View Full Version : Thru-hike between college and medical school
Hi all,
I've been lurking here for quite a while and really enjoying it. I'm currently a sophomore in college and I'll hopefully be attending medical school immediately after I graduate. I'm planning on graduating a semester early (so I'll be done by late December of 2013) and medical schools generally start in the beginning of August. I love the idea of a thru-hike and really want to do one in that time frame. I think it would be an awesome break for academics and will let me get some actual experience with life.
I don't have a lot of experience hiking (I've done about a week on the superior hiking trail with an 18 mile day in there) but I do plan on getting plenty more (although I don't really have the time to commit to anything longer than a week or two in the summers). I know that I'll need to train and I will have time to train and get in shape by then.
What I'm asking is, when will I have to start to finish comfortably (maybe a week or so) before August? What should I plan for? What should my travel arrangements be in case I don't get to Katahdin in time?
thanks,
vivek
Plan on it taking a full 6 months to do a thru hike without having to hurry.
6 months wil give you enough time to enjoy your hike, take some zero days, and move at a comfortable pace.
You can do it in less time if you want to hurry.
if you start in February, you will have 6 full months, but it will be quite cold, very cold actually. In other words you will freeze your nuts off.
Panzer
If you leave in April, you will have enjoyable weather, and plenty of other hikers for company. It will be much more fun. Then just hike half the trail. Hike the other half the following year.
Panzer
What sort of temperatures are we talking about? I live in MN and am used to cold winters. I know how cold it can get during the night compared to the days (dropped from 70ish to 30 F at night on the SHT a few times) but I feel like it shouldn't be terrible with the proper equipment. Will there be snow on the trail in GA in mid February? Will I be the only one out there?
The thing is, there won't be a chance to go the next year. After this, I'll be in medical school for 4 years (hopefully) and then do a 3-5 year residency before I can start working (in the beginning stages of which, I expect to be pretty busy). By the time I'll really be be free to even consider a long hike, I'll probably be in my mid thirties. I suppose that's not that old but I want to do this earlier in life when I don't have the responsibilities of a family, etc. I'm sure you guys understand. I feel like I need an adventure.
-vivek
hikerboy57
10-22-2011, 16:41
What sort of temperatures are we talking about? I live in MN and am used to cold winters. I know how cold it can get during the night compared to the days (dropped from 70ish to 30 F at night on the SHT a few times) but I feel like it shouldn't be terrible with the proper equipment. Will there be snow on the trail in GA in mid February? Will I be the only one out there?
The thing is, there won't be a chance to go the next year. After this, I'll be in medical school for 4 years (hopefully) and then do a 3-5 year residency before I can start working (in the beginning stages of which, I expect to be pretty busy). By the time I'll really be be free to even consider a long hike, I'll probably be in my mid thirties. I suppose that's not that old but I want to do this earlier in life when I don't have the responsibilities of a family, etc. I'm sure you guys understand. I feel like I need an adventure.
-vivekI would consider panzers plan, doing half the hike now, finish it sometime down the road. keep in mind 3months and over 100 miles is an adventure in itself. You can do the whole trail in as little as 4 months but no zeros and averaguing over 20 miles/day can become more than just an adventure.
hikerboy57
10-22-2011, 16:41
i meant over 1000 miles.
Leanthree
10-22-2011, 16:43
Leave in march, see how far you get, if you are young, in shape and go reasonably light weight you can probably make it.
Leave in march, see how far you get, if you are young, in shape and go reasonably light weight you can probably make it.
I think this is what I was originally thinking. I'm ok with not finishing but I do want to try. If I'm not enjoying myself, I can always slow down and just get as far as I get. Most of my gear right now is fairly light and I've been borrowing things until I can invest in lighter stuff (just made a ray-way quilt a few months ago :)).
And I will keep Panzer1's plan in mind. I can't predict the future and things may change in 2 years. I think that would be an awesome experience in itself too.
So if I start on March 1st, what kind of temperatures will I be looking at?
