Just going for it

imported
#1

Well I am finally taking the plunge and attempting to hike the trail. I’m leaving on April 1st or 2nd and I’m just looking for some overall advice. I’ve read the books “thru-hikers handbook”, “thru-hikers companion”, etc… but it would be great to get some feedback on what I should look out for, how many miles I can expect to cover the first couple of weeks and where are some of the better places to stay off the trail.

I’m 40 yrs old, in the best shape I’ve been in 15 yrs and excited to start this journey. Nothing like quitting your job and just “going for it”.

Scooter

#2

Take it very slow and easy starting out, even if it means calling it a day and setting up camp at one or two pm. You’ve got all summer. I’d say 7-10 miles a day through Georgia.

Be absolutely SURE your boots fit.

Keep small goals when motivation lacks, i.e. getting to the next town… and then the next, or even over the next hill or to the next shelter, etc.

And above all enjoy it and take lots of pictures, of course. Best wishes

Duct Tape

#3

You’ll be in good company on April 1st. A friend of mine (Scott Moore) is also starting on that date. He’s a super person and I’m sure would be very helpful if you needed anything. He’s a geologist and has some interesting stories.

Jim Quinlan

#4

If you are in great shape 8-10 miles days will be a breeze (I was doing them last year and I was in the worse shape i had been in for years.) However, great shape or not your ankles, knees and back are not use to the terrain and overusage. So even if you feel like a freight train force yourself to take it slow and enjoy the comradarie. I met at least 3 hikers who flew on up the trail and then were at Goose Creek Cabins DONE, out of the game so to speak with blown knees or ankles. Best advice, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. As for the numbers: how many miles did you do today, what does your pack weight, how long do you think it will take you… FORGET THEM. It’s a grand adventure don’t be in a hurry to get done. April 1 will give you PLENTY of time to finish. That was my start date last year and most of the hikers with me finished the last week in September the first week in October. Sue/Hammock Hanger

HammockHanger

#5

Good luck on your thru hike. You will be able to do it! I did it at 39.

I got to thinking about it after this last 5 day 50 mile section hike which kicked my butt. I trained hard for two months so it would be easy and it still hurt. Still, I enjoyed every moment of it.

The one thing I knew about the trail before I started my '99 thru hike was that the trail is really demanding for the first month or so. I trained in '98 and '99 and I thought I was in great shape until the daily grind of the trail showed me otherwise. But knowing that it would kick my butt and that was part of the price never made me want to quit.

Not To Worry and I talked at Neel’s Gap last week and thought that if anything that we could pass along to someone about to do a thru hike, it would be that.

Once one knows that it will be tough in the beginning and will get easier, then they will know that the rest of the trail after you get your hiking legs will be worth every moment of that initial pain.

And even that first month has lots of good times despite arriving at a shelter tired and beat up by the trail.

I was reminded of that this last week and if I did not have to come back to my wife, I knew that at Unicoi Gap, where I stopped on this section hike from Springer, that I would be able to do the whole thing over again at 42.

Mr. Boo

#6

Well Scooter,
prior to my AT hike in 2000 (I was 55) I would consider I was very fit, I had been a regular jogger for 20 years and had been doing many additional exercises for 3 months prior to my hike. However being fit is not “hike fit”. As Mr Boo said it takes 3-4 weeks to get hiking fit as the uses of your various muscle groups is totally different to fitness training off the trail. However don’t despair, being in good condition before starting out definitely gives you a good kick-off. I met a number of people in the first weeks of my hike that were clearly too overweight and in very poor condition to be out there.
Needless to say I did’t tend to see those people again, so I assume they had to drop out.

Downunda

#7

I appreciate everyone replying back and giving me their insight. I have laided out a loose schedule and I do not have myself going more than 12.2 miles the first two weeks. Do you guys expect that after the first month I can kick it up to 15 to 18 mile days after the first month. I figure with my days off and my start date that I need to average a little over 14.5 miles on my hiking days to make it to Maine by the end of September.

Scooter

#8

I appreciate everyone replying back and giving me their insight. I have laid out a loose schedule and I do not have myself going more than 12.2 miles the first two weeks. Do you guys expect that after the first month I can kick it up to 15 to 18 mile days after the first month. I figure with my days off and my start date that I need to average a little over 14.5 miles on my hiking days to make it to Maine by the end of September.

