View Full Version : Minimal Planning
I am wanting to thru hike this year starting mid march and want to do as little planning as possible. Basically I am going to go to Springer and start walking north. I don't have any stops planned at all. I have a guide book that I will take with me so I can do all my planning on the trail. I don't plan on staying in shelters or at hostels at all. I am just wondering if there is anything that I need to know. Is there anywhere that I need to do anything special? Like get a permit or register. I know you need a permit in 2 places but I can get them when I get there. Is there anything that I need to do in advance?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
I am wanting to thru hike this year starting mid march and want to do as little planning as possible. Basically I am going to go to Springer and start walking north. I don't have any stops planned at all. I have a guide book that I will take with me so I can do all my planning on the trail. I don't plan on staying in shelters or at hostels at all. I am just wondering if there is anything that I need to know. Is there anywhere that I need to do anything special? Like get a permit or register. I know you need a permit in 2 places but I can get them when I get there. Is there anything that I need to do in advance?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
You need to get a Smokies permit ahead of time now.
swjohnsey
02-12-2013, 19:15
Get to Springer with enough gear/food to last three days/get you to Neels Gap. Buy your gear there, they will tell you what you need and what you don't. Walk north
If you have a guidebook, 4 days food and have some backpacking experience (i.e. have the right gear more or less) that's about all you need. The rest will be figured out as you go. it really is that simple (except for all those %#@& PUDS).;)
I didn't know that you had to get a permit ahead of time for Smokies. Where can I get one?
I should have mentioned that I have all of my gear already.
Is there anything else that I need to do ahead of time? or can I just get the Smokies permit and figure out the rest on the trail.
Also is it possible to get everything that I need in towns like tp without having to buy in bulk and mailing it ahead? Like is there somewhere that I can buy 1 role of tp, or fuel by the ounce?
Thanks
bigcranky
02-12-2013, 19:33
Right, you can figure out the rest on the trail. Just bring 3+ days of food and start hiking.
You can get the Smokies permit on their web site. Just pay the small fee, and print the permit and take it with you.
If you've got your guidebook, gear and desire you have all you need. Drink lots of water. Pack as light as you can. And do not, by any means wait to buy gear at Neel Gap unless you want to spend a good chunk of your budget before you really get started. Have a wonderful hike.
Desire is the main thing that you need, and it sounds like you have it.
swjohnsey
02-12-2013, 20:12
Folks who use TP mostly steal it along the way.
kayak karl
02-12-2013, 20:38
Folks who use TP mostly steal it along the way. i don't think that's the norm. just the low-lifes.
Folks who use TP mostly steal it along the way.
There is a joke in there somewhere.
What does a thru hiker and a shelter mouse have in common :eek:
There is a joke in there somewhere.
What does a thru hiker and a shelter mouse have in common :eek:
Both carry multiple infectious diseases?
bring your liquor for the NC section - it is hard to get it there
swjohnsey
02-12-2013, 22:43
i don't think that's the norm. just the low-lifes.
I don't use toilet paper so I'll take your word for it.
Lumberjack2003
02-12-2013, 23:07
I started with minimal planning and it was for the best. I saw so many over planners leave the trail in the first few weeks because the Trail did not comply with their expectations. Adapt to the Trail and you will be far better off.
I agree Adapt to the trail cause your plans never work out the way you want them to.
hitch to Amicalola Falls state park near Springer. Stop at the Visitor Center. Buy some Snickers bars and a 1L bottled water. Start hiking north, follow the white blazes. You can buy food along the way. Water available along the trail. You can use an old shower curtain for a tarp or rain jacket too.
... You can use an old shower curtain for a tarp or rain jacket too.
Just because you can does not mean you should. I'm all for not over planning, but come on.
Don't worry bfayer I already have all of my gear besides a down jacket and rain gear. I will not be taking a shower curtain though. I will most likely get dri ducks rain gear.
Thanks.
No worry on my part.
As a disclaimer I am not a thru hiker, so take what I have to say with a gain of salt.
The other guys an here will keep you on the right path (no pun intended).
In my view if you have enough gear to keep you safe, enough money to buy food and a up to date guide book, you should be good to go. No one is alone for long out there so unless you are antisocial there will be plenty of people to help you along.
Enjoy the hike.
I've thought about this topic a lot --- given that I wrote a book aimed at "planner" types (which I am). A lot of people indeed do jump on trail with minimal prep and do fine. Keep in mind, however, that some of those suggesting this approach are folks with a lot of trail experience. It's one thing for someone like that to just jump on the AT and start walking. It's another for someone with little or no hiking experience.
Some with no experience at all will do just great. It's hard to tell. I met a college girl in northern CA on the PCT who had literally never even camped outside before she started the PCT and she was doing great, some 1500 miles along when I hiked with her for a while.
