Zero days

[TwoSpirits]

I am in the very early beginning stages of planning a solo SOBO for next year, with a tentative goal to finish at Springer on November 21st. (I say tentative because that date is purely about "sentimental" reasons: that will be my 52nd birthday :) Although I would like very much to finish on that date, it is not carved in stone. My main goal is to simply FINISH!) I have read Map Man's recent article with statistics for SOBO's (awesome; thank you very much!) and I relate myself to the average, so I can see that completing a SOBO within my preliminary time frame is definitely "do-able".

Map Man's stats show that the average number of SOBO Zero days was about 17. My question for thru-hikers is about their Zero days: Did you find that you took more Zeros than you originally planned? What kind of circumstances caused you to take an unplanned Zero (injury, illness, weather, etc.?) If you took an unplanned Zero, how did you adjust your itinerary to account for it (i.e., skip your next planned Zero, or did you reset your anticipated arrival date? Or did you power up and hike like a maniac to catch up?

The reason I ask centers around planning my departure from Katahdin. If I were to leave on June 1st, and anticipate the average number of Zeros, I still have a few days of "wiggle room" to make Springer by November 21st...which would be great if I want to stop and smell the roses (or just stop and eat pizza!) BUT I also want to heed advice about avoiding the evil hordes of Black Flies, and thinking about putting off my departure as long as possible. Or does it even matter? Even if I leave in mid-June, am I still going to be eaten alive by the flies?

Sorry for a long and meandering post. Any and all advice is welcome & appreciated.

[Malto]

It sounds like you have a very laid out schedule. Plan to the schedule then throw it away! That solves all of the itinerary problems. I also had a very laid out schedule. For the most part I was very close to hitting it, got a little ahead, then lost a couple of days to snow. But I had a plane ticket out from the finish and I was scheduled to be at work the next day. So I had to track progress vs the end point. Another consideration is if you send resupplies to places that have limited hours such as post offices. This is a very tactical consideration but one that may cause you to do a couple of big or small days to hit a certain window. Other than these two potential considerations just go hike and enjoy it. No need to hold to a specific schedule. Let the trail set the pace. Good luck.

[Old Hiker]

Only made 500 miles NOBO in 2012 - take it for what it's worth.

Planned 13 miles per day - did 9 - 12. Didn't think about zero days - took several: mostly for foot problems/injuries. Had to take one for gear changes, had to take one for gear replacement.

Next time, I'm going to plan for as few as possible, but I realize I'm probably going to have to be very flexible on my schedule.

Good luck. Welcome to White Blaze!

[SCRUB HIKER]

Plan to the schedule then throw it away!

That's the M.O. for about 50% of the people on trail, and then the other 50% never had a plan to begin with (note: statistics are unverified and may or may not have been made up just now). I think it's useful to hike with that vague goal of a finishing date in mind, but if you're honest with yourself on trail, you'll know when you need the breaks and when you can keep pushing. I only planned two of my many zeroes in advance; most people don't even do that (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?91924-Good-zero-day-schedules). It's possible that, toward the end of your hike, your highest priority will become the enjoyment of your remaining time out there and you will not care one iota about sticking to a finishing schedule. That's the way it worked for me, at least.

[Mountain Mike]

I took zeros more for injury, the weather, then just for a day off if I was feeling tired. I tried to do neros in towns if I could. Not always possible if I did a long day to get there & didn't have times to do all my chores. If I hiked the AT again I would plan more overall & use them where I felt. Stop & explore more & even delay if weather will ruin views. Most people only hike the trail once so see what you can & enjoy it. Like Malto said Plan alot & plan to throw it away.

[bigcranky]

Scrub, I read somewhere that 84% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

TwoSpirits, don't overplan. Have a general idea of how you want your hike to proceed, then hit the trail. Since you are sobo-ing, you'll need to plan the first 100 miles pretty well (not as many places to get off or resupply easily as in GA), and you might plan on a zero day in Monson, but after that, just let things unfold naturally. You'll know when you need a zero, and when you don't. After a month or two you'll start to get a pretty good idea of whether you can hit your Nov 21 end date. Then you can either try to speed things up to make it, or just relax and not worry about when you finish. Either way is fine.

Have a great hike.

[Datto]

I took a boatload of zero days (I may have only done a couple of neros -- those are tough for me to do). I ended up about 2.5 weeks late finishing versus when I'd expected to finish when I planned my "schedule" from the comfort of my living room prior to starting my AT thru-hike. When I was taking my extra zeros (took 3 zeros in Hot Springs because it was such a nice town and I had lots of people to visit with) I would just mentally push out whatever end date was anticipated. My AT thru-hike lasted 195 calendar days start to finish -- I would have made it last longer but Mother Nature put an end to that idea (I did consider doing a yo-yo because I was having so much fun but instead, decided to just return to Indiana after completing my AT thru-hike). I did have one fixed date to meet people in Washington, DC and I'd had to hustle to get there on time (and great luck getting rides to a train station in Lynchburg, VA so I could arrive in Washington, DC on time) but for the most part, the schedule was out the window within a week north of Springer Mountain where I'd started my AT thru-hike. Datto

[SCRUB HIKER]

Scrub, I read somewhere that 84% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

Was it in a Todd Snider song (http://youtu.be/zBtD6RUzN-Q?t=1m52s)?

[TwoSpirits]

Thank you all for the advice and info!

[garlic08]

Just listen to your body when you get out there. My method is to hike a sustainable pace and don't take zeros. I don't like sitting in rooms very much and get antsy to go hiking. I took three zeros on my NOBO thru and that was mainly to see friends and family along the way. You don't have to take days off.

[bigcranky]

Was it in a Todd Snider song (http://youtu.be/zBtD6RUzN-Q?t=1m52s)?

Love Todd Snider, but I guess I got the stats wrong....

[Jeff]

Once I got my body into "hiking shape", my zeros were almost always based on approaching bad weather. If the sun was shinning, I was hiking.

[evyck da fleet]

Once you realize a thru hike is a series of section hikes you'll be focusing on the next town and take zeros when you feel like you need them, want to avoid weather or because you want to take a side trip to visit someone or some place. Of course sickness and injury may choose a few days for you as well. Like you, I 'planned' a five month hike mostly to give myself time to finish if I fell behind and finished in 4 1/2 on the day before my birthday. I didn't want weather to get in the way of my summit and I wound up enjoying a couple of beers while reflecting on my hike the next day.

[Bronk]

Plan what you are going to do tomorrow, and then if you hike a mile and find a really cool spot, set up your tent and stay there for two days.

[JAK]

Some day I would like to head out for 40 days and 40 nights without any agenda. Sure there would be some zero days, but totally unplanned. Just head out, hang about, head back in. Would like to do it on the ocean some time also.

[TwoSpirits]

Thank you all for your insights & advice; your words make sense.

[jdc5294]

My signature pretty much sums it up. My NoBo hike was 180 days on the nose (that's including 2 weeks in the middle when I was laid up with giardia). I summited with a few people that started a good month after I did, but I was hands down the happiest one at the hostel that night. However, I also did an average of 20 miles a day. The math doesn't seem to work out until you realize I took a serious amount of zeroes. Take a zero when you feel like it, take a double when some friends show up as you're about to head out. Otherwise you'll burn out.