Thru Hike - Flip Flop starting May 2007

[Miss Daisy]

There are 2 of us (pending retirees) in Carlisle, PA planning a thru hike starting Mid May in 2007. We are planning to flip flop at Boiling Springs due to the later start. We are both approaching 50 and want to find one or 2 others to hike at a more leisurely pace...we want to each "hike our own pace" but have a "group" for the shelters and campsites. Only 23 months to plan!!!! Let me know if you are interested and we can correspond. Both of us are veteran hikers and have done sections of the AT. :sun Miss Daisy

[ksdave48]

Hi Miss Daisy. Congratulations on making the decision for 2007. I am curious about your expected schedule. Places, dates, completion, etc. Is there a "best" flip flop plan?

[Miss Daisy]

Well, I'm not sure about a BEST plan but the one we are planning on using (so far there are 2 definites, one probable and one possible hikers)....we are leaving mid-May because one of our definites retires then. So that makes us later and as we are all around 50 (give or take a couple of years) we don't want to have to run to Maine to make Baxter State Park in time...thus the flip flop. If the average of 12 miles a day holds, we figure we will hit Boiling Springs, PA in late July and will then catch a ride up to Maine. Two of us live about 5 miles from Boiling Springs. We hope to make it back to Bubbletown (Boiling Springs) by end of November. We are also planning one day off a week for recuperation. We got the 2004 books and laid out a general plan but will meet in the summer of 2006 to lay out the real OPLAN (realizing the best laid plans need to be flexible). In the interim, we are all updating our equipment (my pack, bag and mats are ancient)....and I am seriously looking at a Hennessey hammock ...planning on getting one the end of the summer and doing some short fall trips with it. So...that's where we are at at this stage (oh, and the saving $ stage....)...............I am messing around with the food dehydrator (my husband loves eating dehydrated, reconstituted food once a week :confused: ) trying to perfect a few recipes for the drop boxes. Have you priced the deydrated food lately? Egads! Surely cheaper to do this ourselves. If anyone has any ideas, we'll take them....though all of us backpack (some more regularly than others)....only one has done more than a 6 week hike....my longest was through Great Britain (6 weeks) but I'm not sure that counts as my husband and I were a lot younger and ate and drank our way through it....it really wasn't roughing it going from pub to pub:clap ! And using Britrail for some of it! The longest "rough hike" for me was 2 weeks. But, I figure if one can 2 weeks, one can do 6 months...(just 12 2-week trips)....:D

Miss Daisy

Hi Miss Daisy. Congratulations on making the decision for 2007. I am curious about your expected schedule. Places, dates, completion, etc. Is there a "best" flip flop plan?

[TooUnfazed]

Hi Miss Daisy,

I live in Eagleville, PA and am interested in a thru-hike with others in 2007. I'll be 50 by then, prefer the leisurely style of hiking, was considering a solitary thru-hike next year but am a bit concerned about camping alone for an extended period--I'm looking for hikers interested in starting out in the South in March, and hiking thru. I'm also considering the Hennessey Hammock for my gear. Right now my boyfriend and I are practicing overnights and carrying big packs, sorting down our gear and weight in section hikes. Amazing what you can do without. My theme is also going to be trail sprouting and searching for edible plants, plus I also do my own dehydrating. My species is "Vegie-Tarin" but we don't bite so we can share the forest with other species.

[Spirit Walker]

A suggestion - instead of starting at Springer in mid-May, you might consider starting in Virginia, even Harper's Ferry, hike north to Katahdin, and then go south. The terrain is a bit easier, and you won't be dealing with southern heat and humidity for the first few months. The trail in Georgia gets very hot and overgrown in the summer. By starting mid-way you will be able to meet more thruhikers as you will be part of both the northbound group and the southbound group. You will be able to experience autumn in New England as well as autumn in the Smokies. We had friends who did that and really felt that it was the best of both worlds. NOBO without the crowds (they've thinned out by Virginia) and SOBO without the blackflies.

[The Solemates]

Id have to agree with spiritwalker. id start at harpers.