Scooter

#9

Scooter, I just heard from the Lone Ranger and he’s now averaging 18 mile days after less than a month. He’s not a real big guy either. He was averaging 15 mile days from the beginning which seemed a lot. Oh BTW, he said the Smokies were real wet with a lot of flooding and part of the trail on one section was washed out from a landslide.

Jim Quinlan

#10

There will be days that you do 8 and days that you do 20… As you become the hiking machine and you get into smoother terrain you will pick up miles. Just enjoy them however many you do. Sue/HH

HammockHanger

#11

Scooter, it seemed to me that I could easily do 20 mile days when I got to Virginia. Before that time you should just listen to your body and rest assured no matter how pokey you are that VA->Mass. are where you can more than make up the time.

Sweeper

#12

And don’t forget to swim in every stream, watch every sunset, smell the flowers, and live every day to it’s fullest. Try, do and see everything. Shoot, I even went swimming in Dismal Falls in April! Gad that was cold, but soooo good. And do trail magic unto other before they do it to you. Rock on.

Bushwhack

#13

Scooter,

I started out 9 miles a day the first month as the trail beat me into hiker shape. I barely made Hot Srings by the end of March. Then the next month, as I was in hiker shape, I reached just over 13 miles a day as each day was easier than the last on my body. Then I jumped to about an average of 16 miles a day the third month and hauled through VA, WV, MD, and PA.

When I got sick at Culver’s Gap in NJ, I chose to slow it down to about 12 to 13 miles a day average pace. Because if I had not, I was bound to be doing 18 plus the fourth month and that was too fast to enjoy the trail.

I have to note that Louis Prevost who did the Long Trail last year and is doing a thru hike this year is wisely doing a 9 mile a day average right now. He can do better. Looking at him and how big he is and how in reasonable shape he is, I know he could be laying down a 12 mile a day average the first 3 weeks.

But, smart man that he is, he is letting the trail get him in shape before he starts to increase his speed.

Hope that helps…

Mr. Boo

#14

My first day on th etrail was the first day I ever back packed ayt age 51. Straight from th eoffice. I did no particular conditioning. I had to stop after 1500 miles in MAssachusetts. DONT WORRY its mainly a mind game. Just hump up and down the hills. NO rush. Go shelter to shelter for the first couple of weeks. PAy no attentionto th eyoung people who push miles. Yuo’ll do plenty of 20 mile days in Virginia/ ENJOY the trail.

bamboo bob

#15

10 years or so ago, people averaged 11 miles a day for the first month or so, and then 16 miles a day afterwards. I suspect those numbers have dropped since then because now there are more hiker services in town, so people stay in town longer.

There are 3 main things that influence how many miles you average, and they are all important:

(1) Your fitness level and age

(2) How much time you spend in town: This makes a big difference. It is easy to get sucked into trail towns, and it takes some discipline and focus to pull yourself out. But those zero days are really bad for your average.

(3) How hard you want to push. By Virginia, we were physically capable of doing 20 mile days every day, but it just wouldn’t have been fun for us to do nothing but walk all day. Time we had at camp at the end of the day, to read, write in the journal, talk to people, was really important to us. Also, if you’re really intent on putting in a lot of miles, you can miss out on a lot of stuff – you’re less likely to linger at a scenic overlook, and more likely to bypass a sidetrail to a pretty spot.

hypatia

#16

Interesting hypatia should think that avergae miles/ day have dropped overtime. I’ve been thinking about hiking trends, and had an opposite opinion. With new materials, thru-hikers are carrying less weight. In fact, most people I hiked with hiked in running shoes instead of heavy boots. With companies like GO-Lite and the adoption of Jardine’s philosophy by many, I was thinking daily average had gone up over time. Kinda the lighter, faster, longer hypothesis. I wonder what the true trend has been. I totally agree with the other points about fitness level, down time, etc. Listen to your body and adjust your pace accordingly. Grimace ME->GA '01

Grimace

#17

You know, Gravity Man and I started our 2001 through hike with a schedule of where we would be when, how many miles we would start with and build up to, where we would re-supply… Well, after several hundred miles we had some realizations.

