Fall SOBO Thru-hike clothing?

[Northern Brewer]

Hi everyone,

As I'm currently planning my 2008 SOBO thru-hike and wil be climbing Katahdin early august.

I was wondering about the kind of weather encountered in august and september in Maine and New Hampshire. Since I didn't wanna pack shorts AND pants, I was wondering if any of you had any opinion on hiking all of august in long pants (maybe with turn-ups/bunched up on hot days)?

Will I be a miserable sweaty mess or is the northern mountain air will be cool enough?

Thanks,

Northern Brewer

[warraghiyagey]

You'll have miserably sweaty days. Pack yourself a pair of shorts. You can always ditch them (appropriately) when you know you'll no longer need them.

[Blissful]

I dont recall any hot or humid conditons in late August and Sept in ME and NH when we were there last year. But those that live there can probably help with the norms. Convertible pants are a good solution.

[hammock engineer]

This doesn't have to do with clothes, but prepared for every idoit out there that knows nothing of the trail to tell you aren't you a little late, are you going to make it, isn't it going to get cold, and my personal favorite "there is no way you are going to make it". Just a little of what I heard last year. I started July 13th and summite Springer January 20th.

[hammock engineer]

Oh and on topic. Start with your fall gear. Keep your fall gear until it is time to get your winter gear. I saw nights in the 40's in July. A huge thanks to Marta and Johnny Swank for that advice last year.

[fiddlehead]

People have died in the whites in every month of the year because of bad weather. It's unpredictable.
That being said, i climbed Mt. Wash on our SOBO hike in 2001/2002 in later Nov. and had about 40 deg temps and great visability. No people whatsover and a well remembered day. (pinkham to crawford) However i consider myself very luck to get that weather at that time of year.

[Marta]

You would have been lucky to get that weather in the middle of the summer. In August '04 there were a couple of days below freezing, with winds up to 80 mph.

[RITBlake]

This doesn't have to do with clothes, but prepared for every idoit out there that knows nothing of the trail to tell you aren't you a little late, are you going to make it, isn't it going to get cold, and my personal favorite "there is no way you are going to make it". Just a little of what I heard last year. I started July 13th and summite Springer January 20th.

HE do you have a trailjournal?

[glacier48]

go with convertible pants, it will be cold in the evenings especially with the wind and if it rains.

[Hooch]

HE do you have a trailjournal?

Well, yes he does, as a matter of fact. His journal is a good read, too. Lots of good info in it for anyone even thinking about going SOBO.

[Johnny Swank]

Marta's Trailjournal is required reading for any SOBO. Great journal

I wore shorts most of the time, but did carry lightweight nylon pants for awhile (Gramicci Quickdri - but any simple nylon or poly pant will do)

If I were to do it again, I don't know if I'd mess with the long pants. You're going to carry at least one pair of thermals from the get-go (one's fine till October), so just wear those under the shorts and call it a day.

Here's a bunch of newspaper articles I wrote during my SOBO hike. http://sourcetosea.net/category/appa...hike-journals/

[hammock engineer]

Well, yes he does, as a matter of fact. His journal is a good read, too. Lots of good info in it for anyone even thinking about going SOBO.

Thanks.

I don't think it would be bad to error on the side of caution with an extra layer only to send ahead.

[Marta]

Marta's Trailjournal is required reading for any SOBO. Great journal

I wore shorts most of the time, but did carry lightweight nylon pants for awhile (Gramicci Quickdri - but any simple nylon or poly pant will do)

If I were to do it again, I don't know if I'd mess with the long pants. You're going to carry at least one pair of thermals from the get-go (one's fine till October), so just wear those under the shorts and call it a day.

Here's a bunch of newspaper articles I wrote during my SOBO hike. http://sourcetosea.net/category/appa...hike-journals/

Thanks.

Ditto on the shorts. I wore shorts during the day until the beginning of November. If it was too cold for shorts, I slipped rain pants on over them. I carried silkweight long underwear to sleep in from the beginning. There were one or two warm nights in Maine, but no more than that. Most nights when you're on the trail, you're at elevation, and it just isn't very warm after dark.

JS--Are you heading to Damascus this weekend?

[Johnny Swank]

Marta - can't make it this weekend. I'm up to my butt doing rollerderby stuff Saturday and Sunday. Gimme a holler when you get back.

Oh yeah http://www.carolinarollergirls.com

My wife's team (Trauma Queens) are going to open up a can of whoopass on the Debutaunte Brawlers on Sunday.

[Marta]

TD was pretty lightly attended. I only ran into one SOBO from '06 and one from '07. I still had a good time, of course.

Good luck to the Queens!