View Full Version : Section Hiking the Entire AT less than a week at a time...
Just curious as to how many people have Section Hiked the entirety (or near entirety) of the AT without having done any single length for longer than a week.
I ask only because this is currently what I'm limited to doing and 300 miles in I'm wondering how long it has taken people to do this and the feasibility of such a task.
I'm in the same situation. I can hike about week in the spring and a week in the fall. I started 4 years ago at Amicalola and am complete through Sinking Creek Valley, VA (667 miles). Some people do a section here and there, but I'm compulsive enough to start exactly where I stopped the hike before.
I don't even think about completing the AT anymore. Just taking it a state at a time, so to speak.
Terraducky
06-25-2009, 09:09
Friends and I have been chipping away at the trail up here in PA for the past few years. Most of us can only manage a weekend a month (starting Thursday night/ending Sunday afternoon). So far we have half of Jersey and over half of PA finished. I think as we branch out farther we are going to try for longer time out there to justify the travel time...it's very difficult to cooridinate these trips in our crazy schedules!
Ridge Rat
06-25-2009, 09:29
I have from Fontana dam to High point nj done and all of NH to Monson done. I have been at it for about 4 or 5 years now chipping away usually 1 weekend at a time. Just have to be motivated to go.
Alligator
06-25-2009, 09:36
It's variable but helpful to figure things out on a yearly basis. If you can do 300-400 miles a year, that's about 6-7 years. That translates to about a weekend a month and maybe a week long hike a year. It becomes harder when you can't travel quickly enough to get there on a weekend. Plan week long trips at the furthest locations and weekends closer.
stacy324
06-25-2009, 09:48
I also started at Springer and I‘m 5 years into the 30 year plan. The logistics get harder each year. I’m not sure it’s doable one week at a time - at least not while living in Louisiana. For someone living closer to the trail, somewhere around the middle, I think it could be done.
Cabin Fever
06-25-2009, 09:48
It's variable but helpful to figure things out on a yearly basis. If you can do 300-400 miles a year, that's about 6-7 years. That translates to about a weekend a month and maybe a week long hike a year. It becomes harder when you can't travel quickly enough to get there on a weekend. Plan week long trips at the furthest locations and weekends closer.
My strategy exactly. Save locations closer for weekends and plan the far away places for week long trips. This year marks my first week long trip - Vermont.
In 2000 I met two guys who were hiking the AT for one to two weeks each year. They had been doing this for 18 years. They were life long friends and would spend the whole year planning their hike. I think when I met them they still had a few hundred miles left to finish the whole trail.
I'm doing the same thing... My longest 2 trips have been from Springer to Fontana and Harper's Ferry to Rockfish Gap, both around 160 miles. Saturday I'm leaving to hike from the NJ/PA line to the PA/MD line which is about 229 miles and will be my longest hike.
I first set foot on the AT in December 2007 and have hiked from Springer to the PA line, roughly 1040 miles or so. I'm fortunate in that I run my own business and can schedule time off pretty liberally.
My plan is to hike the entire trail by the time I turn 50 (I'll be 48 in August). My current plan is to take an extended leave next year and hike the rest of the trail at one time. As someone else noted, it's getting much more difficult logistically to arrange shuttles and it's taking longer and longer to get to my starting points. Plus, I'd like the experience of being out for more than 10-12 days.
I also find myself thinking about going back and hiking some of my favorite sections again, this time more slowly and checking out more of the surrounding areas.
Ah. You guys are doing it even slower than I meant to describe. I can't take more than a week off of work at a time, so this year i'll have done 3 week-long section hikes and roughly 10 weekend trips.
Kerosene
06-25-2009, 11:26
I'm a long-term section hiker, although most hikes are in the 9-day range (a week off plus weekends on both ends). I did a number of the Mid-Atlantic states during spring breaks in high school in the early 70's, then a few sections in the summers after graduating from high school and college. Outside of a week in '88, I've been knocking off 75-140 mile week-long sections every year in this decade. I hope to finish atop Katahdin in September 2013.
harryfred
06-25-2009, 12:39
I'm 49 I did not start section hiking the AT till last year. It just never occurred to me to do that. I started with day trips and just now got to week trips. I also burn a lot of my time of hiking other trails around here so I'm not laser focused on the AT. My best guess is I will be near 70 when I'm don and I want to finish at Katahdin, just because I live A 15 mile hike from the center of the trail so i go toward the ends a little at a time.
Your 23 don't worry about time just enjoy the walk. Trust me situations change fast.learn and be ready if you get more time to do a section take it. There is a chance my company will go under and I will be out of work. If that happens my wife told me if that happens for once take the unemployment, for once, find a ride to Springer and start walking we will figure it out from there.
Plan, dream, learn and enjoy. :banana:sun
Jim Lemire
06-25-2009, 12:51
I did it over 17 years in trips of 5-10 days. A few times I did 3 separate one week trips in a summer.
Jim
So far I done the smokies and now N VA to Pen Mar next week, I also can only hike two weeks per year now weekends Fri - Sun out of 52 weeks I'm out there 36 weekends hiking somewhere I'll probably complete my section hike before I do my thru which is the year after I retire 2020 any others in that class
CrumbSnatcher
06-25-2009, 13:02
i don't like to use the word old(i prefer seasoned) all the seasoned section hikers i ran into over the years said they wish they would of done the hardest sections first when they were younger? like the whites, southern maine, the tough sections down south.
pyroman53
06-25-2009, 14:13
My hiking buddy started in 1960 when he was 13. Weekends in high scholl. Since then usually a week a year (50-60 miles), but he took some time off when he had to move to Wisconsin for a few. Has 1400+ miles done. I figure he'll be 70 when he finishes. I started going with him a few years ago. I won't finish the whole trail but enjoy hiking along his hike.
Cabin Fever
06-25-2009, 14:22
There is a guy in our Club that retired and then sectioned hike. He day hiked a lot of the Trail. He even day hiked the 100 mile wilderness. He used a lot of logging roads.
i don't like to use the word old(i prefer seasoned) all the seasoned section hikers i ran into over the years said they wish they would of done the hardest sections first when they were younger? like the whites, southern maine, the tough sections down south.
Certainly being young is an advantage but I think that staying fit as you age more than offsets it. Up to a point of course...at some point we're all going to slow down.
trippclark
06-25-2009, 14:35
Just curious as to how many people have Section Hiked the entirety (or near entirety) of the AT without having done any single length for longer than a week.
I ask only because this is currently what I'm limited to doing and 300 miles in I'm wondering how long it has taken people to do this and the feasibility of such a task.
I don't know the answer to the question, but I am working on this same plan and expect many others are too. I started in October 2000 and am currently 940 miles in . . . through to Elkwallow Gap in SNP. My longest time out so far has been 5 nights and furthest distance in a single trip was 73 miles.
For many of us, this is the only way that we can do it.
Rain Man
06-25-2009, 15:09
Just curious as to how many people have Section Hiked the entirety (or near entirety) of the AT without having done any single length for longer than a week.
I've hiked 700 miles, everything from a day hike to week-long hikes, but mostly weekends and long weekends. Started in '03 when my daughter announced she wanted to hike the AT. We did Springer-to-Neels Gap that summer for practice. That got me hooked. She did her thru-hike in '04 and I'm still plodding up the trail, so long as I'm having fun. I'm 58 now. As I get farther north, I expect to do longer sections or at least fewer weekend sections.
Rain:sunMan
.
Blissful
06-25-2009, 15:11
Hats off to section hikers!!
we are not alone - "chippers" or section hikers. my only concern with section hiking is that when i started 5-6 years ago, the trail was about 2160 miles. its now about 2173 more or less. it just keeps growing and folks in alabama talk of extending it there. i'll be chipping the maryland 39 miles next week and look forward to my first AT venture over the mason dixon line on the AT.
CrumbSnatcher
06-25-2009, 15:38
Certainly being young is an advantage but I think that staying fit as you age more than offsets it. Up to a point of course...at some point we're all going to slow down.
wasn't trying to be rude or disrespectful,thats what they said to me. some were serious, and some joking with me. i have alot of respect for the chippers. nicest bunch of people!:cool:
I have never given any concern or thought about doing the whole trail. I admire all those who are attempting it, but for me, well, I have a kind of different attitude. Early on I met thru hikers and decided that while that is a huge challange, I didn't want a challange, I just wanted to have a good time hiking and spending long amounts of time in the woods. So, after about 45 years hiking the AT and a guesstimate of 16 or so months of actual trail time, I got no idea how many miles I have hiked. I've done various sections or what I call "chunks" of the trail multiple times both NOBO and SOBO, sometimes during the same hike. At the current time there are several "chunks" I haven't been on for several decades and I am thinking of going back to them and seeing how they have changed. If they have not changed, that will be OK, I know I'll be going to a great part of the trail.
