Plans for hiking the Appalachian Trail are moving forward at a good pace. I now have a definite start date which is Sunday June 1, 2008. I plan to hike the north to south route starting in Baxter State Park in central Maine. I had a little bit of a tough time trying to decide in which direction to hike. If I were to start in Georgia and hike north then I could have began the hike almost two months sooner but that would cause me to have to maintain a definite schedule throughout the hike in order to make it into Baxter State Park before it closes for the season. Waiting until June will allow me to be a little more flexible in hiking times and I won’t have to be concerned with feeling rushed.
My main concern between now and then is keeping my health in check and making sure I am in good enough shape to make the hike. I’m really anxious to spend this time in the mountains and already chomping at the bit, so to speak. This is just going to be an amazing experience no matter how it turns out.
More to come on this topic…
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August 22nd, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Wow, that’s exciting! An actual start date.
Guess you’ll have to start taking a lot of hikes to make sure you’re in shape.
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:31 pm
It is cool to have a start date, seems like a lifetime away though. I agree on taking a lot of hikes. It’s the only way to really prepare…
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:01 pm
How long do you figure it will take you to hike the AT from point A to point B?
August 23rd, 2007 at 4:48 pm
No way to know right now… depends on a lot of factors that I have no way of predicting this early in the planning stages. Various websites say that it takes most people from 5 to 7 months.
August 28th, 2007 at 3:01 am
I would ove to hike the AT some day. Congratulations on setting your sights on the adventure! The closest I have come is seeing the southern terminus. I look forward to reading of your adventures when you return next winter!