Weather to expect on a SOBO hike starting June 4

[Nameless]

Hello,

I am starting a SOBO hike next year on June 4. Most everything i find seems to be written for a NOBO for obvious reasons. But, i have school to finish and dont want to rush on my way up north. What type of weather should i expect to find along the trail? I know rainfall isn't predictable, but what type of temperatures should i expect? How warm is Maine in June? And Georgia in December? If anything, i have less of a clue then the normal hiker because i am born and raised Alaskan, and have no experience on east coast weather. I sleep cold and walk a little cold, and HATE being cold, so i just want to make sure i am warm enough.

Thanks
Pink

[dharmabum86]

Well, I live in GA and can tell you right now it's pretty freakin' chilly at night. Actually today it was in the low 50's but, our winters are finicky! (spelling:p ) The nights in the mountains certainly get down to the 20's and teens and the days get up to the 60's sometimes. I remember one Thanksgiving walking around outside with a tanktop on. One resource that us "mountain folk" swear by is the Farmer's Almanac. Check that out. Sorry I'm not much help.
:banana

[rickb]

On MY SOBO (7/13 to 12/1), I only got a couple inches of snow at higher elevations in Smokies around mid November, and never walked in any amount of snow for very long. My boots froze up at night a couple times. Walked in a wool shirt and ski hat in Georgia. (BTW, a white hat like the one I wore is not such a good idea during hunting season LOL)

That said, I remember the hot days of summer most of all, even though it got down to the low 40s at night in Maine and NH a few times.

The only time I have ever felt hypothermic was over the Bigalows (ME) because I got soaked to the bone and didn't deal with it clothing/rain gear wise.

NOBO's delighted in telling me that I would get screwed by snow in the Smokies, BTW. As if the really had a clue :-).

Rick B

[NotYet]

I don't know about June weather, because we intentionally started out later so as to avoid most of the mud and bugs. In 2000, we started July 18. The temps were overall very nice until we got to the Whites in mid-August...perfect hypothermia weather (mid 30s, high winds and RAIN!).

December can definitely be finicky down here. In 2000, we had lots of snow in December, but on the 16th it was warm enough to produce rollicking thunder, lightning, hail and torrential rain. Four days later on our last morning of the hike, it is was -8 F at Gooch Gap Shelter. I was post-holing through thigh-high snow drifts much of the morning that day! But what an amazingly beautiful day it was!

p.s. As a SOBO you'll hear lot's of "you'll never make it" through this or that from NOBOs. Don't let it bother you; it's just the way it seems to be...I just smiled & congratulated them on how far they had come. Then I proceeded to make it through all of those "impossible obstacles". HYOH

[Kerosene]

You might check out www.weather.com (http://www.weather.com) for monthly averages at various points along the AT. Here is a link (http://www.w3.weather.com/activities/other/other/weather/climo-dly.html?locid=USME0255&climoMonth=6) showing the average and record high/low temperatures, average precipitation, and sunrise/sunset in June for Monson. You might want to check out the amount of daylight in someplace like Franklin, NC on November 1st just for kicks.

Also, remember that the reporting stations are in nearby towns, few of which are actually located along the AT ridgelines, so actual temperatures will usually be a few degrees cooler.

Starting in Maine in June I would probably go with a 20-degree bag, switching out to a 30-40 degree bag once you reach Vermont until mid-September when I'd go back to at least a 30. However, you will likely experience a wide range of nighttime temperatures. This is where a sleeping bag liner can come in handy when it's just too hot for the down but you want to cut down on chilling drafts. Regardless, your biggest problem will be with black flies and mosquitoes through about the middle of July. Don't spare the DEET, consider a bug head net (http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=1110&memberId=12500226), bug jacket (http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?partNumber=82170&memberId=12500226), and especially a bug sleeping solution (http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=7581&memberId=12500226). The SOBO's I met in July in New Hampshire felt that the bugs were the worst part of starting in Maine in June.

[Miss Janet]

SoBo's coming through right now are seeing lows near 5-15 degrees, snow 6-10 inches and drifts up to thigh high in some places. Some hikers have turned back from Roan and the Smokies for a few days because of the snow. It looks like we could get a fairly major storm on Sunday.

It has been normal for me to have SoBo's throughout the winter for years now. They all seem to be dealing with some really cold temps and pretty big snow at least a few times. Most of them are well prepared and are doing well. The biggest problems I see every year are the SoBo's that are stubornly holding onto 30 degree sleeping bags because they don't have a warmer bag and think they can "Tuff it out" for the three weeks they have left. Then after the time change in Nov. I still see SoBo's trying to do 25-30 mile days like they are still in VA. with lots of daylight... they end up hiking into the night all the time!

[TDale]

Here's a good resource for researching weather history:

http://www.weatherbase.com/

[TJ aka Teej]

How warm is Maine in June? Hi Pink,
Great link Kerosene sent about June averages in Maine. As noted, it'll be colder up high and at the lean-tos. A twenty degree rated bag (remember that those ratings are subject to debate, subject to what clothes you do or don't wear to bed, subject to damp v dry, and your personal warmth is subject to if you sleep in lean-tos or use a tent) might be too much. I sleep in a tent, and use a 30 degree REI bag from April to November in Maine, and only occaisionally need to hunker down into it wearing a fleece cap and mittens. One thing to consider is on a warm buggy night you sweat puddles zipped up to the neck using your 20 degree bag as a bug shield. When I do stay in shelters or sleep under the stars I hang bug netting, salvaged from the door of an old family sized tent, over my head and arms. The blackflies in Maine compare to your Alaskan no seeums or midges in that they seem to bother tourists more than natives. Have you made plans to get your resrvations at Katahdin yet? (MEGAs can't stay at the Birches) New system this year!