At least one thru-hiker started North today.

[horicon]

After being plowed out and doing a lotof shovling, I do not see why they wanted to start the AT in thisweather. There was a “major winter storm” that can thru Kinston,NY and the rest on up State NY.

[RED-DOG]

There are usually a lot of good hiking days to be had before both the old school traditional April 15 start date and now what seems to be the current trend of March starts. I would think that if a hiker is well funded and has ample time/flexible schedule, they could get a lot of miles in by starting early and sit out the bad weather in towns. They would have to pay close attention to weather forecasts at every opportunity, but technology has made that relatively easy to do compared to the past. 5 day weather forecasts are much more "generally accurate" and cell phones have made getting the data and communication pretty easy.

I have always started my thru's in February, that way their's less people and less Hassle.

[Praha4]

geez seemed like just yesterday we were watching the 2013 nobo crowd at TJ, now it's already time for the 2014 crowd. Good luck to all of them.

[Blissful]

Planning (gear, resupply, money, physical and mental aspects) and patience (esp in the timing of one's hike vs the weather, etc) can go a long way toward a successful hike.

[illabelle]

Current forecast for Knoxville is 1* on Monday night with wind speeds through the day from 10-20 mph. It will be deadly cold at elevation! I hope we don't have a sad end to somebody's early attempt in the next few days.

[ChinMusic]

It is this type of weather where you gotta be REAL good or be willing to take a couple zeros. I would be holed-up in a motel...........

[Slo-go'en]

The gyrations between hot and cold this winter are going to be maddening. This could be another stormy winter. But then, aren't they all?

[MuddyWaters]

Hell this is balmy weather down south.
Friend of mine in Wisconsin forwarded me his forecast for next few days
includes -37 F temp, -79F windchill.

I dont care where you live, thats freakin cold.

Schools are cancelled in WI and MN, too cold.

[ChinMusic]

The gyrations between hot and cold this winter are going to be maddening. This could be another stormy winter. But then, aren't they all?

This once-in-a-generation cold snap will freeze the Great Lakes potentially leading to a colder winter for the east.

Though this cold spell will last just a few days, it likely will freeze over the Great Lakes and other bodies of water, meaning frigid temperatures probably won't go away for the rest of the winter, Maue said. He also noted that it's relatively uncommon to have such frigid air blanket so much of the U.S., maybe once a decade or every couple of decades.

But so far, this winter is proving to be a cold one.

"Right now for the winter, we will have had two significant shots of major Arctic air and we're only through the first week of January. And we had a pretty cold December," Maue said.

[moytoy]

Ironically the bitter cold hasn't come into Florida yet. I haven't had to use the winter bag yet. This week will be different, I'm taking my 20 degree bag with me this week.

[10-K]

I'm going to hike up Unaka Mt. and see how accurate the temp rating is on my WM 0* bag..

Not sure if I'd start a thru in January - May seems like the best month to me. But if I did, I'd add another $2k to my budget for hotels and town food.

[Hill Ape]

monday and tues nights are going to be brutal cold, i hope anyone on trail gets word of the forecast and comes off trail

[dmax]

If you have the gear, why come off the trail?

[Slo-go'en]

Ironically the bitter cold hasn't come into Florida yet.

I don't know about that - my 90 year old mother was complaining it was 45 the other day near Tampa. That's not much colder then my bedroom most nights this time of year

[max patch]

Wind chill tomorrow night on Blood Mountain predicted to be minus 35 degrees. Springer Mountain a relatively balmy minus 31 degrees.

[4eyedbuzzard]

If you have the gear, why come off the trail?

Understood, but realistically a lot of AT thru-hikers, even early winter starters, just aren't always carrying gear for conditions quite that cold. Overnight forecast on Monday for Gatlinburg, TN are for -1°F, 17 mph winds, at 1290' ASL. That will likely mean actual temps in the -10 to -20° range at higher elevations with wind chills in the -30 to -40°F range. That gets into that 10 minute exposed skin frostbite situation. Not saying people can't stay out there in it, especially with proper experience and gear, but it raises the risk level big time if something goes wrong like a fall and injury especially if hiking alone. Add that not everybody out there is a Tipi Walter protege. The good news is that it warms up a little on Tues and more so later in the week. The bad is that it's going to turn to freezing rain on Thurs. For the marginally/borderline prepared, taking a zero somewhere warm on Monday wouldn't be the worst decision ever made.

[Dahoyt]

Dakota Joe does not stand a chance. I mean, he wears jeans, and uses an Ozark Trail tent, just for starters...

[hikerboy57]

4 out of 5 people that start dont stand a chance.so he should quit before he starts?

[Spogatz]

As of last weekend one of the guys at Mountains Crossing said that 6 people had started on 1/1. One went to the hospital from the Springer parking lot, 5 made it to Mountain Crossings and only one continued up the trail.

[Slo-go'en]

As of last weekend one of the guys at Mountains Crossing said that 6 people had started on 1/1. One went to the hospital from the Springer parking lot, 5 made it to Mountain Crossings and only one continued up the trail.

Did the other 5 go home?