I have finished my planning for the first third of my hike. I will be coming home after completing it for a couple of weeks. During my hiking I will do the planning for the second and third sections of my hike. I am waiting to plan the following sections till I learn from experience my hiking speed.
I started my planning by dividing the distance into thirds. I then figured how fast I would have to hike to return home by my target date of April 15. To make this schedule I would have to hike around 18 miles many days. The first section of the AT has many mountains. I am not sure I can accomplish that speed. I made a B plan. In this plan I figured I would hike 7 to 8 hours a day and camp after that. I figured about 14 miles a day. Here is the difference in out come of the two plans.
Hike Plan A: Covers 92.9 more miles than Hike Plan B.
Plan A: 52 Days. End April 13 at Daleville, VA. 727.8 miles. N37.393829 W079.906586. For plan A hiking speed: 14.0 miles/day, including zero days.
Plan B: 51 Days. End April 12th. at Pearisburg, VA. 634.9 miles. N37.33065 W080.750381. For plan B hiking speed: 12.449 miles/day, including zero days.
Once on the trail I will strive to be closer to plan A. One option is to cut out some of my zero days. But, I want this to be an enjoyable adventure and not just a goal. The zero days help that happen, so I don't want to give them up. The first week in both plans are the same. I have fewer miles each day, about 13. I am hoping that I find 15 to 20 miles is attainable and enjoyable after getting use to hiking.
Here are my plans. What do you think?
TRAIL HIKING PLAN A
NOTE: Flexibility is key for a hassle free hike.
The love of the hike and adventure, and not the schedule.
This is an aggressive hiking plan. Not sure I can do it in the Southern section of the AT called Southern Mountains. I have developed a Hiking plan B which doesn’t cover as many miles each day.
Total miles of trail: 2,186.
Divided in three parts: 728.6 miles.
Start February 22, 2016.
Section 1: Springer, Georgia to Daleville, VA., 727.8 miles. Fly out of Richmond, VA.
Section 2: Daleville, VA. 727.8 miles, to Kent, NY. 1467 miles. Fly out of JFK.
Section 3: Kent, NY., 1467 miles, to Katahdin, Maine. 2,186 miles.
Figure 18 miles a day. One day off a week. 108 miles a week. Note that the difficulty varies greatly along the trail. In some locations will do more miles, in others less. Total weeks will be 20 weeks = 5 months. Add 2 weeks for section 1 and 2 that makes the entire hike 6 months long. If I start the hike February 22, 2016 I will finish the end of August, 2016.
WEEK 1:
Day 1: Feb. 22, 2016. Monday. Drop off to Springer is 1 mile. Springer: N34.626705 W084.193848. Springer to Horse Gap parking 10.5 miles on trail. Horse Gap parking: N34.655613 W084.105659. Total day distance is 11.5 miles. The first week I am going to do less than 18 miles per day to get conditioned.
Day 2: Feb. 23. Lance Creek Restoration Area. N34.707863 W083.984970. 24.4 miles. 13.9 for day.
Day 3: Feb. 24. Cowlick Mountain. N34.721588 W083.856453. 36.8 miles. 12.4 for day.
Day 4: Feb. 25.m Blue Mountain shelter. N34.817234 W083.766769. 50.5 miles. 13.7 for day.
Day 5: Feb. 26. Addis Gap. 64.1 miles. N34.863258 W083.65029. 13.6 for today.
Day 6: Feb. 27. Dicks Creek Gap. 69.6 miles. N34.912163 W083.618896. 5.5 for day. .5 miles to Top of Georgia Hostel. Will spend two nights there in Hiawassee.
Day 7: Feb. 28, Sunday. Zero day. Visit Hiawassee.
WEEK 2:
Day 8: Feb. 29. Standing Indian Mountain. 87.9 miles. N35.035404 W083.538040. 18.3 for day. Want to make. Looks like great place to camp.
