View Full Version : Planning a South to north (1st time)
IronGutsTommy
08-21-2010, 02:28
wondering what amount of cash is recommended for such a journey. have saved up 5000 dollars but wasnt sure if that was overkill or not enough. ive hiked trails before but the tamiami was the longest, less than 300 miles. any and all advice would be welcome. i plan to begin around the first of september
kayak karl
08-21-2010, 02:35
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=64420&highlight=cost
:welcome
IronGutsTommy
08-21-2010, 02:49
ty kayak karl. any idea on a thru trip cost expectancy?
IronGutsTommy
08-21-2010, 03:00
thanks for the link info. i appreciate the help. now if i can find other ppl going around the beginning to middle of september. with a fall start id be well advised to go north to south though, huh, as to lessen the wintry effects?
Firefighter503
08-21-2010, 04:23
Yes you would be much better off going ME-GA starting in September, but even then you will probably have one hell of a time completing the trail. Why not wait another 6 months and go GA-ME in March? $5000 should be plenty (my understanding, that is my plan when I hike - hopefully 2011).
IronGutsTommy
08-21-2010, 05:33
Taking lots into advisement, but unfortunately if i dont do it this fall it will mean waiting until at least mid 2012 and may only be able to bump up the time frame by a month at most, so theres not really much incentive to wait. i realize the shorter days and tougher conditions will slow my progress but if i do it this year i can give myself ample time (6 plus months) to complete the trail. Also this will be a soul searching hike so the elements and wintry views may add to the result. My main question is, although im sure the number of fellow hikers will be lessened, does anyone hike in the fall winter season or am i destined to go it alone?
For me, $5000 would be an amount I considered barely adequate for the task. Ii'd give myself a 50/50 chance of running out of money - too close for comfort IMO.
Keep in mind, doing the trip in the winter will likely mean additional time spent in motels/hostels waiting out storms or just recovering from them. Could drive the cost up compared to a typical good-weather hike.
My guess is that if you start in September you'll end up doing the hike in two (at least) long sections rather than as a thru-hike. I'm not suggesting it's impossible to start in Sept and keep going, but having started in late Feb this year my guess is that someone planning on hiking the harder 6 months rather than the easier 6 months of the year is in for a challenging time.
Are you destined to go it alone? I would guess the answer is 'mostly', that you'll see people on occasion but you're likely to spend most time alone. But who knows, the trail does weird things.
What you might want to do is read through some SOBO trail journals, get a sense for where a typical SOBO is after their first 2-1/2 to 3 months or so, and then look online to try to get a sense for when snow is typically falling in quantity around those areas in late Nov and December. I.e., how much in the way of true winter conditions are you going to be going through? The particular year can make this vary a lot of course, but at least you might want a realistic sense of what you're setting yourself up for.
Perhaps you can find some journals of folks that started around when you want to start --- I seriously doubt you're the first one to attempt a Fall start on this particular trail!
Best of luck with whatever you end up doing.
5 grand would be more than enough for me.;)
If you want to even have a chance of finishing go south, enjoy the colors and nice weather up north and hope for a late/mild winter down south.:-?
IronGutsTommy
08-21-2010, 12:36
i appreciate the input. the most i could put off the hike would be a couple of months, closer to the dead of winter, not good. Doing due diligence to make this run a success, albeit i realize the cards may indeed be stacked against me.
A man falls many times in life.. he is only a failure when he refuses to get up...- Evel Knievel
kayak karl
08-21-2010, 12:39
i spent more in aug and sept per day then i spent in jan and feb down south. the staying in hotels till storms are gone didn't happen. shuttles are more in winter because you can't split the bill.
put i think it was the social thing. hung with nobody in the winter, but in summer in Maine and NH the hikers i was with had deep pockets. i don't regret one dollar i spent.:)
i appreciate the input. the most i could put off the hike would be a couple of months, closer to the dead of winter, not good. Doing due diligence to make this run a success, albeit i realize the cards may indeed be stacked against me. A man falls many times in life.. he is only a failure when he refuses to get up...- Evel Knievel
Go as soon as you can and go south. :)
Either way you will be hiking in winter. I've started in Ga. in Jan. and Feb. I've spent a winter in Me. You can try and fail all you want going nobo or you can give yourself a fighting chance going south.
Go as soon as you can and go south. :)
Yeah, what's stopping you from starting right now? I can't help but think that you're looking for any excuse to delay your trip. You started this thread with the intent to start on September 1st, half an hour later you're contemplating starting in mid-September, and then you post in another thread about starting in early October. At this rate you'll be planning to start in December before the weekend is over.
i spent more in aug and sept per day then i spent in jan and feb down south. the staying in hotels till storms are gone didn't happen. shuttles are more in winter because you can't split the bill.
put i think it was the social thing. hung with nobody in the winter, but in summer in Maine and NH the hikers i was with had deep pockets. i don't regret one dollar i spent.:)
I see your point, guess it depends on how you normally hike the trail in the warm weather. Guess I'm not a big partier, or social slave, so I think I would be more tempted to spend extended time in town and more frequent time in towns during severely inclement winter weather.
