Hiking Rates for Southbounders

[map man]

I just submitted an article looking at characteristics of Southbound thru-hikes just like the article I did for Northbound thru-hikes a few years ago. Here is a link to it:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php?697-Southbound-AT-Hiking-Rates

You can also find the article by clicking on "AT Data and Schedules" in the articles side bar in the left hand column of the WB home page. It turns out there are significant differences in the hiking rates and zero day propensities of NOBOs and SOBOs.

I want to thank Ric (attroll) for helping me out after I spent several hours typing my article into the article editor and it disappeared into the ether when I tried to submit it. He spent some time that evening and the next morning figuring out how to bring it back, much to my relief.

[lowerdegrl]

Fantastic information, Thank you

[poopsy]

I can't help but think that the fear of climbing Katahdin gets SOBO's in better shape before their hikes. Is this possible? Thanks for doing this. I really appreciate the grist for the mill.

[lukabrazi]

Thanks for this. It is really helpful.

[wcgornto]

I hiked SOBO in 2009. Compared to my experience, your data is pretty spot on. I took 169 days from Katahdin to Springer, including 18 zero days. Two factors put me at a higher total count of days than the 151 day average that you show: 1) It rained and rained and rained in Maine and New Hampshire. I believe this slowed down the SOBO pack on the northern end of the trail compared to a less rainy year. 2) I deliberately reduced my pace somewhat from southern Virginia onward. I was in no hurry to finish. I could have comfortably finished around two weeks sooner, but I didn't have a schedule driving me to be anywhere at a set date and I was having a lot of fun.

Overall, as I completed my SOBO hike, I passed only a couple of SOBO hikers that started ahead of me and I had a lot of SOBO hikers that started later pass me somewhere along the way. I know of one who started within a couple of days of my start date who finished in four and a half months. I know of several others who finished in five months. There were a few of us who finished in five and a half months.

My MPD average was 12.9 miles including zero days, 14.4 without. South of New Hampshire, my MPD was 14.4 with zeros, 15.9 without. My overall MPD did not climb above 10.0 until I reached Salisbury, CT, largely because of the pervasive rain through ME, NH and VT.

Anyway, thanks for the analysis. It looks pretty accurate.

[map man]

2) I deliberately reduced my pace somewhat from southern Virginia onward. I was in no hurry to finish.

I think you really put your finger on the main way your hike differed from a typical SOBO thru-hike with this reason. It was remarkable to me as I read through the journals how SOBOs often got "Springer fever" in the last third of their hike. They hardly slowed down at all in the southern Appalachian mountains, even as the days got shorter and the weather got worse. They definitely cut down on how often they took zero days toward the end. Moreover, Southbounders took 15 fewer days, on average, to cover the Waynesboro to Springer segment than Northbounders did. I'm glad you enjoyed your last weeks on the trail hiking it your own way, and I appreciate your kind words about my study!