SouthBound Start

[Nokia]

Can anyone give me a clue of the lastest feasible start date for a southboound? I'm not sure when the weather down south starts to turn really nasty. My puppy is only about 2 feet tall, so i guess hiking through 4 feet of snow drifts like Bemis and Southpaw will kinda be out.
Thanks.

[the goat]

if i were you, the latest i'd start would be early-mid august. but remember: the later you leave, the faster you must hike.

[thestin]

Check out Felix's website. He left in early August and seemed to have a great hike. http://members.tripod.com/~Felixhikes/AT.html

[Peaks]

There are several areas of concen about a late SOBO start.

First, Baxter State Park closes for overnight use on October 15.

Second, you should be through the White Mountains before severe weather closes in. Generally speaking, you could be pushing things after mid October, and it's about 4 to 5 weeks from Katahdin. So, on that basis, you should start not later than early September.

Third, severe winter weather in the deep south. Do you really want to be out hiking in January and February.

Another consideration as you get into late fall is short days. Evenings will come very early, thus limiting how many miles you hike in a day.

[general]

hell, the winter in the south is a piece of cake. snow+freezing temps= damn fine hikin'.

[Nokia]

hell, the winter in the south is a piece of cake. snow+freezing temps= damn fine hikin'.

Not sure about that one. Perhaps if I something in a peach flavor to keep me warm.

[Marta]

hell, the winter in the south is a piece of cake. snow+freezing temps= damn fine hikin'.

Winter is about my favorite time to hike down here. No bugs. Great views. You don't get all sweaty.

[TJ aka Teej]

you should be through the White Mountains before severe weather closes in. Generally speaking, you could be pushing things after mid October, and it's about 4 to 5 weeks from Katahdin.

Good post by Peaks. I'd say you should plan on being over Mt. Washington by October 1st at the latest.

[the goat]

in '01 i didn't hit springer and finish until dec. 23rd. sure it was cold as hell alot of the time and all that goes along with that (frozen platypus, frozen hands, going #2 in the woods in 0 degree temps, etc.)...but the formidability of the situation is easily overcome by having walked 1500+ miles to face it....just another day in the woods!

[Peaks]

Good post by Peaks. I'd say you should plan on being over Mt. Washington by October 1st at the latest.

Remember that a thru-hiker named Harley died of hypothermia near Madison Hut on 9-11. So, if you need to watch the weather when ever you go above tree line.

[Nokia]

I grew up in Lincoln, NH right by Franconia Ridge. So I do have cold weather/winter hiking experience. I was just wondering what to expect in the south. By a late start I mean possibly the August 1st. So not too late.

[Barrel Roll]

I grew up in Lincoln, NH right by Franconia Ridge. So I do have cold weather/winter hiking experience. I was just wondering what to expect in the south. By a late start I mean possibly the August 1st. So not too late.

I went SOBO last year and left June 12th. Summitted Dec. 11th. That was late enough to get hit by a couple snowstorms including a 2 foot blizzard that came out of nowhere and hit us just south of Ms. Janet's (Big Bald Mountain, maybe?), and snow through the Smokies.

I grew up in NH as well and am also pretty used to the cold and winter hiking... but there's something different about it when you're out 24/7 in the cold and you still have 500 miles to go. It can get grueling - the worst parts are that the day is so much shorter so you have less hiking time, and the fact that you can't take breaks or the cold sets in and becomes painful, especially in the feet.

Underestimated how cold it would be down south at the end of the year... but my trail family kept my spirits up .

[mweinstone]

if you leave south bound after june .

[hammock engineer]

if you leave south bound after june .

That's comforting, I must be screwed.

[Nokia]

Not too worried about death. I figure the blood I save by starting after bug season will help keep me warm.

[TJ aka Teej]

Steve the Ferryman's website: www.riversandtrails.com shows in '05 about 200 southbounders by July 31st, and almost 600 after that date. That jives with the rule-of-thumb at Baxter that says half the sobos seem to start after July 4th.

[Barrel Roll]

Now those are cool numbers! I wasn't aware that Steve put his count up there. I remember meeting him at the end of June last year and he imparted upon me a great piece of advice. He told me he always knew who was a thru-hiker coming through even before he got near them - to paraphrase:

"A Thru-hiker always has his/her pack off the second they stop - they know the value of making every moment of possible rest count for the upcoming miles. Anyone else usually has their pack on and are standing around waiting, looking around anxiously, not knowing well enough to take off their pack!"

I instantly made sure that everytime we were stopping for more than 2 minutes, I took off my pack to give my body that breather, and it definitely was nice to learn that lesson early courtesy of Steve : ).

Looking at the numbers, 161 total Sobos went through - based on what I heard from Southpaw, who was probably one of the last SOBO's to finish who had started in '05, there were probably around 55-60 that finished. 33% success rate?

[hammock engineer]

Here is the table from the ferryman's website. http://www.riversandtrails.com/2005kennebecferry.html

Unless I am reading it wrong, doesn't the last 2 columns say whether or not they were thru hikers and which direction? If this is the case, than only 12 went sobo after July. The others must have been section hikers.



MonthHikersN-SS-NDayWkdLong DME-GAGA-MEMay53200530June97722542915310July366196170430340 8285Aug3881522361241656255Sept35946313433526258Oct 5119320048026Nov21100211Total1,26848977924391,2031 61538

[hammock engineer]

Sorry the table didn't post right, but it is at the link above.