Older Hiker -- Distances

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#1

I haven’t yet made the trip (I’ll be 61 in April, 2013) so I am curious about the re-supply points. Are they fairly frequent? Is it safe to walk past a few? Does supply point to supply point generally amount to a goodly section of the trail?
I’m reading a lot & gearing up, but have only car-camped in the past. Now I want to step out into the woods for a while.

I don’t have a supply chain. Whatever I walk north I will have to walk south, too.

Advice?

I’ve waited a long time for this opportunity … I want to get it right.

LexingtonNC

#2

Ah, a mere child! I’m 68 and deep in the planning for a NOBO starting in March 2013.

If you have only car-camped (I was at that point in my life about 25 years ago — kids, career, etc.) I strongly urge you not to plan an end-to-end in 2013! You need more experience… a lot more.

Buy a good guidebook and plan your own hike. You’ll need some experience to judge your own pace and distances. (I’m planning on an average of only about 13.5 miles/da.) There are dozens of potential resupply points and you’ll walk past most of them. I have 18 planned, the first at Fontana Dam NC and the last at Monson ME.

Create a spreadsheet and get to work! Planning is kind of fun too.

werdigo

#3

Congrats on getting the urge to walk in the woods! I’d say you certainly could try for a thru in '13, but you’ll certainly need to at least be able to get out a half dozen times or so and try actually camping – both to see if you like it, and to make sure that the gear you’ve brought will actually do what it is supposed to.
I’d recommend a ULA Circuit or Catalyst and get some info at : backpackinglight.com and whiteblaze.net or even postholer.com (and also check out some journals here on trailjournals.com to get an idea of what people do for resupply and gear.

You can read about my 2011 NOBO trip (with a much more aggressive pace – which is not needed in your situation – nor is recommended (more risk of injury and burn-out, and it is a scenic walk - so if you have the time - take as long as you can!). www.trailjournals.com/ctwhistler

You’ll never know unless you give it a try. Carpe Diem!

Carpe Diem! NOBO it up!

#4

I used the Appalachian Trail Thru-Hikers Guidebook. It was great. It gave the names of the supply towns and the distances between towns. I have it in front of me right now as I am writing this. It is worn and stained and broken down into sections.

“Whatever I walk North I will have to walk South, too.” I don’t think you will have to walk South unless you want to.

I was 62 when I hiked the AT. I averaged 15 miles a day. That was plenty to get me to the next re-supply town. I didn’t need or use mail drops, either.

Good luck. I’ll be rooting for you. Wingo.

Wingo

#5

Wingo, how did you do without mail drops? Did you do major (called “long-term” in the books) resupplies at larger grocery stores? Did you make out OK with the food you could obtain there? Did you have to hitchhike a lot, to reach towns more than a couple of miles from the trail? As a rule, how many days’ food did you have to leave your resupply point with?

I’m really curious about this option because I have mail drops planned and wonder if they’re the best option.

werdigo

#6

In 2009, I prepared over 40 resupply boxes I sent all along the trail. I ended up giving most of the food away to younger hikers. The way to go is stoveless. You can eat healthy cold food while in the woods. No fussing with getting fuel and cooking dinner. Makes your pack lighter. You will enjoy the hot meals while in trail towns.

I’m going southbound this year and will be going stoveless. I’m in my 60’s.

Start out slow and your pace will enhance when you get your trail legs in Damascus.

NedtheFed

Ned

#7

I prepared for my thru hike in 2006 by using an article posted by Baltimore Jack on www.whiteblaze.net Supply along the Appalachian Trail. I just checked and he updated the advice last March so it should be fairly current. I also used The Thru Hikers Handbook to tell me the trail data as I hiked. This book is no longer in print and a book called The AT Guide is now the source use in My opinion. You can order one at www.theatguide.com .

I started off with an 8 to 10 mile per day goal at first and added more miles as I got stronger. Another thing about short days was it got dark early in March and I wanted to have my tent set up and dinner madewhile I could see it. As I said I increased my milage over time and averaged somewhrer aroung 15 miles later on.

I had drop boxes sent to me about every 4 to 5 days along the way as I was afraid of what I would find in convenience stores. Most other hikers bought food as they went ng, yes there was a bit of hitchhiking done in both cases. If you decide to buy I recommend having a drop box sent to you at Fontana Dam for the 72 miles thru the Smokeys. I also recommend you stay at The Hike Inn there, they’ll accept your box and hold it for you ( be sure to callthem at Nantahala Outdoor Center) to make a reservation, it takes 2 to 3 days from there. The other place to send a box is Monson, Maine for the 100 mile wilderness, the town is small and there aren’t many stores.

My wife sent me my boxes as I hiked, we would talk on the phone and we’d taylor the next few boxes ahead. I found a few things I got sick of early on so we eliminated them and added other things as the trip went on. Most northbound theu hikers get their lighter summer weight gear home and ship their winter weight gear home in Pearisburg, Va. that would be your call depending on your progress.

One last thing I did was read Trailjournals of current and previous hikers that I thought were about my age. I get a perspective of the trail from someone I hoped saw things the way I did.

