Thru-hike question #1 of 1,000,000

[Bucephelos]

So as the title suggests, this is my first post of what I'm sure will be many regarding my (hopeful) thru-hike next spring. Just a little background info to start: I initially planned to do the AT after I graduated college ('01), and did all the requisite reading and research that is involved. Unfortunately (or not), by the time graduation rolled around, furthering my education and focusing on my career had taken precedence and the thru-hike got pushed to the back burner. Fast forward some 10+ years, and I find myself infinitely less enthusiastic about my career (read: "burned out") and looking for an opportunity to take a break to gain some perspective and to reassess my life and my options. A few weeks ago the idea of doing the AT resurfaced, and as I am still single with no kids/mortgage/shackles, i figure why not, right? So thats where I am right now. Like I said, I did a ton of reading and am pretty well familiar with the 'conventional wisdom' associated with a thru-hike, but as that was mostly 10 years ago I am sure much has changed.

So for my first question, I would like some opinions on the structure of my hike. The initial idea was to do a nobo hike starting from springer in the early spring. The "classic", if you will. But a few factors have me considering alternatives. The first is money. I've run the numbers, and while it's certainly feasible that I'll be financially prepared for a thru-hike an extra month or two to save will certainly help. So instead of a March or April start from spring, I'm thinking about a May or June start from farther up, perhaps Damascus or Harpers Ferry. It of course nixes the dramatic finish at Katahdin, but I think it might also be advantageous for avoiding the worst of the crowds and freezing my tush off in the Smokies. And with as much as I work, I doubt I'll have much opportunity for pre-hike conditioning. I figure VA-MD-PA will be an easier place to "ease into it". So . . . Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Any and all input is appreciated.

[max patch]

Trail Days is always the weekend after Mothers Day. So they'll be a ton of thrus in Damascus then. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is a matter of your individual perspective.

[Odd Man Out]

I had to Google it - Bucephelos - Alexander the Great's horse!

Anyway, your proposed hike is analyzed quite thoroughly here. Read down to "head start May or June". It has all the advantages you cite.

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hiking/thru-section-hiking/when-where-to-start

[MuddyWaters]

How might you feel starting there, meeting new people every day, but not being able to keep up with them.? That could have a slightly demoralizing effect.

[Slo-go'en]

SW VA is a lot harder then you'd think. Look at a map and you'll see that's where the Appalachian ridge line takes a sudden shift to the left and gets broken up. It's not until up into the Shenandoah's that VA becomes "easy".

Do yourself a favor and start at Springer early April, between the 1st and the 14th. This puts you near the back of the bubble, but is already starting to thin out up ahead of you.

It also gives you the best spring weather during the time all the flowering trees, bushes and wild flowers are blooming, which makes that area so special. Oh, and the air is still pretty clear so the views are good. After the middle of May the humidity starts producing a lot of hazy days, so the views aren't as good. But by then your into VA and don't really care anymore.

[Datto]

Starting at Springer Mountain, GA is a much better alternative than trying to start in the middle (Damascus, VA or Waynesboro, VA or Harper's Ferry, WV).

The social aspect of an Appalachian Trail thru-hike is one of the most pleasant aspects -- if you start at Springer you'll likely meet some of the people you'll eventually summit Katahdin with six months later (if you start in the middle, those same people will likely be blowing past you at a 20 mile per day clip so you'd never be able to keep up). Also, starting at Springer Mountain, GA puts continuity into an AT thru-hike and to me, gives more individual purpose on those difficult days, for whatever reason, that you'll occasionally experience along the Trail.

Starting in the first couple of weeks of April will likely get you out of most of the snow and still give you enough time to reach Katahdin as a single continuous journey.


Datto

[OzJacko]

I understand your concern but to some extent I think the whole "crowd" thing is what makes the AT so appealling.
If you want a great hike without crowds the PCT looks a more awe inspiring one for scenery.
If you want to push out to June to save more dollars then why not a standard Southbound?
From my experiences so far, the things that will stand out greatest in your memories and experiences is the interactions (good and bad but mostly good) that you have with others.
If you are "seeking yourself" most people trying to do this actually have their "epiphanies" from their discourse with others, mixed with the solitude to reflect on things.

In short, I say go with the crowd. Hikes can be had all over the world. The AT "social" experience is largely unique.

[OzJacko]

Oh by the way.
Your name I at least didn't have to google.:)
I have long lamented in my family the "patchy" way memory works and have complained so often that I can remember from my childhood that Bucephalus (the spelling I learnt) was Alexander the Great's horse but I can't remember where I put the car keys last night.
As a result I have 3 grown children and a wife who also can tell you who Bucephalus was.:D

[Monkeywrench]

SW VA is a lot harder then you'd think. Look at a map and you'll see that's where the Appalachian ridge line takes a sudden shift to the left and gets broken up. It's not until up into the Shenandoah's that VA becomes "easy".

And, of course, much of the reason VA is considered easy by thru-hikers is because they've been walking for weeks and weeks before they get there, and are fully in thru-hiker condition.

