Southbound hiking?

[squirrely]

I've heard that hiking southbound on the trail is harder than going north, I was wondering why.

Thanks!

[Blissful]

There are several reasons. The terrain in southern ME and northern NH is the toughest of the trail. The approach itself up Katahdin is a very tough first day. You have no outfitters for weeks unless you can get a ride to Greenville from the 100 mile wilderness, so you are stuck with the gear you have. It tends to get lonelier as everyone heads north, so that can be tough mentally. If you start late you'll get snow in the south. The trail can be dry in areas in the fall which makes water issues a challenge.

But I really enjoyed my southbound trek, even with the challenges.

[Joey C]

Some of the tougher parts of the trail are in the Northern sections. Starting off in this before one gets fully accustomed can be a bit difficult. If you are prepared and understand what you are getting in to, as most SOBO's seem to be, then it's not a big issue.

[10-K]

There are several reasons. The terrain in southern ME and northern NH is the toughest of the trail. The approach itself up Katahdin is a very tough first day. You have no outfitters for weeks unless you can get a ride to Greenville from the 100 mile wilderness, so you are stuck with the gear you have. It tends to get lonelier as everyone heads north, so that can be tough mentally. If you start late you'll get snow in the south. The trail can be dry in areas in the fall which makes water issues a challenge.

Sounds weird I know but this sounds pretty appealing to me.....

[Blissful]

Sounds weird I know but this sounds pretty appealing to me.....


It's great. Really. You need to do it. :)

[Geo]

Hiking south from Maine to Georgia may be harder than going north, because, you start with Mount Katahdin which has over 4,000 feet of vertical ascent in five miles and then another 4,000 feet in five miles downhill. Katahdin has large boulders, semi technical climbs and overall is a difficult Mountain to climb no matter which route is chosen.The trail in Maine is also a lot of rocks, roots and steep ascents and decent. The greatest and quickest elevation changes are found in Maine. Maine is also the most remote part of the trail. If a hiker chooses to hike south It is advised to stop at every or nearly every town between Katahdin Maine and Gorham NH, resupply could be as much as 7-10 days. The 100 Mile wilderness takes most SOBO's seven to ten days to complete and NOBO'S 4-7 Days to complete. Don't be discouraged, Hiking south is fun. If it is a wet year, creeks may be hard to ford. Mahoosuc arm and Notch are very difficult but fun. A seasoned hiker can get through the 1 mile notch in 45 min to an hour. The notch is fun but a lot of crawling over and under rocks, while the arm is very steep decent into the notch. Mahoosuc notch has Ice in its cracks all year long. Do not attempt to hike the Mahoosuc arm or notch in wet or bad weather. Black fly season from May-July along with mosquitoes, deer fly and moose fly can be annoying during a bad year. The summer of 2010 was very good in comparison to 2007 (both summers I spent in Maine). By the time a SOBO gets to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, steep ascents and descents are second nature.

After a hiker gets to the Whites, the last hard challenge is getting to Georgia before winter get out of hand. High elevations can receive significant snow and cold weather as early as November. Mount Rodgers Rec area in SW Virgina, the Roan's, the Smoky MNTs and a few other peaks over 4,000 feet are at risk for the harshest weather.

Last year it started snowing in early November just outside Pearisburg VA with lows in the low 20's. It then stayed above freezing most days until early December where the nice weather turned cold during my first day in the Smoky mountains with lows near 12 degrees. The next week had record lows for most of the south in the single digests, and snow drifts as high as two feet on Blood Mountain GA. The finishing day for my fellow thru hikers and I had to be postponed due to Ice covered roads near Springer Mountain. When the cold snap finally ended we were able to arrange a pick up on the access road near Springer Mountain.

One last thing, get water where ever you can get it in Pennsylvania.

[Geo]

Hiking south from Maine to Georgia may be harder than going north, because, you start with Mount Katahdin which has over 4,000 feet of vertical ascent in five miles and then another 4,000 feet in five miles downhill. Katahdin has large boulders, semi technical climbs and overall is a difficult Mountain to climb no matter which route is chosen.The trail in Maine is also a lot of rocks, roots and steep ascents and decent. The greatest and quickest elevation changes are found in Maine. Maine is also the most remote part of the trail. If a hiker chooses to hike south It is advised to stop at every or nearly every town between Katahdin Maine and Gorham NH, resupply could be as much as 7-10 days. The 100 Mile wilderness takes most SOBO's seven to ten days to complete and NOBO'S 4-7 Days to complete. Don't be discouraged, Hiking south is fun. If it is a wet year, creeks may be hard to ford. Mahoosuc arm and Notch are very difficult but fun. A seasoned hiker can get through the 1 mile notch in 45 min to an hour. The notch is fun but a lot of crawling over and under rocks, while the arm is very steep decent into the notch. Mahoosuc notch has Ice in its cracks all year long. Do not attempt to hike the Mahoosuc arm or notch in wet or bad weather. Black fly season from May-July along with mosquitoes, deer fly and moose fly can be annoying during a bad year. The summer of 2010 was very good in comparison to 2007 (both summers I spent in Maine). By the time a SOBO gets to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, steep ascents and descents are second nature.

