Very easy to get caught up in the math and stop enjoying the hike. I started 16 Feb 2023 and planned to finish the last week in July or first week in August. I intended to hike a minimum of 15-miles a day and knowing there would be days I could/would hike longer, those would be bonus miles. I also started taking NEROs instead of ZEROs. I would plan to get off trail no later than noon. Spend the afternoon resupplying, cleaning, etc. then get some good sleep and be ready for the trail by 0800 the next morning. There were times I would focus on miles per week and my goal was I had to do a minimum of 100-miles per week. I knew my daily miles would drop off quickly when I hit the Whites (and they did) and I knew there would be weather days that would slow me down (tons of rain last year in Vermont, NH and Maine) but I ended up finishing on 18 July. I think being focused on miles at the start might be wrong as you may push yourself too hard and get hurt, discouraged, or any number of things. Suggest take it slow, the Rangers encourage folks to walk the shelters the first two weeks and then start picking up the miles. I look back now and there are periods that I remember nothing about the trail except the four feet in front of my toes and other times I remember everything. Whatever you chose to do, wish you the best of luck.
Thanks, that is very good insight. I like the point about walking the shelters, that makes sense, instead of pushing too hard too early. I also find that (at home) I tend to hike faster with friends than I would alone. That is kind of why I want to hike the first few weeks alone (or more alone) so I can find my pace. Thanks for following along, I appreciate you.
@@daveabbett One last thought, at first I had my Garmin keep track of my hourly pace but I felt at times that forced me to hike faster than I wanted. In the end my happy medium for 90% of my hike was plan for a 15-mile day (select a stop point - shelter or whatever) and when I reached it and felt good and there was daylight left, walk a few more miles. If not, well that day's goal was met. My Garmin was cool but I should have just brought a cheap Timex or a cheap solar watch. Remember, hiking the AT is about the experience.
Tip 1 is huge… In a general sense, these combine into “Don’t waste time.” As a section hiker, I like to see the sights and catch some side trails, which all reduce average mileage. That being said, there are also times where I stop early or too long for no real reason. This is “wasted” time in my mind. Start early, end late, don’t over pace, don’t sit idle. Basically, just keep moving. Good perspective on the reality of miles.
Yeah. I don’t want to dawdle in towns or waste time getting to camp too early and like you said “sit idle”. I’m sure I’ll have fun chatting with people but don’t want to get sidetracked. Thanks Kriz for following along.
Another great video, tho you are so much more organized than me. I am starting Feb 7 so only a few more days for me. But have no end date in mind, so plan to take my time but assuming it will take me 5 months... My friend told me don't make it a job- make it an adventure so that is my goal. Best of luck on your hike!!!
I think your friend is right. It needs to be an adventure first. I’m sure that as much as you feel under prepared I am over thinking it. Both of us will have to adjust on the fly. Best of luck on your hike/ journey. I’m sure you’ll do great. Thanks for following along. I appreciate you.
It's so fun to think through some of the logistics and goals for day-to-day in order to accomplish an overall goal. You inspired me to run some numbers myself! Fun stuff. Just over a month away Dave!
I think this is a very good discussion. And one I don’t see many people talking about. People just say hike, high and smiles before miles. But you have to face the reality that there’s a certain number of miles to hike and a limited of time to do so. If you’re intending to do it in one season. I’m thinking about it, but I will probably break it up over a couple of years. I think you’re going to have to take a zero at least once a week. Especially for us older people. And every four days or so you have got to go into town to resupply. So even if you don’t take a zero, that day is going to be pretty much shot. But anyway, I think in order to not get burned out you need to take a day off every five days. Let your body recover get a good meal. Get a good nights sleep. Which means that if you a lot six months you’re really only going to have five months of hiking time. Are you going to average 15+ miles a day in order to accomplish it. And as you’re saying some places you’re not gonna be able to do that so that means other places you’re going to have to get up to 20 miles in a day. It doesn’t matter about your attitude or the kind of person you are. The trail doesn’t care about that. If you can’t do that mileage, you simply cannot do it in a reasonable amount of time. I don’t believe in this get your trail when you start thing. Basically you’re trying to get into shape when you’re already out there. You need to be in good shape before you get started. You need to be able to hit 14-15 miles/day right out of the gate. Because you cannot get into that kind of shape and just two or three weeks not if you are older like I am. And a lot of hikers are. It’s just not gonna happen. It takes longer than that to get into good shape. One TH-camr, I’m following who is also older, did an outstanding job of getting ready. He started over a year in advance and did a considerable amount of hiking and walking daily. Wearing a heavy pack. And I see he is doing great now that he has started. Covering a lot of miles every day. No problems. I firmly believe that’s why a person needs to do if you really want to be able to complete this. Also, all that preconditioning helps prevent overuse injuries which happens to a lot of hikers I have noticed from their videos. You can’t go just from the occasional weekend hike to trying to walk that many miles per day, day after day, with a heavy pack through mountainous, terrain, and not expect to have some sort of issues pop up. That’s why you need to do a heck of a lot of walking and hiking before starting this trip. To get your body ready.
