So when do the most people begin their thru-hikes?

[RememberYourZen]

Is it early march? Late march? april?

[Frick Frack]

Early June/July for us sobos.....

[YoungMoose]

early march for nobo and anytime in june for sobo

[RememberYourZen]

cool. was planning a few weeks of hiking in feb but it might end up being in march. I'll be by myself so I'd like to get out there when other people are for the experience

[Blissful]

cool. was planning a few weeks of hiking in feb but it might end up being in march. I'll be by myself so I'd like to get out there when other people are for the experience

Yep should see plenty of hikers around.

[Monkeywrench]

Most people start at 9:14 AM.

[Rockhound]

Any time between March 1st to April 30th. with a few starting earlier, (I started Feb 26th in 07') and a few a little later. I think most everyone starts a little closer to 10:00. I don't know where Affreeman got that stat?

[Lone Wolf]

mid march-mid april is when most start NOBO

[Ramble~On]

Most people start at 9:14 AM.

True...but that does depend on whether it's Bloody Mary's or Screw Drivers.

[mtbmatty]

Most people start at 9:14 AM.

LOL

take a look at the thru hiker registry. it's broken down to how many plan to start daily, but not the exact time. which is obviosly an oversite

[Jack Tarlin]

Most hikers are NOT out there in early March. Most wait a few weeks and subsequently tend to enjoy better weather, take less time off in towns, and spend a good deal less money.

The majority of Northbound thru-hikers, as Lone Wolf said, start between the middle of March and the middle of April, with the biggest crowds being between 15 March and 5 April.

[Blissful]

Most hikers are NOT out there in early March. Most wait a few weeks and subsequently tend to enjoy better weather, take less time off in towns, and spend a good deal less money.


Maybe but we had bad weather in early April with snowstorms twice. :-?
And 70 degrees in the Smokies on March 15th. The weather is unpredictable, really. And I would think costs and town times is up to the hiker's individual needs and a lot of times, the friends they meet, esp when one gets into March and beyond.

But - would be interesting to do a comparison study to see if it indeed costs a whole lot more to do a thru when one starts March 5th rather than March 15th.

[warraghiyagey]

Is it early march? Late march? april?
Somewhere between Jan 1st and December 31st. . .

[Chenango]

Most people start at 9:14 AM.

I have to be different. I like to start at 8:16 AM. :)

How's the hammock working out, Allen?

[Jack Tarlin]

While it's true that every year is different, and sometimes the weather in March is quite mild, as a rule, the earlier one starts to hike, the colder and wetter it will be, and the greater the chances of encountering protracted periods of inclement weather.

This frequently means late starts in the morning (i.e. nobody wants to break camp or get out a shelter in lousy weather!). It means longer breaks during the day, i.e. if you get to a shelter after hours of hiking in sleet or snow, you're likely to take a long break once you get there! And it means abbreviated hiking days; if you get to a shelter in the middle of the afternoon and the weather is lousy, you may well stop for the day instead of hiking til dinnertime, either because you're beat or you don't want to risk finding the shelter full when you get there.

Poor weather also means, invariably, more time spent off the Trail in either towns or hostels. It means one will likely make more town stops than one originally planned; one will go into towns or will stay at facilities that one hadn't originally planned on patronizing; it means one will stay in towns longer. After all, if one arrives in Hiawassee or Franklin or Gatlinburg on a horrible day, and one opens the motel room door in the morning to see that the weather hasn't changed, or perhaps has gotten worse, well you won't be going anywhere that day.

So I'm not sure what is gained by starting early. You're not that far ahead of the "pack" as more and more folks are starting earlier every year, meaning that much of the "pack" has merely gravitated to earlier in the month rather
than the middle.

And the shorter hiking days, abbreviated hiking days, and extra town time will
decrease your mile-per-day average and will likely slow your pace considerably. In fact, you may well get "caught" by folks who started days or even weeks after you did, but who enjoyed more favorable hiking weather.

And the extra hostel or town time invariably means that you'll spend more money. After all, it's hard to spend much money when you're actually out there hiking, but it's the town stops that'll get you. And the worse the weather, the more frequent your stops will be, and you'll stay in town longer than you might think.

So all in all, I think that there's an excellent chance that the earlier one starts, the more one is likely to spend. Town stops = Money spent, and there isn't really a way around this. But it seems to me, the better the weather, the faster and further you'll go, and the less time you'll be looking for an excuse to get to town.

So for me 15 March seems better than 1 March, but like everything else out there, to each their own.

[Slo-go'en]

From the thru hiker registry on the homepage for 2009, 45 say they will start in Jan/Feb, 181 in March and only 59 in April. The peak week for March is the first week. This was a little suprising. Haven't looked at past years to see how it compares.

[Jack Tarlin]

It is true.

The number of folks who start before 15 March goes up every year.

There has also been an annual rise in the number of folks who are back home again before 15 March. :rolleyes:

[Peaks]

Is there any trend on start dates over at Trail Journals.com?

[warraghiyagey]

May 31st at Katahdin is perfect if you are looking for solitude but to know other hikers are around somewhere:sun

[max patch]

From the thru hiker registry on the homepage for 2009, 45 say they will start in Jan/Feb, 181 in March and only 59 in April. The peak week for March is the first week. This was a little suprising. Haven't looked at past years to see how it compares.

Believe nothing what you read on WB and only half of what you see.

[warraghiyagey]

Believe nothing what you read on WB and only half of what you see.
Well said:-?:sun

[Monkeywrench]

How's the hammock working out, Allen?

I am very happy with it. Haven't had much opportunity to use it though, what with us having a real winter for a change. I have been playing around with some mods to the suspension to make it easier and quicker to set up and adjust. I'll be getting lots of experience with it starting in about 5 1/2 weeks!

[prain4u]

Is there any kind of surge in the number of NOBO thru hike starts in May--when colleges (and other schools) end for the Summer?

[Jack Tarlin]

Some, but not a whole lot. Most recent graduates prefer to hike Southbound from Maine, as they don't want to rush their trip. A mid-May Northbound start limits you to around five months, which absolutely can be done, but it's a bit faster than a lot of folks want to go.

[RememberYourZen]

Somewhere between Jan 1st and December 31st. . .

o i c whut u did thar

[weary]

mid march-mid april is when most start NOBO
And why is that? Those are the sensible start times for knowledgeable people with a desire to thru hike the trail to start. I personally like April 1 as a start date.

Even then you will run into snow, but it is likely to disappear quickly. But the spring flowers will emerge within days, along with the first leaves. It's just a pleasant time to start for those interested in exploring the last of the wilds on the ridgelines of the southern Appalachians.

Weary

[stranger]

I tend to agree with some earlier posts about spending more time in town if you are starting early - I left 9 April last year and by the time I was in Virginia I was with hikers who left in late March, and I took heaps of zero days. Many hikers I caught said they got laid up due to some bad weather, although, bad weather is quite subjective I guess.

[Doxie]

I live in Georgia, and I can tell you that the weather in March is always wacky. It will be 70 degrees and sunny one day, 45 degrees and raining cats and dogs the next, and snow is a definite possibility. But the most common weather in GA in March and April is mist/fog. It always starts to get a little better in April, but you would most likely have at least one chilly and wet day while in GA. I left March 30th last year and the sun much didn't come out and it was foggy until the day we went over the NC border. The people a few days before and after had good weather in GA. It's all really luck of the draw. We had snow in mid April near the NOC, freezing rain at the end of April near Erwin, and encountered a crazy cold storm on Mt. Rogers, VA on Mother's Day. Just be prepared, and leave on a day that's good for you. Anytime from Feb to May you'll have good company.