Southbound or Northbound

imported
#1

Which is better a south bound thru hike or a northbound thru hike?

Rebecca & Bennett

#2

If you want lots of company, hike north. If you just want some company, hike south. Which is better? IT’S ALL GOOD!

Tin Cup

#3

Well, I’ve done both & Tin Cup is right but let me share. First, I havn’t done the whole enchilada! I am a section hiker and in 01 I went from Amicola Falls to the Kincora hostel (Almost to the Va. line). Last year I hiked from the Shendoahs to Blacksburg.
The first yeare was very exciting, the unknown, the other hikers, making friends, losing friends, finding them again, all very fun.
The next year ,South, that kind of interaction is gone. The folks you meet you will only see for at most a day, if you meet in town and the reality is you stop and talk to each other on the trail, but it is a time where you are really on your own and can be very intorspective.
So, if it helps, I am going to finsh Va. this year and in doing so will have everything done South of the PA. line but I’m going back to Kinsocra and hike North, becuse of the folks you meet and run inot again and again. I missed that part, and caertialy in the beginning of a hike, there is some motivation that you get from others that will push you on when you have one of hose ineveitable “why am I doing this” days.
Hope this helps…:slight_smile:

moonman

#4

I hiked SOBO in 1999 and NOBO to Troutville, VA in 2001. I enjoyed my SOBO hike a lot more even though I hiked NOBO with my wife. The NOBO hike was so crowded that we always ended up camping with a group of people. I never saw a crowd in GA but further North and later in the season the crowds began. SOBO I started early and spent about half my nights alone or with one other person. There where long stretches when the only people I saw where myself and my partner. Going SOBO the trail is empty after Labor Day except for the rare weekender or day hikers in popular areas. For me the solitude was very rewarding after the large crowd of summer. NOBO your always with the crowd and the heat of summer.
I choose SOBO due to my money and time. I didn’t have the money saved until May and I didn’t want to rush for Katahdin. I took six months and never felt rushed along the way. I hiked with a partner who was going to finish a month before I wanted to so we ended up parting ways. The finish at Springer isn’t the spectacular climb that Katahdin is but it was very rewarding. Katahdin does make a spectacular start for you hike which was nice. Katahdin is a hard climb but after climbing it the rest of the trail seemed easy.:lol
Keep in mind that several thousand people start in georgia every spring versus several hunderd starting in Maine. Which ever way you go, hike your own hike.

Darth Pacman

#5

Thanks, darth pacman & moonman, the advice is definitely going to be helpful when we make our decision! Darth Pacman, the part about not having a time constraint hiking sobo is exactly what we thought. Its good to hear someone that agrees with us being that this will be our first time!!! Thank you!!! :girl :boy

Rebecca & Bennett

#6

I agree w/Darth Pacman too, I want some company but not too much. Also don’t want to feel pushed, which I believe many NOBOs feel even without the deadline of winter closing down parts of New England. And most of all, I’m looking forward to the leisurly pace of hiking the southern Appalachians in the fall and winter to my own tune, and the magificent beauty there when it snows.

steve hiker

#7

I was thinking about starting in Damascus about sometime in April and then returning to hike south. If you time it right, you might get to enjoy extended fall colors, a bit less crowding and a little solitude towards the end. Anyone else contemplating this?

Saluki Dave

#8

I’ve known hikers who did this. In some ways it gives you the best of both worlds. You’re ahead of the thruhiking crowd, but still hiking with spring and with the early thruhikes. You have time to get into shape before your reach the big climbs in New England. You aren’t racing winter in Maine. And you aren’t having to deal with Maine’s early summer mud and black fly infestations (the hazard of southbound hiking). But you do miss the thrill of finishing the AT with Katahdin (Springer is somewhat anti-climactic in comparison) and you do have the hazard of hiking through the south during hunting season. But especially if you are slow hiker, it can be a really good way to go and you can stretch autumn out for weeks.

SpiritWalker

#9

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hike/thru_hike/itin.html

The ATC site has some great info on where and when to start a thru. I think the ‘head start’ ones are pretty interesting.

TJ

#10

I’ve got plenty of time before deciding (like two years), but wonder what people’s suggestions are for a thruhike with two main criteria:

a) miss the worst of the biting bugs
b) avoid the worst of the summer heat

I’m open to starting at odd times or from non-traditional parts of the trail, and have no problem tromping through the snow if it will help avoid some 90° days.

Thanks, Joel

Joel

#11

North bound has my vote, but let me qualify that.

First, I had been doing section hikes on the AT for decades. I never made the strong people connection until I did a long (3 month) section hike. I discovered that people are the best part of the trail.

Second, for northbounders, Katahdin is a kick a$$ goal. Nothing else compares, and the team effort that builds all the way through Maine is motivating.

Now, how to deal with crowds. Most of the crowds are in the south. According to a survey done by Roland Meuser, 80% of the people start between March 19 and April 16. So, the further away from April 6 (the mean starting date), the fewer hikers you will encounter. There is ample time for the average hiker to start in late April and get to Katahdin before winter.

Maybe my experience was different. I seemed to hike with a group of hikers for several days, until the next town. Every time I left town, I got back on the trail with a different group. I didn’t feel like I was hiking with the same crowd for weeks on end. But, at some point, we would see each other again, probably weeks apart.

