AT in a single calendar winter

[hikerbrian]

Has anyone ever attempted this? I feel like it's actually against the laws of physics, especially the south-to-north variation. But man, what an amazing accomplishment it would be. Just throwing it out there. Something I've been thinking about lately.

 

[NH Tramper]

If this was Facebook I'd "Like" this.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

2184/91 = 24 miles/day average... Better wait for the next leap year to get an extra day of winter

Tim

 

[Jay H]

Maybe we'll actually get some snow this year!

Jay

 

[KRobi]

We discussed this idea while chatting during our section hikes of NH AT. I would think you would have to either have absolutely perfect weather, a crew busting trail, or most reasonably do it by hiking sections as the weather allowed, so would take more than a calendar year. No matter how your did a trip like this, it would be an incredible accomplishment.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Dan Allen section hiked the AT over several calendar winters ... doing it in a single winter seems quite a stretch.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Maybe we'll actually get some snow this year!

Last winter would have been the winter to attempt it.

Tim

 

[hikerbrian]

doing it in a single winter seems quite a stretch.

No doubt. No doubt.

Was doing some back of the envelope math. The girl who set the record last year (46 days, 11 hrs) averaged 47 miles per day. If you (Haha!) could average that pace for the first half, you'd only (more Hahaha!) need to average 12 miles/day for the second half. Which seems....possible?

 

[Scotzman]

The girl who set the record last year (46 days, 11 hrs) averaged 47 miles per day.

Wow that's crazy.

 

[peakbagger]

Probably a better but far more rowdy discussion for white blaze.

There seems to be a definition of a "winter" AT hike that is used that refers to an at hike that includes a complete winter. The normal approach is to do a southbound and start so that the hike is south of New England prior to the onset of rotten weather. Depdending on what time they start the hiker is south of the Mid Atlantic before winter.

There are usually some publicized efforts every so often with folks trying to make it through Me or NH in the winter, usually the hiker insists they know what they are in for and if you ever here from them again, they usually admit that they got skunked very soon after getting on the trail due to conditions.

 

[Guthook]

There seems to be a definition of a "winter" AT hike that is used that refers to an at hike that includes a complete winter. The normal approach is to do a southbound and start so that the hike is south of New England prior to the onset of rotten weather. Depdending on what time they start the hiker is south of the Mid Atlantic before winter.

In 2007 I met a whole lot of southbounders in February who were finishing their wintery hikes. But more interestingly, I followed the register entries of a northbounder who had started in October and hit katahdin in early June. It wasn't all in winter, but it was pretty mind blowing anyway. If you ever find some 2007 registers, look for Bookworm. His stories were pretty great– some days he'd make it less than two miles in the snow, he'd go weeks without seeing a single hiker, and he'd surprise the heck out of trail town people because they never expect anyone to come to the hostels and such at that time of year.

Didn't someone try the Long Trail last winter? I never heard how that turned out.

 

[GBKDalton]

Someone else said it right when they noted that WhiteBlaze loves discussions like this. I've seen a number of posters there stating that they were going to start in Maine in March or April, and they're never heard from again. Even section hiking in Maine in winter is extremely difficult-you need to break your own trail for much of it. When I thru-hiked (in summer, btw ) the caretaker at Poplar Ridge left pictures (in response to a question about winter hiking in Maine) of the lean-tos on Bigelow buried in snow. Not buried up to the roof, completely buried with like, the chimney sticking out. They had dug a tunnel to get into the front. Not something I would want to take on.

People are pushing their northbound thru-hikes earlier and earlier every year as well. These hikers don't seem to realize that when it snows in the southern mountains it can take a long time to melt, thus leaving you to cool your heels in town for weeks. But that's three -seasons hikers trying to hike in winter. Speaking of which, there was an interesting article a few months ago in the ATC publication about a southbounder caught by winter in NC and GA. He pushed his three-season gear a little too far and nearly got himself into a pretty bad situation. He eventually finished with full winter gear. His story of getting caught in a snowstorm in the mountains north of Hot Springs and trying to get himself out was pretty interesting. The rhodedendruns dump snow on your head every step and the snow doesn't melt. Sounds suspiciously like NH and VT to me.

