Attn: Nobos starting in February 2011

[beautifulpoetman]

This thread is for early birds to get an idea of who will be starting out in Georgia in February. Leave some data: name or alias, relevent personal stats, and trail ambitions.

Also, feel free to offer experience and ask questions regarding winter hiking, the trail in February, or anything pertaining to a February start.

My name is Joe, but on the trail you can call me Triton. I live in Kentucky, though I'm a native New Yorker. I'm a 36 year old male. You will recognize me because I'm six and a half feet tall. Don't be scared-- like most crypto-hominids, I'm a vegetarian and only eat campers when I am desperate.

I plan to start my nobo thruhike in February, either the third or last weekend of the month, depending on travel and weather logistics. Mine will be a slow start-- six to ten miles per day in Georgia. I don't have time constraints to finish before October.

In seven weeks I'll be happily unemployed, and in a few more months I'll be on the trail. I am half excited and half scared, to be honest. I'm also well-prepared and stubborn. I'm looking forward to meeting some of you dreamers out on the trail or on this forum.

[a_tigger]

Hi Joe / Triton..
I'm Aaron / Tigger - I'm planning on starting March 1st. I too will be unemployed soon and have no time constraints.... if your starting the last weekend of feb perhaps i catch up to you.... you can't miss me - I've got long red hair and goatee

[beautifulpoetman]

You probably will catch up to me.

[Fats]

I'm planning an April start, I will be the fat guy laying in the middle of the trail crying.

Throw something with calories at me, tell me to put on the "big girl panties". and try not to laugh too hard.

I am unemployed, and have no time constraints. I do have severe money constraints however (see unemployed, above)


Fats

[hikingshoes]

If all goes well(if i sale my H-D 03)by April.Ill be hitting the trail in April as well.

[SweetestFetus]

Beautiful Poet: Not exactly Feb, but my boyfriend and I start our thru-hike in mid-March. No time constraints as well, so we'll be going slow and enjoying the walking.

Fats: Right there with ya, man, on the no-money situation. You can join my boyfriend and I as we run out of money and have to scrounge up some grubs for our GORP. (Grubs and Other Repulsive Protein)

[Sensei]

Hey Everyone.

I'll be starting in the last few weeks of February, not sure of the exact date yet. In a perfect world, I'd probably wait till March to be around a few more hikers (people person here), but alas, I have to be back at school for the fall semester. Anyway, I'm looking forward to meeting all the other early birds on the trail.

No trail name yet, so I guess I'll just have to go by Chase for the next four months or so. Can't wait!!

[C-quoia]

Hi all,

I'm hoping to start in late February as well, or the first week of March at the latest, and I'll be c-quoia (sequoia) on the Trail. I'll be unemployed after I graduate in December (yikes!), but I'm hoping to get a job lined up for the start of next school year. Depending on how that goes, I may or may not have time constraints for finishing, but I am psyched to finish getting ready and get an early start. I'll be traveling from New England, so my start date may also depend on weather for the trip down to GA.

See ya'll out there!

[niners]

My daughter and I are planning a Feb 16 start. We have to be done by the end of July so she can get ready for college. She is graduating high school a semester early to hike the trail. Pretty darn excited that she really wants to spend 4-5 months with her dad. Dehydrating food like crazy right now, can't wait to get started.

[Carbo]

Been thinking about March, but now an end of February start date is looking better. Was layed-off in June and finding work at my age is nearly impossible. Anyway, I have been able to get up to hiking 12-15 mile days because of my free time, and I want this thru to start ASAP while I'm still in shape.

Just need to get the cold weather gear together and tested in the coming months. Any suggestions for what's needed for a Feb start?

[Carbo]

Just came across many threads addressing this question for cold weather hiking. I think I found answers to the question.

Good luck to all Feb starters. Hope to meet you on the trail!

[Praha4]

suggest ya'll go back and read the WB posts of the 2010 hikers who started last Feb. Much of the trail was impassable thru the Smokies, and many hikers had to get off the trail back then because of weather and trail conditions. IMO the hike would be much more enjoyable if you waited at least til mid March.

the wierd thing is the east coast had the hottest summer in 30 years immediately follow the coldest winter in 30 years. Who knows what this coming winter will be like, you may see a mild February 2011.

[BrianLe]

I was one of the ones that started in Feb this year (Feb 25th), and among the first to get through the Smokies, though I think that at that time very few if any were staying on the actual trail in the stretch from Clingman's Dome to Newfound Gap --- even road walking around that we were post-holing, past Clingman's Dome it was waist-deep postholing at the point I was there (started into the Smokies March 11th, got to Gatlinburg March 13th, zeroed there on the 14th, got to Standing Bear Farm hostel on the 17th). What made it much easier (or at least do-able) for the ad hoc group I went through with were the fewer tough souls who put in footsteps that we were following (sometimes frozen postholes, but still). Somewhat of a crap shoot each day and even each part of the day whether it would be icy, soft/postholing snow, warm and (soaking) wet, etc.

For the first days in particular it was quite windy, and of course a cold wind, so factor that into your gear choices --- wind protection of extremities (ears, hands). I found a wind shirt AND a vest were sometimes the right option, a combination I can rarely hike in without overheating.

Factor in too that last year was, we were told, quite a snowy year for the south. Based on the blowdowns (more before and after the Smokies, not a lot in the Smokies), I believe it.

I'm glad that I started early on the whole, but starting on Feb 25th and maintaining a decent pace meant that the AT was a relatively lonely trail. I had a better social life on the PCT, as I was more with the "herd" on that one. I think if I were to do it again I might start about a week later, i.e., early March, though who knows, maybe it was *too* crowded then (dunno).

