I'm just not sure...

[bigcranky]

my hike thru ocala two weeks ago went from a five nighter to a one nighter due to my partner having blisters ..

Same thing happened on my hike in Ocala this week. Ended up being a four-day hike instead of six, and that's only b/c my partner slacked me the final day. What is it about hiking partners getting blisters on the Florida Trail?

Getting back to the original topic of pre-hike planning:

Planning is fun. It's instructional. Planning and thinking about the hike gives you something to do in the long winter months waiting to go to Springer. It helps to give your family a nice spreadsheet showing exactly where you'll be each day for the entire six months. You don't have to tell them it's all a lie.

What helps even more is getting out and doing some hiking. A couple of long weekend hikes, maybe even a week on the trail, will go a long way toward making your hike successful. They'll also help with the planning -- you'll know how much food and fuel (and toilet paper) you need for the first section. Then show up in Georgia with 3-4 days of food, and one of the trail guides, and start walking north.

[JAK]

I'm planning on thru-hiking next year. I've gathered information from the ATC and other various places including here on WB about trip planning. I'm just not sure about how detailed my trip should be planned. I've met hikers on here who have their trip planned for everyday from Springer to Harpers Ferry. They know what shelters and what hostels they're gonna stay at. They know exactly how many miles they're gonna hike each day. Honestly, I'm just not there in my planning...and I'm just not sure I wanna be.
Somebody here on WB has a quote that says, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." I think that's true to some point. My question to you is..."how detailed should I get when planning my hike?"

I think it is important to be prepared, but that has more to do with your skills and experience and clothing and gear, and your immediate plans for the day and night, than your long term itinerary.

Also, you SHOULD be prepared to fail, or at least to discover that you have, even though it was not your intention. Your mind plays tricks. You will think you are prepared, and are doing the right thing, when you are not. You have to maintain some degree of self-doubt and humility. You have to be prepared to stop and re-assess your situation, and admit that you have messed up, then plan a way forward. You need to have contingency skills, and gear and clothing that is versatile enough that can get you through situations you may not have planned for.

A good plan always has to be flexible.

[nitewalker]

Same thing happened on my hike in Ocala this week. Ended up being a four-day hike instead of six, and that's only b/c my partner slacked me the final day. What is it about hiking partners getting blisters on the Florida Trail?

too funny. flat ground of fla will lead to blisters if underestimated. its the repetitive step thing... maybe i should load my videos to my youtube account of the 26 hrs we were on the trail... he had a vinyl 8 inch blow up mattress[4x7] with a battery operated pump[4ds]. his tent was a 3 person tent from walmart. i ended up carrying his tent the whole 2nd day...i still had a great trip in all his misery..i tried

[Smoky in TN]

Do not plan every campsite, exact mileage every day, etc.
To me this destroys the freedom of the trail. I met a retired IBM exec. in Va. one year. He carried a printout that showed where he was camping that night, what day he had to be in a certain town, how many miles he had to walk that day. The poor guy never got to enjoy anything because he always had to be somewhere else. Plan only to have enough food from one supply point to the next and keep walking north. Embrace the freedom!

[sidebackside]

Do not plan every campsite, exact mileage every day, etc.
To me this destroys the freedom of the trail. I met a retired IBM exec. in Va. one year. He carried a printout that showed where he was camping that night, what day he had to be in a certain town, how many miles he had to walk that day. The poor guy never got to enjoy anything because he always had to be somewhere else. Plan only to have enough food from one supply point to the next and keep walking north. Embrace the freedom!

I definitely don't wanna be like that guy. The more I think about it...I'd like for my trip to go just like your last 2 lines.

[Jester2000]

[QUOTE=JustaTouron;985299]So I would make the plan and then not follow it.
/QUOTE]

That's exactly what I do.

Almost every hiker who plans extensively (to the point that they plan all of their mileages and camping spots) only thinks they know where they're going to be every night. It never actually happens that way.

The only people who ever occasionally manage to stick to their plans are people trying to set speed records.

