Start Date

[firesign]

Average 20 mpd
Average 15 zeros
Approx 150 days in total

Based on an average weather year.

Suggested NOBO start date please?

21 April seems like a sensible date or am I off the mark.

Thank you in advance for your guidance.

[Spirit Walker]

21st should be good. Most CDT hikers start between the 10th and 31st. Starting too early will get you in trouble in Colorado, especially if you are a faster hiker. In 2006, a very dry year, we started the 17th, took our time to get to Colorado, and still had to do a couple of short detours around the Knife Edge and in the South San Juans. The people that started before us mostly had to do major road walks in southern Colorado or took a week off to let the snow melt. Starting later than May 1 can mean extremely hot temps in NM.

[Spirit Walker]

The 21st should be good. Most thruhikers start around then. In 2006, a very dry year, we started on the 17th and still had to detour twice in southern Colorado (around the Knife Edge and in the South San Juans). The hikers who started ahead of us, or who hiked faster than we do, mostly ended up either roadwalking southern Colorado or taking time off in town to let the snow melt, or both.

[Venchka]

This year, given the lack of snow in Glacier and the rest of Montana, combined with the late, heavy snowfall in Colorado, many NOBO hikers flipped to the Basin and then up to Glacier and headed south. Every year is different. Be flexible and creative.

Wayne


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