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RITBlake
11-17-2004, 02:21
June 1st, 2005. NOBO Attempt.

Mike will be graduating from the University of Connecticut and I will be graduating from the Rochester Inst of Tech. Our departure date is June 1st. We are both really excited, thanks to everyone for the wealth of information you share.


:sun

attroll
11-17-2004, 02:52
June 1st, 2005. NOBO Attempt.

Mike will be graduating from the University of Connecticut and I will be graduating from the Rochester Inst of Tech. Our departure date is June 1st. We are both really excited, thanks to everyone for the wealth of information you share.


:sun
Cool beans. Why not log it on the 2005 Thru-hikes calendar.

Flash Hand
11-17-2004, 15:48
June 1st, 2005. NOBO Attempt.

Mike will be graduating from the University of Connecticut and I will be graduating from the Rochester Inst of Tech. Our departure date is June 1st. We are both really excited, thanks to everyone for the wealth of information you share.


:sun

June 1st Northbound? Just curious, how many miles a day you plan to hike daily?

Flash Hand :jump

RITBlake
11-17-2004, 19:12
Well we have five months to finish our hike. I think it works out to something like 13 or 14 miles a day? I could be wrong I just did some quick calculations in my head. We will finish in late October

Flash Hand
11-18-2004, 16:21
Well we have five months to finish our hike. I think it works out to something like 13 or 14 miles a day? I could be wrong I just did some quick calculations in my head. We will finish in late October


i did some calculation for you. So that way you can see the numbers and maybe give you some time to prepare before your thru hike.

According to your plan, you said you will start June 1st and 5 months to finish.

It will be 153 days for that 5 months span. I even included that to October 31, which will be 15 days after the lock out date of Katahdin. After October 15 is gamble the chance that you would get top of Katahdin. Just pray that Mother Nature will be kindly allowing us to get top after deadline date.

It will be almost 14.2 miles daily necessarily to thru hike the 2,174 miles. So, My suggestion is that you need to figure out how many zero days. Trust me, You might need some zero days. You need some rest. If you need more zero days, then you might need to hike more miles than 14 a day. Leaving in June is pretty late for Northbounder but it doesnt meant that you would shut out of Katahdin or you won't make it. Just that I want to pitch in some numbers so that you can prepare ahead with different plans. I want you to enjoy your hike.

Flash Hand :jump

RITBlake
11-19-2004, 04:13
ya...Mike and I have considered all options of hiking the AT....flip flop, leapfrog, SOBO, but in the end both our hearts are set on doing a continuos (spell?) NOBO hike. We like the idea of finishing at Big K and I like the idea of it being one long journe w/ out interuptions. We did a 10 day section hike over the summer in some pretty humid weather and I think it gave us a good idea of what to expect on our thru hike, and I agree that there will def. be some Zero days for us. Thanks for the math help!

Frosty
11-19-2004, 09:20
Well we have five months to finish our hike. I think it works out to something like 13 or 14 miles a day? Part of my preparation was reading journals on trailjournals.com. I noticed that a number of people did a sub-five-month hike. The two general trends I noticed was:

Minimal zero days. NOt spending two nights in town, only one. People called them neros, near zeros. Camp not too far from town, get into town by noon, do your stuff, spend the night, out the next morning. As Flash Hand said, though, sometimes you may need a zero. If so, take it in the woods, not in a town. That will determine if you really need a zero or just want to screw off in town. (Not that there's anything wrong with screwing off in town, but you have a deadline.)

Make big miles when you can. The people who starting in March/April and finished in July/August did big miles Pearisburg VA to Glencliff NH (the White Mtns), and also after the Bigelows.

One thing I was unable to tell from reading journals was fitness level at the start. I have heard that injuries occur early because people are aerobically fit but their tendons are not trail tough. That is, they have the stamina to hike long days, but their muscular supprot structure cannot withstand the day-to-day workouts of long hiking. My personal belief (backed up by nothing except my doctor's opinion) is that hiking a lot beforehand, especially two-three consecutive long days, is good preparation for a quicker start. Also, keep the pace slow at the beginning. There are two ways to put in more miles. Hike faster or hike the same pace but add a couple hours of hiking each day. My plan is the latter; I think there is less chance of injury that was. Also I plan on hitting the trail in decent hiking shape.

I haven't thruhiked, so everything I'm saying is filtered through my own naivete. Caveat Hiker.

UCONNMike
11-26-2004, 19:12
Like Blake said, we are ready to go on June 1st. I've read the concerns about how many miles we would be doin each day, and i have been doin calculations for our hike for months now. I figure that we can handle the 2,000 + miles in under 20 weeks. I now after our experience this summer that once we get into the zone we are capable of handling a solid 16-18 miles avg. over the entire trip would but us on Katahdin some where around the middle of Oct. (a range of 10th - 18th) We are prepared and eager to get on the trail again. I can't wait til June 1st.

Flash Hand
12-29-2004, 05:32
Like Blake said, we are ready to go on June 1st. I've read the concerns about how many miles we would be doin each day, and i have been doin calculations for our hike for months now. I figure that we can handle the 2,000 + miles in under 20 weeks. I now after our experience this summer that once we get into the zone we are capable of handling a solid 16-18 miles avg. over the entire trip would but us on Katahdin some where around the middle of Oct. (a range of 10th - 18th) We are prepared and eager to get on the trail again. I can't wait til June 1st.

Sorry I am bit late on this.. but if your experience was short hike, I guess, about 200 or 300 miles, this summer? My legs didnt get hurt until I reached smokies that I couldnt hike any further and my feet really hurt everyday somewhere 400 miles after I started. So, you might won't notice anything until you've hiked a few hundreds more miles than you had in the past. Just being cautious about it. I just hate that there is no legs replacement like how they have for the car's shock absorber.

Flash Hand :jump

Trailbender
10-11-2010, 08:14
Haha, at the spam above my post. Anyways, I did mine in 5 months and a week, and that was with a ton of zeros. I took a week off in Dalton because I thought my stress fractures were coming back. My usual pace was low to mid 20's

RITBlake
01-12-2024, 13:34
We ended up making it. SOBO. 5 months, 5 days.

HankIV
01-12-2024, 20:29
We ended up making it. SOBO. 5 months, 5 days.

Thanks for coming back! (To White Blaze). I SOBO’d 17 years later and 36 yrs older. Yeah Springer isn’t as charismatic but still felt pretty good to see that plaque. Congrats.

Mother Natures Son
01-13-2024, 18:41
Do stop at the Ice cream stand near the halfway point. It's worth it.

HankIV
01-13-2024, 20:57
We ended up making it. SOBO. 5 months, 5 days.

What finally prompted the change of direction? Seemed like you guys considered it, but we’re pretty settled on NOBO.