I've revisited a few "easy" sections of the AT since my thru-hike, and somehow there were a lot more hills than I remember, and they were much tougher.

[RWheeler]

First off, good call on holding off on the AT for the sake of education and career. I hope you aren't holding it against yourself that you didn't do the AT in '01. A lot of people here would tell you to be responsible. I did a thru attempt last year because my work options weren't there - so I looked at it then as an opportunity. However, when a potential job surfaced while I was on the trail, I left.

Think about how much money you have - is the extra time to get more "cushion" fund, or money that's actually critical to making the hike period?

Also, think about what you want to get from the hike. Would not finishing on Katahdin be a letdown for you? Or would having to skip out on bar trips and only staying in towns occasionally make the overall trip too unpleasant to enjoy the entirety of the hike?

Also, what does your gear list look like? What kind of weight will you be carrying? That does sort of have impact on this as well.

[moldy]

Other than the trail itself or personal physical problems like sore or damaged body parts, The top 5 list of trail misery's for most of us, or the things most "Trail Journal" hikers complain about in the course of a thru-hike are: #1 Rain #2 Bugs #3 Heat #4 Cold #5 Water. Crowds and Being too Alone are usually down the list. We all have our own list. During a thru-hike you will see almost every one of the top 5. By adjusting the start date and start location you can mitigate some of the misery. Starting in Virginia in June has you walking into Heat, Bugs and Water problems from the start. By starting in Springer in April you can avoid for 2 months (with a little help from the weatherman) the problems of bugs, heat and water in trade for the possibiity of cold. By June you could be 800 to 1200 miles North, by July you could be finding some relief by the cooler altitudes of New England. I say "mitigate the misery" and start from Springer in April

[Datto]

Between now and your AT thru-hike start date you might be able to get past the job burnout ramifications you've mentioned by focusing on these items to get you better prepared for your AT thru-hike:

1) Save $5,000 in cash for use beginning on the day you fly to Georgia to the day you return from Katahdin. Any costs outside of that time frame or costs back home are not included in the $5,000.

2) Do overnight hikes three out of four weekends per month between now and when you start your AT thru-hike -- these should be overnight hiking trips where you carry your full backpack and hike 10 miles during the day and reach a different camp area at night, not camping trips where you've parked the car next to a tent. When you plan these trips, go regardless of the weather -- plan to hike in the rain since that is something you'll be facing quite a bit of on the Appalachian Trail.

3) If you're someone who does daily exercises, put your full backpack on your back and when you can do a treadmill workout at 3.2 miles per hour at 6% upslope for a continuous 45 minute period, you'll be close to being in physical shape to handle the physical rigors of hiking the terrain in the state of Georgia. If you decide to southbound, well, a treadmill will never get you to the point where you'll be prepared for the rigors heading south from Katahdin.

4) Make sure you focus on having all your personal relationships straightened out as much as possible between now and when you start your AT thru-hike (SO, parents, wife, employer, siblings, close friends). Don't have people plan to come out to the AT and hike with you (they're not going to want to do the miles like you are going to want to do and you're not going to want to slow down to their just-out-of-a-cubicle-couch pace). Instead, if people want to come out and join you on the AT, have them meet you in Damascus, VA for Trail Days (usually the first weekend after Mother's Day in mid-May) or in Harper's Ferry, WV (you can take a side trip into Washington, DC with them for a couple of days of visiting or just visit in Harper's Ferry).

Here's a link to my Datto's AT Thru-hiking Tips that may provide useful information:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php?181-Datto-s-AT-Thru-Hiking-Tips



Datto

[Blissful]

Just do a flip flop - HF to Katahdin, HF to Springer. Start usually late April, early May.

[SassyWindsor]

Fortunately, or maybe not, you'll receive 5 million answers for your 1 million questions.

[brian039]

Here's my take. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, start from Springer and hike with the herd. The stuff you hear about the crowds is exaggerated 10X over. There will be crowds in Georgia then it starts to thin out considerably and bottle necks in the Smokies again. After the Smokies you'll be wondering where everybody went and see the crowds around Damascus again. After that, the "crowds" (it's a big stretch to even use that term) are gone. You'll make so many friends from the crowds and probably see some pretty ridiculous and entertaining stuff as well. It's part of the experience.

I started in late March and made it to the Smokies in May, which is pretty average. I had 5 days of warm, perfect weather plus the wildflowers and Dogwoods had just bloomed, I wouldn't want to miss that.

VA isn't easy except for a really short section around Damascus and in the North, I think you're better off breaking-in in Georgia.

Last thing, I ain't sayin' it's right, but you kind of get ostracized a bit if you're not doing the traditional NOBO or SOBO thing. If you're flip-flopping around you just haven't had the same experience as everyone else and it's harder to fit in (this is what I've heard from several long-distance section hikers and flip-floppers).

[MuddyWaters]

Credit Cards.

[max patch]

Your name I at least didn't have to google.:)


I didn't either.

He is obviously a Hank Williams Jr fan who can't spell.