Once you are out there you’ll make many friends and you will be able to get information from them.

Good luck and have a great hike.

Old Goat

#8

I highly recommend getting the Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker’s Companion Guidebook. Just go to Books on this TrailJournals website and it is the first item listed. To me it was worth its weight in gold. It shows the distance between re-supply towns and what type of grocery store in each town. There were times when only a convenience store was available and the selection wasn’t good, but it was enough to get me to the next re-supply town. Other than the 100 mile Wilderness in Maine, five days of food was the maximum that I carried and I didn’t have to hit every potential re-supply town.

I have used mail drops before, but hiking the Appalachian Trail, I was glad not to have to use them. I never had to wait for a Post Office to open or have someone send mail drops.

Hitch hiking was surprisingly easy. Usually the people in towns near the Appalachian Trail know about hikers. I found that most of my rides were from locals and day hikers - rarely from tourists.

Good luck with your planning and your hike. Wingo

Wingo

#9

If you are considering the Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker’s Companion Guidebook, I was just looking at my records and I paid $16.95 for it in 2009. It is now listed at $148.00. Something is wrong. Wingo.

Wingo

#10

Thanks, Wingo, Old Goat, and Ned. I have the ATC’s “Thru-Hikers’ Companion” and David Miller’s “The A. T. Guide.” They’re what I’ve been using to plan my walk.

After reading your suggestions and doing some thinking, I believe I’m going to follow the “HYOH” route (hike your own hike) and, at least for the first few hundred miles, stick with what I know, what I’ve done on other long paths. My packs were too heavy so I’ll try to trim them, but otherwise…

Stove: I like hot coffee and my experience has been with hot freeze-dried dinners (rehydrated in the pouch; no dishes to wash), so I’ll start with that. With a lot of zero days planned (some of them at motels, but quite a few at shelters) it’s nice to have a continuous stream of hot coffee.

Resupply: I truly do NOT like hitchhiking. I went through the guidebooks and identified grocery stores within 2 miles of the trail, and they’re pretty sparse. I think I’ll use the post-office drop system at least to Bland VA (586 mi), and reconsider around there.

Please don’t be offended if you’ve offered advice based on your own hike that—so far, at least!—I’m planning not to take. I’ve done some multi-week walks but nothing of the magnitude of the AT, so I may well learn the wisdom of your ways after a few hundred miles. (Instant coffee does work in cold water, so stoveless might be attractive… but I can’t imagine enjoying hitchhiking. Did enough of that when I was young, and my preference is to stay out of towns anyway.)

werdigo

#11

It sounds like you have thought this out really well. Staying with what you know and adjusting as you go is the right approach. As you progress you will make the changes that will make your hike more enjoyable. I’ve seen hikers buy all new gear at Neels Gap and again in Hot Springs NC trying to lighten their load. That kind of change are very extreme.

The HYOH philosophy is the right approach for your hike. Don’t let anyone take you out of your comfort zone. You will make friends that you enjoy hiking with and soon discover he/she hikes a lot faster or slower than you want to go, sticking together may cause stress by trying to stay together. You will have so many people around you at first you’ll never be alone.

Enjoy your hike.

Old Goat

#12

We are older hikers (58 & 65) and completed an AT NOBO thru hike in 2012. (We have a trail journal on this site. Trail name: The Troverts). We averaged 14 miles per day.

These days re-supplying on the AT is fairly easy and on average you will only need to carry 3-4 days of food at a time. Beware of sending re-supplies to post offices: some small ones have closed and holiday closings at others can oftentimes leave you ‘cooling your heels’ waiting for them to open. Instead, after getting permission, consider mailing your re-supplies to hostels, motels or outfitters.

Fontana Dam resort has a small grocery store, but it has funky operating hours worth checking into before you arrive. We mailed ourselves a re-supply box to the Fontana Village Inn and stayed there and supplemented our supplies at the small grocery store. We found the gas station/convenience store in Monson to be sparce in the way of re-supplies and had a re-supply box sent to the Lakeshore House hostel, where we stayed before the 100-mile Wilderness. We also used their food bucket drop option and it was a terrific decision!

Enjoy your planning. Our hike was…EPIC!

X & N Trovert

#13

How did you decide to hike the AT and what year did you start. What encouraged you to hike a long trail. I don’t have any family obligations so I could start next year.Do you have any advice for a nercomer like myself.

Jim Davee

#14

I hike the CDT but there isn’t a lot of action on that forum…

I’m planning to hike the CDT over 2 seasons starting when I am age 66 in 2014. For the past five years I’ve hiked CDT sections of about 150 miles each while on vacation, and then returned to work. I average about 15 miles a day in the high Colorado mountains, and probably would do a bit more on flatter, lower sections of the CDT. On a very long hike I’m sure I’d need zero days also.

For me it has been good to test this thing out season by season rather than starting out with a single giant hike. I sort of spoiled myself by hiking the “best” parts in my sections but I also learned a lot about how to do this. Mostly I learned how to carry less, better stuff each year.

