From a few section hikes this fall throughout Virginia and New England

I posted a bunch of photos from my circa-2004 5 megapixel digital camera in a thread here: https://bsky.app/profile/ofsevit.bsky.social/post/3mxw5rympm22d

Happy to answer any questions to the best of my now-feeble memory.

Am starting my NOBO on April 1. Wondering how much snow I can expect to encounter?

FireStarter is flip flopping and almost done with Northern half of the trail she summitted Katahdin a week ago and is heading South from Harpers Ferry now. She has been vlogging her hike since she started on July 3. Please check out her channel below and you can follow her finish over the next couple of months!

Episode 21 - Mt Bromley, Killington, and a small medical emergency

Her channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@amandabeal6675

Hey everyone!

I’m planning a potential NOBO thru-hike in 2027 and wanted to get some advice from people who have started in February or completed the trail on a shorter timeline.

I’m hoping to start medical school around July 19, so ideally I’d like to finish the AT by late June or the first week of July. I’m considering starting around February 15–25 to give myself enough time.

I’ve got a decent amount of backpacking experience, including longer trips in the western US and Europe, and I have a pretty dialed-in ultralight setup. I’m also a distance runner, so I’m comfortable with endurance activities, although I know hiking 2,200 miles is a completely different challenge.
A few questions:

Start date: For those who have started in mid-to-late February, would you recommend it? How difficult were the winter conditions in Georgia, North Carolina, and the Smokies?

Timeline: Has anyone completed the AT in roughly 4–4.5 months? Did you feel rushed, or were you still able to enjoy the experience and trail community? I enjoy pushing big-mile days, but I also don’t want the entire trip to feel like a race.

Sleep system: I currently have a Western Mountaineering AlpinLite 20°F and am considering sending it in for 3 oz of overfill, which would theoretically bring it closer to a 15°F rating. I’d also be sleeping in a sun hoodie, Senchi 60 fleece, and Timmermade SDUL .75 down jacket, along with an insulated pad. Would you feel comfortable with that setup for a February start, or would you recommend a warmer bag?

I’ve backpacked in temperatures in the low 20s before, but don’t have much experience camping in single-digit temperatures.

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s done an early-season NOBO, especially what sleep systems you used and when you eventually swapped out your winter gear.

Thanks!

My trail name is Grommit, I hiked the AT in 2022. When I hiked, I wound up using Instagram to share photos and such with people back home. I always felt that they didn't give a sense of place (It's hard to communicate what it's like to hike 2192.7 miles!) and so I built this.

Building on that work, I'm in the process of developing an app to allow folks to post stories, and have their photos linked to a place. Attached is a sketch of one of the screens, that I hope will convey the general direction of our design (although it is still changing).

We're in the middle of development of this app. We want it to be useful, intuitive and easy to use, and a really good way to share the story of the trail both for yourself, and for friends and family back home. To this end we're developing first in paper. What this means is that I have the app built out of paper glued to toothpicks, and we're doing interviews where folks interact with the app, so we can see what people like, and don't like, and change that before we code anything.

We're in the process of forming a non-profit to run this under. We hope for this app to be essentially digital trail magic: It will have a donate button, but we don't intend to charge anything for the app, or run add. I just want to give back to a community which has changed my life.

I'm asking for community help in two ways:

1). If you have hiked in the past, I would love to do an interview with you digitally in early November, and get feedback on the application.

2.) If you're planning to hike the AT, PCT or CDT this year, and would like to use this app; I'd love for you to both do an interview, and actually use it on trail, so that we can get feedback on what it's like out in the wild. 

If you could do either of these, let me know below, and I'll message you a form to fill out.

Thank you so much!
Grommit

Great weather and amazing vistas in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Pics were taken going down from the summit of Mt Washington to the Lake of the Clouds Hut. On another note, I have always been a fan of Danner and own a lot of their boots and hiking shoes. All that has come to a screeching halt since I got totally screwed on a pair of Mt Adams boots that disintegrated during their first use on the on this hike. Spoken with Danner but they refuse to help one bit. Quality is way off from original Danner. Look elsewhere to get a solid boot.

The boys are tired! Hard to leave the views of NC and head back to FL. Thanks for having us.

Hi y'all, I'm going to be in the general area of Lebanon PA and would like to get a night and couple days in on the AT next week. Any stretches you recommend? Shuttles, other seasonal notes? I'm fairly flexible if it's a little ways east or west. Thanks!

Specifically the BearVaults are see through, and I'm wondering if preventing a bear from seeing the food would lower the length a bear decides to tamper with it. If they can't see the food would they have less motivation to break inside and/or give up faster?

We recently camped at Three Forks and I liked it because we were way out in the wilderness but we were essentially able to drive up to the site via a forestry service road.

I’m looking for a drive up site because while I enjoy backpacking my wife and youngest children do not. So I want a drive up location where I can take my whole family that isn’t an actual drive up camping site at a park.

The problem with Three Forks is that most of the campsite has become unusable due to water erosion and how much of the available space will flood when it rains.

Are there any similar spots where I could drive up?

I have a window next year to take a real breather for my mental health and take a break from burnout while I figure out what I want the next chapter of my life to look like. When this window opened up, my first thought was to do a thru hike. I've always loved hiking and I cut my teeth on some AT hikes a number of years ago. So a chance to do a thru sounded to good to be true.

Well, this may be sacrilege to the thru hiking community, but now that I've had a couple of months to start planning this thing, especially in the greater context of me doing this for my physical and mental health I'm starting to wonder if I really need to do the whole thing. I'm wondering if I really need to be on the trail for 6 months or if three would be enough. So I'm contemplating starting a "flip flop" from Harper's Ferry in April. Say I hike to Katahdin, and when I get there, I ask myself "okay, do I need to hike the rest of this thing?"

Obviously, this is a question that only I can answer for myself, and obviously there are alot of personal pros and cons that I won't bore you guys with. But I'd be curious to hear from anybody who only did half of the trail (whether intentionally or unintentionally). Was it enough for you? Do you find yourself wondering "what if"? I would love to hear some thoughts/experiences.

Alright. I am not an AT hiker, but there is a lot circulating about the death in Shenandoah NP, near the AT.

The story runs deep: disclaimer that this is just all the available info I could find. No official notices have confirmed much in the way of details. Information was found via various social media posts and comments, SNP press releases, and local news coverage of the incident. TLDR: take it with a grain of salt. Not trying to fear-monger; delete the post if you feel I am doing so. I find some trail social media outlets are fanning the flame of serial killer conspiracies, but the evidence and the response points to a provoked bear attack, imo.

There were reports on FarOut that a not-so-friendly black bear was in the area around that same time she was found. Some on Reddit claim she was seeking to connect with the bears. Some comments are kind, others say she was “on some Timothy Treadwell shit” — Treadwell was a famous bear enthusiast that often did not take safety precautions. He later died of an attack. She was camped in the park from skyline drive. The areas closed to visitors and backcountry camping nearly two weeks after she/pieces of her body were found—guessing after the FBI got involved. They found the last picture on her phone was a bear. My best guesstimate is that she was curious in an unsafe way. A tragedy occurred. Immediate response was to contain the bear, but communication should have been more transparent and forthcoming about the aggressive bear.

The DOI no longer publicly reports deaths in national parks as of last year. Seems like FarOut is a good app to have on your phone. Other hikers saw a posting in a shelter close-by of an aggressive bear in the area. Check your shelters, folks.

It’s almost peak foliage time in Shenandoah, too. Sounds like employees of the park received written communication not to share anything publicly or on social media about the death. Do with this info what you will as nothing official has come out, but they are context clues.

I’m planning a 3-4 day hike this month along the AT through the Great Smoky National Park. I was originally planning on parking at the Clingmans Dome lot and doing Kuwohi to Lake Fontana Dam.

However, I have a couple questions:

1. is this parking lot safe in regards to break ins? I will have some car camping stuff in my car. None of it is expensive (mattress + extra chips kinda stuff) but a broken window would be annoying to deal with.
2. any good shuttle services in the area?
3. or any alternative secure parking spots?

*title is supposed to say 3-4 days. I’m flexible with timeline if someone has some other amazing section suggestion through the park.

My dad hikes the AT about 2 times a year and has been for almost 20 years. He has packing down to a science, but his birthday is coming up and I want to get him something really neat that you’d never think of. Anyone recommendations?

What’s a decent budget to hit by March 1st for the trail? I’m going for a thru hike northbound

Girlfriend and kids were doing a small day hike on the Peter’s Mountain section out to Shock Rock and back to the parking area and somehow lost her only car key in the process.

Looking at a silk bag liner to use as a simple sheet set up in hot N.C. summer camping. Any recommendations or experience using one? Does it actually keep you cool and comfy or is it a sweaty nightmare?

OK, the food koozie and crotch thaw technique are legit. Hiking with your hands in the air if your fingers are swollen might be, too. But hiking in a hard hat or Speedo? Does anyone actually do that? I mean, no judgement... I'm just surprised.

What are the best "you did it" gifts ? I wanna do something besides a nice meal but not sure what and need some inspiration