View Full Version : Meeting up with friends while thru-hiking—advice?
Blackett
09-16-2012, 18:12
I'm planning a NOBO thru-hike for the first time for spring 2013 and some of my friends and family would like to join me for a few weeks at different times throughout the year. Could you please share some advice on how to do this? How would you suggest getting in touch with them / letting them know where I am? How should they get to and from the trail to meet me?
Thanks! I look forward to your response.
kayak karl
09-16-2012, 18:19
the trail does go thru towns and many road crossings, use a phone to contact them?
,but the farther you get on the trail, the faster you will hike. having a person hike with me was like dragging an anchor. i just spent extra time in town with them.
yellowsirocco
09-16-2012, 18:44
You will be miserable because you are having to slow down for them and you lose your friends you have been hiking with.
They will be miserable because even though you are dragging they still can't keep up with you.
Maybe your friends can slack-pack you and y'all can stay in town a few nights. You can still keep up with your trail buddies and still spend time with your town friends.
HikerMom58
09-16-2012, 18:46
Awesome..... that's cool that your friends and family want to join you at some point along your hike. :) It's not uncommon at all. Just like KK said, you'll go through towns many road crossing where you can meet up with them. Make sure they have good maps and the A.T. guide book so they can see where you are and good places to meet up. Yeah, using a phone to contact them would work the BEST.
Cookerhiker
09-16-2012, 18:55
One good place to meet is Harpers Ferry. Your friends can fly or take AMTRAK to DC and catch the daily AMTRAK Capitol Limited to HF or one of the weekday-only Maryland commuter trains. It's about 124 miles to Duncannon where they can get a shuttle to Harrisburg and AMTRAK home. The 124 mile aren't particularly difficult but as others have said, you'll still have to slow your pace down somewhat.
as others have said...it seems like a great idea. However, no matter how in shape your friends may be, they will not be able to hike with you after your first 5 -6 weeks on. it's ok to slow down for a day or two or three but this is not a good idea as others have suggested. If they want to hike with you, do it from Springer or very early on when you will be going slow.
I would not plan this. I met my wife for a few days during my thru hike and my only thought was being back on the trail. As far as hiking with a "civilian", unless you are puttering along at a snails pace or they are in great shape it will be stressful for most. I had some folks that were going to meet me at a predetermined spot and it put additional stress trying to maintain a pace to keep me on schedule for the meeting. It ended up not happening due to a slowdown in the Sierra.
Slo-go'en
09-16-2012, 20:29
The biggest problem is trying to arrange to be at some specific place at some specific time. You will end up either having to wait around for them to show up or trying to get there in time to meet them. Maybe they can drop everything at a moments notice to meet you someplace, but chances are good they will need some advance notice, like a week or two. And knowing where you'll be in a week or two is pretty hard to say for sure.
Anyway, what usually happens is they "say" they want to meet up and hike with you, but when push comes to shove, they always seem to have other commitments instead...
Lone Wolf
09-16-2012, 21:00
I'm planning a NOBO thru-hike for the first time for spring 2013 and some of my friends and family would like to join me for a few weeks at different times throughout the year. Could you please share some advice on how to do this? How would you suggest getting in touch with them / letting them know where I am? How should they get to and from the trail to meet me?
Thanks! I look forward to your response.
i would not meet them.
I had a couple of friends and my son who wanted to hike with me so I skipped a short section near my home. When I finished I did that last section with them. It worked out well, they got to hike with me and I got to do the last of the trail at a nice leisurely pace. And the best part was that the rest of my family could be at the finish line with me since it was close to where we live.
Since you're from RI you could skip a section in MA and come back and do that after you finish.
Mountain Mike
09-16-2012, 22:28
I would look for places you could slackpack with them with car at either end. As mentioned previously you will be in great shape. Most normal hikers can't keep up. Shenandoahs might be a good spot where they could hike with you some & meet you a bit farther at end of the day. Between BRP & Skyline Trail it provides a cushion of planning where trail as many meeting points.
A friend of mine wanted to join me for a couple of weeks, so she started from Springer with me. I took my first off day while waiting for her ride home. It worked out extremely well. I had company when I needed it the most, and there was never any sense of slowing down to keep up for the non-thru hiker.
Whenever I've met friends who are thru-hiking, I've never tried to hike with them- I think it would be very difficult to keep up.
All of the above is true and I don't think anyone has mentioned yet how they will be wrinkling their nose up at your smell.
Best bet is to take the slackpack options suggested (so they get some appreciation of what you're doing) and/or take a zero or two and let them put you up somewhere where you can eat big and wash thoroughly (not in that order or you'll eat alone).:D
swjohnsey
09-17-2012, 09:49
Most of the folks who say they will hike with you won't.