Being prepared is not the same thing as planning obsessively. Plan if it helps you to be mentally prepared to get on the trail.

[stranger]

Planning is useful but it depends on the context. If a hiker who has little to no experience is planning out where they are hiking each day, than that's just silly really.

However if you are planning based on experience, to gauge things like food drops, gear changes, resupply points, that's another thing. Saying that, you don't need to figure out where you are staying every night, no harm in doing that but realise it will not happen!

Someone said take 3 days of food to get to Neels Gap, not too far off. I would say follow that advice and send a maildrop to Fontana Dam with 3-4 days food as well - there, you are covered for the first 450 miles!

Even that however, can be done on the trail, send food to Fontana from Hiawassee or Franklin, no need to "plan" this. You will have plenty of time on the trail to plan, all you pretty much have is time on the trail.

No worries...

[sidebackside]

That's good stuff guys...real good stuff. Naturally, I'm not one to plan every single step I make when hiking but I guess when you meet some of those people who know how many miles a day they're gonna be hiking, how many calories a day they're gonna be eating and so forth & so on, it makes you wonder, "Should I be planning more?" That being said, you all have really help me regain my confidence in knowing that one can have a successful hike without knowing every single move your gonna make before you take it.

[mtnkngxt]

All the planning you need.

If you have bills or responsibilities back home plan for them.

Make sure you have appropriate clothing, and adequate food. In other words don't go to springer with shorts and a tshirt and a 50 degree bag on march 1st with 2 liptons sides and a pack of poptarts and expect to be ok 4 days later.

Know how much money you have, and spend accordingly.

Hike your Own hike after this point.

I plan for my thruhike to be a by the seat of my pants event.
I will start with plenty of money, the correct gear and food that I think I need for myself, and nothing at home to tie me to a finish date.

I'll start at Springer and then go as far as I can or feel like going. If I make it to Katahdin in time to summit that will be great. If I end up only making it to VA, but have a lot of great stories and make some good friends even better.

Some things I will not be doing.
1. Pink Blazing. I met a guy in Grayson last year that was determined he was going to meet a wife on the trail during his section hike. Last I heard he was creeping dayhikers out in Shenandoah.

2. Beer-Blazing. While I'm sure hiking from bar to bar for some is a great way to complete the trail It just doesn't fit my hiking style.

3. Shelters. I understand the draw of not having to set up your shelter and being under a solid structure for a night, but mice infestations will keep me camping down trail.

4. Drum Circles.


Hike Your Own Hike. Be prepared for the weather, carry enough food, and remember to enjoy it.

[sbhikes]

I didn't hike the AT, but my experience hiking the PCT was that it ends up being a lot like regular life. In my regular life, I don't know that in 4 days I'm going to go shopping and buy 3 days of food. I just look in the cupboard and when there's nothing in there, I go shopping. The trail ended up being similar. I knew it would take 4 days to get to the next place so I threw in enough to eat for 4 days. If there was any leftover, I threw in less the next time. Lather rinse repeat.

[prain4u]

In the Army, we had some training regarding "personality types". They tested each of us and then divided us into groups based upon those personality types. They gave us different tasks to perform. One task was to plan a trip.

It was interesting to see the different ways that people plan a trip--and to learn that those approaches are a deeply embedded part of our personality (almost impossible to change). Some people simply are not comfortable unless they have every single detail planned out. (Then they follow their plan religiously). Other people freak out if there are ANY plans whatsoever.

It is fun to see that same classroom exercise repeated here on WhiteBlaze every time that someone talks about planning out their hike. Some hikers want to plan every last detail of their hike--and others would never dream of doing any advance planning.

[David@whiteblaze]

This is my plan:

Step 1: Make some money while living with parents and hold a graduation straight from 11th grade...

Step 2(divided into options...):
Option A: Walk 1 mile to train station, travel to Miami/ vicinity and catch shuttle to Key West.
Option B: If repaired, catch lift in my uncle's plane to Key West.
Option C: Have parents drive me to Key West.
Option D: Buy overly junky car, drive to Key West, destroy plate, registration, and abandon car.