Again. I agree. 😀. I have been doing lots of hiking and carrying my full pack, usually getting 5-8 miles but also doing lots of elevation gain. We will see how this plays out. I’m really trying to just give some info for people, like yourself to 🤔 ponder. Then I Will be able to report as an older hiker what I’m truly able to do without burning out. More like one point on a graph. And hopefully others can help fill in the graph with me. Thanks for following along. I appreciate your input.
@@daveabbett yeah I’m very interested to see how it goes. Especially with the diet. I saw some other TH-camr talking about hiking Appalachian Trail on the carnivore diet. But I didn’t follow it. I don’t know if they actually did it or not. I haven’t done any research all that and long distance endurance. I guess the only way to know is to try lol. If it doesn’t work, add some carbs.
Hiked the trail in 2022. The biggest thing is to ignore the negative. people will say things or give advice that's not always helpful. some will try to discourage you. Ignore them. This is a long hike, its up and down up down up down up down, for months, it will feel endless in the moments of least comfort. Its way more mental then physical, a marathon of the mind. Walking in the pouring rain. Homesickness. boredom. it can be a lot to deal with on a 15 mile day. stick to the plan but also give yourself some slack when you feel its best. everyday will have unknowns. on my hike my bear can rolled down a hill and I got poison ivy all over me that didn't go away till after I got back, took strong antibiotics and tossed out most of my gear to fully resolve it. I got terrible sleep in Virginia due to bear hunting hounds in the bed of trucks driving around the ravines barking at 4 am The cicadas, the uneven ground. I developed compartment syndrome in my calf. My bag busted out and had to be replaced. the longer the hike is the more it will cost financially, but the faster you go the more you spend mentally and physically. take time to pause and reflect. Hike the blue blaze. Relax at the view. Once you hit the halfway the trail levels out and any gaps in the mileage can be filled in with bigger days. Good luck to you Dave.
Wow. Thanks for all the advice and insight. Half of me wants to know as much as I can and the other half wants to just wing it. I’m too old to just wing it. I understand it’s going to be a long haul but you brought up some great points. Thanks for those and thanks for following along. I appreciate you.
Thanks for all your content. Also if you intend to stay at shelters you may need to do quite a few more than the target daily miles to get to the shelter.
Yeah. I think my thoughts and plans will get me so far, but then will have to adapt to what the trail gives as far as shelter locations, etc. so couldn’t agree more. Thanks for following along. Appreciate your input.
aspiring AT thru hiker has already marked his calendar with his Katahdin summit date. believe me, all of your spreadsheets will be thrown out the window before the end of day 1 on the trail, you are wasting your time over-planning. also, thanks for mansplaining the concepts of averages and division, math is hard. pro tip fellow viewers, you can play these videos on 1.5x speed and it almost sounds like how normal people talk, saved you a couple minutes.
Yea the whole feminist movement has contributed to the destruction of the family unit and our children being raised by strangers and teachers who does not share the same values and has contributed to the cost of living going up so much with 2 income households they figure we could pay more for homes. Always enjoy your videos, stay safe and gid bless.
I guess your wondering about the topic, that was meant for someone else I follow and was watching. I have been following you for a couple weeks now and look forward to follow I g hou hike.
