View Full Version : Daylight and Milage in mid-Oct
I bunch of us are planning a Tennessee AT trip in mid-October and we are wondering how much daylight we will have in the Smokey Mountains area that time of year.
We are thinking about doing Newfound Gap to Cades Cove and we have three full days for hiking and maybe one more morning. I think its about 28 miles total. But we dont want to rush since this will be our first AT trip and we want to enjoy the trip and the things around us that time of year.
Thanks,
J
Morning Glory
06-09-2009, 10:28
No need to worry. You'll have a good 12 hours of daylight and even if you are not in good shape, you should be able to get in 8-10 miles per day in 8 hours of hiking.
Kerosene
06-09-2009, 10:37
For October 15 in Hot Springs the sun will rise at 7:38 am and set at 6:55 pm, for a total of over 11 hours of daylight. At a luxurious average pace of 1.0 mph, you should easily be able to cover 10 miles in a day and still have enough time to break and setup camp.
Average temperature for that time of year is 59F, with an average high of 72F and low of 46F, but it will be a good 5-10 degrees cooler in the mountains. Record low temperatures fell below freezing.
All of these stats, for most U.S. towns, can be found at www.weather.com (http://www.weather.com). The stats I've referenced can be found here (http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/daily/USNC0330?climoMonth=10). I covered Damascus to Erwin in the last week of October last year, under cool to frigid skies, including 6" of snow atop Roan Mountain!
fredmugs
06-09-2009, 10:58
Great time of year to be hiking. I did a 170 mile section last year mid-Oct in central Virginia and had no problems do 15 - 18 miles a day.
The best source of info about sunrise and sunset can be found at........
http://www.sunrisesunset.com
WOW thanks for all the GREAT information
J