Appalachian Thru Hike

Go north to south that way you aren't walking uphill the entire way.

TOAST.Go north to south that way you aren't walking uphill the entire way.

In my day we had to walk to school in the snow up hill both ways!

I thru-hiked. Great experience. I see you're from PA. PA is easily the worst portion of the trail, in my opinion. It's a little over 200 miles of the rockiest trail there is. I literally had to stare at my feet for the entire state, and the terrain is not very interesting. However, it is flat and the mileage goes fast. I covered all of PA in 7 days. Also saw a rattlesnake in PA, the only one I saw on the trail.

Everyone has a different AT experience. You can town hop, partying the entire way. Or you can skip all the shelters, avoid staying in town, and camp by yourself every night. There are endless possibilities in the middle of both extremes. Expect the trail to be more crowded than even before. This past year saw a record number of starters, and with A Walk in the Woods just being released, this number will surely increase again in 2016.

Threads, hitting the PCT southbound this summer.

I hiked 820 miles of it this year from Springer to just short of Shenandoah. I might be attempting it again this year with my buddy, but that is still a long way off.

I live close to the Waynesboro/Chambersburg portion of AT if any hikers ever want a place to shower/bed to sleep in for a night!!

Say hey when you get to Maine! The trail crosses in our backyard near Sugarloaf and Katahdin is sick.

Have fun doing it-- I've heard great stories from those who have completed the trek. I had a dope school trip a year ago where I hiked a tiny part of the VA section of the trail, the tiny segment of WV, through my former home state of MD, and a bit into PA. It was a week long and my entire high school class went (granted it was a private school with average of 70 people per class), and everyone had so much fun on it... everyone walked the full trip, even the extremely non-athletic kids, how cool is that? I will say that I met a guy with a full Tom Hanks beard a la Cast Away, and he told us that he works with the park service and had hiked the full trail twice, each taking around 6 months. He said he basically dropped everything- work, commitments, etc. to hike it, and he said the experience changed his life. I hope it's the same for you, but it is a huge commitment and you should make sure you fully understand what you're getting into. Good luck, and enjoy it, the trip will be like none other!

Disregard second to last sentence above, I think you're pretty fucking serious about this if you're in a contest to win gear to go on a thru hike. Probably should have read the whole thread and checked the link first lol.

iFlipI thru-hiked. Great experience. I see you're from PA. PA is easily the worst portion of the trail, in my opinion. It's a little over 200 miles of the rockiest trail there is. I literally had to stare at my feet for the entire state, and the terrain is not very interesting. However, it is flat and the mileage goes fast. I covered all of PA in 7 days. Also saw a rattlesnake in PA, the only one I saw on the trail.

Everyone has a different AT experience. You can town hop, partying the entire way. Or you can skip all the shelters, avoid staying in town, and camp by yourself every night. There are endless possibilities in the middle of both extremes. Expect the trail to be more crowded than even before. This past year saw a record number of starters, and with A Walk in the Woods just being released, this number will surely increase again in 2016.

I really pick the worst times to do things. I wanted to do it for a decade. Didn't have the funds for a while, was doing other stuff.
Was going to do it last year but broke my brain and ended up in NZ anyway. This spring it's pretty likely I'll do it. That said one of the biggest things I don't want is to be hiking with a ton of morons.

So actually maybe I just won't hike the AT. I didn't even think about the fact that they were making that into a movie and what that's going to mean in terms of people.

Hiked both the AT and PCT in America, as well as some other longer hikes out of the country. I'm more of a hike-for-nature and the scenery type of guy, rather than to purely hike, so the AT wasn't as fun for me as other hikes I've done.
It's the most popular thru hike in the US so a lot of people hike it and the towns are very used to thru hikers. It's a really good hike in terms of the social experience, but to me, the scenery just didn't cut it like others.
You're basically in the same forest experience the whole time.
Good luck with the contest and have a blast. Any thru hike is an awesome experience and you'll have stories for years.

theabortionatorI really pick the worst times to do things. I wanted to do it for a decade. Didn't have the funds for a while, was doing other stuff.
Was going to do it last year but broke my brain and ended up in NZ anyway. This spring it's pretty likely I'll do it. That said one of the biggest things I don't want is to be hiking with a ton of morons.

So actually maybe I just won't hike the AT. I didn't even think about the fact that they were making that into a movie and what that's going to mean in terms of people.

there are plenty of other long hikes to pick from! The long path in NY, the Long Trail in VT, the PCT outwest are all examples of other long trips. Not that I have done any long trips but I have always been drawn to not doing the norm. There are a bunch more across the country and world

louie.miragsthere are plenty of other long hikes to pick from! The long path in NY, the Long Trail in VT, the PCT outwest are all examples of other long trips. Not that I have done any long trips but I have always been drawn to not doing the norm. There are a bunch more across the country and world

This is true. The te araroa in new zealand is on my bucket list, and looks epic.

TOAST.Go north to south that way you aren't walking uphill the entire way.

What? The tallest mountains on the trail are in the south.

The referenced post has been removed.

Ah, shucks.

theabortionatorI really pick the worst times to do things. I wanted to do it for a decade. Didn't have the funds for a while, was doing other stuff.
Was going to do it last year but broke my brain and ended up in NZ anyway. This spring it's pretty likely I'll do it. That said one of the biggest things I don't want is to be hiking with a ton of morons.

So actually maybe I just won't hike the AT. I didn't even think about the fact that they were making that into a movie and what that's going to mean in terms of people.

