Night thru hike

[HankIV]

Just wondering—has anyone ever completed the AT night hiking only? Seems like it would be close to impossible, then again so did a thru hike period a generation ago.

[TrailsEnd]

I recently (like most of last spring/early summer) dug through the newspaper archives from 1937 to the present for the media outlets within the states that the trail passes through. Turned out to be a lot of material, like just a bit shy of 200,000 individual direct references to the trail.

I'm not aware of anything like what you've asked. Its possible but probably would have gotten some ink/attention if it had been done. You'd be surprised how low the bar is for some of the coverage and reporting of people's hikes.

Night hiking is fine, some people really dig it but I would imagine that trying to sleep in the daytime would really suck. Shelters would be out, people would be dropping by those all day. The temps during the day would be pretty miserable to have to try and rest in I would guess.

[gpburdelljr]

Occasional nights of hiking would be OK, but I think doing the whole trail at night would get extremely boring because you would miss seeing so much. Seeing plants, flowers, view scapes, animals, etc, helps break the monotony of a thru hike.
As to whether it’s possible I’d say yes, since a blind man (with seeing eye dog) has hiked it.

[chknfngrs]

This is all subjective of course. What’s dark and gloomy to one might be overly joyful and lovely to another

[LoneStranger]

It might be fun if you had the time and money. The nights are very short up here in Maine come Summer, like 8.5 hours between sunset and sunrise with actual dark a few hours shorter. With limited time each night to make miles it would be slow and expensive I'd imagine. On the plus side you'd have plenty of time to both sleep and really appreciate those great sites you wish you could spend more time at.

Not for me as I don't have the time or money, but if I was young, rich and bored after doing the trail ten times it would spice things up I bet

[RockDoc]

A well known NC lodge owner told me, as I entered the Smokies going north "Don't wander around in the dark; there are things that will eat you."

[HankIV]

A well known NC lodge owner told me, as I entered the Smokies going north "Don't wander around in the dark; there are things that will eat you."

Ha,like zombies? I guess you would increase the odds of startling an animal into defensive action. Increased trips and falls would be the bigger risk.

Like an FKT, it doesn’t seem like fun, but would be an accomplishment.

[spfleisig]

I'd be more impressed by the young sisters who hiked most of the AT barefoot. I hiked up Mt. Washington this past Sunday and on the way down, but near the top (going towards the Jewell trail), some dude was walking up the trail with no shoes on. Mind blowing for me.

[petedelisio]

Was walking barefoot at night and a copperhead crossed my path very close. (Much closer than I usually can allow in daylight)
Snakes can be much harder to see at night even with a bright light.

[Funkmeister]

It would make resupplying problematic.

[Gambit McCrae]

I calculated that during my first AT completion I night hiked about 284 miles of the trail. A lot of late Friday night arrivals, hike till 2-3am and crash till daylight.

Since then, I thoroughly enjoyed my night hikes on the Sheltowee and Pinhoti.

If you have never put in a solid night of walking in the woods, I promise you are missing out on a whole new world. Ever seen the Grayson Highlands by full moon? A super moon at that? I traveled to grayson on 2 different occasions one for the super moon and one for the blood moon. I dont regret either.

[Miner]

I met a guy who hiked most of the PCT in the dark. He started doing it early on to avoid the heat and kept the habit. But other than avoiding the heat, I don't know why someone would go out of their way to hike that way more than just occasionally. Typically, most of my hiking at night was due to trying to make extra mileage to be somewhere on a schedule or get to town a bit earlier, leaving late for the trailhead after work and wanting to get a little distance in, etc. That said, hiking above treeline with a full moon can be enjoyable for the different almost otherworldly experience. But hiking in the woods is mostly just dark and not much can be seen outside of the beam of your light.