NOBO/SOBO which is eaiser?

[Nean]

Well I've done both and I SAY SoBo is easier!!!
Why? Well..... Mostly just to disagree with LW!
Then again, I was younger as a sobo.

[Jim Adams]

Absolutely a SOBO would be more difficult. No outfitter to greet you on day 4 with all your heavy stuff you want to get rid of. Having to climb Katahdin then back down again (no easy task). The tough terrain in southern Maine and the Whites when you don't have your trail legs. The bugs. Fewer options for hostels and recuperating early on when you need it. My hat's off to those who completed a SOBO - it had to be tough.

true...but outside of the climb on Katahdin (very difficult) you have been walking on fairly flat terrain for those 4 days.

geek

[ChinMusic]

I think a SOBO is harder for the average hiker. You are thrown into the difficult sections before you reach thru-fitness.

I think a NOBO is harder for a speed record. You are already fit and don't need a break-in period. It becomes a matter of the body breaking down. The ultra-NOBO will be physically beat up by the time he/she gets to the Whites.

[Johnny Swank]

The only real difference is The Big K is higher than Springer so there is a few hundred feet of net elevation difference, period. This is like the old "Back in my day we walked to school, and it was up hill both ways'.

What are you talking about? Do people routinely just carry day packs up Springer because they're climbing up rebar ladders drilled into the mtn, like say, Katahdin?

The largest vertical gain of the entire trail a SOBO's first day of hiking. Add to that, that there's no real outfitter to send home/change out gear in Maine unless you get way off the trail. Less daylight overall, blackflies, etc, etc. It's no contest in my eyes.

I section-hiked Georgia a few years before thru-hiking SOBO. Yes, GA/TN/NC can be a pain in places, but overall I thought Maine was much more difficult.

[A-Train]

Mostly to play devil's advocate, A SOBO isn't much harder than a NOBO as some claim because:

You're first month is going to be really difficult no matter what. You've got to adjust to trail life and either way, it's not a seamless transition for most. Besides the few who are super fit, the break in period physcially will be hard either way. BUT, considering your first month will be hard EITHER way, SOBO is then a piece of cake the rest of the way and becomes a mental challenge to Springer. The NOBO has both a difficult first AND last month because they still need to do the Whites/Maine. Might as well combine getting in shape with the hardest terrain as life is gonna be rough anyway.

Anyone buy that one?

[Lone Wolf]

SOBO on the LT is much more difficult too.

[Nean]

SOBO on the LT is much more difficult too.

Why?

[JERMM]

Why?

Cuz LW said so

[Nean]

Cuz LW said so

OH YEAH, weeelll I've done it both ways and I say, yada, yada, yada

[dessertrat]

Because of the bugs.

[Grampie]

While on my thru in Maine all I could think of was how hard this would be to do in the spring/early summer. So much water, a lot of walking in it and the trail is a lot more rugged in Main than Georgia. I had to ford several rivers in Maine and none in Georgia.

[The Old Fhart]

Lone Wolf-"SOBO on the LT is much more difficult too."

The upper third of the LT is really tough. Once you hit Appalachian Gap (RT-17) heading south, the trail gets much easier.

[Marta]

The upper third of the LT is really tough. Once you hit Appalachian Gap (RT-17) heading south, the trail gets much easier.

...which is why I'll never be hiking the Long Trail...

[warraghiyagey]

Cuz LW said so

Good enough for me. I've only thought him to be wrong once (everyone fording the Kennebec) other than that the man's right on the money. I just wish I was funnier than him.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

I just wish I was funnier than him.

Send me a few photos and I'll make it so

[Kirby]

ya really. and the southern part of the 100 MW is no joke, white cap mountain among other big climbs

whitecap is the only big climb there!
geek

The first 15 miles are the toughest in the whole wilderness, mentally speaking, and the terrain can be annoying. The climb up whitecap is fairly easy, the chairback range took its toll one me, that was a very long day.

Kirby

[hammock engineer]

What are you talking about? Do people routinely just carry day packs up Springer because they're climbing up rebar ladders drilled into the mtn, like say, Katahdin?

The largest vertical gain of the entire trail a SOBO's first day of hiking. Add to that, that there's no real outfitter to send home/change out gear in Maine unless you get way off the trail. Less daylight overall, blackflies, etc, etc. It's no contest in my eyes.

I section-hiked Georgia a few years before thru-hiking SOBO. Yes, GA/TN/NC can be a pain in places, but overall I thought Maine was much more difficult.

What's what I said when I read it. I seriously doubt he was ever been to Big K. Come to think about it people call it Big K for short, no one talks about the big S. No forest service road taking you to the top of Katadin.

Plus face it there is dirt in the south.

[hammock engineer]

Strictly from having read many journals, I feel a SOBO hike is harder because of the reasons mentioned by Marta, the absence of the organized 'Magic' and lack of some services open to NOBO hikers.

I actually like the fact that there was no organized magic/charity. I think I saw a cooler at the 2k (for the northbounder but I took some anyways), some out of hanover (again for northbounders, still took some), the sodas in the stream in VT that are there every year, a cooler south of dalton (again with note for northbounders, took one even though I was slacking back), and some randon things left in shelters in NJ. I started calling them bear treasure chests because there was usually something left in them.

From what I hear of the crowds and crazyness of northbound season it seems less like a nature walk and more like a roaming race and party. Plus what Marta said I shared a shelter 6 times with people I was not hiking with between Troutdale, VA and Springer. About 2 months worth of nights.

My hiking partner and I did decide though to pack in some food/beverages to a southbounder or 2 that are going slow and still on the trail after Christmas next year.

[Pedaling Fool]

...From what I hear of the crowds and crazyness of northbound season it seems less like a nature walk and more like a roaming race and party...

That pretty much sums it up.