-Train makes some good points. A May 10 start is enough time, provided that you go a little faster than the typical thru-hiker, or take fewer days off than the typical thru-hiker.
However, another choice would be to start somewhere between Damascus and Harpers Ferry and go north, and then come back and do the southern portion. That way, you could hike without the mid October closing hanging over your head. And you would probably be ahead of the pack of hikers. It would put you in New England during the nice time of year.