Newbie needing help

[davidb308]

I am trying to plan on beginning a thru hike in March of 2015. I am terrible at planning, i dont know much about mail drops, Why do northbounders start in march-april? etc. These arent all my questions, this is just an example. Id love to find someone that can help me make this thru hike a (semi) pleasant one. Thanks for any help! Oh and im not sure if this post is in the right section or not :P

[Old Hiker]

Search is your first and only friend. Type each phrase in and start sifting.

Good luck.

[moldy]

You live in Athens Ga. Get your notebook and drive over to Neel's Gap to the outfitter store. The Appalachian Trail goes through the building. You don't have to buy anything just listen to what they advise. Bring all the equipment you already have. It's a very nice time to visit them. Saturday's are a great time to go...not much happening between the hedges anyway.... If you have enough time take a hike to the top of Blood Mtn.

[johnnybgood]

Look under "home/articles" , top left , scroll down the sidebar .

There are written articles on resupplies/mail drops , hiker tips ; what to expect from renowned thru hikers .

[Just Bill]

Moldy's got the simplest solution. 2013/14- start taking day hikes from Springer to Neels. Start talking to the folks at the outfitter there- the folks who fix more AT packs than anyone around. Don't buy a thing yet. By the end of 2014- commit to backpacking the Georgia section. By 2015 you'll be ready to start go- in the meantime- read, read, read, and read. Then put into practice what you read about.

[Slo-go'en]

I recommend this book, available as an ebook - "How to hike the AT" The nitty -gritty details of a long-distace trek, by Michelle Rey. She covers pretty much everything you need to know. "A walk in the woods" by Bryson is also good. It's actually very informative and a good example of how NOT to hike the AT.

That said, I'm always quite amazed at people who say they want to do a thru-hike but know absolutely nothing about the trail or camping. Kinda seems like jumping into the deep end of the pool without first taking swiming leasons or a floation device. It's always a good idea for a newbe to first get some experiance by doing some short backpacking trips. For no other reason but to find out if this really is something you will enjoy and really want to do. Doing a thru-hike is a big commitment.

Oh, and the reason many hikers start April/May is that the weather is much nicer. It can still be really nasty at times, especially in early April, but not nearly as cold and stormy as March typically is. Plus if you start in early/mid March, you'll miss seeing all the nice wild flowers in North Carloina.

[bigcranky]

Start with this Quick and Dirty Guide to the AT.

[q-tip]

If you are interested, I have several extensive spreadsheets for U/L-lightweight summer and lightweight 3-season gear, food evaluation lists and physical training. If you send me a PM with our email address I will forward them to you, Good Luck,

[Spirit Walker]

1. Start hiking now, if you haven't already. Go out as often as you can, in all kinds of weather - heat, rain, snow, cold, wind. When you can comfortably hike at least 10 miles, start doing short overnight trips - about half as far in a day as your longest dayhike. Borrow or rent basic gear until you figure out what you need. Gather your gear carefully, as you don't want to waste a lot of money on gear you don't need or can't use. By doing a lot of hiking now, you'll get some idea of whether you actually like to hike and backpack enough to do it all day every day for five or six months.


2. Start reading hiker journals. Reading their experiences, if the journals are well written, will give you some idea of what life is like on a long hike. They'll write about their experiences in town, in hostels and shelters, getting to and from the trail, etc.


3. Look for other hiker resources, like forums, websites, books on hiking the AT, the ATC newsletter, hiker Gatherings like the Rucks in January or the ALDHA Gathering in October.


As to when to hike the trail: the trail is about 2100 miles long. Most thruhikes average 5-6 months, though a few take as little as 3 and some as long as 10 months. How long it takes to hike depends on how fast you hike, how many hours a day you want to spend hiking (in the beginning most people hike for 5 or 6 hours, later on it may be 10 or 12), how much time you take off (rest or recovery days or trips to places like DC or NY), whether you have to deal with injury or illness, and, to some extent, the kind of weather you have to deal with.