[evyck da fleet]

Wait until you have enough money to complete your trip. There's no reason to have that hanging over your head the whole way. Start at Springer and if you need to flip because of a late start then flip. Harpers Ferry is a great choice but not the only place you can flip. The two hardest parts of the trail for most people are the part of in NH/ME overseen by the AMC and wherever you start.
The crowd aspect is overrated. If you start in March it bottlenecks in the Smokies. It also bottlenecks north of Damascus when everyone leaves Trail Days. Otherwise you're likely run into people who are similar minded to you in that they enjoy hiking the trail and are trying to complete a thru hike. Most will go to bed early and get up early and if you meet someone you want to avoid in the future its pretty easy to find another place to set up your shelter.

[Bucephelos]

Hey, thanks everyone for taking the time to comment. Seems to be a lot of support for starting at Springer, regardless. So when do you all think the "cutoff" will be for starting from GA? May 1? May 15? Looking at the calendar it looks like I could probably swing a late April/ early May start. Do you all think the benefits of being in the "Nobo Club" outweigh the pressure of making it to Katahdin by oct 15?

[max patch]

For the vast majority of hikers I've always considered 5/1 to be the last day one should start a NOBO with the expectation of finishing without doing a flip flop.

[Odd Man Out]

Hey, thanks everyone for taking the time to comment. Seems to be a lot of support for starting at Springer, regardless. So when do you all think the "cutoff" will be for starting from GA? May 1? May 15? Looking at the calendar it looks like I could probably swing a late April/ early May start. Do you all think the benefits of being in the "Nobo Club" outweigh the pressure of making it to Katahdin by oct 15?

Actually, it seems that many comments don't say "start at Springer regardless". They are saying start at Springer with the NOBO crowd which doesn't really accommodate the conditions of your Original Post (OP). If you you start at Springer in June (when you have saved enough $), you will not be with the crowd anyway and you will be walking in more heat down south and mid Atlantic. You'll probably have to flip flop anyway, any your interaction with most of the NOBO crowd will be to wave as they walk by going opposite directions (so much for the social aspect). We are always preaching "Hike your own hike" or HYOH, but in reality we hear "I ain't sayin' it's right, but you kind of get ostracized a bit if you're not doing the traditional NOBO or SOBO thing.".

I think your idea of starting your hike when you are financially ready is a great idea. I personally think the notion that you really should wait until you can do a traditional NOBO hike because it "normal" is less of a great idea. You can decide for yourself, but I am not all that interested in socializing with people who would ostracize me because I chose to HMOH. If I had to start in June, I would start at HF. Yes, the NOBO's will be flying past me, but I get to start on an easier part of the trail in better weather. As I see it, I get two climactic finishes (one for each half), and I'll be hiking south with the fall colors and the SOBOs to finish at Springer.

[brian039]

Hey, thanks everyone for taking the time to comment. Seems to be a lot of support for starting at Springer, regardless. So when do you all think the "cutoff" will be for starting from GA? May 1? May 15? Looking at the calendar it looks like I could probably swing a late April/ early May start. Do you all think the benefits of being in the "Nobo Club" outweigh the pressure of making it to Katahdin by oct 15?

I think so, but I don't feel so strongly about it that I would be adamant about convincing someone otherwise if it messed up an opportunity for them to do it a better way for them. Money is the most important thing and the most likely thing to take you off the trail once you get past Damascus, so that's the most important thing to consider.

Looking back at my hike it was all about the friends that I made. There's something about meeting someone in Georgia and not seeing them again until Maine and having a glorious reunion and catching up on all the adventures. Or running into the same people all the way up the trail. It's a second family. I don't know how to describe how you can instantaneously become best friends with someone you just met. The trail is the only place that has ever happened for me. I want everybody in the world to be able to experience that so that's where my motives lie just so you know.

You can still do it without too much pressure with a late April start. Next time I hike the trail I would start April 25th, I would feel that pressure you're talking about if I was to start early May. With the late April start, it still allows you a slow start and you can still take zeros, you just have to be smart about when you take them. But an injury would be hard to overcome if it took you off the trail for a week. You'll need to make your miles once you get past that tough central VA section and keep it up, then you can slow down again in NH if you have the time. And you would be finishing in the New England fall, something I missed because I started in late March, which is why if I had to do it all over again, I would have started a month later.

[handlebar]

I see you're in California. If avoiding the expense of a one-way trip to GA would ease your financial considerations, and, at the risk of being accused of blasphemy, might I suggest the alternative of a PCT nobo thru hike beginning about the last week of April. While I loved the AT thru hike experience I found the PCT to be a spectacular hike scenery wise. Waiting until late April/May to start the AT will put you in the "long, green tunnel" from close to your start. Starting the PCT near the "herd" the last weekend in April allowed much of the social experience one finds on the AT. Plus, the PCT is easier hiking. Although the PCT is longer (2650 vs. 2180 mi.), I completed it in five months. The AT took me 6 mos.: I started Mar 15 and, after taking 3 weeks off due to injury, I summited on Oct 3.