Traditional NoBo

imported
#1

What are the traditional start and finish dates for a NoBo thru-hike? I know the PCT has its kick-off the third weekend in April for a start and try to finish by Oct.1. Does the AT have something equiv?

bowlegs

#2

most hikers start between late feb and early april but some start as early as jan 1 and as late as may.as for finishing aug through the end of oct.the AT has trail days witch is in damascus,va starting may 13 to the 16 hope this helps peace

RESTSTOP

#3

The AT is much more flexible. There’s easily a 200+ day hiking season, often much more, for the 2200 mile trail, so an 11 mpd average is all you need. The PCT is more like a 150 day season, seldom more, for 2650 miles so a minimum pace of 18 mpd is needed.

No kick-off at all on the AT. Trail Days is by far the big event on the AT in mid-May. It’s a little difficult to plan on hiking into Damascus for that weekend because it’s 500 miles up the trail, and most AT hikers start with no clue on how fast they can hike 500 miles. So most end up hitching forward or back to Damascus.

My wife started her hiking career with a NOBO AT start on April 15 (tax day) and she managed to hike into Damascus exactly for the trail day weekend. She finished early October. Six months is the pretty typical pace for the first-time AT thru hiker.

There is a push to get to Katahdin by October 15 most years.

Garlic

#4

Both Reststop and Garlic are correct. The bulk of the hikers leave in March and April. I have seen over the years that many of the hikers that leave in Jan or Feb do not make it very far, You are WINTER hiking the first month even though you are in the south. That means days of Freezing days and sub Freezing nights with tons of Snow, Sleet freezing rain and not much thru traffic at all. Oh yea very short days not much sunshine.

Dan Paradise

#5

When we hiked the FT in 2005, we were a couple of days behind Camo and PowerStroke. They had started in Key West and crossed into Alabama mid-March on their way to Cape Gaspay (Eastern Coninental Trail?). Now I understand their timing.

bowlegs