if anybody has ever left from georgia to maine in january…give me some feedback and let me know how the trip was please. a friend and i, first time on the AT want to leave around jan. 10th headed for maine. if you think its to cold or have any words of wisdom please let me know
izzzus
You should check out Hydro’s journal. She started on Jan. 1st in GA and just finished at the beginning of July. She was forced off the trail early on b/c of all the snow in the Smokies. But that is all in her journal.
jerm
Expect cold weather through March, ice storms, snow, solitude, and MUCH frozen beauty. I found the winter to be the most memorable times on the trail, probably because they were the most challenging. I fully support an early start with one exception: if you are a fast hiker, you may get north too fast with an early start. The White Mountains were still snow covered in June and Katahdin might not be open if your hike is only 5 months long. If you plan on taking your time, no problem. If I’d do it all again, I’d start early February. I could go on and on about the pros and cons about starting early, send me an email if you need some help!
Hydro-Heidi
Comer and Jean left Springer in '01 on Jan 13. I (bluevist)left Springer in '02 on Jan 13. Both on Trailjournals. I also left Georgia on Jan 1st in '05 and quit a month later. It is very doable, depending on how much you like cold weather, how prepared you are with warm gear, how willing you are to sit out bad days in towns, and how your luck is running. Go for it.
margie
Cold, ice, snow, short days and very long nights. 14 hours in a sleeping bag. Sound good? No flowers until May, if then. (Spring in New England is much later than in Georgia, and it doesn’t start in Georgia’s mountains until the end of April.) No summer berries. Lots of time off in town. Lots of money to stay in town waiting for the weather to get better. No swims in streams and lakes. IMO, a winter hike is more of an endurance event - and a lot less fun than a summer hike because there is less time to relax and enjoy. It is hard to stop and enjoy a view when it is cold and wet. Days are short and cold, so you have to keep moving. It is very hard to wash up at night when the air and water temperatures are cold. This has physical and psychological consequences. A lot of early hikers go home, at least for a while. It can be hard to get your momentum back when you take a month off midway.
Ginny
In january 05 the first 2 weeks were in the 50’s and even 60’s. The last 2 weeks in jan 05 were freezing and got down to 2 degrees at neels several mornings in a row. It’s a crap shoot. Its a great time to hike really. With plenty of outs, in case you have to bail, plenty of places find shelter. Its probly the best state to hike on the AT in winter. Things change abruptly once you hit the smokies in january. The weather dictates everything then. If you make it thru the park in january it’s because the weather was with you. It’s taken me as long as a week to get thru the park in january, very exsausting to say the least. 3-5 feet of snow the whole way thru, blowdowns by the dozens, -15 degrees at 6000ft, road to the burg closed.
Its usually in the park in jan that early nobos realize the hard truths about winter ldh.
heald
My and Jenchol did the trail from the access trail to the end of the GA AT section, 84 miles, I must tell you its was EXTREMELY COLD. For more on the trip during this time and this section go to my AT site and read the sacred Journal I have posted there, its day by day the weather and all. http://www.geocities.com/retsuzen/Sacred_Journal_pg1.html
AND if anyone will please email me and or post here what I can expect in temps and weather starting at Dicks creek gap GA to the NC/TN border,during the month of later october to mid November going NOBO, we plan on doing a trip during this time this year agaon. Thanks in advanced
Retsuzen