I'm sure it varies depending on the individuals and situation.
IronGutsTommy
08-21-2010, 15:12
would wait a bit to go with others, thats all. would rather go thru 4feet of snow in a group than 3 feet by myself. may have found a group leaving sobo on sept 24th. sure its late but weve already established that sentiment. rest of my moneys locked up til mid week, otherwise id be heading out as we speak
You could use some of that $5000 to get as far down the trail as you can as soon as you can and then hang out at the nearest trail town when the snow starts falling. It's not falling right now is it? If you're lucky, you avoid the worst of it. You have the money so use it to make your trip more comfortable and more likely to be successful.
takethisbread
08-21-2010, 16:53
If you spend 5000 on a thru hike you should be shot.
You are not hiking in the winter. The weather in Sept, Oct Nov and December in The northeast and Virginia is going to be PERFECT. Unless you hate hiking in 50 degrees, and cool nights. Now January in the Smokies could be an issue, possible snow, likely hood of a few inches at least in the Smokies. Sure. worse than 90 degrees in PA thru Mass in July? No.
Good luck bro.
would wait a bit to go with others, thats all. would rather go thru 4feet of snow in a group than 3 feet by myself. may have found a group leaving sobo on sept 24th. sure its late but weve already established that sentiment. rest of my moneys locked up til mid week, otherwise id be heading out as we speak
IMO this isn't your best plan for sucsess.:eek:
The chance of you getting snow of any depth will be down south. The longer you wait the more likely you will get snow. The chances of this group "you may have found" sticking together until then are slim and none. :)
You're better off meeting people on the trail hiking your pace/style. The sooner you leave the more people you'll meet. You won't need all your money to start, so....:-?:confused::rolleyes::p
Other than the possibility that those hiking partners will show up and stay on the trail with Tommy, are there any other upsides to pushing back his start date?
Trailbender
08-21-2010, 17:37
For me, $5000 would be an amount I considered barely adequate for the task. Ii'd give myself a 50/50 chance of running out of money - too close for comfort IMO.
I spent half that and felt like I did plenty of splurging. My original budget was $1500. After finishing my thru, knowing what I know now, I am confident I could do it again on that or less.
Other than the possibility that those hiking partners will show up and stay on the trail with Tommy, are there any other upsides to pushing back his start date?
Knowing what I know, NO. Know what I mean?:D
Best case senerio: Leave now, go south.;)
The Old Fhart
08-21-2010, 18:08
I certainly think that $5000 is enough to do the trail so I don't see money as your problem. If you head northbound starting now with your goal to do "soul searching", I'd realistically give you about a 0% chance of completing a thru hike. Others have posted good reasons not to start now, especially with your total lack of planning, and I'd listen to them.
Wow, this whole time I thought Tommy was southbound. I'd feel silly for being wrong, but he did inquire about going southbound here:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=1041904#post1041904
I certainly won't say you can't do it. I only want to say to take the easiest way possible. Again, I'm not familiar with the AT, but going south and running away from winter weather has to be better than running up into it.
I spent half that and felt like I did plenty of splurging. My original budget was $1500. After finishing my thru, knowing what I know now, I am confident I could do it again on that or less.
I believe you. I've talked to a lot of hikers who did the whole trail in the $3000-$4000 range and said they felt like they didn't have to go without.
But if I had to hike their hike I'd feel deprived. :)
FWIW, my last section hiike of 800 miles I spent right at $2000 - works out to around a $5000 thru hike - give or take.
Did you swap out much gear? I could see that quickly eating a big junk out of $5000.
I started 8 july and only planned to get to Monson my first time out. Then I planned to Caratunk. I did that until I got to Springer on 29 Nov.
The sooner you get started the better your chances of avoiding hike stopping weather. SOBO isn't just your best option, at this time of year it's about your only one.
IronGutsTommy
08-21-2010, 20:50
that upsides enough. meeting in katahdin on the 24th, enough time for an equipment update or two. going thru those first few states in a party sounds like it increases the success rate more than enough to offset pushing the launch back a couple weeks. ill see you and ron burgandy there digger, i'll be the one with the rose tucked in a copy of tolstoy's war and peace haha
IronGutsTommy
08-22-2010, 02:41
thanks nean appreciated
takethisbread
08-22-2010, 08:54
that upsides enough. meeting in katahdin on the 24th, enough time for an equipment update or two. going thru those first few states in a party sounds like it increases the success rate more than enough to offset pushing the launch back a couple weeks. ill see you and ron burgandy there digger, i'll be the one with the rose tucked in a copy of tolstoy's war and peace haha
Yea see you out there, It will be good. Don't let the naysayers scare you about the weather. Could it snow in the Whites? Yes. It will dip into freezing temps at night. But it will be mid October when we blow through there. The risks in mid October are about the same as in mid may. It might snow, it might be 60 degrees. Once you get past Killlington the climate is not likely to be an issue, from my experience. Although someone did bring up a great point: freezing rain.
That will be a nuisance, at the very least.