At the higher elevations on the southern AT in March you can expect some overnight lows to get down into the teens with single digits a possibility if you are unlucky. It seems like every other year there is a story about college groups doing the Georgia or North Carolina AT for spring break and suffering mishaps because of cold and snow. Winter happens on the AT in March (and sometimes in April).
ChinMusic
10-22-2011, 19:32
I think this is what I was originally thinking. I'm ok with not finishing but I do want to try. If I'm not enjoying myself, I can always slow down and just get as far as I get.
Bingo. Just start as early as you are comfortable and see how it goes. You sound like the type that could get it all in by late July. You will have a pretty good idea of your finishing window after you have been out for a month.
At the higher elevations on the southern AT in March you can expect some overnight lows to get down into the teens with single digits a possibility if you are unlucky. It seems like every other year there is a story about college groups doing the Georgia or North Carolina AT for spring break and suffering mishaps because of cold and snow. Winter happens on the AT in March (and sometimes in April).
Ok, I think we hit 28 one night on the SHT (with a crappy walmart bag rated for 45F at that) so I know ballpark how cold it'll be. It's weird, you live in a cold place like MN for years and you never realize how cold a temperature actually is until you have to sleep outside for a few nights. I don't think the teens should be terrible bundled up under a ray-way quilt. Might have to give it a test this winter. :)
-vivek
MuddyWaters
10-22-2011, 22:07
The thing is, there won't be a chance to go the next year. After this, I'll be in medical school for 4 years (hopefully) and then do a 3-5 year residency before I can start working (in the beginning stages of which, I expect to be pretty busy). By the time I'll really be be free to even consider a long hike, I'll probably be in my mid thirties. I suppose that's not that old but I want to do this earlier in life when I don't have the responsibilities of a family, etc. I'm sure you guys understand. I feel like I need an adventure.
-vivek
I say that unfortunately, if you dont, reality is that you likely wont ever have the chance again until you retire.
Employers and graduate schools dont like to see people take time off to live. You are supposed to be a hardworking focused little robot.
However if you tell them you had to work to put yourself thru school, like co-op, in a field you are studying, thats actually a plus.
I have already told my 12 yr old that it is OK to take a couple semesters off in college and be a ski bum for a winter. He is a straight A student,tested in the 99% percentile, and he is plannning to do so. I wish I had had the opportunity. Some things are more important than school. Like living, doing things you love, when you are the right age, and have the chance that will never come again.
Then when he gets out of school, we will hike the AT together hopefully, before he begins work or graduate school or whatever.
MuddyWaters
10-22-2011, 22:08
The thing is, there won't be a chance to go the next year. After this, I'll be in medical school for 4 years (hopefully) and then do a 3-5 year residency before I can start working (in the beginning stages of which, I expect to be pretty busy). By the time I'll really be be free to even consider a long hike, I'll probably be in my mid thirties. I suppose that's not that old but I want to do this earlier in life when I don't have the responsibilities of a family, etc. I'm sure you guys understand. I feel like I need an adventure.
-vivek
I say that unfortunately, if you dont, reality is that you likely wont ever have the chance again until you retire.
Employers and graduate schools dont like to see people take time off to live. You are supposed to be a hardworking focused little robot.
However if you tell them you had to work to put yourself thru school, like co-op, in a field you are studying, thats actually a plus.
I have already told my 12 yr old that it is OK to take a couple semesters off in college and be a ski bum for a winter. He is a straight A student,tested in the 99% percentile, and he is plannning to do so. I wish I had had the opportunity. Some things are more important than school. Like living, doing things you love, when you are the right age, and have the chance that will never come again.
Then when he gets out of school, we will hike the AT together hopefully, before he begins work or graduate school or whatever.
bigcranky
10-22-2011, 22:16
Plenty of hikers start in early February, with some starting as early as Jan 1st. It's entirely possible to enjoy an early start if you (1) like cold weather, and (2) have the proper gear. Having the extra month gives you additional flexibility, though it can cost more as you spend time in town avoiding the worst storms.
If I were in your position, there is no way I would be able to wait until March 1st to start. Good luck.
ChinMusic
10-22-2011, 22:23
I say that unfortunately, if you dont, reality is that you likely wont ever have the chance again until you retire.