So for me, the important thing is just being out there. I think it is important for everyone to HYOH for real.
Morning Glory
06-25-2009, 17:11
I started sectioning on a fairly regular basis about 7 years ago. I have a bunch of young kids, and they are my biggest priority. When I got started, I thought I was going to be on the 20 year plan. Most of my hikes have been 3 day, 2 night. I've also done a few 4 or 5 night trips. By this time next year, I hope to have everything done south of Damascus plus about 30 miles in Maine. Well, I'm wondering now if my plan will be more like a 30 year plan. As the kids get older, I plan on taking some longer trips. I'm hoping I can get it all finished in about 15-17 more years. Then it will be time for a thru-hike on the PCT.
I'm 4 years into a 22 year plan. My first 5-7 years are just 7-10 day trips including driving days from Ohio, so the actual hiking is about a week. This is because my 2 kids are young and me being gone is a burden on my wife. The closer I get to the end, the longer the legs will be, due to me being to get more and better vacation time later in my career than right now. Plus, going NOBO, driving south is not bad. Driving to New England every year will kind of suck.
Toolshed
06-25-2009, 18:13
I am on the week long plan. Have completed HF to NY and 1/2 of MA and parts of Shenandoah. Another 20 years and I will be done!!!! Only true way to balance kids job mortgage and wife.
Kerosene
06-25-2009, 19:01
I'm 36 years into my 40-year plan, although I didn't have a plan to finish it all until Year 25.
I think I've left the prettiest parts for last: The Smokeys and Maine. Now if I can only keep my body from disintegrating...
At this point, I'm actually starting to look forward to tackling other trails, probably in 2-4 week chunks, once I finish the AT and ease into retirement. I'm looking to cover the John Muir (222 miles), Cohos (162), Wonderland (95), Tahoe Rim (165), and Northville-Placid (135) trails. From there, if I'm still kickin', I'll probably hike sections of the Ozark, Colorado, and Benton-MacKaye trails.
My wife and I are working on a 22-year plan, with a couple of years off for having kids. You can keep track of how we're doing via my signature. :D We live in the Philly area, and barring something drastic we'll be staying there, so we're pretty close to the center of the trail. We'll basically be doing one or two three-day weekends a year for the closer parts and a week-long trip to an area farther away. We're averaging 10 miles a day, so we should have plenty of time to enjoy ourselves. :rolleyes:
Speaking of which (shameless plug coming), please come help us with information for our hike in Virginia in August!
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=51586
buzzamania
06-26-2009, 00:43
I just did a quick 60 from Amicalola to Unicoi and can't wait to keep going. I have set up a blog called alifelongpursuit.blogger.com on which I detail my desire and motivations to do the whole thing. I haven't added my most recent trip and pics yet but I'm 35 in August and I plan on finishing before I'm 60. Hopefully I won't expire like the king of pop before my time. :cool:
I've done the math a million times but it changes every year. I started in 04, and if I continue at the rate I'm going now i'll finish around the same year I retire. How sweet would that be to finish a 25 year section hike only to about face and SOBO back to my home in GA? The thing that has tripped me up a few times now is either biting off more than I can chew or grossly underestimating myself. I've turned a three day into a 40 mile overnight and I've turned a 90 mile 5 day into a 45 mile three day. I give up now and just plan for 15 a day, more or less it's the safest way for me. The pain in the butt is that now I'm having to add an extra day of driving for every trip. The original question still remains, how many folks have actually completed like this? I've met three. Two of whom share my profession, which doesn't pay overtime but adds up "comp" time resulting in huge vacations. All three said it took them around 20 years. They all said that the biggest advantage was getting to see the different parts of the trail at different times of the year that thrus would not have had the chance to experience. I want both!
chiefduffy
06-26-2009, 03:02
I started a thru in '07 but got yanked off the trail after 3 weeks by circumstances at home, ended up staying home that year. Did 2 weeks this year. 390 miles so far, and it looks like I am officially a section hiker. Hey, I'm beginning to like it!!!
- Duffy
modiyooch
06-26-2009, 11:48
It can be done. My days out are getting longer now because of the expense and extent to get to the trail in the NE.
My recommendation is to start at both ends and work toward the middle. That way you have both the spring and fall available. I didn't do this, and now have to wait until July before I get out there simply because I don't want to hike through deep snow in the Whites, or with the black flies in Maine.