In the Appalachians, signs of spring begin appearing in mid to late April. Before that, the leaves are gone, as is the wildlife. If you start in January, you'll have winter conditions for the first four months. You'll be dealing with below freezing nights and will need heavier winter gear. That will make for slow hiking, long nights, and a higher risk of injury because you'll be dealing with ice and snow underfoot. If you don't start until June or July, you'll be hiking until November or December. If you're NOBO, you hit winter conditions in New England and the probability that Katahdin will have closed for the season. (It closes mid-October most years.) So later starters often hike south from Maine. They start in summer, but end up with cold weather in the fall/early winter. "Ideal" hiking conditions are generally in late spring to summer to early autumn. Earl Schafer, the first thruhiker, called it "hiking with spring". If you start in early to mid-April, you may run into snow and cold, especially in the Smokies and other high elevation areas, but you will soon get spring blooms, green leaves, birds and wildlife as it warms up. By mid-May, once you are past the high mountains in NC and southern VA, you can carry a lighter pack with summer gear instead of your warmer winter gear.

[MuddyWaters]

Your in luck!

No planning is needed.

All you need is suitable gear, a couple days food, show up, start walking N.
Youll figure out the rest as you go, along with everyone else.

[fredmugs]

Search is your first and only friend. Type each phrase in and start sifting.

Good luck.

First and only? Really?

You have all of 2014 to live vicariously through the 2014 thru hikers who post journals on http://www.trailjournals.com/

[ChinMusic]

Moldy's got the simplest solution. 2013/14- start taking day hikes from Springer to Neels. Start talking to the folks at the outfitter there- the folks who fix more AT packs than anyone around. Don't buy a thing yet. By the end of 2014- commit to backpacking the Georgia section. By 2015 you'll be ready to start go- in the meantime- read, read, read, and read. Then put into practice what you read about.

It just doesn't get much better than this.

[FarmerChef]

First and only? Really?

You have all of 2014 to live vicariously through the 2014 thru hikers who post journals on http://www.trailjournals.com/

I started out by reading journals then assembled a "tester kit" and started doing day hikes, then overnights, then long weekends. The kit I carry now and my resupply strategies, hiking strategies, tips and tricks were all honed in those early short hikes.

Be a lurker here on WB, or, better yet, jump into discussions. The same questions get asked over and over and over again. At worst, you'll just see a link to another thread but often fresh answers will be given. Either way, you'll be able to learn a great deal more while also putting into practice what you learn on a trail.

[salsi]

im also planning a thru for 2015 nobo hope to see you out there love all the tips on this tread ill be using them as well

[Odd Man Out]

Some good info on schedules here

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php?44

and here

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hiki...where-to-start

[bobtomaskovic]

I gotta agree with this. Once you start hiking you will figure it all out, I did. But go ahead and plan anyhow gives you something to do in the meantime.

Your in luck!

No planning is needed.

All you need is suitable gear, a couple days food, show up, start walking N.
Youll figure out the rest as you go, along with everyone else.

[Beccah]

I'm a newbie planning a 2015 NOBO also. Since I've not really done this before, I can't guarantee my planning method is a solid one. But, I started by reading Bill Bryson's book and deciding that was most definitely NOT going to be me. Next, I purchased the ebook version of the A.T. Guide (here: http://www.theatguide.com/) and gave it a good look through. I also joined this forum, the ATC, and my local hiking club so that I can pick people's brains over the next year. I've done a lot of research into gear, food, etc. But, all next year I plan to be hiking/backpacking every weekend in the summer and a couple of weeks during my vacation time. I figure these shorter hikes are going to familiarize myself with my gear and with what does and doesn't work for me and my hiking style. I live along the North Country Trail in Northern MI and plan to hit the "100 mile challenge" on a local section.

One last bit of advice, if you're completely unsure where to start, go to the A.T. Guide website, under "hike planning" on the left side there are very detailed daily plans. The plans suggest stops, distances between, where to resupply, etc. They can be a very good jump off point to get you started and give you what I presume is a realistic idea of what you can expect.