From: egedi@ahwenasa.cis.upenn.edu (Dania M. Egedi)
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry
Subject: Re: Hiking the AT N->S
Date: 2 Sep 92 14:01:06 GMT

In article <1992Sep1.151301.6045@inmet.camb.inmet.com>, daf@inmet.camb.inmet.com (Tony Flanders) writes:
|> In article <LWVANELS.92Aug30014050@fionavar.mit.edu> lwvanels@MIT.EDU writes:
|> 
|> > I'm interested in hiking the Appalachian trail in the next couple of years,
|> > and I'm finally getting to the point where I'd like to make up some tenative
|> > schedules.  I'd like to do it from N->S, but it seems most people do it in
|> > the other direction- I'm wondering what sort of problems or pleasant
|> > surprises I'd run into by going against the flow.
|> 

|> To hike the AT without having it degenerate into an endurance race, you
|> should figure on anywhere from 3 1/2 to 5 months.  

No!!!  3 1/2 months *IS* an endurance race.  5 months is doable, but doesn't
leave much time for days off (and you *will* need them), or time to stop or
even slow down when you get hurt.  If all goes really well, you can have a nice
hike in 5 months.  If it doesn't, you will need the extra time, or have to skip
sections.  The trip is much nicer if you plan on 5-6 months (or more, if you will
be doing much of it during the shorter winter days).  I did the trail (northbound)
last year, and have friends doing it this year, so I know.  People with tight 
schedules almost never finished.

|> If you start in the
|> north, you will perforce start later than most people, and therefore
|> have shorter days throughout, so you will probably tend towards the
|> higher end of this range.  This probably means that you end up in Georgia
|> some time in late October or early November, which are pretty nice times
|> to be there.

I love hiking in Georgia and North Carolina during the winter months.  Remember,
though, it does get *cold*.  Although, for that matter, it's just as cold in
March and early April when most thru-hikers start in the South.

|> 
|> Through-hiking the AT is, above all, a social experience.  The scenery and

Yes, and no.  Thru-hiking the trail is what you make it.  One can thru-hike it
and not get into the social scene.  Starting early, trying to finish in 4 1/2
months or less, and hiking it South-bound are all ways to miss/avoid the social
scene.  This can be good or bad depending on why you are doing the trail.  The
social support can be very important though.  No matter how you are doing the
trail (unless, I suppose, you avoid people like the plague and don't sign the 
registers), you are part of the trail community, and there are people who will
be looking out for you and your well-being.

|> Hiking north to
|> south, you will miss out on most of the "scene" -- the people who get to
|> know each other over a period of weeks as they overtake and re-overtake,
|> and leave messages in the leanto registers, and all that.  Whether this is
|> good or bad, only you can decide.  Even without being part of the crowd,
|> you will still have plenty of opportunities to socialize, and observing
|> the scene from outside may be more fun than being part of it.  Plus, there
|> are sure to be some other north-to-south through hikers.

There are plenty of South-bounders, but they do tend to be much more spread out than
the North-bounders.  Personally, I thought that they seemed a more eclectic group.
Whether that made them more interesting, I don't think I could say.  :-)  If I were 
to do the trail again, I think that I would either 1) start and finish early, thus
staying ahead of the crowd, or 2) hike it south-bound, finishing in December or
January.  


Of course, I can talk for hours about the trail.  Any specific questions, I'd be
more than happy to answer.  Do you know about ALDHA (Long-distance hiker's
association)?  The meeting this year is Columbus Day week-end up in Hanover.  It's
a great resource if you are thinking of doing the trail.  E-mail me for more info.

 - Dania
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dania Egedi, IRCS Research Programmer		egedi@ahwenasa.cis.upenn.edu
Room 400C, 3401 Walnut St.			work:  (215) 898-0365
Philadelphia, PA 19104

"One sign of an impending nervous breakdown is the belief 
that one's work is terribly important"
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry