Is there a chart of approximate number of starters by day/week?

[dbfield]

It sounds like there are crowds in April, which I would like to avoid. However, I don't want to be completely alone. Is there a sweet spot for not too many/not too few people starting out? I would prefer starting around the first of March, but could also wait until mid or late March (if I have the patience!).

Thanks for any advice!

[Mountain Mike]

Mt Squid has one in here http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?83075-2013-Thru-Hike-Registry But it appears to be down right now.

[Praha4]

anytime around middle April, crowds will be much smaller, more space in shelters.... but still plenty of NOBOs you can meet and socialize with. And if you are fast enough, you'll be passing some of the March starters soon enough

[moldy]

If you start in Early March you could stay ahead of the pack and outdistance them quite easily. By Lake May the pack is thinned considerably.

[Malto]

Haven't seen breakout by day but here is an earlier post by map man. Maybe it will help


04-28-2011, 00:44

In the study I did of northbound thru-hikers in my "Hiking Rates" article here at WB I've looked at the classes of 2001 through 2010 so far (240 thru-hikes in total). Here's how their departure dates broke down by month of departure:

Jan. - Feb.: 13%
March: 60%
April: 24%
May or later: 3%

These numbers are a pretty good match for Mountain Squid's numbers. I can't comment on how that has changed since earlier eras because I don't have access to a large number of hiking journals from earlier times.

I think that March start dates have become somewhat self-perpetuating because so many hikers value the social aspect of the thru-hike experience. Some worry that if they start outside of the six week window from, say, Feb. 25 through April 7, that there won't be enough other thru-hikers around that are good hiking-partner matches in terms of hiking speed and temperament. With 30 people a day leaving Springer for much of March it's easier to find a pod to hike in.

[SCRUB HIKER]

You can avoid crowds at any time of the year. You may not be able to avoid actually seeing people on the trail as you hike, or (especially) in town stops, but otherwise you're free to walk and camp as you please. The crowd thing is overblown on WhiteBlaze because a disproportionate amount of the regulars can remember 25 years ago when there really were less people on the trail. To them, everything is more crowded, and by extension less great, than it used to be.

I started on a day--April 3, 2011--when 50 people claiming thru-hike attempts left Springer, there were 30 tents outside Hawk Mtn. Shelter, and I camped alone my first night, on top of Justus Mountain. I could have kept that up indefinitely if I wanted, but I made some friends soon afterward and then I usually had company. But any time I wanted to be alone, from Georgia to Maine, I found it very easy to be so. People will respect you if you want to hike or camp alone for some length of time.

Buried somewhere deep in this thread on introverted thru-hikers (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?69271-Introverted-thru-hikers) (which ironically is filled with all sorts of idle palaver) is good advice on how to keep to yourself if you want to. I know I read it all right before I went out on the trail. Good luck on your hike.

[mountain squid]

Mt Squid has one in here http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?83075-2013-Thru-Hike-Registry But it appears to be down right now.I also noticed that the actual spreadsheet is not opening. I'll give it another day or so and if it isn't back up I'll notify attroll. I suspect something happened during the upgrade.

See you on the trail,
mt squid

some observations (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?14493-observations-from-fs42-(advice-for-first-week-on-trail)&highlight=)

[mountain squid]

Here's how their departure dates broke down by month of departure:

Jan. - Feb.: 13%
March: 60%
April: 24%
May or later: 3%
Once the spreadsheet is viewable again you'll definitely notice that Mar is the busiest month by far. Mar 1st, Mar 15th and Apr 1st are the busiest single days. Weekends are also busy.

See you on the trail,
mt squid

some observations (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?14493-observations-from-fs42-(advice-for-first-week-on-trail)&highlight=)

[mountain squid]

It sounds like there are crowds in April, which I would like to avoid. However, I don't want to be completely alone. Is there a sweet spot for not too many/not too few people starting out? I would prefer starting around the first of March, but could also wait until mid or late March (if I have the patience!).

Thanks for any advice!There are crowds in Apr. See my some observations (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?14493-observations-from-fs42-(advice-for-first-week-on-trail)&highlight=) thread for some historical data for the first week of Apr.

Probably some time in Feb I'll start a 'starting soon' thread, highlighting hiker start dates from the spreadsheet. Here is 2012s thread (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?81114-starting-soon).

I would start the 2nd week of Apr sometime . . . and not on the weekend . . .

Good Luck and Have Fun!

See you on the trail,
mt squid

[JAK]

The only hiker you can't escape is yourself, so you might as well learn to get along.

[hikerbee]

Here's one in a spreadsheet format: http://www.whiteblaze.net/cmps.php?page=2013thruhikers
It's under "Articles", then "Whiteblaze thru-hikers"

[Carry-On]

I started April 19th, 2012, on a weekday. Saw many people at shelters at lunch time and at night. One night I heard there were almost thirty hikers at the shelter because it rained heavily. I was in my tent getting heavily rained on, but at least twenty of those hikers at the shelter had to tent and hammock around the shelter anyway, and got rained on as much as I did. Sometimes I chose to be social and hang around the shelters, sometimes I chose to move along and be solo. Totally depended on my mood and the people and my goals for the day.

[snowblind]

If crowds are really that concerning, you could always, I don't know, go SouthBound!