This has been a long process for me and hope to finish this year or next. My original intent was to move to NC, hike the southern section and then move north. I'm not leaving. 396.4 miles to go!
fredmugs
06-26-2009, 12:05
I hiked Georgia the year I turned 40 and spent that hike convincing myself that I needed to get divorced. Being the goal oriented person I am I decided to see if I could section hike the AT. My original goal was to see if I could get more than half way done by the time I turned 50. Then I met this outstanding individual on here (Juma) and he and I have been tearing it up since our first hike last May.
I turn 46 Sunday and have 1,530 miles done including 500 this year. I'm filling in a 50 gap in TN in 3 weeks and have to figure out when/how I'm going to get through GSMNP (stupid shelter reservations). At that point I will have the New England states left minus about 80 miles I've already done in Maine. Hopefully I can do one hike before the bugs come out in the spring and one when the colors change in the fall.
I keep getting stronger as a hiker. Used to be that more than 15 miles a day caused pain. Now 20 - 25 mile days are no problem. Current plan is to finish the year I turn 49 and then hike the John Muir trail to celebrate the Big 5 - 0.
Keep hacking away at it.
jfarrell04
06-26-2009, 12:27
My brother & I have walked from Springer to Little Gap, PA thusly. We started by hiking thru the Smokies in 1987. We have never gone longer than 8 days/7 nites (Shenandoahs). This fall we hope to walk ~ 75 miles from Little Gap to High Point, NJ.
StarLyte
06-26-2009, 14:10
I call myself a life-sectioner, because that's all I can do. I cannot leave home long enough to thru, and even if I did have the time, I don't believe that I am physically capable.
I'm 52, I've been sectioning since 9 years old.
I have never hiked north of PA. My goal is to do so starting in September.
I believe the most I've hiked at one time was 31 days. It was the happiest time of my entire life.
Funny but I keep on hiking the same parts of the A.T., I have my favorites. It's always like home to me.
Love to all !
FlyPaper
06-26-2009, 15:22
I am ~360 miles in after 5 years. At this pace, it'll be hard to finish before getting too old to finish, but it's fun to keep plugging away.
I'd be interested in another question:
What is the shortest longest section for someone who has finished the whole trail?
For example, I have hiked 360 miles and my longest single hike is 51 miles.
For those who have completed the trail, please complete this sentence:
I have hiked 2175 miles and my longest single hike was X miles.
Now, what is the lowest value of X? If you think your in the running, please post your answer.
Here is my 16 year section hike plan (South to North):
Year Miles
1997 130.8 4 hikes
1998 183.4 5 hikes
1999 194.4 4 hikes
2000 63.5 Year my son was born
2001 164.2 3 hikes
2002 113.7 1 hike
2003 121.8 1 hike
2004 151.9 2 hikes
2005 119.2 1 hike
2006 123.2 1 hike
2007 127.2 1 hike
2008 111.2 1 hike
2009 135.7 1 hike
2010 109.8 1 hike
2011 181.2 1 hike
2012 151.2 1 hike
The last 2 years are going to be my longest hikes (likely 14 days and 12 days) simply to minimize the logistics of getting in and out of NH and ME. Luckily, my little sister lives in ME and my brother-in-law said he would help me out, taking it as an opportunity to go fishing somewhere he hasn't been before.
OldStormcrow
06-26-2009, 15:33
I started at Springer in '87 and have been doing the A.T. in chunks anywhere from overnights to two weeks at a time. With a wife, kid, dog and mortgage that's about all the time I can escape for. I've done everything between Springer and Hwy. 81 in Virginia, but the logistics have become difficult after that point. Now it takes me at least half a day just to get to the trail and my buddies are slightly more repluctant to assist me in shuttling vehicles. I also did a little hiking in central Virginia, but nothing spectacular. Some spots, like the Smokies and the Hot Springs area I have done over and over because I enjoy them and they are relatively close. I have really enjoyed seeing the local scenery and culture on my many backroads trips to obscure trailheads, and have met some great friends over this extended journey, thruhikers and section hikers alike.
modiyooch
06-26-2009, 15:43
I have hiked 1779 miles (30 years) and my longest single hike was 200 miles which was my initial attempt (Front Royal, VA to Roanoke, VA). Last year, I did 110 which included 80% of the wilderness. round trip in car was well over 2000 miles.
LIhikers
06-26-2009, 18:51
My wife and I are section hikers.
We started a number of years ago at Harper's Ferry and so far have worked our way up to Hanover,NH doing sections of a week to 10 days. We have a very loose plan that has us finish the northern part of the trail by retirement and then do Harper's Ferry to Springer as one journey.