Another choice is to do a leap frog, or start futher up the trail and then come back and finish the south.

Myself, I started in Harper’s Ferry in late May and went north. Then, the next spring, I returned and hiked the southern half.

Peaks

#12

For what this is worth:

I left Springer on Feb. 27, 2000, went up Katahdin July 20. Encountered very few people most of the way. Weather was not bad tho often cold in the early going. 1 very hot and miserable week in MD/PA in early May. NJ–>VT cold and rainy. NH and ME were spectacular in June/July and the weather was incredible. Bugs a factor from Jug End in MA to the end, but bearable (mostly).

Each year is different and I knew I could’ve gotten into some bigtime snow in the South, but I prepared accordingly. I personally would rather deal with cold and few people than heat and lots of people.

DuckXing

#13

We started North on March 3/02 and saw very few hikers during the day and some shelters only had 3 or 4 hikers. We didn’t see crowds until further north. The faster hikers caught us! By the time we reached Maine we were in the thick of it. The biggest crowds were in New England. I did notice the SOBOs sure liked to talk when you ran into one. They looked starved for conversation! DuckXing, the best tasting water was at a spring just to the right when you hit the road coming down from Jug End. There was a half wooden barrel with a pipe. Old Badger and I both agreed that was the best tasting spring water we found on the entire trail.

Papa Smurf

#14

Starting April 1, we rarely had any problem with bugs. There were a couple of buggy nights in NJ and MA, but for the most part the mosquitos left us alone. We’d get bitten by deer flies occasionally as we hiked, but I found if I wore a kerchief, they mostly didn’t bother me too much. We did carry a tent though, so when the skeeters were bad, it was easy to get away from them. (One of the many advantages of not sleeping in the shelters.) As to heat, we had real heat mostly in PA and NJ - late June to mid-July. (We were at Del. Water Gap on the 4th of July.) One thing about being in the mountains, though it gets hot, there is usually a breeze, you are walking in the shade (the long green tunnel), and usually a cooler front will pass through after a few days. Hot spells rarely lasted more than 3 or 4 days. If you hike early and hike late, you can take a rest mid-day, go swimming if in an area with water, and usually it isn’t that bad. Carry lighter food when it gets really hot. Not lighter weight, but stuff that doesn’t have to be cooked or that is lighter on the stomach and that won’t melt or go bad in the heat. We ended up usually doing very big miles on very hot days as it was easier to keep walking than to sit and sweat, and cooking just didn’t appeal. After New York heat was rarely a problem, except for a few days around Gorham.

As to southbound hikers, it would depend on when you start. If you start early summer, you would have mosquitos and blackflies in Maine and possibly New Hampshire. Heat would hit around New York, I think, and last through the end of August at the least, maybe longer. Cold would begin in October or so, intermittently. Some years autumn is a fantastic time to hike, other years it rains a lot, lately we’ve had fall droughts that dried up the water sources. YMMV

SpiritWalker

#15

Went SOBO in 2000. Started July 1, and had a few blackflies to deal with, but nothing insurmountable. From what the locals said the black flies usually peak early to mid June, depending on how wet the winter was. 2000 was a dry winter so YMMV.

As far as heat I don’t think I had a day over 90 degrees the whole time. Maine can have chilly nights even in the heart of summer.

Most of the SOBO’s started around June 10-20 that year if I remember correctly. The next time I’d probably start 6/15 and try and be done by Thanksgiving. Ended up taking almost 6 1/2 months. Got caught by lots of snow/ice/etc from the middle of Smokies till the end. We got a ride out of Fontana and took a few days off at Xmas because of heavy snowstorms. The fall and winter of 2000 were wetter and colder than normal though. Go figure.

I went SOBO to avoid the crowds and enjoyed starting up north. I had section hiked much of the southern parts over the years and really wanted to see Maine. Part of the decision was that if I were to get injured enough to leave the trail, I at least wanted to see the areas that I’d never visited before. There’s all the solitude you’ll want and thensome, so if you really aren’t comforable with yourself you might want to go NOBO. The fellowship of other hikers isn’t something to dismiss out of hand. If I’d started a bit earlier and hung around more of the SOBO’s it would have been just about the perfect combination for me. Again, YMMV.

Email me for any questions,

-Johnny Swank

Johnny Swank

#16

Hi, the other alternitive is to flip-flop. I hiked as a NOBO to Duncannon, PA. Went to Maine and started as a SOBO finishing in Duncannon.
The good part was being down south in early spring and see the beautiful world come to life. Meeting a lot of people who were going through the same hartachs and pains of learning to be a thru-hiker. The bad part was leaving all those friends, leaving the ticks and the hot weather.
Hiking in Maine in July was great. It was still hot but the nights were cool. All the lakes, ponds and rivers made it easy to take a cool dip and wash up at camp. The trail was fairly crowded until after labor day. From Vermont south I spent many nights alone. After all the NOBO passed me no one was out hiking. I only met a few SOBO hikers to hike with, so I did have the experience of hiking alone.
If I had it to do over I would do the whole hike as a NOBO. There is nothing that can experience finishing your 2000 mi. journey on the top of Katahdin. Instead of finishing my hike with a bunch of friends. I finished my hike alone at the Doyle Hotel.

Grampie