Completing the AT In My Lifetime

[P-Train]

I'm 38, decent shape, very avid hiker/runner.
Doing my first section hike this summer in TN.


With work/family commitments as they are now I'll average 100 miles per year. That may change in the future. It must!

Wife is supportive and will drop off/pick up in any state.

I get one week vacation on my own for hiking at will and one week for family (non hiking).

Don't want to be too old to finish the AT.

I have an "important" career and wish I could take off for a few months to do the AT.

*sigh*

[vamelungeon]

I'm in a similar boat but a decade and a half older. I just do what I can and don't worry about it.

[Alligator]

You live close enough to double that number by adding just 3 weekend hikes a year. if it's a holiday weekend or you can add a day off in, you can hit 50 miles. Save your weeks for trail sections that you can't easily drive to over the weekend, places greater than say 4-5 hours out. The ATC puts out a shuttler list so your wife wouldn't have to always drop you off. It's helpful certainly though.

[dmperkins74]

Same story here, but I've got a few years head start (check out my progress so far here: http://www.gdbdp.com/at). I highly recommend connecting with shuttlers on the PDF on this page:

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hiki...transportation

Good luck and happy hiking

[Kirby]

Through-hiking is over rated.

--Kirby

[allen3150]

I know I won't ever finish the entire trail and I don't care. I enjoy doing new sections when I can but I mostly do the GA sections again and again (among other good local trails) because they are convenient. To me, it's all about being outdoors, getting exercise and meeting other people that have similar interests. i can dream about it, but I don't have to walk 2100+ miles to be satisfied.

[MuddyWaters]

I have never heard any old person say any of the following:

"I wish I had worked harder and had a nicer house"
"I wish I had worked harder and made more money"
"I wish I had worked harder and longer and been more successful in my career choice"

Its because those things dont matter.

What does matter, is doing things you enjoy, while you can, when you can.

You can take time off without pay and hike 3 wks per yr and finish in 8 yrs.
You can take a month off without pay and finish in 5 yrs.

These are things you CAN do. You are making a choice NOT to, something else is more important to you. Having a nicer house, car, clothes, etc.

Europeans think nothing of shutting down a business and going on "Holiday " for a month. They sacrifice that income. Americans are brainwashed and stupid and work themselves to death.

[rocketsocks]

I have never heard any old person say any of the following:

"I wish I had worked harder and had a nicer house"
"I wish I had worked harder and made more money"
"I wish I had worked harder and longer and been more successful in my career choice"

Its because those things don't matter.

What does matter, is doing things you enjoy, while you can, when you can.

You can take time off without pay and hike 3 weeks per yr and finish in 8 yrs.
You can take a month off without pay and finish in 5 yrs.

These are things you CAN do. You are making a choice NOT to, something else is more important to you. Having a nicer house, car, clothes, etc.

Europeans think nothing of shutting down a business and going on "Holiday " for a month. They sacrifice that income. Americans are brainwashed and stupid and work themselves to death.

Ladies and Gentlemen,you have just read thee most concise thought out "NO BULL"approach to 99.999% of the question asked that aren't already answered on the home page titles and links.Excellent Muddy Waters simply brilliant.+100

[Feral Bill]

You are young. No problem.

[rocketsocks]

Naw ....filthy stinking rich,and I ain't talking money.

[daddytwosticks]

I know I won't ever finish the entire trail and I don't care. I enjoy doing new sections when I can but I mostly do the GA sections again and again (among other good local trails) because they are convenient. To me, it's all about being outdoors, getting exercise and meeting other people that have similar interests. i can dream about it, but I don't have to walk 2100+ miles to be satisfied.

I couldn't have said it better. My feelings exactly. When I'm out hiking, I always have a big smile on my face. If I can thru-hike or finish the whole trail, great. If not, I'm still having a blast!

[bigcranky]

+1 on long weekends. I've done most of my sections that way, with several one-, two, and three-week sections mixed in. Not going to have more of those long ones for a while, so long weekends will have to do. If I can leave Thursday night and hit the trail early Friday, I can hike 30-40 miles before having to drive back Sunday afternoon.

Good luck. I have a decade on you and am facing the same "will I ever finish" question.

[dmperkins74]

I know I won't ever finish the entire trail and I don't care. I enjoy doing new sections when I can but I mostly do the GA sections again and again (among other good local trails) because they are convenient. To me, it's all about being outdoors, getting exercise and meeting other people that have similar interests. i can dream about it, but I don't have to walk 2100+ miles to be satisfied.

I'm not sure if I'll finish or not, but I'm in the same mindset... and I'm ok if I don't. At first it was a mission, I called it my 20 year plan (~100 miles/year). I'm still on that mission, but now it's not so much an obsession about finishing every mile, but simply getting out there and hiking. Make no mistake, I certainly value every new mile I can mark off, and I've been routinely getting well over 100 miles/year, but if something took me from the trail, I'd be happy for the miles I've hiked, things I've seen, habits I've developed and people I've encountered.

[Cookerhiker]

You live close enough to double that number by adding just 3 weekend hikes a year. if it's a holiday weekend or you can add a day off in, you can hit 50 miles. Save your weeks for trail sections that you can't easily drive to over the weekend, places greater than say 4-5 hours out. The ATC puts out a shuttler list so your wife wouldn't have to always drop you off. It's helpful certainly though.

+1 to this approach. Living in the DC area for all my working life (pre-retirement), I hiked from Daleville to Duncannon in small weekend chunks. Save the week-long hikes for stretches further from home.

[1azarus]

+1 to this approach. Living in the DC area for all my working life (pre-retirement), I hiked from Daleville to Duncannon in small weekend chunks. Save the week-long hikes for stretches further from home.

and another +1 from an old man who has only 180 miles left to hike! i've enjoyed long weekend hikes every bit as much as week-long hikes, and you can fit them in year-round, which makes the weekend hikes even more challenging and even more fun. A long weekend every other month should do it... i suggest you use all the week-long hikes from PA north, and do the rest on long weekends. Just save katahdin for last!!!

[markc7]

I work my arse off for most of the year, which allows me to take a longer vacation in the summer. Last year I hiked just the first 120 miles, but this year i'm making time for at least 400. People say that i'm lucky,and that's true, but it is also to a larger extend my choice.

Good luck with your section hike!

[vamelungeon]

I have never heard any old person say any of the following:

"I wish I had worked harder and had a nicer house"
"I wish I had worked harder and made more money"
"I wish I had worked harder and longer and been more successful in my career choice"

Its because those things dont matter.

What does matter, is doing things you enjoy, while you can, when you can.

You can take time off without pay and hike 3 wks per yr and finish in 8 yrs.
You can take a month off without pay and finish in 5 yrs.

These are things you CAN do. You are making a choice NOT to, something else is more important to you. Having a nicer house, car, clothes, etc.

Europeans think nothing of shutting down a business and going on "Holiday " for a month. They sacrifice that income. Americans are brainwashed and stupid and work themselves to death.

I CAN'T take off time without pay, I wish I could. I guess it depends on your profession.

[Cookerhiker]

Looking ahead to 2013, if you use your week off to attend the ATC biennial conference, you can systematically hike over 100 miles through slackpacks with shuttles in 1 week's time. The 2013 conference is at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. The ATC will organize hikes covering probably all of Shenandoan NP up through Pen Mar, perhaps beyond.

And your family can accompany you to the conference and attend the organized excursions held during the week - some are outdoorsy-related, some cultural, some historical. Give it some consideration.

[hikerboy57]

Wow, it amazes me how much my priorities have changed over the years, as well as my attitude towards completeing a thru hike .Although Im confidant I'll finish the trail in my lifetime, its no longer a priority to complete a thru hike. I had planned on taking mar/apr/may this year to do the southern half, but my daughter is expecting my first granddaughter in May, and last year she suffrred a miscarriage, so I figured its probably not a good time to be away from home.So then I figured I would just take april to do springer -damscus. and then i thought it would put me right in the middle of the pack, and I didnt really want to spend an entire month weioth the traveling wilburys. I go to the woods for solitude and although i enjoy meeting people on the trail, i really prefer hiking alone.this past wednesday, I went hiking in harriman st park with a good freind whos hiked with me many times before, butg i found her conversation intrusive, as one of the things i love most about the woods are is listening to the stillness. i was also bewildered to find a group of maybe 25-30 senior hikers lunching at a viewpoint along the trail.that night i reflected on my feelings and realize im most comfortable and enjoying myself most when im alone, even when there are moments id like to be able to share with a hiking parner.
So anyway, the new plan is to do maine SOBO this August, and from there , ill have to figure out my next trip.
Im no longer obsessed with finishing the trail, but then again, for me, its always been more the jopurney than the destination.
thats just me.

[off-pher]

you can finish the AT I started in my 20s and finished in my 40s
Started in 1986 completed in 2003