Can you spell COMMITTMENT with a capital C?
Cookerhiker
06-26-2009, 21:55
At the time I retired in '03, I had hiked about 800 miles over 26 years but never more than 5 days at a time. Although my retirement in May of that year gave me the time, I didn't have the mindset (nor the gear) for longer hikes and wasn't sure how long I'd take to finish. In '03, I continued to do short section hikes of 4-5 days.
My first hike of longer than a week was 10 days Springer-to-Wallace Gap in March, '04. (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=55441) A year-and-a-half later in September 2005, I stood on Katahdin having completed the trail. But my subsequent trips still included several short (3-5 day) backpacks with only 3 more long hikes: 180 miles Allen Gap-to-Wallace Gap (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=83589), 175 miles Allen Gap-to-Damascus (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=96217), and 297 miles Gorham-to-Katahdin (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=117923). So if I had broken these last 3 hikes into one week segments, it may have taken me one more year to finish the Trail.
During my working years, I did not use all my vacation time to hike the AT; there were some years when I hiked zero AT miles, some when I only hiked 10-20 miles. It helped that I lived in the DC area failry near the mid-point so my section hiking was not orderly south-to-north but very random and scattered throughout the trail corridor.
So if my experience is any indication, you can finish! Just be patient.:)
Hikes in Rain
06-27-2009, 07:21
Been sectioning since the early 90's, not entirely sure when I started. At first it was relatively easy, even from Florida. The Georgia mountains are about six hours away, so I could take off early and hike quite a way in before the first night's camp. Gas was much cheaper then, so my wife would hear up a couple of days later, pick me up, and we'd spend a couple of days goofing around in the mountains before heading back. Or, we'd drive up to some of our favorite cabin rentals, where she'd drop me off at one of the road crossings and pick me up late that afternoon, (she doesn;t like to hike) take me back to the cabin, feed me steak, soak in the jacuzzi, check out the pictures I'd taken and listen to my story, and do the whole thing again the next morning. (Perhaps not "purist", but man, that's a great way to hike! Went from Deep Gap, NC to Fontana that way)
Logistics are getting harder, so we're finding we're going to have to adapt. My last section finished up at I-40, which is now 9 hours from home. It's kind of hard to justify a whole day up, another and back, just for an overnighter or even a couple of days. Longer trips seem to be in order (oh, darn!).
And in the meantime, I still need to balance other vacations with my non-hiking wife, who wholeheartedly supports this project (in many ways, it was largely her idea!), but justifiably doesn't want to be hiking support every time we take time off! (oh, darn again!)
It's a fun juggling act.
Big Dawg
06-27-2009, 10:13
I'm on the 20 to 30 year plan. Sure wish I could do more miles per year, but that's life. But I enjoy every second I get to think about, discuss, plan, & hike the trail!!
You can do it. I think there is a lot to be said for section hiking; mainly you get to quit before you are sick of it. In Maine I met numerous section hikers who were 'finishing up', having left Maine for last. Some had taken 7-10 years. Many were teachers who hiked the AT during their summer vacations every year for many years.
I might hold the record for long-term section hiking. I did 1000 miles in 1974 and 35 years later after chipping away regularly I still have 500 miles left to finish (southern VA). Give me time. I'll git er done.
I'm doing it. three years (three weeks)and I'm at NOC. At 68 YO, I may not make it.
Remember it's the journey, not the destination.
Also: as you get farther along, the start and stop logistics become more and more cumbersome.
Cookerhiker
06-27-2009, 14:30
You can do it. I think there is a lot to be said for section hiking; mainly you get to quit before you are sick of it. In Maine I met numerous section hikers who were 'finishing up', having left Maine for last. Some had taken 7-10 years. Many were teachers who hiked the AT during their summer vacations every year for many years.
I might hold the record for long-term section hiking. I did 1000 miles in 1974 and 35 years later after chipping away regularly I still have 500 miles left to finish (southern VA). Give me time. I'll git er done.
Yep, I can relate. I thought my 29 years was a record - apparently not!
