Section hiking before "start"

[Speakeasy TN]

How does everyone "anyone?" feel about sectioning from January to March counting toward the thru hike? Weather permitting I could knock out some early miles and up my odds of finishing. I get it that it's a HYOH question but any input would be appreciated.

[Wrangler88]

I've read a couple trailjournals of people who had done good sized sections early in the year and skipped those sections when they got to them during their thru hike. The did them farther north so they skipped them when they were getting worn out and tired of the hike. It seemed like it provided a big boost in morale. It seems like a good idea to me.

[jesse]

Basically, you are moving your start date up and planning a lot more zeros. If you want to hike/camp in extreme cold weather, with short days, and long nights, then go for it.

I'm not a long distance hiker, nor do I want to be, but if I were, I wouldn't care what others thought about my itinerary.

You talk about uping your odds of finishing, but what you are planning makes this a series of section hikes, not a thru. Why not attempt your thru, if you don't make it, finish next year, or sometime later.

BTW, nothing is stopping you from section hiking the AT or any other trail between now and March.

[Speakeasy TN]

Basically, you are moving your start date up and planning a lot more zeros. If you want to hike/camp in extreme cold weather, with short days, and long nights, then go for it.

I'm not a long distance hiker, nor do I want to be, but if I were, I wouldn't care what others thought about my itinerary.

You talk about uping your odds of finishing, but what you are planning makes this a series of section hikes, not a thru. Why not attempt your thru, if you don't make it, finish next year, or sometime later.

BTW, nothing is stopping you from section hiking the AT or any other trail between now and March.

Well this captures the whole thing in a nutshell. On one side it's a thru with a lot of zeroes because it's done in the same year. On the other hand it would be a series of sections within the same year. I just don't have a feel for whether I care either way. I am so close to the Southern terminus that it makes an wierd sort of sense to make my warmups on the trail.

Thanks for being a sounding board.

[Tinker]

Imho, if you do the trail in one calendar year it's a thruhike. Personally, if I did it that way I would want to get Pa. out of the way first. The rocks will be covered by snow. You could yellow blaze around it on your thru. You would also be able to melt snow for water, which can be scarce on the Pa. ridges in warm weather. I did a good chunk of NY in the winter, and as long as you have good crampons you can usually get by. Snowshoes may be needed if the snow is deep and not packed.

[NorseWoman]

If one is doing a thru hike and takes a week or 2 off, Is it then 2 section hikes?
Not in my opinion
How many zeros stops a thru from being a thru?
My definition of my thru hike will be to pass by all white blazes in a 365 day span. My year span might run from Oct 1 to Sept 30 Who says it has to be Jan 1 to Dec 31
Do it your way!
Norse Woman

[Blue Jay]

I'm not a long distance hiker, nor do I want to be, but if I were, I wouldn't care what others thought about my itinerary.

You talk about uping your odds of finishing, but what you are planning makes this a series of section hikes, not a thru.

How, even under the most extreme Purist definition would this not be a Thru?
Yet another example of a nonLD hiker providing "advice" about a LD hike.

[Speakeasy TN]

I feel like I'd be good with any 365 day period. The weird thing about my indecision is that I am just about the LAST person who usually would care what anybody else would think. I guess this is just a measure of how serious I am about doing this.................

[Speakeasy TN]

Imho, if you do the trail in one calendar year it's a thruhike. Personally, if I did it that way I would want to get Pa. out of the way first. The rocks will be covered by snow. You could yellow blaze around it on your thru. You would also be able to melt snow for water, which can be scarce on the Pa. ridges in warm weather. I did a good chunk of NY in the winter, and as long as you have good crampons you can usually get by. Snowshoes may be needed if the snow is deep and not packed.

I get what you're saying about catching the rocks before they get sharpened for the mid season rush but I am only 2 hrs away from Springer so my winter could get me close to the Smokies. The downside would be, if we have a late snowstorm like this year, I could be delaying the start of my "long trek".
If if if if if

[jesse]

How, even under the most extreme Purist definition would this not be a Thru?
Yet another example of a nonLD hiker providing "advice" about a LD hike.

No need to get snarly Blue Jay. Its not a thru, because once you go home, the hike you were just on is over. When you get back to the trail, you are starting a new hike.

LLamar. If you want to get a head start in Jan. go for it. Hope you enjoy. I usually hike the AT in GA over New Years, maybe I'll see you there.

[Speakeasy TN]

No need to get snarly Blue Jay. Its not a thru, because once you go home, the hike you were just on is over. When you get back to the trail, you are starting a new hike.

LLamar. If you want to get a head start in Jan. go for it. Hope you enjoy. I usually hike the AT in GA over New Years, maybe I'll see you there.

No offense taken by the OP. I'm just trying to sort out how I feel about a jump start. The original post welcomes any input because this is a question that gets to the heart of HYOH. I want to make sure I've looked at all the angles before I commit. THANKS to everybody who's chipped in so far!
Speakeasy 2011

[Luddite]

Personally, I wouldn't thru-hike that way. I would feel like I was cheating in some way.

Technically, it would still be considered a thru-hike though. HYOH...

[Blue Jay]

No need to get snarly Blue Jay. Its not a thru, because once you go home, the hike you were just on is over. When you get back to the trail, you are starting a new hike.

Therefore you, who has never thru hiked, is claiming every single thru who has gone home at any time during their thru is not a thru hiker. Why would you make up such nonsense?

[10-K]

You talk about uping your odds of finishing, but what you are planning makes this a series of section hikes, not a thru.

That's all a thru hike is - a series of section hikes.

[jesse]

Therefore you, who has never thru hiked, is claiming every single thru who has gone home at any time during their thru is not a thru hiker. Why would you make up such nonsense?

Blue Jay. Call it a thru hike if you want to. I don't care.

[Tinker]

That's all a thru hike is - a series of section hikes.

It never dawned on me until now, but I imagine that the PUREST version of a Thruhike would be to never sleep in a heated building and to pack all your food at one end and carry it all the way to the other.

[10-K]

It never dawned on me until now, but I imagine that the PUREST version of a Thruhike would be to never sleep in a heated building and to pack all your food at one end and carry it all the way to the other.

I totally don't get the reasoning...

When I was hiking in the Whites last month a guy at the Hiker's Welcome hostel in Glencliff made it clear that he thought slackpacking was cheating....

Personally, I think anyone that would choose to carry a pack when they could hike without one has rocks in their head - but that's just me.

[Speakeasy TN]

It never dawned on me until now, but I imagine that the PUREST version of a Thruhike would be to never sleep in a heated building and to pack all your food at one end and carry it all the way to the other.

Now all I have to do is decide how far into the GRAY area I want to go

I THINK I'm ok with a series of sections that get me up the entirety of the Trail in a calender year. Now the ATC designation of 2,000 miler makes more sense. I've never questioned how "good" a thru was based on how long it took, or the number of zeroes. 2-3 day shakedowns aren't going to eat up so much mileage that I feel cheated........... I don't think.

[10-K]

Now all I have to do is decide how far into the GRAY area I want to go

I THINK I'm ok with a series of sections that get me up the entirety of the Trail in a calender year. Now the ATC designation of 2,000 miler makes more sense. I've never questioned how "good" a thru was based on how long it took, or the number of zeroes. 2-3 day shakedowns aren't going to eat up so much mileage that I feel cheated........... I don't think.

It's not that big a deal - don't stress over it.

[jesse]

It's not that big a deal - don't stress over it.

amen.................