Son was Sobo but, now thinking starting Nobo this week?

imported
#1 
																	I've got a young buck male with a full rack of horns who is ready to hit the trail. He has planned, saved, packed and is ready to go. Original plan was to go Southbound but, Katadin has snow and he does not want to do a Abol Bridge start and miss Katahdin or wait for it to open mid June.

Now, he’s thinking Nobo. He is fit and fast but, I’m concerned he will be alone more than I had hoped. He is beyond ready and excited. I’m looking for reassurance. Any trail angels or magic left for these very late start northbounders? He is aware he needs to get to Katahdin before October 15. Should I insist he go Sobo or let him hike his own hike and go northbound this week?
Many thanks.

																	_Mother_
#2 
																				Just FYI - from their site it says that the Hunt trail is now open, so he could hike up Katahdin and then do the SOBO from there.

Could also go northbound as you suggest, with the option to switch somewhere if he doesn’t think he’d have enough time to get to Maine. That is, stop wherever he is, go to Katahdin and then hike south to wherever he left off.

																				_Billy_
#3 
																				Let him start on that section of trail that already has hikers (ok, that's most of AT right now from PA south), and have him go North bound.  He might as well start at the section of trail he would most like to see, go north planning to arrive Katahdin mid September, and then evaluate if he wants to pick up south segment later.  This way he can be with hikers, see some trail magic and have "the trail experience".  Maybe start in Virginia and go North.  Good luck to him!


																				_Kim Stanfill-McMillan_
#4 
																				Let your son decide where he wants to start. Hide your heli-parent license. Time to let the hiker go on his own. He'll come back when he wants!

																				_Watching Waiting_
#5 
																				If he goes NOBO he will be just fine. He'll run into lots of folks just not too many thru hikers for a while. With a June start he will most likely have to flip at some point. It will also be pretty hot and humid hiking. Why not start at the Me or NH border and NOBO to Big K then flip to finish SOBO. However it sounds like Katahdin is open now and the SOBO option should be fine. Did a hike last weekend in NH and Washington is still snow covered. No worries though the trail is pretty well marked and snow only above 3,500 feet or so. Black flies and mossies are just starting to get going. 

																				_Big B_
#6 
																				When I thru-hiked years ago in my early 20's there was no parental participation (other than ordering some books for me on request). It was just time to go and do my own thing, and they respected that. Certainly they would have never thought of trying to micromanage the hike, which was all but beyond them to comprehend anyway. I realize it's fundamentally different now thanks to google and facebook, that anyone can get up to speed in no time. But this isn't going off to summer camp, it's a profound life-changing event, and both the motivation and the consequences need to be his and his alone. Support your son, but the more you can leave him to his own devices, the more he will grow into a fully fledged adult out there. It can be scary in this age, but it's as necessary as ever.

																				_tron_
#7 
																				For the past few years it's been a hoot to read the Trail Journals that are in fact authored by parents in the name of the hiking child.  There are a couple of parents right now of NOBO thru hikers on Trail Journals that are living life for the kids.  I wonder what the kids think of what the parents say about there trip.  There was a dad of a hiker last year,(Crunchmaster)  who posted wordy descriptions of events in an attempt make the story more exciting.  I wanted to ask that guy if he actually owned a helicopter.     

																				_Francis_