Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike Prep Series:
Intro
Part 4: Planning, Navigation, and Cost
So you’re thinking of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, eh?
The urge may have hit you all the sudden during a slump at work… or maybe this has been a long held dream and now is the time to finally go for it… maybe you’re having a mid-life crisis… Whatever has led you to make this crazy decision, there is a lot you need to know and prepare for before starting the Appalachian Trail.
As someone who started the Appalachian Trail with almost no preparation whatsoever, I can assure you that winging it is not a recommended option. While I successfully completed my Appalachian Trail thru-hike in 2014, there were plenty others who did not – that is, well over 80% who set out from Springer Mountain, Georgia never made it to Mt. Katahdin for their mountaintop photo. In fact, about half of those who dropped out did so within the first week, and another large percentage within the first month of their trek.
Despite these dismaying figures, thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail is entirely doable. While I encourage everyone to “hike your own hike,” as they say, I am going to lay out some general guidelines and recommendations that I believe will greatly increase your chances of a successful thru-hike – both in terms of actually finishing the trail, and having joy while doing it.
The following sections of this series are in no way meant to be exhaustive or definitive. They simply reflect what I and several others I met along the AT found to be useful. My goal here is to simply take away some of the mystery of what to expect on the trail and hopefully provide some useful information for you to prepare. I should also note that the following information is geared toward Northbound thru-hikers (NoBos), although Southbounders (SoBos) will still find most of the information to be useful.
Before I get into the practicalities, I will say this:
No amount of physical preparation, no collection of gear, and no amount of money will carry you to Maine. Only an iron-willed determination to finish will get you there!
The AT is too long, too all-encompassing, too mercurial for you to simply get on the trail and hope for the best. There are too many opportunities to stop your hike and go back home to your cozy bed for you to be half-willed about this thing.
My hiking partner and I had a commitment that we would not stop our hike for any reason unless we got seriously injured or if there was a family emergency back home. Everything else was in our control. We had a rule never to even speak of quitting the trail, and I recommend you do the same. Even when the novelty of trail-life wears off, and it’s mid-July and it’s hot and humid and the bottoms of your feet have turned to pulp from walking a hundred miles over sharp rocks and a perpetual cloud of gnats and mosquitos are determined to enter every orifice of your face… I digress… The point is: do not speak of quitting, for that is a slippery slope, my friends.
So, with your handy-dandy iron-willed determination in place, there are many things you can do that increase your likelihood of completing the trail and enjoying it too. As I said before, I was embarrassingly unprepared for my thru-hike, and I hope you will avoid my mistakes.
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Happy Hiking!
— Motown
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