Time needed to complete

[_andrewlowery]

Long story short, I am wondering how long it would take to thru-hike the trail comfortably (i.e. hiking at a normal, non-speed freak pace, taking pictures, taking a zero day or a few, etc.). I was planning on doing it the summer of 2019 due to summer school in 2018, but I know have about a 3-4 week time slot open in summer 2018 and was curious if it would be enough time. I am an experienced backpacker, can travel fairly fast. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Dogwood]

Yeah, sure go for it. You got this. 3-4 wks should be plenty enough time to hike 2200 miles. Just don't take too many zero days or stop to take too many pics. It only means averaging about 75 MPD. That should be a cakewalk for an experienced backpacker who can travel fast.


No, 3-4 wks is not enough time. And, although others have done sub 100 day AT thru-hikes you aren't up to that either. Period.

[Feral Bill]

Yeah, sure go for it. You got this. 3-4 wks should be plenty enough time to hike 2200 miles. Just don't take too many zero days or stop to take too many pics. It only means averaging about 75 MPD. That should be a cakewalk for an experienced backpacker who can travel fast.
.


No, 3-4 wks is not enough time. And, although others have done sub 100 day AT thru-hikes you aren't up to that either. Period.

Check the forum

[ALLEGHENY]

Yeah, sure go for it. You got this. 3-4 wks should be plenty enough time to hike 2200 miles. Just don't take too many zero days or stop to take too many pics. It only means averaging about 75 MPD. That should be a cakewalk for an experienced backpacker who can travel fast.


No, 3-4 wks is not enough time. And, although others have done sub 100 day AT thru-hikes you aren't up to that either. Period.

I have never been on the CT but 18-23 mi/day might do it.

[Dogwood]

Check the forum

Oops. My bad.

[Slo-go'en]

The CT is 485 miles. 4 weeks = 28 days. 485/28 = 17.32 MPD min. (no zeros) 3 weeks = 21 days 485/21 = 23 MPD min, no zeros.

I would think 21 days is out of the question, you'd be looking at pulling more then a few 30 mile days if you throw in just one zero. 4 weeks is more reasonable, but is still pushing it a little. Much of it depends on how well you adapt to elevation. The thin air at 10K really slowed me down, but your lungs are probably in better shape then mine.

If you shortened the trip by starting at Breckenridge (SOBO), that would shave off 5-6 days and you wouldn't miss much. But you'd be starting right off at elevation. It would actually be a good idea to hang out in town for a day or two to get acclimated to the elevation before starting out.

Also be aware of the afternoon thunderstorm risk and the means of avoiding them.

[Highland Goat]

Long story short, I am wondering how long it would take to thru-hike the trail comfortably (i.e. hiking at a normal, non-speed freak pace, taking pictures, taking a zero day or a few, etc.).

Three to four weeks would put you into the ‘speed freak pace’ bracket. Some folks would like that, but it doesn’t sound as if that is your hiking style.

[Coffee]

I thru hiked the CT in 4 weeks back in 2014 (damn, that was a long time ago, time to go back). I took two zeros. The trail is well graded and you can make a lot of miles but I would say that you need to be willing to make those miles partly at night to avoid afternoon storms. Several times I started hiking at 3 am and stopped, due to storms, in the afternoon long before I normally would prefer to stop. Best zeros: Lake City and Salida. Also, use the free bus system to hike the ten mile range between Breckenridge and copper mountain without your full pack. And take the collegiate west - one of the best segments of the ct.

[HooKooDooKu]

If you don't know your abilities, I would suggest that 10-14mpd would be a pretty good starting point for what the average person could expect to accomplish on typical long-distance thru hikes... with 14mpd pushing it for the "average" person.

Examples?
Seems like the average AT thru hiker that completes the trail in one year does so in "about" 6 months. The "back of the napkin" math is 2,200 miles / 6 month / 30 day/month = 12.2 mpd.
A "typical" suggested JMT thru hike is 21 days (some can get it done in 2 weeks, others take 4 weeks... Nat Geo saw fit to publish a suggested 21 day itinerary). 218 miles / 21 days = 10.4 mpd.
Typical Wonderland Trail suggestion is about 10 days. 98 miles / 10 days = 9.8 mpd.

Notice that the shorter the trail, the shorter the average mpd seems to be. The longer you're on the trial, the more you're likely to acclimate to putting in more miles per day.

[lonehiker]

Long story short, I am wondering how long it would take to thru-hike the trail comfortably (i.e. hiking at a normal, non-speed freak pace, taking pictures, taking a zero day or a few, etc.). I was planning on doing it the summer of 2019 due to summer school in 2018, but I know have about a 3-4 week time slot open in summer 2018 and was curious if it would be enough time. I am an experienced backpacker, can travel fairly fast. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

four weeks is probably borderline. If you could squeeze 3-4 more days into your schedule you would probably be able to pull it off. Seventeen miles a day isn't that tough to pull off if you are fit but once you factor in 3-4 zeros it adds just enough to it to be questionable. You won't need to do any night hiking to get in 17 miles a day. Start early and be cognizant of where you will be during early to mid-afternoon and you will be fine. You can wait out most T-storms and still get in several hours of hiking after they pass.

Fundamentally you just have to be honest with yourself. Using your experiences as a backpacker, can you maintain the required daily average?

[Coffee]

One idea: Replace most or all zeros with "Neros". That's where you camp a half day's hike to a trailhead leading to town and then are back on trail the next morning after staying in town, or perhaps getting back on trail the same day and camping a short distance from the trailhead. I have found that I get more out of Neros than zeros - I get bored with full zeros (two nights in town and a day of zero miles). I get almost as much from Neros. This strategy could make a difference for the OP finishing in time.

[Uriah]

Long story short, I am wondering how long it would take to thru-hike the trail comfortably (i.e. hiking at a normal, non-speed freak pace, taking pictures, taking a zero day or a few, etc.). I was planning on doing it the summer of 2019 due to summer school in 2018, but I know have about a 3-4 week time slot open in summer 2018 and was curious if it would be enough time. I am an experienced backpacker, can travel fairly fast. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

At your age and experience level, I foresee no problem. The primary concern during a summer hike on the CT is the likelihood of electrical storms. In a nutshell: very likely. They tend to slow a thru-hike down, as only a fool would not try to avoid them. The trail is often high and exposed, and the elevation is tough enough to deal with.

The strategies I've found, after having hiked the trail a bunch (both fast and slow) ...

1: Early morning starts, sitting out the storms, which tend to dissipate after a few hours. Get lower, enjoy riding the storm out: eat, rest, read.
2: Late afternoon/evening stops (after implementing the above strategy)
3: Or, perhaps wisest of all...consider an early fall hike instead (if possible), when the weather is generally nothing short of spectacular.

But this last one doesn't sound like an option for you.

In any case, good luck and enjoy!

[_andrewlowery]

Great thanks guys. I'll probably just wait until 2019 to thru hike it saying as I'll have a much more comfortable time frame to work with. Thanks for the advice

[handlebar]

Took me 28 hiking days at average of 16-1/2 mph in 2013. I was then 68. I was on the trail longer to add a loop from Copper Mtn over Uneva and Eccles Passes then down to Silverthorne and back up tp Ptarmigan Pass and on to the CDT soon at Jones Pass to summit Greys Peak and follow the CDT back to Georgia Pass to rejoin the CT. Those extra miles were particularly scenic.

I had a couple early quits due to lightening and a day of walking in the rain. Also recall managing to outrun a thunderstorm and barely getting off the Continental Divide on Argentine Ridge during another.

+1 to recommendation to use neros instead of zeros.