So if you were to thru hike the AT...

“would you prefer to start at the North or at the south terminus and why?
last edited: 1/05/06 9:37:47 AM”

“I always thought starting in GA was the only way to go, but I met a few SOBO's this year who made a good case for starting in ME. Mainly because you could start later in the year, and not have to worry about the Parks Dept. closing Springer.
last edited: 1/05/06 9:38:23 AM”

“Good point!”

“The only reason I'd start on Katahdin is because I've really never been there, lol. Really, starting south is better because you've got 1800 miles to get in shape for the White Mountains...and I needed everyone of them.”

“I think starting at Springer, going north till it heats up, then take a bus to Maine and start south to where you left, might be the way to go.

I hate hiking in heat.”

“SS...you live in the wrong place!”

“I hear that NF..”

“That's why I have to drive at least 400 miles to hike, SC.”

“I dont mind the heat :)

NF, another good point...man, im gonna have to flip a coin!”

“I would probably start at the southern terminus. That way I could finish closer to home. 500 is much less than 1000.”

“South to North. At the end I can get myself a nice lobster dinner.”

“I also did not know ahead of time how much the social aspect of the trail would mean to me...meeting really great people both on and off the trail. Heading south is much more isolated. You will "bump into" people headed north, but not really get to know them. It's hard enough to imagine you hiking without a computer (grin), let alone not having people around you.”

“Talk to captain hook about all of this. He and I talked about this while hiking in the Gorge a month or so ago. He and Crash really had this thing wired by the end of the trip. I learned a lot talking to him and picked his brain for lots of ideas. I am going to do this some day but sadly like a lot of people it will probably be when life permits me to check out for 6 months which is going to be when I retire or win the lottery (whichever comes first).”

“I think it comes down to whether you want the social aspects of the trail along with the physical accomplishment of hiking the distance or if you just want to hike the trail at the time of your choosing.”

“I would start at Boiling Springs in March and go South to Springer, then shuttle back to Boiling Springs in May/June and go North to Katahdin. That way you: get to summit at both ends, avoid being trampled in the the thru-hiker rush; miss the blackflies up North; avoid the summer heat in the middle.”

“Well, flip flopping would make it a bit more complicated (and expensive) I want to do it one way thru...


WK has a point, but give me crabs anyday over lobster :D”

“I sense an Out of Context Quote coming....
;-)”

“I'm more of a purist, when I do it, it will be start to finish, no hopping around...God willing!!
last edited: 1/05/06 11:08:08 AM”

“Me too LOL It really tears at me when I have to skip a bit of trail...I usually go back and do it when my hikin partners get to camp or take a break :P

ss...dont you dare! :P
last edited: 1/05/06 11:06:32 AM”

“Nicole! Report to the Savage Gulf thread!

NOW”

“How do you all get time off to hike the whole thing???”

“retire =)”

“exactly!”

“Quit...or take a leave of absence (which is what I am going to do)”

“If i were doing it straight through I would probably start at Katahdin inlate June or early July in order avoid heat, blackflies and a herd of humans.”

“I've already warned my wife a hundred times I was going to make my attempt when I retire. Or win the lottery. Maybe have her follow in a support car so we can see sights together along the way and so I don't have to rely on mail drops. Haven't convinced her of that yet. ;-)

I'd flip-flop GA to center, then ME to center (center being somewhere southern PA, not necessarily the real center). That would leave me only an hour or two from home in the middle and at the end.”

“people tend to forget that the southern portion of the AT through Tenn/NC and Ga can be very tricky in the winter time.”

“That way the trip is Down hill....I hate hiking up hills........

When do we start?...LMAO”

“funny...I hate hiking down hills :p

I prefer hiking uphill :)”

“Ewker--

Who said anything about winter time? I'd be done by early November and the winters down there are mild compared to what I'm used to.”

“Ditto what SC said. Downhill very hard on knees!”

“and uphill is hard on the lungs!”

“you gotta good thing going SC in a spouse that likes to hike too...mines getting more and more there every year...my dream would be to hike it in 2 parts over two summers with my wife”

“If I was going to hike the AT I would start in Ga. The real b!tch would be hiking all the way back to get your car at the trailhead.”

“Silly LtHiker, just stash a bike at the end first then ride it back to the car.”

“you're both wrong...when you're done you just get an apartment, find a job and stay put...though if you're gonna do that i'd recommend south bound”

“why stash a bike, there was a dude last year who was hiking his bike up to main on his back.”

“thriftyhiker, I'm the one that was talking spouse, but she's not "there" yet either. I figure I have 20 years to work on her until retirement.”

“LOL...mine likes to hike, likes to camp...now if i can just get her to put the two together”

“Thrifty jsut tell her you need to go find yourself for a few months.....

she'll understand...heck Im sure shell even help you pack.”

“no, "find myself" is a euphemism i use for something else ;)”

“Flasher - if you don't have kids, you don't have to wait until you retire to hike. Just make the hike a priority, save every penny you can, and go when you have a few thousand stashed away. It's not that difficult. Of course, if you want to succeed in a career that requires commitment- it becomes more difficult, but if you are just working a job, it's easy to quit and start over again 8 or 10 months later.

I hiked north the last two times. I liked starting in winter, hiking through spring, into summer and into early fall. (I started April 1, finished mid-September.) If I were to do it again, I would probably go southbound, just to have a different experience.

I think north is the better way to go, for a lot of reasons, such as "hiking with spring". If you go south, you start with mud and black flies, soon go into summer heat and the hardest part of the trail within the first month. Finishing on Springer is usually done late fall/winter and besides being really cold, is usually something of an anticlimax. Katahdin is such an exciting place to end the trail. The southern mountains get really cold in November/December. Crowds aren't really that much of a problem any more. Numbers have gone down in recent years (from a high of about 3000 in 2000 to about 1700 starting last year) and more people are starting super early - they tend to drop out. If I were headed north, I would start about the 10th of April and finish in late September. If south, then about the first of July.”

“Stick around Ginny, I'm deffinatly going to have to pick your brain a bit as the questions arise :D”

“what is this AT that everyone keeps talking about? ;-)

nobo, defineitely. finishing on big K, a real mountain, is much more idealistic and romantic than finishing on springer, which is just a really big hill.”

“CB, ya wanna hike it again? :)”

“if i had the time and money, i wouldnt give it a second thought.

second go-around, id like to start mid-april and finish late september/early october”

“Well...you could save enough up for the second go around in 2-3 years yes? :)

Mid april sounds like a good time to start :)”

“crash, i don't mean this as any disrespect or anything so please don't take offence...did you finish the AT?...i know you started it cause i read some of your journal (no i'm not stalking you i swear)...but the journal isn't finished and i've always wondered if you finished”

“not at my salary!

>:-(”

“ya hear that thrifty? You'llnever get the ending unles you send him 3 monthly installments of 19.99 each :)”