That said, I think that some targeted, intelligent prep can improve the odds of "success" at your first thru-hike attempt. An awful lot of people start the trail intending to thru-hike and don't finish. My personal opinion is that having a sort of prioritized list of most-important prep items can allow you to consciously choose how to spend limited prep time --- and money --- to materially improve your odds.
A thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail is a great test of your adaptability. Most people do not adapt well to ever-changing conditions and so many will not complete their AT thru-hikes. It's more of a matter of accepting the now and how each day passes rather than figuring out ahead of time a schedule and task list.
I too am a planner type and I was pretty well prepared when I started my AT thru-hike (as best as can be done I suppose for something as monumental of a challenge as an AT thru-hike). Still though, it's became a matter of accepting things how they were rather than how you would wish them to be. That was probably one of the major elements that led to me completing my AT thru-hike. -- acceptance of "the is" rather than "the ought-to-be".
Another element was that most of the people I'd encountered on my AT thru-hike had a great sense of humor. Some days I was laughing so much I'd thought I was thru-hiking with professional comedians. That made the rain and mud and blisters not seem so bad.
Datto
One other element -- I met quite a few people who I'd admired. People who had it considerably tougher than I'd had on the AT. People who had injuries and terrible ailments or limited funds or problems that had happened back home. They still kept going regardless -- pushing on through their difficulties. Still kept the drive up to reach for such a goal as having thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail.
It made my own little daily challenges on my AT thru-hike seem so inconsequential.
Datto
fiddlehead
02-13-2013, 19:40
Smart man, the OP.
“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck (http://www.steinbeck.org/MainFrame.html)
Lone Wolf
02-13-2013, 19:46
I am wanting to thru hike this year starting mid march and want to do as little planning as possible. Basically I am going to go to Springer and start walking north. I don't have any stops planned at all. I have a guide book that I will take with me so I can do all my planning on the trail. I don't plan on staying in shelters or at hostels at all. I am just wondering if there is anything that I need to know. Is there anywhere that I need to do anything special? Like get a permit or register. I know you need a permit in 2 places but I can get them when I get there. Is there anything that I need to do in advance?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
thru-hikin' is extremely easy logistically. and really not that tough physically if you're somewhat fit. the only thing i planned was the day i was gonna leave home to travel to georgia. i winged it the whole way. you need no mail drops either
Chuckie V
02-13-2013, 19:50
One other element -- I met quite a few people who I'd admired. People who had it considerably tougher than I'd had on the AT. People who had injuries and terrible ailments or limited funds or problems that had happened back home. They still kept going regardless -- pushing on through their difficulties. Still kept the drive up to reach for such a goal as having thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail. It made my own little daily challenges on my AT thru-hike seem so inconsequential. Datto
I have little of value to add to this thread, other than mentioning that I'm one of those who doesn't really make plans, at least outside a "what to bring" list. And yet my journeys (here and abroad) have all gone off without (too many) a hitch. The key, as a few have said here, is adaptation! Pay the GSMNP permit in advance, without knowing my itinerary? Nah, I'll figure it out en route.
To paraphrase that famous guy, plans are useless (except perhaps as a fire starter), but planning is essential. Or, as Mike Tyson put it, "Everyone has a plan - until they get punched in the face."
Most of all, I wanted to say damn Datto! Yours are always my favorite posts to read! Quite thought-provoking and always well-written.
Tree Nerd
02-13-2013, 21:13
I am going SOBO with little to no planning for the trail. I have a guide book, thats about as far as my planning goes. 95% of my planning/researching went into gear, cloths, food, etc.....Oh, I plan, to plan for a certain start date haha.
Odd Man Out
02-13-2013, 23:31
Seems like people are talking about two different kinds of planning. There is the planning that deals with preparation, such as selecting appropriate gear and knowing how to use it, being prepared to deal with emergencies, getting yourself in shape, etc. Then there is advance planning of the hike itself, such planing in advance how many miles you will hike every day, where you will sleep, preparing mail drops with all the necessary gear and food so they are at the right time and place, etc... I'm all in favor of preparation (except for maybe the getting in shape part), but would rather skip the hike planning and just get the the trail head and start walking.
fredmugs
02-14-2013, 13:43
Seems like people are talking about two different kinds of planning. There is the planning that deals with preparation, such as selecting appropriate gear and knowing how to use it, being prepared to deal with emergencies, getting yourself in shape, etc. Then there is advance planning of the hike itself, such planing in advance how many miles you will hike every day, where you will sleep, preparing mail drops with all the necessary gear and food so they are at the right time and place, etc... I'm all in favor of preparation (except for maybe the getting in shape part), but would rather skip the hike planning and just get the the trail head and start walking.
I agree with this. You don't need a lot of planning to get from Point A to Point B. Preparation > Planning