Very easy to get caught up in the math and stop enjoying the hike. I started 16 Feb 2023 and planned to finish the last week in July or first week in August. I intended to hike a minimum of 15-miles a day and knowing there would be days I could/would hike longer, those would be bonus miles. I also started taking NEROs instead of ZEROs. I would plan to get off trail no later than noon. Spend the afternoon resupplying, cleaning, etc. then get some good sleep and be ready for the trail by 0800 the next morning. There were times I would focus on miles per week and my goal was I had to do a minimum of 100-miles per week. I knew my daily miles would drop off quickly when I hit the Whites (and they did) and I knew there would be weather days that would slow me down (tons of rain last year in Vermont, NH and Maine) but I ended up finishing on 18 July. I think being focused on miles at the start might be wrong as you may push yourself too hard and get hurt, discouraged, or any number of things. Suggest take it slow, the Rangers encourage folks to walk the shelters the first two weeks and then start picking up the miles. I look back now and there are periods that I remember nothing about the trail except the four feet in front of my toes and other times I remember everything. Whatever you chose to do, wish you the best of luck.
Thanks, that is very good insight. I like the point about walking the shelters, that makes sense, instead of pushing too hard too early. I also find that (at home) I tend to hike faster with friends than I would alone. That is kind of why I want to hike the first few weeks alone (or more alone) so I can find my pace. Thanks for following along, I appreciate you.
@@daveabbett One last thought, at first I had my Garmin keep track of my hourly pace but I felt at times that forced me to hike faster than I wanted. In the end my happy medium for 90% of my hike was plan for a 15-mile day (select a stop point - shelter or whatever) and when I reached it and felt good and there was daylight left, walk a few more miles. If not, well that day's goal was met. My Garmin was cool but I should have just brought a cheap Timex or a cheap solar watch. Remember, hiking the AT is about the experience.
That makes sense. I’m glad you adjusted and enjoyed your experience. Best of luck with your next adventure.
Tip 1 is huge… In a general sense, these combine into “Don’t waste time.” As a section hiker, I like to see the sights and catch some side trails, which all reduce average mileage. That being said, there are also times where I stop early or too long for no real reason. This is “wasted” time in my mind. Start early, end late, don’t over pace, don’t sit idle. Basically, just keep moving. Good perspective on the reality of miles.
Yeah. I don’t want to dawdle in towns or waste time getting to camp too early and like you said “sit idle”. I’m sure I’ll have fun chatting with people but don’t want to get sidetracked. Thanks Kriz for following along.
Another great video, tho you are so much more organized than me. I am starting Feb 7 so only a few more days for me. But have no end date in mind, so plan to take my time but assuming it will take me 5 months... My friend told me don't make it a job- make it an adventure so that is my goal. Best of luck on your hike!!!
I think your friend is right. It needs to be an adventure first. I’m sure that as much as you feel under prepared I am over thinking it. Both of us will have to adjust on the fly. Best of luck on your hike/ journey. I’m sure you’ll do great. Thanks for following along. I appreciate you.
I plan for up to 190 days; the math is simple. It's the weather, health, gear, and walking 2200 miles that can throw HUGE wrinkles into any plan.
Yeah, I tend to overthink things. Best of luck to you on the trail. Thanks for following along, hope to see you out there! go class of 2024
It's so fun to think through some of the logistics and goals for day-to-day in order to accomplish an overall goal. You inspired me to run some numbers myself! Fun stuff. Just over a month away Dave!
Yeah...I feel like it was a fun way to get a video out without feeling like I'm wasting my time going down this rabbit-hole. ha ha
I think this is a very good discussion. And one I don’t see many people talking about. People just say hike, high and smiles before miles. But you have to face the reality that there’s a certain number of miles to hike and a limited of time to do so. If you’re intending to do it in one season. I’m thinking about it, but I will probably break it up over a couple of years.
I think you’re going to have to take a zero at least once a week. Especially for us older people. And every four days or so you have got to go into town to resupply. So even if you don’t take a zero, that day is going to be pretty much shot. But anyway, I think in order to not get burned out you need to take a day off every five days. Let your body recover get a good meal. Get a good nights sleep. Which means that if you a lot six months you’re really only going to have five months of hiking time. Are you going to average 15+ miles a day in order to accomplish it. And as you’re saying some places you’re not gonna be able to do that so that means other places you’re going to have to get up to 20 miles in a day. It doesn’t matter about your attitude or the kind of person you are. The trail doesn’t care about that. If you can’t do that mileage, you simply cannot do it in a reasonable amount of time.