Planning is essential on the CDT, but not that complicated…there is pretty much one guide to the trail, one set of GPS waypoints, one guide to resupply towns, and one guide to planning a CDT hike. I bet planning is just as essential for a good AT hike and I’m not sure if having more material to choose from is an advantage.

I have done 6 days between supply, because there are fewer places on the CDT for any supply so it’s almost required. I don’t carry a stove and eat cold-water, freeze-dried lunch & dinner, chocolate, peanuts, dried fruit, and cookies. I find that at the end of the day almost anything tastes pretty good, and saving weight is a big plus.

I rarely am passed by a younger hiker, but there is no way I could do the whole CDT in 1 season. I think a bit about whatever my physical limit will be, and suspect it will arrive as some sort of tendon/cartilage issue rather than a cardio shortcoming.

Enjoy…it’s later than you think.

Mike

#15

I am a 70 yo female long section hiker with a knee replacement. I completed the AT and the PCT just before turning 70 - AT in 2011 and PCT in 2012. Long sections on each trail each year. This year (2012) I did about 800 miles on CDT. I may or may not be able to finish it in sections but I am giving it a shot.

You don’t have to walk back on the trail unless you want to. Hitch hiking is an interesting and usually joyfull experience - even for a single old lady.

What you do need to do is plan. Sometimes mail resupply to a motel, sometimes (rarely) to a post office. Recruit friends - sometimes along the way. Many buy as they go. I like to know what I am eating in advance - but then I did not do more than 500 miles at a shot.

Too bad you are addicted to coffee. Going stoveless or any other way to cut weight is often really important especially for the older hiker.

You aren’t too old yet. I am not too old yet. And I met 3 75 year old men in one day on the CDT.

Happy hiking!

Medicare Pastor

#16

We had it in our minds/dreams to do an AT thru for years! Our planning got serious about three years ago. There are some excellent trail journals on this site: 2009 Tagless & Tag-along, 2009 Ned the Fed, 2011-2012 Rusty Bumper, and 2012 Seeks It (and we hope folks have found ours to be helpful, too). Comparing gear lists before and then checking daily mileages of other hikers via their journals during our hike was really helpful. The AWOL Guide comes unbound and we carried sections at a time, rather the whole thing.

I think Mike’s comments above are spot on. Doing practice or shakedown hikes over the years before our big, monster hike really helped us. We learned so much about gear and our physical abilities. For us, a stove is essential. We enjoy a hot meal and a warm “birdbath” at the end of the day. (Yes, a good scrub each day is essential to us, too. The ticks were nasty & plentiful). Instant coffee now comes in easy-to-carry “straws” and one or two is a great addition to the morning power shake, either hot or cold.

We’re planning to hike the JMT this July. Santa brought me all kinds of maps & guides for Christmas. Again, planning - we believe - helps leads to success. While you can not plan for everything, planning for MOSTLY everything sure brings a sense of confidence. And pack weight, pack weight, pack weight! Keep it as LIGHT as you possibly can. Our pack base weights were 21-23 pounds.

X Trovert

#17

Jim - Try to get into the best shape that you can by the time you start your hike. Try to hike with no more than a twenty-five pound pack and that includes food and water. I aim for a fifteen pound base weight. I couldn’t have completed a thru-hike without hiking poles. They saved me from many falls. They also take stress off of the knees. A good sleep system is essential. The Thermarest Air Mattress worked great for me, but there are even lighter ones. I often slept nine and even ten hours because my body needed it.

Hike at a steady pace. I rarely pushed the pace. I was passed over and over by the same people for hundreds of miles. I tried to hike from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm each day. With breaks that would be ten to eleven hours. I was flexible, though. If I wanted to stop early, I did.

Planning is good, but be flexible. Have a good sense of humor. Be able to laugh when at times things go horribly wrong - and they will.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail was one of the best experiences of my life. When I was in my early twenties I hiked the Shenandoahs. At one of the shelters I talked with two thru-hikers. They enthusiastically told me about their adventures. Right then I knew that someday I wanted to hike the AT. Two days after I retired at age 62 I was on the Trail. I hiked the PCT this year at 65. Maybe the CDT at 67?

I’m loving this retirement. Wingo

Wingo

#18

I was 61 when I thru-hiked the A.T. in 2011. I took the Greyhound Bus from St. Louis to get to the trail. Started at Springer on Mar. 27 to Katahdn Aug. 6. I averaged 17.5 miles. Took 9 0 days. Took bus back to St. Louis from Medway, Maine. Planning was why I feel I was successful. Contact the Appachian Trail Conservancy at Harpers Ferry, W.V. for more information. Their # is (888)287-8673. I had 12 maildrops. Food is easily obtained on the A.T. To see more of my journal,photos, and gear, go to trailjournals/DreamWalker
Happy Trails:)

DreamWalker

#19

I’m posting my question here since it’s a continuation of this older hiker distances topic…I retire in about a year and half (at which time I’ll be 60) and am planning a sectional hike with my sister…I say sectional because we only have two months so we are looking for input since we’re time-limited…if you only had two months where would you start and what would your goal be? I live in Florida and she lives in NC…at first we thought just start in Georgia and head north…but thought we’d throw it out there for ideas?

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