Been there, done that. I'm not even sure he will get the summer off in med school.
Blissful
10-22-2011, 22:41
You're young. Start mid Feb and can be done in plenty of time (end of July). You'd do it way less than six months imo, if you have the discipline and desire to do this. If you like to hang out with others like in towns, etc., and find it tough to get up and going, it will be tougher. There is also finances to consider as well. But if you have the gear, $$ and drive, I'd do it all at one time. You may never get another chance for a good long while
max patch
10-22-2011, 23:26
You need to leave no later than Feb 1. And even at that early date you will have 5 months and 3 weeks to finish by your deadline - which is a bit faster than todays norm.
Been there, done that. I'm not even sure he will get the summer off in med school.
Yeah, I won't be getting summers off in med school. :( I'm fine with cold weather. I'm glad to hear that it won't get unreasonably cold and I'll have some company out there. Maybe I will start in February.
-vivek
That's the spirit...
I perfectly understand you. I'm currently doing my residency, and the amount of free time you get at medschool is almost 0, so you have one of two options: Do it ASAP, or finish you carreer and then get time to do it (which can be delayed by building a family, etc).
If I had known about the trail before, I would have done it before med school, or taken a year between MS and the residency... but as I didn't, I'm just waiting to finish to finally have the time..
(by the way, I've been a lurker here for a time... your question made me register :P)
I'm glad to hear that it won't get unreasonably cold and I'll have some company out there. Maybe I will start in February.
-vivek
I will be cold in February, don't doubt that for a second.
Panzer
Ps you will also be arriving in Maine during black fly season. ha ha ha
Last May/Jjune in Shenandoah, I remember seeing a shelter log entry by three or four med school students who got together each summer for a short section, maybe 10 days to 2 weeks. I believe they had just one year to go. Vivek16, good luck with whatever you decide to do.
That's the spirit...
I perfectly understand you. I'm currently doing my residency, and the amount of free time you get at medschool is almost 0, so you have one of two options: Do it ASAP, or finish you carreer and then get time to do it (which can be delayed by building a family, etc).
If I had known about the trail before, I would have done it before med school, or taken a year between MS and the residency... but as I didn't, I'm just waiting to finish to finally have the time..
(by the way, I've been a lurker here for a time... your question made me register :P)
Hey, thanks for confirming what my understanding of the process basically was. :) I'm interested in rural medicine so I think that I would be pretty busy trying to set up a practice or forging into an under served area almost immediately after my residency. Also, who knows what'll happen by then with a family or my career path. I just want no regrets.
I will be cold in February, don't doubt that for a second.
Panzer
Ps you will also be arriving in Maine during black fly season. ha ha ha
:p I guess I will at least avoid some of the bugs because of the cold eh? I almost prefer hiking in colder weather since I sweat like a pig doing anything remotely physical. Ugh, black flies are nasty though. Back in my cross country days, I'd come home covered in bites (I think I was a little allergic because they would swell up). Good times. :(
Thanks for the good wishes tiptoe, that's interesting to hear about the log book. I've been pondering this for a while now but really only committed to it a few days ago. For some reason, I'm feeling a lot less stressed out about school in general. :D
-vivek
A 20-22 week thru-hike is a very achievable pace. Look at starting the first or second week of March. There will be the potential for bad weather for the first 6 weeks but after that it's fine until black fly season in NE. Closed end schedules do present added stress.
hikergurl
10-24-2011, 11:04
+1 on doing the trail now and completing however much you can finish in the time you have. It certainly makes things simpler. The other thing I would suggest is actually getting out there and doing it, and not just planning it. I had planned some long term traveling twice, once after college, and once after grad school. Other opportunities came up (school, job), which was great. Were it not for those opportunities, I wouldn't be where I am. But I've now spent the last several years trying to juggle my travel/hiking goals around my career. I also didn't take any summers off and it was a good year and a half before I took a week off for vacation (it took me that long to accumulate the vacation time). I desperately needed it because burnout just about did me in. However, I never could enjoy my vacation because I felt guilty somehow. Now, I am planning long-term trips again. I understand this puts my career and job at risk (esp with the economy as it is), but the thought of being where I am a year from now (or 2 or 3 or however long this low economy is supposed to last) doing the exact same thing (which I've come to learn that I hate), makes me feel miserable.
