3 months of the trail- what section and when?

[Helloello]

Hi there,

I am planning on taking 3 months to do a section of the trail.
Any recommendations on what section i could do? What was your favorite section? And which months would you say are the best time to do that section?
Any ideas much appreciated, thanks guys!

[map man]

If I had any three months to hike any section of the AT I would start at Katahdin around Aug.1 and head south. This would likely avoid extreme heat or cold at this time of the year, you would experience fall color somewhere along the way (hard to beat) and the mountains of Maine and New Hampshire are what I most want to experience on the AT.

[jrwiesz]

Agree with mapman; start south from Katahdin

[Blissful]

I found the Whites much easier SOBO than NOBO, but I had been through the tough terrain of Maine. ME and NH are tough though
The only issue of later season hiking is water in NY - tough to come by.

You can also start NOBO from Springer in April and see all the lovely flowering trees and bushes as you head north into VA. And I love the bald region of NC

[Cookerhiker]

I agree with both suggestions above. Another one I'd consider is to start at Harpers Ferry in the second half of March and hike south if you don't mind starting in some cold weather. The Trail wouldn't be as crowded for the first month and after some initially cold nights, I'd look forward to the early Spring when flowers like Bloodroot start to emerge and sunny days are a treat before the leaves come out. By the time you reach TN and NC, you'll hit lots of beautiful wildflowers and the thruhikers would have thinned out some. Personally, my hike between Allen Gap (just north of Hot Springs) and Damascus in May was one of the nicest hikes I've ever done.

It's quite possible you'd reach Springer in less than 3 months so depending on your projected pace, you could start at Duncannon.

[topshelf]

you could rush your way through the whole thing doing extreme miles...jk.


+1 on the heading south, but really heading south from anywhere in the fall is great.

[q-tip]

I did the Southern half from Springer to Harpers Ferry from mid-Aug.--Mid Nov. 2010. I felt like I saw the best the AT had to offer. Lots of terrain changes and great trail towns. I also found that I needed a little easier terrain near the end. But one thing for sure, those that told me VA was easy--Oh Contrair.... Anyway, whichever way you go I am sure it will change your life in some way---it changed mine.

Happy Trails.

[Papa D]

This all depends on what three months you have - what season? For example, if you want to hike in March-May, 2012, you could not start in Maine and SOBO most of the trail - you'd have to go NOBO or do a flip-flop, If you have June-August, then obviously a SOBO works. If it is a winter hike, I would suggest another trail unless you have a lot of experience. Starting at Harpers Ferry and going north makes good sense provided you start between April and Mid-August, but the hiking in West VA, north into Maryland and then PA is very rocky and breaking yourself in might be hard at that point, so what about this: Start a NOBO hike at Deleware Water Gap, PA and NOBO to Katahdin - this is 900 miles so you will only have to average about 10 miles a day over 90 days - this will easily fit in your 3 month window. If you complete the journey, you should be good enough at this sort of thing to come back with another 3 months sometime and hike at a typical thru-hiker pace of 14-18 m.p.d. (plus zeros) and do the trail from Springer to DWG - that would be about 1280 miles.

[harryfred]

I'm in the start at Harper's Ferry column go either north or south. the hiking is fairly easy to start. In three months you could possibly summit Katahdin or Springer come back next year and go the other way. PA rocks aren't that bad and we have long flat ridges the gaps can be a b**** but take them as they come and you'll do fine.

[stranger]

I say start the Long Trail at the Canadian Border, hike south to the Maine Junction, turn left, hike to Katahdin, looking at about 650 fairly rough miles, but absolutely beautiful terrain. If you finish early go back and complete the Long Trail down to North Adams, MA.

I know everyone talks about New England, but really...the southern AT is amazing, it really is. Hiking sobo from Harpers Ferry would be a great hike as well, and much easier physically than my first suggestion.

[Smooth & Wasabi]

August - October in NE would be fabulous