Hey there all… I am seriously pondering the thought of doing another thru-hike, this time with my husband. I have been debating on whether to go the same way the second time (NOBO) or to reverse my direction and end up in Georgia. For some reason, ending in Georgia seems rather anti-climatic… whereas endind at Mt. Katahdin was very well… BIG compared to what happened at Springer for me.
Any thoughts on reversing direction, other than simply seeing it from a different angle?
-windex
windex
I have often thought that a southbound journey would be nice… a different time of year and new and different sights… but a northbound trip may have more social interaction, I guess it depends on when you leave, and what you are looking for.
Leif
I favor the SOBO hiking for several reasons. Having hike south bound to georgia and then north bound to virginia, I have a feel for both directions. South bounding is more personel with less hikers on the trail. After Labor day the woods where empty and the mountians where all mine. I spent many days hiking alone and never seeing another person other than my hiking partner. The wilderness seemed wilder. Towns where empty and friendlier in some cases because I was the only thru hiker at the time. Finish the AT is the same but the mountian is smaller. I though it would be anti-climatic but it wasn’t. Springer is a small non-descript mountian in Georgia but it doesn’t have a rush and you can climb it year round. Leaving in mid-May led to a small hiker crowd but their is a small group of SOBO’s every year.
The NOBO experience with my wife was less enjoyable becuase the shelters where always packed and camping was difficult becuase camp sites filled up quickly. When we got to town there were tons of hikers every where and hostels quickly filled up. The weather kepting getting hotter instead of cooler like a south bound hike. There where more hikers with us and we made some good friends but overall it wasn’t the experience we where looking for on our hike. There was always a time constraint to think about and the need to keep moving. This felt too much like a dead line for my style of hiking.
I finished MEGA in 6 months and 2 days. It felt like the right amount of time. Some days I would blow off hiking to relax and not feel any presure about missed miles. Other days I may hike further because I felt like hiking but never because I had to meet a dead line except maybe the post office. Really it’s a matter of what you want from your hike. My vote is SOBO, which is the way I am going next time around.
Darth packman
I sure wouldn’t want to miss the trees change in Maine if I had the chance to see them again.
I redid the first third of the Trail this year and really enjoyed the experience, watching, almost as an outsider, the excitement and anxiety in peoples’ faces those first few weeks, and it was neat suddenly being an expert on the Trail ahead and hiking in general.
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