So when does black fly season start exactly? I've heard it ends in mid-july.
hikergurl- I know the feeling. My summers and breaks have been occupied by classes or extracirriculars and I feel a bit burnt out sometimes too. It's the worst. :( Even if it wasn't a thru-hike, I would definitely need a break from academics after college.
-vivek
I say that unfortunately, if you dont, reality is that you likely wont ever have the chance again until you retire.
Employers and graduate schools dont like to see people take time off to live. You are supposed to be a hardworking focused little robot.
However if you tell them you had to work to put yourself thru school, like co-op, in a field you are studying, thats actually a plus.
I have already told my 12 yr old that it is OK to take a couple semesters off in college and be a ski bum for a winter. He is a straight A student,tested in the 99% percentile, and he is plannning to do so. I wish I had had the opportunity. Some things are more important than school. Like living, doing things you love, when you are the right age, and have the chance that will never come again.
Then when he gets out of school, we will hike the AT together hopefully, before he begins work or graduate school or whatever.
I never took a summer off, never a simester off, no ski-bum winters.. Straight thru college and post grad, got married, raised kids, now consumed by a business and grandkids. duh---go NOW!!
ChinMusic
10-24-2011, 15:53
I never took a summer off, never a semester off, no ski-bum winters.. Straight thru college and post grad, got married, raised kids, now consumed by a business and grandkids. duh---go NOW!!
Pretty much same here to the empty-nester point.
Undergrad, doctorate, service, business, kids, kids gone, turn business over to "kid"......then I play. Coming soon to a trail near you.
I've never hiked in Georgia or North Carolina in February. But when I started hiking north on April 13 in 1993, i found temperatures along the high ridges in the south, were surprisingly similar to the temperatures I had experienced on the same dates along coastal Maine. The trees leaved out about the same time; the blossoms emerged and started to fade on the same dates.
If that pattern follows earlier in the year, I would expect a few near zero nights and routine below freezing nights. I've backpacked in Maine often at such temperatures. But here I was choosing extended weekends based on weather forecasts. I wasn't committed day after day for weeks at a time. In 1993 the April registers were filled with accounts of northbounders being stranded by a blizzard and being forceably removed from the trail by national guardsmen "rescuers."
My advice is to go. But do not expect an easy time early on.
BTW. Most years the black flies in the Maine hills start to arrive around May 20 and largely disappear by the 4th of July. Expect somewhat earlier infestations further south.
Good to know, weary. I guess I'm already aware that this will be quite the challenge and don't expect an easy time in general. If I do fail to complete the trail, I hope its not from circumstances I couldn't control. I think I should try to get some cold weather hiking in later this year. The Superior Hiking Trail in early march should do the trick. :) For anyone who's done the AT and the SHT, I know that the AT has all kinds of terrain but are parts of it comparable to the SHT?
-vivek
mirabela
10-24-2011, 21:22
I think you can do it. For what it's worth, I started March 10, finished August 20, and took about 30 (!) zero days along the way. I was 19, but not in particularly outstanding shape by any stretch, and carrying a lot more than I would be if I were doing it again now. Five months and ten days did not feel rushed at all.
quilteresq
10-24-2011, 21:32
Spend some serious time planning to get your gear weight down - you move a lot faster with less weight. Read some books on ultra light camping. At your age and with a low pack weight, you'll do fine.
Well, the good part is that I tend to obsess on new hobbies and the 2nd time I went up to the SHT, my bpw was down to 13ish pounds with a 4 pound backpack (borrowed). My bpw was 26 pounds the first time around and you're right, the miles just fly by with less weight. Thanks for all the advice guys, it really helps my confidence.
redheadedhiker674
10-26-2011, 00:12
I'm starting late Feb 2013. I need to be done in time for school as well. Let's hike together!
quilteresq
10-26-2011, 09:54
I've found that in NH, between April 28 - May 1. They don't start biting for about five days, though. I have a nylon body stocking I use in May that they can't bite through. It's saved me from a LOT of bites! Got it from Cabela's, and I'll likely take it on my hike. It doesn't work for mosquitos though.
