Hehe, nice.Originally Posted by Miami Joe
I'm also vegan and wonder how this is going to work out. (Maybe it deserves its own thread.) On the trail I just eat instant and dry versions of the same things I eat at home, and I managed to eat completely vegan from Springer to Fontana in 2010 without any gymnastics. I didn't ask what was in the pizza crust at the Pizza Hut in Franklin, though. (It's probably the first time anyone ordered a cheeseless pizza there.) I resupplied at grocery stores in Dahlonego, Hiawassee, and Franklin, IIRC.
Not being experienced, I carried way too much food from Springer. I don't remember buying any food at Neel, nor was there a whole lot to buy beside premade crap. On the plus side, lots of hiker box finds are vegan. (Bring enough fuel.) Convenience stores have plenty of unhealthy vegan food just as they do nonvegan, so if other people are stuck eating snickers bars we can eat fritos and twizzlers.
Anyway, Springer to Neel also took me 3 days, with stops at Hawk Mtn Shelter (7.6 mi day), Woody Gap (12.3 mi day), and Neel Gap (10.6 mi day).
Im going to ruin twizzlers for you. Glycerin can be made from animal by-products.
http://m.wikihow.com/Make-Glycerin
Took six days of food from the start of the Approach Trail to get to Hiawassee for first resupply. I still stopped at Neel's Gap, although I hadn't planned on it, to get out of the rain and buy some overpriced bagels for breakfasts since I gave up on the cereal with Nido thing pretty quickly. It took me six days and I wound up with a day of food left thanks to staying at Neels and eating dinner and breakfast there.
I was pretty much in the minority of trying to go 4-5 days between town stops. Most hikers I met were on a resupply every three days or thereabout schedule.
Wow...that blows!
I'm new to WhiteBlaze, but not new to LD hiking. There seems to be a number of folks who scoff at those who aren't UL or ready to punch out 20+ miles a day. What happened to "Hike your own Hike". Not everyone hits the AT to set a land speed record. As Big Cranky mentioned better to start out slow so you don't overexert and end up injuring yourself in the first week, maybe take an extra day of provisions (1-2lbs) given that weather is unpredictable, and adjust your needs moving north based on how you progress from point to point. Remember only ~25% of those who start each year make the entire journey from Springer to Katahdin (or vice versa) and the biggest reason most don't make it, is injury.
i don't think I even heard someone come here and say "the doctor told me to take 2 1/2 lbs out of my pack or my back will break and I'll never hike again"
Thanks, I didn't realize that.
There's a middle ground between cranking out 20s from day 1 and taking a week to get to Neels Gap. There's nothing wrong with advocating that people try a few test hikes before they hit the AT and are therefore able to get to Neels Gap in 3 or 4 days. It might help raise that 25% rate which is more likely not due to injury but due to unpreparedness/not being the fun walk in the park dream they thought it would be. There's a reason the AT's completion rate is much lower than the PCT and other LD hikes.
The great thing is its your hike and you can make it as hard or easy as you want from the start.
I'd consider myself a pretty experienced backpacker, but When I do short weekend trips I normally stick to around 10 or less miles/day (granted, that is at elevation, but on more graded trails), so that's how I plan on starting out on the AT. I was really just wondering what is the best "first" resupply point. I think at this point I'll pack 4 days of food. I'll probably make it in 2.5-3 days, but it's not that much extra and my base weight is decently low so I'd rather not get stuck in a ice storm without food! (I am leaving with the bubble on March 15th. Cringe, I know, but it's what worked out with the leave of absence I was able to get from work)
Thanks! I've always been more of a tortoise than a hare anyway! I don't hike fast but I tend not to wear out as fast as my friends who like to hike quickly. We generally all end up finishing hikes at the same time anyway, and while I feel like I could go another few miles, they are all pooped. So I like my strategy.
+1 On your statement. The one thing I learned about WB over the years is that you have to have tough skin. Some feel if you can't hike 30 miles a day with a 5 pound pack you are not a real hiker. Just read what they have to say and move on to the next post. Someone will post what you are looking for.
I started out with a 4-day food supply, planning to do 8-12 miles a day between Lake Placid and Long Lake (just under 40 miles). (Breakfast on day 1 and dinner on day 4 in town, but an extra meal to be prepared for a delay.) Called it pretty well, and arrived with the extra meal in my bag. I think I might actually have picked up the pace and pushed through to Lake Durant if I hadn't run into a jungle of blowdown in the Cold River valley. It must have taken an exhausting half-day just to cover the few miles from Ouluska Pass to the Cold River bridge.
Oh, you meant starting out on the A-T?Well, let me share my clueless thinking.
I think I'd plan the same 8-12 miles a day. I'm in no hurry. On the Northville-Placid, which was the subject of my silly comment above, I might make that 10-15. It's faster going on that than I anticipated. I managed one 15-mile day, sixty or so miles later, even after hurting a knee.
I'm a clueless weekender. That said, I've done a bunch of clueless three- and four-day weekends, and I hear that a thru-hike is just a bunch of short section hikes chained together. I figure that in the unlikely event I were ever to attempt a thru hike, starting at a gentle pace such as I've described and listening to my body would be the best plan. That would mean the same 4-day supply from the Approach Trail to Neels Gap, if I read the mileage tables correctly, and would be a 40ish-mile section. IIf it were to go better than expected maybe I'd push through to Hogpen Gap. Unicoi Gap would be a sixty-mile section, which is more than I want to plan for right out of the gate, and Neels Gap has services right on trail.
Neels to Dick's Creek Gap would be another shortish section - with Top of Georgia right on trail again.
By then I'd have a good enough idea what's what to be able to plan a longer section to NOC - or not plan the longer section and look up the services near Standing Indian and Winding Stair Gap.
Adjust my thinking to your level of experience and fitness. I'm coming from the perspective of someone who does a fair number of weekend and short section hikes in reasonably tough mountain terrain. A loop of 18.4 miles and about 9000 feet of elevation change (including a couple of moderately challenging rock scrambles) made a fun overnighter for me. A flatlander might want to be even gentler. A real mountaineer would call me a wimp.
I always know where I am. I'm right here.
When I went from Springer to Damascus, If I remember correctly, started with about 3 days worth. I was fine, you can easily resupply at Neel's or even in Suches,GA if you need to.
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