After a hiker gets to the Whites, the last hard challenge is getting to Georgia before winter get out of hand. High elevations can receive significant snow and cold weather as early as November. Mount Rodgers Rec area in SW Virgina, the Roan's, the Smoky MNTs and a few other peaks over 4,000 feet are at risk for the harshest weather.

Last year it started snowing in early November just outside Pearisburg VA with lows in the low 20's. It then stayed above freezing most days until early December where the nice weather turned cold during my first day in the Smoky mountains with lows near 12 degrees. The next week had record lows for most of the south in the single digests, and snow drifts as high as two feet on Blood Mountain GA. The finishing day for my fellow thru hikers and I had to be postponed due to Ice covered roads near Springer Mountain. When the cold snap finally ended we were able to arrange a pick up on the access road near Springer Mountain.

One last thing, get water where ever you can get it in Pennsylvania.

[Pedaling Fool]

Yes it's a tough hike if you start SOBO, unless you've already had your legs (lot of prior hiking experience).

In 2006 I thought that Ga/NC was tough as tough can be, then I got my legs...got to NH and Maine and no problems (although I was a little agitated by the fact that you can not get into a hiking rhythm, but that's another issue) , but I knew it was much tougher than Ga/NC and Katahdin was cake -- I just flew up there.

When I went back to Ga/NC in 2007 it was easy ass hiking, but a year ealier it was kickin' my ass, so I can only imagine how tough it would have been to start up north.

[Red Hat]

Actually hiking North to South can be fantastic, it depends upon where... I enjoy hiking GA SOBO this time of year because I see all the hikers heading north/ I did a number of sections southbound last year, including Fontana to Franklin, and Catawba to Damascuss (although I only made it to Atkins due to an injury). I plan on doing the rest of that piece (Atkins to Damascus) before Traildays this year. It certainly is no more difficult to go that way. the difficulty is in starting in Maine...

[Migrating Bird]

My daughter and her fiance, thru hike SOBO in '09. I joined them from Neel Gap to A. Falls (2 1/4 days) icluding the approach trail. Last year, I started in ME SOBO with him ( he climbs cell towers for a living). We climbed Katahdin on May 28th. and then made it to Monson in 8 days. He went back to work and I continued south to Franconia Notch, NH. ( I had to get off due to time committments). Southern ME and NH are different then GA (based upon the small portion of trail I hiked). We dont' have many switch backs up here, we kinda just get on with it rather than drag things out :). One of the biggest issues I had was carrying a lot of food, re-supply in Me is iffy at best that time of year, we had gotten a shuttle into Baxter, we're not sure that White H Landing would be open so we carried enough food & fuel to get us to Monson, 10 days worth. I also did not have the luxury of ditching items I did not need until Monson. I had a few too many clothes with me. Thats a lot of food but on the other hand, we did not climb Katahdin with full packs, the northern half of the 100 MW is easy-going and 1/2 of your food is gone before any big climbs. By the time I got to Grafton Notch, I was feeling pretty good and hiking/climbing well. I also carried a fly rod and stopped to fish at least twice a day in ME. I sent my fishing gear home in Andover, ME after taking a zero and fishing. It was very cool to hike in the Whites and hear people complaining (and warning) you about how tough the trail/climb is. Because what I had already hiked through, I found it easier going than ME, less food to carry, no worries about water or treating water as it is available at huts. Your pack is weened down to only what you need and use. I was on old Speck and two NOBO's had just scrambled up over the legde near the summit (coming up from Speck Pond). We exchanged pleasentries, and then one said "This isn't hiking, it's survival!". I gotta kick out of that thinking "get used to it north of here isn't much better" I avg. just over 10 miles per day and took 3 zeros, and 3 neros total.

[squirrely]

Thanks for all the answers! All of it makes a lot of sense lol. I'd never thought about Maine being hard to start off in.

[earlyriser26]

Even the "flat" lakes region of the wilderness is harder than anything in Georgia.

[Blissful]

Even the "flat" lakes region of the wilderness is harder than anything in Georgia.


The Chairback Range is no picnic.