Getting a headstart

[A-Train]

Bunbun,
you're correct that older hikers tend to generally be more consistent than the younger hikers. In fact I hiked with a 65 year old who finished before i did and started on the same day, and then there was a fellow named Fixy who was around 60 or so who had already hiked the PCT. He started 2 weeks later than me, caught me, leap frogged a bit and ended up finishing 3 weeks before me. He hiked not fast, but all day.
But I think its more safe to say that older hikers spend more hours of day hiking than those of the younger "jackrabbits".

I neither fell into the categorie of people irordinately proud of their 20 mile days in the south, nor did I spend much time at all in towns. Neither did any of the jackrabiits i hiked with either. We didn't even really start hiking over 20 miles a day until virginia.
And 95 percent of the folks I hiked with finished this year, mostly slow and steady picking up speed as they progressed

[karensioux]

So what actually IS middle aged??? I'm 42.....does that qualify??? Steady and slow...that is my plan. I was just wondering about when middle agers mostly started cause I wanted to be around a variety of people and not just youngsters that would just pass me and never see them again.
K

[A-Train]

middle aged is anything over 21. No but really I don't know. Age isn't important on the trail, neither is occupation, sex, race, or anything else for that matter. Everyone just wants to hike the Trail.
There is no best time to start. I just was saying that people needing to return to school generally start earlier in the year around early march. Anytime you leave springer, whether it be march, april, may or february, you'll have a well balanced mix of freindly faces of all ages, shapes and sizes. I found that people of all ages got along well (for the most part).
The people BY FAR are what makes it so special to walk from georgia to maine.

[bunbun]

Originally posted by A-Train
Bunbun,
you're correct that older hikers tend to generally be more consistent than the younger hikers. In fact I hiked with a 65 year old who finished before i did and started on the same day, and then there was a fellow named Fixy who was around 60 or so who had already hiked the PCT. He started 2 weeks later than me, caught me, leap frogged a bit and ended up finishing 3 weeks before me. He hiked not fast, but all day.
But I think its more safe to say that older hikers spend more hours of day hiking than those of the younger "jackrabbits".

I neither fell into the categorie of people irordinately proud of their 20 mile days in the south, nor did I spend much time at all in towns. Neither did any of the jackrabiits i hiked with either. We didn't even really start hiking over 20 miles a day until virginia.
And 95 percent of the folks I hiked with finished this year, mostly slow and steady picking up speed as they progressed

Well, most (but not all) of us older folk are slower cause we know that old story about the 2 bulls that ends with - "let's walk down and get'em all".

On the other hand, some of us have also done the PCT and don't think it's too great a strain to do consistent 20's (or more) -- when necessary. Doing it all the time, though, doesn't fit my personal hiking philosophy, which is to spend maximum time "on-trail."

Many of those who hike the PCT also hike from "can see" to can't see" and spend minimum time in camp or town. That's how some of them do consistent 30's and 40's. Or more.

Jackrabbits, by the way, are those who spend two days on trail - and then 3 days in town. It's hard to be consistent like that. Expensive, too.

Ummm - I wasn't meaning to put you down. How someone (anyone) else hikes isn't my business, but some of the styles get to be amusing. And the "inordinately proud " group (we called them the Thundering Herd) definitely provided amusement at times. And pissed people off at other times - like getting up at 0dark4hundred to see a sunrise - when they were staying in a full shelter. Some of us don't appreciate being woken up at that hour. They'd have done better to camp at the overlook - or at least away from the shelter.

Incidentally - some "older" hikers also get into 3M (Macho Male Mileage) mode too. And get "inordinately proud " of it. It's not entirely confined to "The Young and Restless" crowd.

But I'm rambling --- I do that sometimes.

[Bunchberry]

When do the little understory wildflowers (trilliums, trout lilies, etc.) usually appear in the Smokies?

It's funny realizing that I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the flora in the Southern mountains!

[Ankle Bone]

the young wildflowers or the middle-aged ones?

[karensioux]

Well, April 1st it is! Ready to meet the young and the middle aged and old and restless gang.
K

[chris]

It depends on where you are in the park and what the season is like. In mid April of last year, there was nothing on the AT in the eastern part of the park. South of the AT (still in the east) on lower elevation trails, there was a nice (although subdued) display of the smaller stuff, along with a ton of ramps (illegal to harvest in the park). To be honest, the best displays of flowers in the Smokys are not on the AT.

[Matt Pincham]

Middle aged as soon as you're over 21!! hehe that'll be me next year then.

I'm planning on an early start in 2004. Not because I'm a student but because I hope to be starting my Metropolitan Police training when I get back (hopefully September time).

Had a date in mind of 20 Feb but I've just booked my driving test today for 23rd February (long wait) so may start around March 5th. I really hope that when I start with my girlfriend, we'll get to meet some of the people on here...you guys seem lovely.

Had some seriously good news yesterday. My girlfriend works in a UK hiking store and gets 30% discount. We found out yesterday that with MOST gear (tent, sleeping bag, pack etc) we can get it for trade price. So an Osprey Aether 60 for £50 ($80 approx). Very helpful

[Chef]

Does anyone know of a good website to check out for previos years weather patterns? I wanted to see what the weather has been like around springer during the month of march for the past couple of years. I guess Im looking for some kind of weather archive to get an idea what to expect for this year. Thanks

[A-Train]

Chef,
not sure about the past, but the farmers almanac is really good at giving weather for the upcoming yr. It predicted very accurately that february was gonna be lots of snow, march would be suprisingly nice and warm and that we were gonna have a ridiculously wet spring and summer (we did!). I'd recommend giving this a look, its pretty neat.

[chris]

One possible thing to do is to read the first few weeks of various trail journals over the past few years. Take a look at

www.trailjournals.com

Some journals are better than others and the better ones give you a good idea of what to expect. Of course, you must realize, that one hiker's easy 20 mile day or another's hard 10 mile day (or cold, etc) are colored by their persepective.

[bunbun]

Originally posted by Chef
Does anyone know of a good website to check out for previos years weather patterns? I wanted to see what the weather has been like around springer during the month of march for the past couple of years. I guess Im looking for some kind of weather archive to get an idea what to expect for this year. Thanks

Try these:
http://www.dnr.state.sc.us/climate/sercc/

http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/ga/ga.html

Alternatively - ask the Weathercarrot.

Keep in mind that weather reports (and records) are nearly always for the cities, not the mountains. In the mountains, it's always colder and generally wetter. If it's spring in Atlanta, it's still winter at Springer.

[mustang]

I don't know if this topic has gone in a different direction but I started Feb. 23 this year and finished July 15th, and was able to beat the crowds for the most part and not have horrible weather. We were lucky with the weather (well, unless you count the 3 months of rain but everyone got that), we didn't get much snow and we had beautiful weather for the smokies, whites and a clear day on Katahdin. I met a wonderful group of people (some young and some "middle aged") and definately experienced the trail community, but only once or twice had a crowded shelter (and that was when sobos were starting up). We moved a little bit faster and were more consistent in the beginning than most, which is how we stayed ahead of the massive pack.
If I were to do it again, I would start at the same time!

[A-Train]

Mustang what was your trailname? I must have been a week behind you the whole way.

[mustang]

My trail name was Not Yet (Mustang was my trail name when I hiked the long trail)