Step 3: Use military I.D. to enter Military base/campground, camp. Next morning walk to the actual Southernmost point (on Base) and visit the official bouy just for kicks.

Step 4: Walk to Canada, keeping a sharp eye on my budget and overly documenting everything.

Step 5: Upon arrival, decide whether or not to turn around and hike back based on financial situation.

Please note step 4 as upon further inspection, the details where I don't plan anything except finances and food purchases... that is all I have to say about howIam planning...

[Sharkey]

Although I haven't thruhiked, I do believe if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. But that doesn't mean you have to have a detailed scheduled of your daily milage and campsites. Just hike and enjoy yourself. Take enough water till the next resupply and enough food. Whether you are thru-hiking or sectioning, don't get overly concerned with keeping a schedule. Like others have mentioned, you'll be missing out on other interests if you stay too focused on a schedule. Best of luck and enjoy.

[stranger]

I agree that there is a level of preparation that needs to be done before heading to Springer Mountain, but I don't know if I agree that you actually need to plan the following:
- Average daily mileage
- Shelter or campsite destinations
- Towns you will visit and stay overnight
- Towns you will boomerang
- Towns you will avoid
- Etc....

What I think makes a hell of alotta sense is getting prepared for a long distance hike, things like:
- ensuring your have $2/mile minimum budget, pref more
- making sure you have adequate experience so you have an idea of what you are getting into
- making sure you are trail fit by the time you start the trail
- etc...

Many hikers start out doing 8 mile days with 35-50lb packs, and there is absolutely no reason to go down this road.

Any relatively fit and experienced hiker can easily average 15 miles per day right from Springer and keep their pack weight under 30lbs, including all food and water. This is not hard to do is you are prepared.

But planning out every night? Seems pointless, although in 2008 I was on plan all the way to Neels Gap, nearly 31 miles - think that's a record for me, usually I break the plan on day one!

[Jester2000]

Many hikers start out doing 8 mile days with 35-50lb packs, and there is absolutely no reason to go down this road.

Plenty of those people complete the AT, and have a great time doing so. Plenty of people with pack weights under 30 lbs. going 15 miles/day quit.

The road that isn't worth going down is the one that has, standing on the side of that road, people suggesting appropriate and inappropriate packweights and daily mileages.

[stranger]

Perhaps my post should have read...

"there is absolutely no reason to go down this road unless you want to", as that was the point I was trying to make.

[jersey joe]

The planning process can be a fun part of the trip.
Planning will increase the likelyhood of completing a thru hike, but...plenty of people that do a lot of planning don't complete their thru hike.

[Jester2000]

Perhaps my post should have read...

"there is absolutely no reason to go down this road unless you want to", as that was the point I was trying to make.

In that case, I agree entirely with your post.

[goedde2]

Your hike is supposed to be just that, yours, not someone elses. Hike your own hike as has been quoted over and over, but it's true. The idea is to enjoy the experience, meet new folks that share your love of the outdoors, and make it a journey, not a destination. Take some time to look around. You would be surprised how quickly you adapt to the basics, and learn to make do. Good preparation is essential, but not without a little wiggle room for improvising now and again. Listen to your own instincts, and you'll be a lot less stressed ab out the whole thing. Some of the so-called "experienced" hikers are all about themselves and like to let you know that, so be cautious of bad advice and trust no one.

[sidebackside]

Your hike is supposed to be just that, yours, not someone elses. Hike your own hike as has been quoted over and over, but it's true. The idea is to enjoy the experience, meet new folks that share your love of the outdoors, and make it a journey, not a destination. Take some time to look around. You would be surprised how quickly you adapt to the basics, and learn to make do. Good preparation is essential, but not without a little wiggle room for improvising now and again. Listen to your own instincts, and you'll be a lot less stressed ab out the whole thing. Some of the so-called "experienced" hikers are all about themselves and like to let you know that, so be cautious of bad advice and trust no one.

Good word Goedde.