The trail is what you make of it. It's actually one of the cheapest things (maybe the cheapest thing) you can do. I thru-hiked for under $2,000. Per day, that's less than I spend living at home, by a good margin.

I certainly agree that hiking with a mob defeats the basic purpose of the trail. Reading reports from this year, apparently a lot of the trail got trashed a bit. Lots of garbage around shelters, Haunta virus is now present, and in general there were a lot more disrespectful morons out there than usual. This has largely been attributed to the release of that movie about the PCT last year, as well as the proliferation of the "leisure class."

Each year a dedicated few start the trail on January 1st. The experience, I have heard, is amazing. The skill set that it requires is much different (you actually have to know what you are doing), it will take longer to complete, and you will see almost no one else out there. The solitude and beauty sound phenomenal. This seems like it could be the perfect thing for you.

As others have pointed out, there are lots of other trails out there. The PCT has seen a tremendous upsurge in popularity, so perhaps you should avoid that one as well. The CDT is a very different experience, but you might like it. The Long Trail in Vermont is absolutely amazing. I end-to-ended it recently (doing the part that is congruent with the AT over again) and loved it. It takes anywhere from 10 days to a month, depending on your speed. For a bit longer experience, the Colorado Trail is great. You could also look into the Arizona Trail and the Florida Trail. I really like the look of the Florida Trail (haven't been on it yet), although it is decidedly not all wilderness.

I've hiked all over the US, and done a few ultra runs as well (such as rim-to-rim-to-rim in the Grand Canyon). If you do decide to go for a winter AT thru, definitely keep us updated.

iFlipThe trail is what you make of it. It's actually one of the cheapest things (maybe the cheapest thing) you can do. I thru-hiked for under $2,000. Per day, that's less than I spend living at home, by a good margin.

I certainly agree that hiking with a mob defeats the basic purpose of the trail. Reading reports from this year, apparently a lot of the trail got trashed a bit. Lots of garbage around shelters, Haunta virus is now present, and in general there were a lot more disrespectful morons out there than usual. This has largely been attributed to the release of that movie about the PCT last year, as well as the proliferation of the "leisure class."

Each year a dedicated few start the trail on January 1st. The experience, I have heard, is amazing. The skill set that it requires is much different (you actually have to know what you are doing), it will take longer to complete, and you will see almost no one else out there. The solitude and beauty sound phenomenal. This seems like it could be the perfect thing for you.

As others have pointed out, there are lots of other trails out there. The PCT has seen a tremendous upsurge in popularity, so perhaps you should avoid that one as well. The CDT is a very different experience, but you might like it. The Long Trail in Vermont is absolutely amazing. I end-to-ended it recently (doing the part that is congruent with the AT over again) and loved it. It takes anywhere from 10 days to a month, depending on your speed. For a bit longer experience, the Colorado Trail is great. You could also look into the Arizona Trail and the Florida Trail. I really like the look of the Florida Trail (haven't been on it yet), although it is decidedly not all wilderness.

I've hiked all over the US, and done a few ultra runs as well (such as rim-to-rim-to-rim in the Grand Canyon). If you do decide to go for a winter AT thru, definitely keep us updated.

My biggest problem would be the ski season. I'm not going to go a season not working. Not because of the money but I love the job. I would love to start super early. Though.

I heard the CDT was still pretty desolate so maybe I'd start there and then maybe do the AT in the future. IT's just that living east coast for years of my life, and having driven up and down through the mountains so many times, something I always wanted to do.

Was going to do some bigger hikes this year but my health was pretty iffy at times. Hoping for next year I can make some stuff happen.

I wanted to run the AT at one point but I'm no longer able to run at all so that's out. That would be a cool experience. Not try and set any records, not do it for a time, but just roll with a nice pace and cruise. Sounds fun.

Also thinking about spending next summer in AK, I'm sure there are some good hikes there or even just a smaller hike and staying in the wilderness in one region for a while.

As far as the price(I'm doing a circle with this reply sorry) Friend that hiked it years ago seemed pretty set on 3k. and at the time 8 or 9 years ago, I didn't really have that to spare.

Idk, I'll get out there and do something. It's just about making things happen. This last spring had some big plans for hiking in CO, UT, and other spots but got pretty sick and headed east when I finally got well enough to make that happen.

If I can get another job in NZ ever I'm thinking of maybe doing the Te Auroa. I did a very small section of it. Unfortunately they did a lot of work to make it more accessible in that section and I felt they kind of ruined the soul of it but it was nice.

Idk. maybe I'll hike shit maybe I won't. Regardless just doing smaller hikes regularly and cmaping out in nature is good enough, but I'd love to do more.

iFlipAs others have pointed out, there are lots of other trails out there. The PCT has seen a tremendous upsurge in popularity, so perhaps you should avoid that one as well. The CDT is a very different experience, but you might like it. The Long Trail in Vermont is absolutely amazing. I end-to-ended it recently (doing the part that is congruent with the AT over again) and loved it. It takes anywhere from 10 days to a month, depending on your speed. For a bit longer experience, the Colorado Trail is great. You could also look into the Arizona Trail and the Florida Trail. I really like the look of the Florida Trail (haven't been on it yet), although it is decidedly not all wilderness.

I was pretty bummed about how crowed the pct is getting, but there are ways to get around it. 90% of people start in the south, and they have to start earlier than those who start in the north. Really hoping to avoid the crowds that way.

Good luck dude! I'm planning to thru-hike the PCT in 2017. Maybe the movie hype will die down by then. "Wild" wasn't even that good.