Day 9: Mar. 1, 2016. Fock Gap shelter. 106.0 miles. N35.091454 W083.523087. 18.1 for day.
Day 10: Mar. 2. Wayah Shelter. 120.8 miles. N35.187855 W083.561966. 14.8 for day.
Day 11: Mar. 3. Nantahala Outdoor Center. 137.1 miles. N35.331223 W083.591896. 16.3 for day. Stay at hostel if available. Eat at restaurant.
Day 12: Mar. 4. Brown Fork Gap Shelter. 153.1 miles. N35.374058 W083.733849. 16 for day.
Day 13: Mar. 5. Birch Spring Tentsite. 171.9 miles. N35.502083 W083.814003. 18.8 for day.
Day 14: Mar. 6, Sunday. Derrick Knob Shelter. 189.0 miles. N35.566532 W083.641823. 17.1 for day.
WEEK 3:
Day 15: Mar 7. Newfound Gap. 207.3 miles. N36.611187 W083.425255. 18.3 for day.
Day 16: Mar 8. Zero day. Gatlinburg, TN. or Cherokee, NC. Ship supplies to zero day city. App refers to Gatlinburg.
Day 17: Mar 9. Tri-Corner Knob Shelter. 222.9 miles. N35.693832 W083.256569. 15.6 for day.
Day 18: Mar 10. Davenport shelter. 237.7 miles. N35.769577 W083.123268. 14.8 for day. (NOTE: Very bad reviews for Standing Bear Farm. 241.0 miles. Don’t stay there.)
Day 19: Mar 11. Roaring Fork Shelter. 256.4 miles. N35.804882 W082.949707. 18.7 for day.
Day 20: Mar. 12. Hot Springs, NC. 274.6 miles. N35.892399 W082.828049. 18.2 for day.
Day 21: Mar. 13. Sunday. Zero Day. Stay at Hot Springs.
WEEK 4:
Day 22: Mar. 14. Little Laurel Shelter. 294.0 miles. N36.015133 W082.735924. 19.4 for day. No place to camp before it. Mom’s Store for a treat at Allen Gap. 289.1 miles.
Day 23. Mar. 15. Flint Mountain Shelter. 307.2 miles. N36.034882 W082.596619. 13.2 for day.
Day 24. Mar. 16. Bald Mountain Shelter. 326.1 miles. N36.000114 W082.478104. 18.9 for day.
Day 25. Mar. 17. Uncle Johnny’s Hostel. 343.0 miles. N36.105637 W082.448456. 16.9 for day.
Day 26. Mar. 18. Cherry Gap Shelter. 360.0 miles. N36.129288 W082.263870. 17 for day.
Day 27. Mar. 19. Roan High Knob Shelter. 377.5 miles. N36105076 W082.122231. 17.5 for day.
Day 28. Mar. 20. Sunday. US 19E. 393.8 miles. N36.177357 W082.011642. 16.3 for day.
WEEK 5:
Day 29. Mar. 21. Zero day. Mountain Harbour Hostel. .5 miles to west. City Roan Mountain to west, Elk Park to east.
Day 30. Mar. 22. Moreland Gap Shelter. 412.2 miles. N36.220200 W082.088303. 18.4 for day.
Day 31. Mar. 23. Watauga Lake Shelter. 429.0 miles. N36.313862 W082.129517. 16.8 for day. Check, may be closed because of bear activity. Was closed in 2015.
Day 32. Mar. 24. Iron Mountain Shelter. 443.0 miles. N36.435379 W081.990936. 14 for day.
Day 33. Mar. 25. Abingdon Gap Shelter. 458.9 miles. N36.580978 W081.901711. 15.9 for day.
Day 34. Mar. 26. Damascus, VA. 469.1 miles. N36.635025 W081.789215. 10.2 for day
Day 35. Mar. 27. Sunday. Zero day. Damascus, VA.
WEEK 6:
Day 36. Mar. 28. Campsite. 487.5 miles. N36.639397 W081.638908. 18.4 for today.
Day 37. Mar. 29. Old Orchard Shelter. 508.5 miles. N36.683231 W081.510887. 21 for today.
Day 38. Mar. 30. Campsites. two at 525.1 & 525.3. 525.1 miles. N36.772396 W081.488831. 16.6 for today.
Day 40. Apr. 1. Campsite. 544.5 miles. N36.904240 W081.371826. 19.4 for today.
Day 41. Apr. 2. Campsite. 562.7 miles. N37.031288 W081.422829. 18.2 for today.
Day 42. Apr. 3. Sunday. Jenkins Shelter. 577.1 miles. N37.093422 W081.247658. 14.4 for today.
WEEK 7:
Day 43. Apr. 4. Campsite. 594.0 miles. Last water at 581.9. N37.128155 W081.074455. 16.9 for today.
Day 44. Apr. 5. Campsite. 610.7 miles. N37.188522 W080.892365. 16.7 for today.
Day 45. Apr. 6. Woods Hole Hostel. 623.9 miles. N37.253540 W080.847420. 13.2 for today.
Day 46. Apr. 7. Zero day. Or go to Pearisburg and have rest day on Day 47, Apr 8th.
Day 47. Apr. 8. Pearisburg: 634.9 miles. N37.333065 W080.750381. 11 for today. Stay at Plaza Motel. 540 921-2591
Day 48. Apr. 9. Pine Swamp Branch Shelter. 654.4 miles. N37.422119 W080.608467. 19.5 for today.
Day 49. Apr. 10. Sunday. Laurel Creek Shelter. 672.9 miles. N37.358986 W080.420959. 18.5 for today.
WEEK 8:
Day 51. Apr. 12. Johns Spring Shelter. 702.1 miles. N37.365959 W080.152870. 14.4 of today. Get a shuttle to Roanoke, VA to get a transportation to Richmond, VA to fly home. OR if push on and go to Johns Spring Shelter. 709.0 miles. N37.385204 W080.073860. 21.3 for today.
Day 52. Apr. 13. Daleville. 727.8 miles. N37.393829 W079.906586. 18.8 for today. Spend night. 14.0 miles per day (including break days).
Day 53. Apr. 14. Travel to Roanoke and on to Richmond.
Day 54. Apr. 15. Fly home.
TRAIL HIKING PLAN B
NOTE: Flexibility is key for a hassle free hike.
The love of the hike and adventure, and not the schedule.
Hiking plan A is built to complete 1/3 of the miles, 728.6 miles, by the middle of April. I do not believe I will be able to accomplish that. I have come up with a plan B. Plan B will be based on hiking 7 to 8 hours a day. I will try to keep it closer to 7 hours a day. The length will depend on where there is water and camping areas. In this plan the first week will be the same as plan A as it isn’t that difficult. I will also still plan to average a zero day every week. If necessary I might give up a zero day to try and get closer to 1/3 the miles before the middle of April. What ever my location is on the trail I will plan to head home around April 15th, 2016.
Total miles of trail: 2186. Note that the app shows 2189.2 miles. Official quotes state is as 2186 miles.
Divided in three parts: 728.6 miles.
Start February 22, 2016.
Section 1: Springer, Georgia to ___________________.
Section 2: __________________ to Kent, NY. 1467 miles. Fly out of JFK.
Section 3: Kent, NY., 1467 miles, to Baxter Peak, Katahdin, Maine. 2,189.2 miles.
Figure 14 miles a day. At 7 hours that is 2 miles an hour. One day off a week. 84 miles a week. With hiking at this slower rate I will finish in September, 2016.
WEEK 1:
Day 1: Feb. 22, 2016. Monday. Drop off to Springer is 1 mile. Springer: N34.626705 W084.193848. Springer to Horse Gap parking 10.5 miles on trail. Horse Gap parking: N34.655613 W084.105659. Total day distance is 11.5 miles. The first week I am going to do less than 18 miles per day to get conditioned.
Day 2: Feb. 23. Lance Creek Restoration Area. N34.707863 W083.984970. 24.4 miles. 13.9 for day.
Day 3: Feb. 24. Cowlick Mountain. N34.721588 W083.856453. 36.8 miles. 12.4 for day.
Day 4: Feb. 25.m Blue Mountain shelter. N34.817234 W083.766769. 50.5 miles. 13.7 for day.
Day 5: Feb. 26. Addis Gap. 64.1 miles. N34.863258 W083.65029. 13.6 for today.
Day 6: Feb. 27. Dicks Creek Gap. 69.6 miles. N34.912163 W083.618896. 5.5 for day. .5 miles to Top of Georgia Hostel. Will spend two nights there in Hiawassee.
Day 7: Feb. 28, Sunday. Zero day. Visit Hiawassee.
WEEK 2:
Day 8: Feb. 29. Muskrat Creek Shelter. 81.4 miles. N35.020706 W083.581444. 11.8 for today.
Day 9: Mar. 1, 2016. Betty Creek Gap. 97.6 miles. N35.028320 W083.478477. 16.2 for day.
Day 10: Mar. 2. Tent site & stream. 110.8 miles. N35.122677 W083.556824. 13.2 for day.
Day 11: Mar. 3. Cold Spring Shelter. 125.6 miles. N35.231323 W083.559677. 14.8 for day.
Day 12: Mar. 4. Nantahala Outdoor Center. 137.1 miles. N35.331223 W083.591896. 11.5 for day. Stay at hostel if available. Eat at restaurant. (This stop is one day behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 11.)
Day 13: Mar. 5. Brown Fork Gap Shelter. 153.1 miles. N35.374058 W083.733849. 16 for day. (This was day 12 on plan A.)
Day 14: Mar. 6, Sunday. Fontana Dam Shelter. 165.6 miles. N35.448494 W083.794128. 12.5 for day.
WEEK 3:
Day 15: Mar 7. Russell Field Shelter. 179.8 miles. N35.561657 W083.766464. 14.2 for day.
Day 16: Mar 8. Siler’s Bald Shelter. 194.8 miles. N35.5644274 W083.568153. 15 for day.
Day 17: Mar 9. Newfound Gap. 207.3 miles. N36.611187 W083.425255. 12.5 for day. (This stop is two days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 15.)
Day 18: Mar 10. Zero day. Gatlinburg, TN. or Cherokee, NC. Ship supplies to zero day city. App refers to Gatlinburg. (This was day 16 on plan A.)
Day 19: Mar 11. Tri-Corner Knob Shelter. 222.9 miles. N35.693832 W083.256569. 15.6 for day. (This stop is two days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 17.)
Day 20: Mar. 12. Davenport shelter. 237.7 miles. N35.769577 W083.123268. 14.8 for day. (This stop is two days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 18.)
Day 21: Mar. 13. Sunday. Ground Creek Shelter. 248.3 miles. N35.781689 W083.026230. 10.6 for day.
WEEK 4:
Day 22: Mar. 14. Cat pen Gap. 262.8 miles. N35.837231 W082.919937 14.5 for day.
Day 23: Mar. 15. Hot Springs, NC. 274.6 miles. N35.892399 W082.828049. 11.8 for day. (This stop is three days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 20.)
Day 24: Mar. 16. Zero Day. Stay at Hot Springs. (This was day 21 on plan A.)
Day 25. Mar. 17. Spring Mountain Shelter. 285.4 miles. N35.951790 W082.790001. 10.8 for day.
Day 26. Mar. 18. Jerry’s Cabin shelter. 300.8 miles. N36.056606 W082.657120. 15.4 for day.
Day 27. Mar. 19. Hogback Ridge Shelter. 316.0 miles. N35.964081 W082.587128. 15.2 for day.
