Results 1 to 7 of 7
  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-16-2019
    Location
    Carmel, Indiana
    Age
    20
    Posts
    5

    Default Looking for a thru-hiking partner: March 2021

    Hello, I'm Meredith. I'm currently a junior in high school (16) and I plan on graduating Dec of 2020 and thru-hiking the AT (northbound) starting in March of '21, before I go off to college. I'm looking for other young hikers who might want to partner up and start together. Message me if you are interested.

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    09-15-2019
    Location
    Downingtown, Pennsylvania
    Age
    21
    Posts
    9

    Default

    I private messaged you!! I am very interested!

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-16-2019
    Location
    Carmel, Indiana
    Age
    20
    Posts
    5

    Default

    UPDATE: I am now planning to start around mid to late January, not March.

  4. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    01-23-2016
    Location
    Virginia
    Age
    30
    Posts
    203

    Default

    ^Apologies in advance for the unsolicited advice, but unless you really like hiking in the snow and cold rain, and the late spring bug swarms of New England sound appealing, I would probably recommend against a January start. Different strokes for different folks of course, but unless you've done overnight backpacking trips in the snow before, and/or you've been to VT/NH/ME during mud/blackfly season, you might find a January-July thru-hike pretty unpleasant. Some people start in Jan/Feb and finish and love it, but it definitely stacks the odds against you! Just something to keep in mind.

    If your concern is finishing before school starts up in August, maybe consider hiking the AT in two halves, bookending your college experience: GA to Harpers Ferry the summer between high school and college, and then HF to Katahdin the summer after graduating and before entering the workforce. If I'd had the funds at the time, that's how I would have done it. As it was, I waited until I'd worked a few years after college to thru-hike. Be prepared for naysayers-- when I first did a 200-mile solo LASH a couple years before my thru, I had several people tell me "oh I'd never let my daughter do what you're doing!" etc. and I was a 23-year-old with a graduate degree, so I can only imagine what comments you'll get at 17. But the overwhelming majority of folks out there are wonderful and supportive, and they'll admire your boldness. If you haven't yet, check out Becoming Odyssa by Jennifer Pharr Davis, as she was quite young when she thru-hiked the first time. Sheltered, by Emily Harper, is another trail memoir and I think she was fresh out of high school. Her book is free on Kindle and not professionally edited, so be prepared for lots of typos, but a relevant perspective.

    I wish you the best of luck!
    A.T. 2018 Thru-hiker
    Follow along at www.tefltrekker.com

  5. #5
    Registered User sketcher709's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-18-2013
    Location
    Princeton, MA
    Age
    57
    Posts
    78

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by KnightErrant View Post
    ^Apologies in advance for the unsolicited advice,
    I know this is an old post but I can't help myself, the irony of your user name as you mansplained to the poster....

  6. #6
    Registered User
    Join Date
    01-23-2016
    Location
    Virginia
    Age
    30
    Posts
    203

    Default

    ^I'm a woman who started doing solo section hikes at age 21, so I thought my experience as a young (although granted not as young as OP) female solo hiker trying to fit a thru-hike into my college years might be relevant to OP based on her post about changing her start date to accommodate school. The rest of my post was just encouragement and book recommendations by authors who also thru-hiked as young women, which I enjoyed reading when I was planning a thru hike as a young woman.

    Nonetheless, the advice was still unsolicited, which I recognized was a bit obnoxious (hence the apology). After all, my UN is just a reference to my alma mater, not a claim of perfect chivalry.
    A.T. 2018 Thru-hiker
    Follow along at www.tefltrekker.com

  7. #7
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-23-2022
    Location
    Anderson, South Carolina
    Posts
    70

    Default

    If you would like a section hiking buddy; I would be interested.

++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •