"Sleepy alligator in the noonday sun
Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
Call for his whisky
He can call for his tea
Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan
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Georgia was much, much, much easier (for me at least) than New England, and frankly probably easier than any state besides West Virginia. For me at least, it's not the climbs as much as the trail surface that slows me down. With a smoother surface I can keep cranking at a pretty good pace going uphill or down, but once you start to need to look at every footfall then things slow way, way down. The AT south of West Virginia is pretty darn smooth (smooth, not flat) and I think I averaged close to 3.0 mph for full days down south. In the Mid-Atlantic states I probably averaged something like 2.75 mph, but I was a lot younger then. Up north my average mph plummeted, as you have to be conscious of almost every step you take and your body is moving all over the place to make forward progress. I miss the Virginia trail for its ease of hiking (in cooler weather at least), but miss New England for its raw beauty, even though it probably contributed to my now-bad knees.
GA←↕→ME: 1973 to 2014
I've met a lot of teachers who slowly section hiked the AT. Takes a few years, so what?
A school teacher myself, I started section hiking a few years ago, averaging 100 miles a year. I have hike SNP to NY. However, this past year, I went south and hiked about 200 miles Amicalola Falls, SP beyond Gatlinburg, TN.
I really liked hiking a 200 mile plus section... It immersed me into trail culture a lot more, allowing me to meet and travel with more people for a continuous time period. I will do that again this year.
Someday, I will finish the trail....
I am pretty much a LASHER, have covered the southern 1000 miles of the AT in three section hikes. Of course I am semi retired and just go out and hike until I get homesick. I think just about any plan to hike is a good plan if it works for you. The main thing is that you get out there and do it.
"The difficult can be done immediately, the impossible takes a little longer"
Thanks everyone! I am excited to get started. I have no plan to finish on fixed date. I will hike my hike and finish when I finish! Hope to see some of you on the trail. I have not given myself a trail name yet or been named obviously. I suppose that will happen when the trail allows it!
The only problem with sectioning like that is you have to start over every year with your physical fitness. From everything I've read, the thru hikers spend the first weeks getting their trail legs and finally get into hiking shape. Its still a struggle, but not as bad as it is for the weekenders. You're going to fight those initial two weeks each year.
That being said, I fight it every time. I started doing long weekends last year, trying to go somewhere once a month. I've covered something like 300 miles. At this rate I'll be dead before I finish, haha. A hiking buddy of mine is an art teacher, he's retiring in two years and he's going to do the whole trail then. He's in great shape, and even at 64 he's one of the fastest hikers in our group. I wish I had the summer to take off and hike! I'm just trying to save up 10 days in a row of vacation to hit the trail and see how far I can get.
I LOVE your plan. When I weekend it, a lot of the time we feel pressured. You HAVE to do 8 miles the first day to get to the shelter, then you HAVE to do 14 the second day to be in position to walk the last 7 on day three to get back to the car and be home before it's too late. The idea of just hiking off into the hills until youre tired, then plunking down and saying "I'm done for today", getting up when you want, stopping for a swim, and saying "screw it I'm done again" at any point sounds like the perfect way to hike. And without having to get to the end by a certain time, you don't even have that rushed feeling. I'd love to do a hike like that.
Please don't read my blog at theosus1.Wordpress.com
"I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. Thank God for Search and Rescue" - Robert Frost (first edit).
True.
But relative.
It depends on what kind of shape you allow yourself to get into
If you like to run and do cardio, and do wts too, and carry a light pack, it aint a big deal.
If you like to just watch TV, drink beer, eat bonbons, well then its probably a worse transition.
Don't be afraid to go in the winter to click of those three day weekend trips. It usually isn't too cold, and you obviously have to be smart about it and watch what the weather guessers are calling for. NO BUGS! You aren't sweating your fanny off, etc. Lots of great reasons to go in the winter. From Springer to Fontana, there are lots of road crossings for pick up and drop off points, and friendly shuttle folks. I've been off the trail for almost two years due to a foot issue and the resulting surgery, but come February I'll be back in the Smokies. Can't wait!
Not a teacher, but I tend to do my 1 week hikes when school is out due to my business partner staying home with his son when school is out.
I hike a couple hours on Sunday mornings in a local park frequently and do some overnighters every couple months to stay in some semblance of conditioning - but I live in Florida, so there really isn't anything I can do to prepare for the mountains except take the first few days easy.
After driving up to the section I'm going to hike, the first day of hiking is usually delayed by a shuttle ride, which is fine because I like to keep the first day relatively short (8 - 10 miles). The second and third days, I hike a bit longer, then I start stretching out the miles some more. The last section I did, my last 3 days were 16 - 17 or so miles per day.
Some day in the not too distant future, my drives will be getting long enough that I may consider flying to do a section. When that happens, I'm probably going to do 2 weeks at a time.
I would love to do a thru hike, and have been building up my thru hike savings account, but my business partner doesn't seem to think taking 6 months off is realistic, and thinks I should wait until retirement. I'll cross that bridge when the savings account is built up enough cover the mortgage and the hike. My knees may not be able to do a thru hike 24 years from now. Until then, I'll keep knocking out sections. Who knows, once I've completed the AT section by section, I may not find a thru hike desirable, and will have to do something else with that savings account... PCT, perhaps? Who can say what my passion will be that far in the future.