I don’t believe in this get your trail when you start thing. Basically you’re trying to get into shape when you’re already out there. You need to be in good shape before you get started. You need to be able to hit 14-15 miles/day right out of the gate. Because you cannot get into that kind of shape and just two or three weeks not if you are older like I am. And a lot of hikers are. It’s just not gonna happen. It takes longer than that to get into good shape.
One TH-camr, I’m following who is also older, did an outstanding job of getting ready. He started over a year in advance and did a considerable amount of hiking and walking daily. Wearing a heavy pack. And I see he is doing great now that he has started. Covering a lot of miles every day. No problems. I firmly believe that’s why a person needs to do if you really want to be able to complete this. Also, all that preconditioning helps prevent overuse injuries which happens to a lot of hikers I have noticed from their videos. You can’t go just from the occasional weekend hike to trying to walk that many miles per day, day after day, with a heavy pack through mountainous, terrain, and not expect to have some sort of issues pop up. That’s why you need to do a heck of a lot of walking and hiking before starting this trip. To get your body ready.
Again. I agree. 😀. I have been doing lots of hiking and carrying my full pack, usually getting 5-8 miles but also doing lots of elevation gain. We will see how this plays out. I’m really trying to just give some info for people, like yourself to 🤔 ponder. Then I Will be able to report as an older hiker what I’m truly able to do without burning out. More like one point on a graph. And hopefully others can help fill in the graph with me. Thanks for following along. I appreciate your input.
@@daveabbett yeah I’m very interested to see how it goes. Especially with the diet. I saw some other TH-camr talking about hiking Appalachian Trail on the carnivore diet. But I didn’t follow it. I don’t know if they actually did it or not. I haven’t done any research all that and long distance endurance. I guess the only way to know is to try lol. If it doesn’t work, add some carbs.
Hiked the trail in 2022. The biggest thing is to ignore the negative. people will say things or give advice that's not always helpful. some will try to discourage you. Ignore them. This is a long hike, its up and down up down up down up down, for months, it will feel endless in the moments of least comfort. Its way more mental then physical, a marathon of the mind. Walking in the pouring rain. Homesickness. boredom. it can be a lot to deal with on a 15 mile day. stick to the plan but also give yourself some slack when you feel its best. everyday will have unknowns. on my hike my bear can rolled down a hill and I got poison ivy all over me that didn't go away till after I got back, took strong antibiotics and tossed out most of my gear to fully resolve it. I got terrible sleep in Virginia due to bear hunting hounds in the bed of trucks driving around the ravines barking at 4 am The cicadas, the uneven ground. I developed compartment syndrome in my calf. My bag busted out and had to be replaced. the longer the hike is the more it will cost financially, but the faster you go the more you spend mentally and physically. take time to pause and reflect. Hike the blue blaze. Relax at the view. Once you hit the halfway the trail levels out and any gaps in the mileage can be filled in with bigger days. Good luck to you Dave.
Wow. Thanks for all the advice and insight. Half of me wants to know as much as I can and the other half wants to just wing it. I’m too old to just wing it. I understand it’s going to be a long haul but you brought up some great points. Thanks for those and thanks for following along. I appreciate you.
Thanks for all your content.
Also if you intend to stay at shelters you may need to do quite a few more than the target daily miles to get to the shelter.
Yeah. I think my thoughts and plans will get me so far, but then will have to adapt to what the trail gives as far as shelter locations, etc. so couldn’t agree more. Thanks for following along. Appreciate your input.
aspiring AT thru hiker has already marked his calendar with his Katahdin summit date. believe me, all of your spreadsheets will be thrown out the window before the end of day 1 on the trail, you are wasting your time over-planning. also, thanks for mansplaining the concepts of averages and division, math is hard. pro tip fellow viewers, you can play these videos on 1.5x speed and it almost sounds like how normal people talk, saved you a couple minutes.
Thanks for your insight, once again. Appreciate it.
Yea the whole feminist movement has contributed to the destruction of the family unit and our children being raised by strangers and teachers who does not share the same values and has contributed to the cost of living going up so much with 2 income households they figure we could pay more for homes. Always enjoy your videos, stay safe and gid bless.
Thanks for following along. Appreciate you
I guess your wondering about the topic, that was meant for someone else I follow and was watching. I have been following you for a couple weeks now and look forward to follow I g hou hike.
Ha ha. I do agree with you just couldn’t recall where I said that. Have a great day. 👍🏻😂