Blackett
09-18-2012, 08:17
Thanks for all the good advice!! There are some people I'll probably be happy to slow down for and others I won't...I guess I will be slackpacking with them at either end or from Harper's Ferry.
HikerMom58
09-18-2012, 09:33
Good to hear your opinion about the comments. After reading most of the comments, I really wanted to ask you if you would be happy to slow down for hiking friends/family. A lot of the comments assumed that would not be the case. Gezzzzzzzz! :) Have a great time out there!!
Meeting up with folks who want to hike with you is a problem for a thru-hiker. The first problem is where to meet up. I'm sure they want to meet on their terms and time. Like, I can't meet you during the week, because I'm at school or work. The second problem is that they will only want to hike in nice weather and it it isn't nice they will cancel at the last minute. The third problem is you conquer problem # 1 & 2 they will not be able to keep up with your hiking pace. These problems are only a few that came to mind. Do some deep thought before you make plans for others to join you.
During my thru I also had many requests from family and friends to come out and hike with my. I live in Connecticut and the trail is about 75 mi. from my home. I deliberately skiped a 5 mi. section of the trail in CT. When I finished my hike I invited all my friends and family to come to the trail to hike my final 5 miles to complete my AT hike. I had about 60 folks show up. About 40 joined me in hiking my final 5 miles. After we had a party to celebrate. It was the best celebration you could imagine.
Blackett:
Since you are from Rhode Island, I will give some suggestions about New England spots. They could meet you in Salisbury, CT and hike with you from Rt. 41 to Lion's Head and back or to Bear Mountain and back. Could camp with you in any of a number of spots in that part of the Taconics, on the CT or Mass side. If they're in really good shape, a way you can help them keep up with you is for them to carry no pack if only hiking for the day and to drink water that you carry - water in that area is usually plentiful, though not always - got pretty dry there this July.
Another spot which would be fun would be for them to join you at Greylock, parking near the summit. They could hike with you for a while and turn back or, if you camp somewhere up there - Wilbur Clearing or Mark Noepel come to mind - could overnight with you, hiking part of the day and enjoying some time with you. If more than one friend, they could do a two car spot, say one in Cheshire or up in Greylock Reservation and another in North Adams, and y'all could have some town fun in Williamstown if you like.
A Stratton loop with you would be a treat for a friend - meet you at Stratton-Arlington trailhead, hike over the mountain and do the fire tower thing, down to the Pond for the night. You could head north from there and they could hike out four miles or so back to their car through beautiful country, or again a two-car spot with another car up to the north at 11/30 between Manchester and Bromley Mtn.
It all depends on your friends' capabilities, finances, wants and needs. They could drive or train it up to Washington, meet you there and drive you down to town or hike with you to Madison Spring Hut (they'd need to pay but you might get work-for-stay) and turn back the next day to Big W, going back down by the way they came up. Could meet you at the summit of Little Haystack and do a loop, parting company with you at Lafayette.
Lots of possibilities. The part about their slowing you down is important to keep in mind. Read some trail journals - through-hiking is a different state of mind, very different from weekend hiking. The average thru has to average, including off days and short days, 15 miles per day, every day. That's a lot of hiking, and the legs, body and mind of a thru are an intense, efficient hiking machine. Even in-shape friends who work out daily will be hard-pressed to keep up with you.
During my thru I also had many requests from family and friends to come out and hike with my. I live in Connecticut and the trail is about 75 mi. from my home. I deliberately skiped a 5 mi. section of the trail in CT. When I finished my hike I invited all my friends and family to come to the trail to hike my final 5 miles to complete my AT hike. I had about 60 folks show up. About 40 joined me in hiking my final 5 miles. After we had a party to celebrate. It was the best celebration you could imagine.
That is a great idea! I can already tell you the stretch of trail I'd set aside like this - would hike the Paradise Lane/Undermountain option around Bear, leaving the Bear traverse as my last bit - would hike up and down from Paradise Lane north junction with A.T. so I'd finish at Bear's summit cairn. From there to Undermountain/Riga Junction was the first bit of A.T. I ever did, so it would be fun to finish there at the rock pile.
Mind if I ask, Grampie, what was your finishing segment?
I had lunch today with a group of friends including the one who hiked a 30 mile section with me last year. He was describing to everyone how I just about killed him hiking so hard and how tough the trail is. He said "you wouldn't believe how steep the mountains are how rocky the trail is!"
The section we did was in Maryland.
If your friends survive they will never forget the experience.