Your point about saving Maine 'till last resonates with my experience. I hiked all the way up and down the Trail but saved my last - and longest - section hike for Maine at the end. I cherish the whole experience including meeting so many thruhikers (almost all of them young) plus 1-2 older section hikers like me who were doing the same thing i.e. culimating their years of section hiking by standing atop Katahdin.
modiyooch
06-27-2009, 14:47
Your point about saving Maine 'till last resonates with my experience. I hiked all the way up and down the Trail but saved my last - and longest - section hike for Maine at the end.. I jumped ahead and started knocking off the hardest and best hiking. My thoughts were to do these sections, and if I didn't get PA done, oh well. I'm also getting older and it's not getting easier. Now, my goal actually looks attainable and I actually did complete PA. It looks like VT will be my last state to complete.
A friend of mine and I are hiking the trail in day hikes. So far we have hiked from the TN-VA border to the Mass-Vermont border. We started in 2004 and do usually two trips a year. So far this year we hiked CT & Mass - 150 miles. This fall we are going down and hiking all of Georgia.
BevH
Cookerhiker
07-01-2009, 20:10
A friend of mine and I are hiking the trail in day hikes. So far we have hiked from the TN-VA border to the Mass-Vermont border. We started in 2004 and do usually two trips a year. So far this year we hiked CT & Mass - 150 miles. This fall we are going down and hiking all of Georgia.
BevH
I know you already have your plans for this year but I can't help but point out: if you attended the ATC's Bienniel Conference in Vermont (http://www.vermont2009.org/) in July, you could cover nearly all of Vermont through the organized day hikes run by the GMC. You wouldn't have to deal with shuttles and logistics. I've been to previous conferences and always meet section hikers who use the occasion to cover missing miles.
peakbagger
07-02-2009, 09:40
I did about a 10 year stretch of two week (occasionally slightly longer) sections. I did have a chance to do a 5 week section one year and decided after that to go back to one week sections. The logistics from northern NH, made the southern sections interesting, basically drive south friday night until PA, then get up the next morning and drive until we were either at the trail or a few hours away from it. Get up Sunday AM and start hiking. Then head home Saturday mid day after an early hike. For many of the years we took two cars or got lucky a couple of times with shuttles from friends of friends. The last two sections we slackpacked and did keyswaps for the week. Its been 3 years since I finished and still miss the twice annual planning and the hiking in a different area than I normally hike. The PCT intrigues me, but it sure doesnt look very shuttle friendly ;). The one time I did a section the shuttle to the trailhead was 2 and 1/2 hours and the shuttle back to the airport was 3.5 hours.
Aww, I just did the math, I hope my numbers are wrong, but I'm sure they ain't: I'm only averaging 45 miles a year.
Like you, I can only get 1 week a year, of 2 weeks vacation, on the trail. So I save up my "spare" week from a few years & hit the trail about every 3rd or 4th year. So just keep plugging away, & soon enough you will be there. Yea, I do more than 1 week at a time, but less than a week a year.
OK, now I'm depressed. :rolleyes:
Hikes in Rain
07-02-2009, 14:55
For what it's worth, you're still faster than me......
Plodderman
07-02-2009, 15:36
Every year I take a week to hike on the APP. Trail. Smokies, Atkins to Damascus, and other parts. Not sure that I will ever finish but it keeps me going. I usually try to find something between 75 and to 100 miles, to do over 5 or 6 days.
This works well for my family and I seem to enjoy it more in weekly sections. I am considering breaking that cycle by going from Springer to Fontana, which will take me about 13 days.
ukflatfoot
07-09-2009, 20:04
Most of you that section hike over multiple years.....Did you start out NoBo, SoBo, or flipflop?
I am just curious..I am trying to set myself up for a thru-hike in 2-3 years, but if those plans fall through, I am going to start section hiking. Hope that at 48 I'm not too late to start <grin>
Any comments welcome......cheers UKFlatfoot
Hike your own Hike-Franscis Tapon
Kerosene
07-09-2009, 22:57
Most of you that section hike over multiple years.....Did you start out NoBo, SoBo, or flipflop?A little of everything, sometimes even flipping directions in the same week (last year I did 2 days NOBO from Hampton to Damascus, then 5 days SOBO from Hampton to Erwin).
I did sections in southern New England and the Mid-Atlantic states in the 70s, seemingly covering most of the sections that lacked views. After a long break to start a career and family, I've started to branch out; gradually filling out sections to the north and south (and trying not to create any new gaps).
At 48, you'll want to get out for at least 100 miles a year to finish up before the body falls apart altogether. ;)
Hikes in Rain
07-10-2009, 06:18
Most of my hiking has been northbound, chiefly through logistics, because I live south of the trail. I occasionally do day hikes on other sections, if we're vacationing in those areas.