First.) Part of why we were hiking was to get AWAY from schedules. We (at least I was) were feeling driven and obligated to the schedule. I felt that there was so much focus on the goal – mileage, getting to katadhin, whatever - that I missed a lot of enjoyment with the process.

Second) while most of us do have time constraints dictating when we have to finish, through hiking is not a race, it is not a competition. I heard so many people saying ‘I just did a 25 mile day, I just did a week of 19ers’ I have one question: Umm, what’s the hurry?? I know we want to push ourselves, see where our walls are and overcome them, both physical and mental. You know, I think a lot of hikers have heard this a lot, but I think it is the very best piece of advice I have heard for through hiking, and it is this: HIKE YOUR OWN HIKE. Your hike is about you, your experiences, your interactions, etc. Don’t let someone else suck you into their agenda or their hike at the expense of your own.

Third) Listen to your body. I didn’t. It sucked. I had to get off trail. I know there is a constant balance that a through hiker has to maintain. There are physical walls. there are definitely mental ones. But we are mortal. I know it is a difficult reality to accept. But, I believe that if you get sick, take care of yourself and get better, that is more important than a 14 mpd average. If your feet hurt, maybe you need diferent shoes, get them.

Finally, I think it is important to fucus on enjoying your hike, enjoy being able to eat entire containers of frosting without gaining an ounce, enjoy the magnificent beauty, the comraderie, the self exploration and revelation, the fun, the adventure, the challenge, the freedon, the simplicity, the learning. The miles are just what happens along the way. But they aren’t all that happens, unless you make it that way, and I think that takes something out of the expereince. Be flexible, and be constantly aware and try to absorb every detail, every breath, sight and sound. Be here now, you will get to Katadhin soon enough, and you will be happy that you got there, but I think I can guarantee that you will be sad that it is over.

Tuffie

#18

Well said Tuffie! Everyone needs to ask themselves what do I need/want from my hike? What do I want to give to it? Is it for the competition, the challenge, that drive to get the body to perform at its limits? Or is it for the sheer enjoyment of being on the AT, sensing its presence, its beauty, its occupants? I, like many, would like to spend a half year or more on the trail at one time, but for now, I section hike the AT twice a year - traveling upon it in anticipation and awe every time. The schedule is workable for me and I can “hike my hike”. I travel it at a moderate speed, my goals are modest and flexible. I enjoy the pure, raw freedom that section hiking gives me. It’s kinda like eating a big piece of chocolate cake, not wanting it to be gone so taking small bites so it can last longer. For those of you that want to take in everything while you’re on your way to Katadhin, but can’t quite because you need to hurry to get to the next mail drop, you gotta get back to work, you’re outa money, you got to hurry, hurry, walk faster, faster, faster - consider taking smaller bites and chewing longer. (mmmmmm, chocolate cake on the trail…yesssssss!)

patty

#19

There have been some great comments posted on this topic–the most important of which are, I think, to hike what feels right to you, and to listen to your body.

But one thing yet to be really discussed is pack weight. IMO, how fast you go and what it will be like is a function of what you carry. And, when talking about where to stay off the trail - a lot depends on how fast you are hiking.

Just about everone who starts a thru hike has too much stuff with them. (Look at some of the equipment lists on this website - impressive but almost all are WAY heavy.)This affects speed, but more importantly it affects health. Injury and illness come with extra pounds. There is a HUGE difference between a 40 pound pack and a 30 pound pack. And going from 30 to 20 is even more significant. Two years ago I carried about 28 lbs to start the AT. Last year on the PCT I carried 22. This year on the AT I will be even lighter. I have found that as long as I go light, I never find the trail hard work, and I can hike as many miles as I want in any day. If you carry a 20 pound pack, and if you want to, I think just about anyone can hike 20+ miles per day on any part of the trail (except southern Maine?)–even 30 miles sometimes. There are great reasons to go slowly, however, so don’t think I am recommended speeding up the trail. But, it is nice to have flexibility.

Old Man

#20

Has anyone heard from or been in contact with Two Scoops(Dale Roberts) since his last entry in his journal of March 14th? He had a nasty fall and was in Cherokee, N.C. last time he had an entry. Please let me know. I and all his friends in Va. are wondering how he is doing. Thanks

Tim