What's the earliest that people can start going NOBO? Does anyone ever start in January or early February?
What's the earliest that people can start going NOBO? Does anyone ever start in January or early February?
Anytime, multiple people in 2017 started Jan 1. Some even started in late December. The issue becomes how fast you move. If you get to Katahdin before it opens, what are you going to do?
AT: 695.7 mi
Benton MacKaye Trail '20
Pinhoti Trail '18-19'
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The issue really is how well you tolerate cold, wet, icy hiking - dangerous conditions, sickness, and accidents take out several early starters every year. Read their journals & see if you want that.
Many will start November/December if weather is friendly to avoid the crowds and to jump start before the real cold weather hits.
Then jump off for the holidays and snow/ice.
Others will use this time to start a Flip Flop.
Just wear your Blaze Orange as well.
''Tennessee Viking'
Mountains to Sea Trail Hiker & Maintainer
Former TEHCC (AT) Maintainer
It totally depends upon your winter hiking skills...
I've got a relative (collage age at the time) that started the day after Christmas so that he could finish some time in June. He was successful, but then his dad had been teaching him winter hiking skills in places like GSMNP for years.
Met a guy on the trail today near Gooch Gap that is just now starting his NOBO. Not for me, but with the proper gear and enough cash for zero days you can start anytime.
Do people start in Jan + Feb?
Yes, but should you?
Probably not. Lots of disadvantages to starting early and not many advantages.
Follow slogoen on Instagram.
mid Feb is a reasonably practical start, if you do decent milage/ few days off and have average to lucky weather, a mid June finish is realistic
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 09-15-2017 at 00:35.
I've contemplated a fall Springer start (September-ish) with a holiday break, putting the spring launch point or eventual Flip-Flop finish around Hot Springs (give or take, of course.)
It's all a calculus of potential weather, seasonal services, and what you're willing to tolerate.
My son has a college buddy who started Feb 15 this year and finished in 130 days. (100 mile wilderness took him 3.5 days) He was #66 on the registry at Baxter and finished the latter part of June. He's a recently graduated college swimmer, so his level of conditioning was a bit above average.
Anyone who can survive the bugs and possible high water issue in Maine in mid May to mid June deserves extra points . A southerner once commented to us in the Mahoosucs in May that he had hiked all over the US for many year and only in the Mahoosucs did he contemplate heading down to the road and heading home.
The short daylight hours is a issue.
Old Goat and Check Six started a through hike in late December or early January six or eight years ago. Their Trail Journals blog was interesting to follow. The intense cold and short days really got to them. I think they eventually gave up in the Nantahalas.
Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
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