 

[MichaelJ]

I for one would not want to attempt to negotiate Mahoosuc Notch with snow on the ground. That's a recipe for disaster right there.

 

[David Metsky]

I for one would not want to attempt to negotiate Mahoosuc Notch with snow on the ground. That's a recipe for disaster right there.

I did Mahoosuc Notch in March many moons ago, and it was actually easier than in summer. Lots of the nasty holes were covered up and could walk over the features that require so much effort in summer.

 

[RoySwkr]

I did Mahoosuc Notch in March many moons ago, and it was actually easier than in summer. Lots of the nasty holes were covered up and could walk over the features that require so much effort in summer.

Dan Allen and Guy Waterman found the rocks covered with ice and had to front-point them.

I think many At-ers think of winter as Columbus Day to Memorial Day or somesuch, that would be easier

Could it be done in a calendar winter? Sure, if you had a massive support team so the trail was always broken, camp always set up where you couldn't reach an RV at a road crossing, associates stationed periodically to swap gear...

And you don't get a whole extra day on leap years except in the Adk

 

[marty]

Other posters have pointed out many obstacles. I can think of two more:

1. In a harsh winter, the snow line will cover up all the AT blazes. They are also white, which can be a problem after a recent snowfall. Lastly, bent over trees will disguise the trail. This all leads to the fact that navigation skills for winter AT hiking is a must.
3. The Hunt Trail up/down Katahdin may require mountaineering skills.

Marty

 

[Pete S]

Winter AT

If I remember correctly, in May 1976, I shared a leanto near Springer Mtn with a south bound AT hiker that had started his trip October 15 from Baxter...... It was my first night headed north, and his last night headed south. I definitely considered his trip a winter thru - hike !

 

[bcskier]

I did Mahoosuc Notch in March many moons ago, and it was actually easier than in summer. Lots of the nasty holes were covered up and could walk over the features that require so much effort in summer.

Ditto on that, though I can't say I went completely through it. There are some pics of it at the southern end where I walked up into it a bit (in Feb. '09) at a link from this trip report.

 

[Raven]

In 2007 I met a whole lot of southbounders in February who were finishing their wintery hikes. But more interestingly, I followed the register entries of a northbounder who had started in October and hit katahdin in early June. It wasn't all in winter, but it was pretty mind blowing anyway. If you ever find some 2007 registers, look for Bookworm. His stories were pretty great– some days he'd make it less than two miles in the snow, he'd go weeks without seeing a single hiker, and he'd surprise the heck out of trail town people because they never expect anyone to come to the hostels and such at that time of year.

Didn't someone try the Long Trail last winter? I never heard how that turned out.

My partner and I were southbounders and finished our thru hike on Springer in February 2001 (left Baxter last day of June). As far as the south goes it was quite wintery but nothing like hiking through Maine and NH is in winter. We experienced single digits more than once (recorded 5 F in our tent one morning) and used snowshoes periodically in the higher elevations of Tennessee/North Carolina. The snow-laden rhododendrons suffocated the trail for long stretches and pushing through them caused us to take on a lot of snow; it was impossible to stay dry especially on days where the temps were close to the freezing point. We went about 500 miles (through Virginia) without spending a single night with another person in a shelter with us - the first shelter we hit in the Smokies had people.

The trails in the south, at least at the time, were not used in winter very often. The sustained cold was the hardest to deal with - the solitude was incredible though and it was certainly not a hike of overcrowded shelters like one thinks of when imagining a typical NB thru hike.

A calendar winter thru-hike would be an amazing accomplishment, although I'm not sure I believe it's possible without a trail breaking crew through the northeast.

But then again with a trail breaking crew, you remove IMO the single toughest obstacle to winter hiking, so I would question the validity of the hike. I think a group of 10 might be able to accomplish it by sharing breaking duty, but not a solo hiker or pair IMO.

 

[TJ aka Teej]

A winter trek from Baxter Peak to Glencliff would be hard enough.

And far beyond the skill set of almost all but a few AT backpackers.