Damascus...

[rafe]

What's Trail Days besides just a big-a$$ed Ruck? BTDT, it was fun, but not sure I'd travel for days to do it again. If it's p/o a longer hike, sure. FWIW, I was slow; it took me 5 1/2 weeks to get from Springer to Damascus. It was a near-perfect fit for an April 4 start.

[Jack Tarlin]

Jesus, I can't believe we're arguing over this.

Wolf said 4-5 weeks, i.e. 28-35 days.

Fact of the matter is that at 28 days, most folks are right around Erwin, and Erwin is still 120 miles from Damascus.

Very few hikers make it to Damascus in 28 days, i.e. in four weeks.

And most aren't there by 35 days either. (Miss Janet says that the majority of folks take right around 30 days to get to her place...they usually take some time off, and then it takes around 8 days to get from there to Virginia).

I think most folks take from 37-43 days to cover this; if other folks want to tell us what their time was on this stretch, I'd be curious. But 4-5 weeks, for most folks, would be very fast time. When I was living in Hot Springs, it took most people at least 20-23 days to get THERE from Springer, and nobody's going from Hot Springs to Damascus in 8 days or 9 days.

The 4-5 week figure, for most folks, is very fast.

[neo]

I know it would only be an educated average, but how long does it take to get to Damascus from Springer?

it depends on how much you drink an zero along the way,i dont drink or zero,3 weeks plus a day or 2 for me. neo

[Knees]

My experiences are that it takes about a month to get to Erwin and another solid week to get to Damascus.

If you're starting out somewhere around 10mi/day this is where you'll probably be (It's about 330 miles to Erwin). The really young and really fast crowd that started when I did in '05 took about 4.5 weeks to get to Damascus.

If you're starting out in good trail shape and hiking 20mi days, these estimates are low. Not very many people start off in that kind of shape though. Most people I've seen do seem to fall into the ~10mi/day camp when they start out.

[Jack Tarlin]

OK article in today's (28 January) Boston Globe on Damascus; it mentioned that it's one of "the nine communities along the route where the Trail crosses the center of a town...."

Off the top of my head, I can think of more than that:

*Hot Springs
*Damascus
*Harpers Ferry
*Boiling Springs
*Duncannon
*Port Clinton
*Delaware Water Gap
*Cheshire
*Dalton
*West Hartford
*Hanover

Any others?? Oh, and remember, the article said "center of town" so Pearisburg and a few other places don't really count.

[Lone Wolf]

[QUOTE=Jack Tarlin;311634]OK article in today's (28 January) Boston Globe on Damascus; it mentioned that it's one of "the nine communities along the route where the Trail crosses the center of a town...."

Off the top of my head, I can think of more than that:

*Hot Springs
*Damascus
*Harpers Ferry
*Boiling Springs
*Duncannon
*Port Clinton
*Delaware Water Gap
*Cheshire
*Dalton
*West Hartford
*Hanover

Any others?? Oh, and remember, the article said "center of town" so Pearisburg and a few other places don't really count.[/QUOTE
It doesn't go thru the center of HF, Boiling Springs, Port Clinton, DWG either. just skirts them.

[Jack Tarlin]

Skirts Boiling Springs?

Seems to me the Park and the Pond are pretty much the center of the town, and the Trail goes right thru 'em.

Likewise, the Intersection of High and Shenandoah Streets in Harpers Ferry is pretty much the heart of the town, and again, the Trail goes right thru here.

I'm not really sure that DWG or Port Clinton even HAVE anything resembling a town center, never gave it much thought.

[Socrates]

Socrates -

When is your start date?

Late February. Haven't picked an exact day yet. 25ish I'm thinking.

[the_iceman]

I was going to start on March 4th and figured I would be at least 300 miles north of the party. Now I have had to delay until April 4th and I figure I will be 50 miles north +-. I am not planning on taking zero's but plans change. I plan on 36 days to get there from Springer. I don't move fast just steady. I may catch a shuttle back since it may be my only chance to see it for myself.

[G.H.O.S.T.]

I'll be in Damascus at 34 days. Sounds like L.Wolf is right on the time frame.

[Jan LiteShoe]

Wow, I went pretty slow my first couple of months - started March 1 and got to Damascus on April 22. What's that, seven weeks plus?

That said, I couldn't think of a single day I wanted to extract.

I finished my thru in six and a half months, well within the norm, so no worries about a slow start. The young rabbits travel pretty fast at first though, all that youthful, springy cartilage, and bubbling life-force running in their veins.

[RAT]

I go slower than most all other hikers and the fastest time for a Springer to Damascus trip was 6weeks and couple days as best I can remember.

RAT

[hopefulhiker]

In 2005 I did the "Hard Core Trail Maintenance" with Bob Peoples at Kincora. He was kind enough to get rides for hikers back to their point on the trail.. A lot of people drop back for Trail Days....

[mindi]

I hope I can get a ride back to Trail Days from wherever I am on the trail. I'm really looking forward to it.

Mindi

[little bear]

how long should it take to get from Hotsprings to Damascus?

[Jack Tarlin]

It's just under 180 miles. For most folks, it'll take right around two weeks or just under.

Most people get into Erwin on their fifth day from Hot Springs; it's around another five to Dennis Cove (Kincora Hostel) and then three days from there to Damascus.

If you're like most folks, and decide to take some time off in Erwin, Dennis Cove, or both, this'll put you into Damascus right around two weeks after you leave H.S.

[map man]

That article Pokey linked to earlier in the thread was mine and now I have updated numbers! I just finished going through trailjournals.com's class of 2006 AT thru-hikers and I will be updating that article within the next week or two, although I will say that nothing will be changed much (though the number of hikers in the study is now 143 instead of 105). But here is an answer to Socrates' question, based on the updated numbers:

24 percent of the completing NOBO thru-hikers in my study keeping a thorough journal at trailjournals.com got to Damascus in 35 days or less. 23 percent got there in 45 days or more. The balance, 53 percent, got there in more than 35 days and less than 45. So based on that hiking population, Jack Tarlin's estimate seems better than LW's. Not that I mean to take sides . It's just that I'm a statistics nerd and I MUST crunch the numbers when someone asks a question like this.

[Whistler]

I arrived in Damascus in the middle of my 22nd day, which I know is way out of line with the average. This was during snow-free, near-perfect weather weeks of late May and early June 2005.

-Mark

[partinj]

I hear Trailday has turn in to nothing buy a bunch of yuppy trying to be Thur-hiker at lease that what i been told and that their are more yuppy their than Thur-Hikers.

[Jack Tarlin]

You heard wrong.