I like to thru-hike one year but I am extremely shy and rather be by myself as much as possible. I want to avoid people as much as possible. I was thinking to do this, by starting at Harper’s Ferry in April going NOBO, flip flop to Springer when I reach Katachin and finish my hike in Harpers Ferry going NOBO
is this the best route to avoid crowds and others?
Very Anonymous
The AT nor the PCT are great places to head to if you are searching for solitude. My advice: Save yourself the pain of trying to avoid people on the AT and hike the Continental Divide Trail instead. You will probably go weeks without seeing other hikers.
Ganj
Ganj is absolutely right about the CDT. But meeting people on a thru hike is such a big part of the experience. It can be so much fun. Are you sure you don’t want a taste of that?
Apple Pie
I concur. You definitely will not find solitude on the AT. It’s possible on the PCT if you hike out of sync with most hikers. But PCT hikers get bunched up together for a reason: because the weather window to complete a thru-hike is small. The main group is spread out along the trail in approximately a 3-week span.
You could definitely find solitude on the CDT. To my knowledge, only 9 people completed the CDT in 2004. There were maybe 7 others who attempted, but did not complete. And, of course, there are section- and day-hikers, but the CDT is definitely not crowded. In my opinion, however, the CDT is not a place for the novice hiker.
yogi
yogi
If you look at my AT journal from 2000, you’ll see that I often hiked alone during the day. In fact, I’d say 60-70% of my time spent HIKING was alone. I usually chose to congregate with folks at shelters and campsites at night.
If you carry a tent and choose to use it regularly - away from shelters - you can have all the solitude you want. Start date and direction of travel will also influence the number of hiker’s you’ll encounter.
Little Bear
Tents can be a pain…but the stealth part can be fun. I’m mostly a section hiker and two years ago I found a plateau above the AT near Wayah Bald. Some boy scouts were lost (but found soon) and I must have passed by ten or twenty people in a 2 hour period and nobody noticed my tent. I would have helped them by I saw the “lost boys” go by…they had a cell pphone and were heading towards the road.
Doc Holiday
I have hiked solo over 10,000 mi. Meeting folks at shelters is cool,it helps to preserve your sanity. I once hiked 40 days solo on the PCT in the mid-80’s and found myself and found myself challenged to the point of having difficuly relating to others afterward. If you really want solitude, hike the PCT southern sections early SOBO,meeting all the NOBO hikers. Then hike NOBO from Walker Pass ahead of other NOBO hikers. Somewhere along your hike you desire companionship, take time off and let some of the NOBO catch up with you or correspond with compatiable NOBO you meet down south. Alot of us are shy people, but the beauty of the AT is a cammaradere dev/it has become quite a social exper. If you need space anywhere on any trail,tent or explore trailside towns or side trails. On the AT, you could hike the At in early season, then parallel the AT through parts of N.Va and Southern Pa. on the little used Tuscarora Trail for 250+mi,or further south near Peter’s Mountain in Central Va, hop on the Allegheny Trail through WVA and exper. what the AT was like prior to the mid-80’s. Hope some of this helps. Mike
mike
I found that the best way to hike alone was to avoid people. Especially clowns like me!!!:rolleyes
Virginian
If you start a NB anytime before mid-February, for sure, you will have no trouble having solitude. Or try a late season (Oct start) Sobo.
Interaction and contact with people is entirely up to you. Yes, you will meet people as you walk, whenever you start on the AT. An early start will ensure many shelters to yourself and as previously stated you have the option to leave no trace camp wherever is allowed.
Just becareful what you wish for. Sometimes company can be worse than solitude, but it is great to share feelings and emotions with other rational human beings.
I take it then you won’t be posting an journal on here?
Officer Taco
Hiking any trail will have it’s share of alone time - and being alone more is just a matter of avoiding places where folks congregate - i.e. shelters - so camp - if you want to be almost totally alone, do a winter thru hike - I was out in the shenandoahs in december, and besides hearing a few cars, I saw not one soul along the trails, shelters or otherwise - of course it was 20 degrees in the sun, but you carry warm clothes and plenty of fuel. However, I think that even the most die hard antisocial person will need some human interaction to avoid losing sanity - as per mike’s post
scuba
Virginian you were very hard to avoid. 
On my AT thru my longest period of seeing nobody was just shy of three days up in the northeast somewhere. If I wanted to avoid people I just didn’t go to the shelters, the cookouts and such. I did that a couple of times due to my mood I guess.
I started the trail in mid February and it was a lot of solitude out there at my start. Later in early March I dislocated my shoulder and was off trail for two weeks and returned to a different trail, or so it seemed. But I noticed that the few of us out there at my start would stop and have lunch with each other more easily than later after I returned to the trail. I missed the way the trail was before my shoulder. But I later met a lot of good people after I came back on the trail.
As far as being alone the hardest time is in town or at a hostel or something along those lines. You can compete for washers and such. But that just makes you want to get back out there.
Two Scoops
how about the ozark highlands trail, the mountains to sea trai, the foothills trail, the benton mackay trail, the ice age trail, the arizona trail, the sheltowee trace trail, the wind river range, and there were a few like that which crossed the PCT too, although i forget the names.
even hitting the AT opposite of the thru hikers, you are still going to encounter boy scouts, wilderness school groups, day hikers, weekenders, section hikers, and townsfolk.
but i echo the sentiment of others: careful what you wish for.
milo
When you hike, may I suggest hiking SOBO. I have hiked most of the trail SOBO. You will end up hiking mostly by yourself, and trust me when you are out there by yourself, you will welcome any human just to talk with. Your shyness will go away, you will hit patches of hikers, but most of the hikers will be going the other way. Just hike the trail don’t worry about your shyness it is easy to make friends out there. Everyone is out there to hike maybe for different reason, but you will have a common goal.
All greatness is achieved while performing outside your comfort zone.
- Greg Arnold-
Have fun and enjoy your hike. “Just Do It”
Hike your own hike.
Happy trails,
POOH-BEAR
POOH-BEAR
Over 3 million people use the AT each year … it’s a real thru-way! Nearly all the people you’ll run into will be day- and section-hikers … their everywhere on the trail, particulary between Memorial and Labor Days. Though you’ll not really “meet” these folks in the same way you’ll get to meet and know other thru-hikers, you will constantly encounter them … there’s no escaping (unless you take to night hiking a lot!) That said, I too started out with the intention of hiking alone, and for the most part did … that is, I never hiked in company with anyone (I noticed that even most thru-hiking couples tended to space themselves out so as to “hike alone”)… though I met and got to know a lot of other thru-hikers at shelters, in town, and at campsites. The trail is big enough to accomodate solitude for good stretches … it wasn’t uncommon to hike all day and only see half-a-dozen other hikers on the trail. As others have pointed out, you tend to meet run into people at the shelters and camps. As I said, I started out with every intention of hiking alone … but found the people I met really added to the experience. And of course, the big advantage of hiking the AT is that if you want to get away from someone that you keep running into (at shelters, camps, etc) … well, you just hike on … and no one will be offended.
still Frank