Day 28. Mar. 20. Sunday. Whistling Gap. 329.5 miles. N36.018631 W082.436859. 13.5 for day.
WEEK 5:
Day 29. Mar. 21. Uncle Johnny’s Hostel. 343.0 miles. N36.105637 W082.448456. 13.5 for day. (This stop is four days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 25.)
Day 30. Mar. 22. Cherry Gap Shelter. 360.0 miles. N36.129288 W082.263870. 17 for day. (This stop is four days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 26.)
Day 31. Mar. 23. Ash Gap. 375.7 miles. N36.114784 W082.135323. 15.7 for today.
Day 32. Mar. 24. US 19E. 393.8 miles. N36.177357 W082.011642. 18.1 for day. (This stop is four days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 28.)
Day 33. Mar. 25. Zero day. Mountain Harbour Hostel. .5 miles to west. City Roan Mountain to west, Elk Park to east. (This stop is four days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 29.)
Day 34. Mar. 26. Tent site. 409.8 miles. N36.217285 W082.058411. 16 for day.
Day 35. Mar. 27. Pond Flats. 424.2 miles. N36.282429 W082.118690. 14.4 for today.
WEEK 6:
Day 36. Mar. 28. Tent site & Spring. 440.1 miles. N36.406227 W082.018616. 15.9 for today.
Day 37. Mar. 29. Abingdon Gap Shelter. 458.9 miles. N36.580978 W081.901711. 18.8 for day. (This stop is four days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 33.) Maybe stop at Queens Knob Shelter. 457.5 miles.
Day 38. Mar. 30. Damascus, VA. 469.1 miles. N36.635025 W081.789215. 10.2 for day. (This stop is four days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 34.)
Day 40. Apr. 1. Zero day. Damascus, VA. (This stop is four days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 35.)
Day 41. Apr. 2. Lost Mountain Shelter. 484.9 miles. N36.644394 W081.655876. 15.8 for day.
Day 42. Apr. 3. Sunday. Many Camp sites. 498.2 N36.656414 W081.524246. 13.3 for today. Get water at Thomas Knob Shelter. 497.3 miles, .9 miles before camp.
WEEK 7:
Day 43. Apr. 4. Hurricane Shelter or Hurricane Shelter tenting. 512.6 miles. N36.714287 W081.509911. 14.4 for today.
Day 44. Apr. 5. Partnership Shelter. 531.5 miles. N36.809525 W081.422371. 18.9 for today.
Day 45. Apr. 6. Campsite. 544.5 miles. N36.904220 W081.371826. 13 for today. (This stop is five days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 40.)
Day 46. Apr. 7. Campsite. 562.7 miles. N37.031288 W081.422829. 18.2 for today. Water .2 miles ahead at 562.9 miles. (This stop is five days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 41.)
Day 47. Apr. 8. Jenkins Shelter. 577.1 miles. N37.093422 W081.247658. 14.4 for today. (This stop is five days behind plan A hike. On plan A was here on Day 42.)
Day 48. Apr. 9. Halves Mill Shelter. 592.4 miles. N37.130795 W081.102989. 15.3 for today.
Day 49. Apr. 10. Sunday. Campsite. 606.3 miles. N37.160221 W080.924622. 13.9 for today.
WEEK 8:
Day 50. Apr. 11. Tent site. 621.1 miles. N37.245800 W080.850098. 14.8 for today.
Day 51. Apr. 12. Pearisburg: 634.9 miles. N37.333065 W080.750381. 13.8 for today. Stay at Plaza Motel. 540 921-2591. For trip: 12.449 miles/day, including zero days.
Day 52. Apr. 13. Travel to Richmond.
Day 53. Apr. 14. Fly home.
______________________________________
On Hike Plan A: 92.9 more miles than Hike Plan B.: Plan A: Day 52. Apr. 13. Daleville. 727.8 miles. N37.393829 W079.906586. 18.8 for today. Spend night. For trip: 14.0 miles/day, including zero days.