I'm starting late Feb 2013. I need to be done in time for school as well. Let's hike together!
Well, if we're starting at roughly the same time and our plans don't change by then, I don't see any reason not to coordinate a ride to springer together at least. From what I've heard, peoples hiking paces differ and they do naturally find their own hiking groups but I'd be up for starting out together. I'm assuming you're NOBO? Idk if I mentioned but I am male. Not sure if that matters to you.
The Solemates
10-26-2011, 13:04
Hi all,
I've been lurking here for quite a while and really enjoying it. I'm currently a sophomore in college and I'll hopefully be attending medical school immediately after I graduate. I'm planning on graduating a semester early (so I'll be done by late December of 2013) and medical schools generally start in the beginning of August. I love the idea of a thru-hike and really want to do one in that time frame. I think it would be an awesome break for academics and will let me get some actual experience with life.
I don't have a lot of experience hiking (I've done about a week on the superior hiking trail with an 18 mile day in there) but I do plan on getting plenty more (although I don't really have the time to commit to anything longer than a week or two in the summers). I know that I'll need to train and I will have time to train and get in shape by then.
What I'm asking is, when will I have to start to finish comfortably (maybe a week or so) before August? What should I plan for? What should my travel arrangements be in case I don't get to Katahdin in time?
thanks,
vivek
vivek,
several moons ago, we did the exact same thing you are proposing. we allowed 6 months, but knew that it wouldnt take us that long, but I had already hiked 500 miles of the AT and over 1000 miles on other trails before we left Springer. we had significant hiking experience, much of it in winter. we decided to leave 1 Feb and were done with the trail in 5 months just in time to celebrate independence day in bar harbor/acadia.
to give you an idea, of the 150 days on the trail we had 3-5 nights that dropped below 0 degrees F without windchill. it approached double digits below zero one night. we had about 10-12 nights that were in the single digits. we had probably over 50 nights that were below freezing.
we had snow pretty much continuously all the way until the shennies, but the year we went was also a big snow year. It snowed in the shennies, but it didnt stick but a dusting. we had 3 foot drifts in the smokies, and 2 foot drifts in northern TN.
one thing we ran in to that you may want to take into consideration is that a lot of the trail services were still closed for the season. We ran into this early on in the south, not so much in the mid-atlantic, but also once we reached the northeast much stuff was still closed. we didnt care, but some people do so I mention it in case it matters to you.
we had REALLY bad weather crossing part of the presidentials. they actually closed the trail down and 'forbade' you to hike so to speak for 1.5 days. we missed 15 miles and had to go back and do it at a later date. that was mid-late May. once we got to maine, we had a number of nights again that dropped below freezing because it was late May/early June.
we never had any problem with the black flies in maine. I've since been to maine during this time of the year again and never had a problem. I think they are a myth. (just kidding:))
i have done part of the SHT, and let me tell you it is a lot different than the AT. the SHT is a cakewalk. You can easily get your trail legs once on the AT, but try running some stadium stairs or something with a pack on. then after that go immediately to play basketball or do the stairmaster for 2 hours. the SHT will not condition you for the AT.
what the SHT will obviously condition you for, however, is the cold. i suggest that if you plan to leave early on the AT, do a lot of long weekend trips on the SHT in the winter. you will acclimatize to the cold and get used to tromping around in the snow and the little intracacies that go along with winter camping.
in regards to travel arrangements, fly into ATL for the start. plenty of options are available to get to the trailhead. personally, I would get a hostel to come pick me up and take me back to their place. for the end of the trail, I would find someone with a flexible schedule that was willing to come pick you up if you paid their way. that way you dont have to worry about waiting around a long time when you finish, it will be a good several day road trip to try to bring you back into civilization, and if you end up quitting the trail early you dont lose any money etc.
hope that helps. happy hiking.