It was nice pretty much always having space in the shelters; on that basis, a person could take a somewhat more minimal tent, so long as it's also something that works with cold and snow at need (!) --- one of my hiking partners did that, was happy with his Six Moons Designs "Wild Oasis" (13 oz) --- because we almost always slept in shelters, in fact I would say we literally always slept in shelters until we walked into Virginia and out of the snow.

It was nice to get to a hostel and know there would be space, and perhaps not much of a wait to take a shower or to do laundry. So overall I'm just as happy I started when I did.

I do think that if you're starting in Feb you would be well advised to have some experience at backpacking in the winter --- not just theoretical, but some personal experience.

Best of luck to all of you, whether starting early, late, or in between!

[SullyJoe]

I'm excited to see this thread.
I don't have a trail name yet, but my name is also Joe. I'm leaving feb 21with a hiking partner (Stormsong), and part of thr reason is to beat the crowd... we are social people, but we enjoy the seclusion of the wilderness. So i am glad to know there will be others along with us. We're planning one more shake down in jan. to get the expirience in the snow. I am originally from michigan, and like the cold, but have never backpacked in winter conditions. I would like to hear some opinipns about foot gear. After reading different posts, i am leaning towards getting ice trekkers, and wanted to know if these will be enough, or if i should go with crampons. I appreciate any feedback. See you out on the trail,

Syllujoe.

[SullyJoe]

I'm excited to see this thread.
I don't have a trail name yet, but my name is also Joe. I'm leaving feb 21with a hiking partner (Stormsong), and part of thr reason is to beat the crowd... we are social people, but we enjoy the seclusion of the wilderness. So i am glad to know there will be others along with us. We're planning one more shake down in jan. to get the expirience in the snow. I am originally from michigan, and like the cold, but have never backpacked in winter conditions. I would like to hear some opinipns about foot gear. After reading different posts, i am leaning towards getting ice trekkers, and wanted to know if these will be enough, or if i should go with crampons. I appreciate any feedback. See you out on the trail,

Syllujoe.

[BrianLe]

"After reading different posts, i am leaning towards getting ice trekkers, and wanted to know if these will be enough, or if i should go with crampons."

My opinion: definitely not any sort of real crampon, even I think instep crampons might be overkill. Caveat: this is of course jus based on experiences my particular (last) year.

I brought Yaktrax Pro's, and these weren't a bad trade-off for dealing with ice. Despite deep snow in the Smokies (last year at least), I never wanted actual crampons. The only issue, and somewhat rarely, was ice.

There were a handful (or less) of days where I put on the yaktrax and actually wore them long enough to make them more useful than a PITA, and I think this was mostly or perhaps entirely before the Smokies.

The problem I encountered was that I'd see a long somewhat icy stretch ahead and have to decide whether to just walk carefully or to stop, pull out the yaktrax and put them on, knowing that perhaps just around the corner it would be relatively bare trail again. It doesn't take too many instances of "put 'em on, and then all too soon take 'em off again" before you decide to just screw it and mail them home at the next opportunity.

I think I might take either yaktrax or perhaps Kahtoola Microspikes if I were going for a February start again, but that would depend on weather reports, known snowpack, and trail journals by the even crazier folks who left earlier (there always seems to be someone yet a little crazier!).

[Jeff]

I do think that if you're starting in Feb you would be well advised to have some experience at backpacking in the winter --- not just theoretical, but some personal experience.

Excellent advice !!!!

[Turtle Feet]

[QUOTE-
I do think that if you're starting in Feb you would be well advised to have some experience at backpacking in the winter --- not just theoretical, but some personal experience.
[/QUOTE]

I'll second that, excellent advise! Hiking with cold feet that (depending on your boot) can be cold and wet by the end of the day, then put frozen boots back on the next morning and hike some more - well, it takes a very special person.

[BAG "o" TRICKS]

I'm planning an April start, I will be the fat guy laying in the middle of the trail crying.

Throw something with calories at me, tell me to put on the "big girl panties". and try not to laugh too hard.

I am unemployed, and have no time constraints. I do have severe money constraints however (see unemployed, above)


Fats

Panties too! Suyeeee! Hey Fats just as long as them panties don't belong to Miss Janet who revealed to those attending the Gathering that she plans to attempt a thurhike beginnig in Feb. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. We both laughed when I asked her "I wonder how many guys will be pink blazing you".

[BrianLe]

"Hiking with cold feet that (depending on your boot) can be cold and wet by the end of the day, then put frozen boots back on the next morning and hike some more - well, it takes a very special person."

I solve that one by not using boots. One of my hiking partners liked his goretex boots for the snowy section (he switched to trail runners in Virginia), but I was happy with trail runners throughout. Feet get wet, not a problem with wool socks, though I did use goretex socks (over the wool ones) at times.

Shoes are at least a little more flexible when actually frozen (this only happened a couple of times). I just put them on at the last minute, just before starting to walk, so as my core body temperature rose (through exertion) my feet could eventually warm up and defrost the shoes --- uncomfortable for the first half hour or so and then you forget about it.

Give me frozen shoes over frozen boots any day, yet another benefit IMO of light footwear. And if boots and shoes do get totally wet, the shoes can get completely dry from just a NERO.

Caveat: again, don't try this (shoes not boots) for the very first time in snowy conditions at the start of a thru-hike ...

On a related note, one of my favorite pieces of gear for the early stretch was a pair of Feathered Friends down booties. They definitely add weight and bulk to the overall gear load, but were very very nice to have at the end of the day and to keep me warmer in the bag at night, and the shells made them decent footwear for "close by" the shelter. Worth carrying (up until Damascus, maybe Pearisburg).