I am sorry that I’m not able to give you any input. I am definitely not a hiker. I just wanted to wish you good luck. My son and I walked the entire Appalachian Trail last year. Our first step at Amicalola Falls, Georgia, was our first step of hiking in our lives. Turned out it was a little bit more difficult than I thought. We carried crampons for the first month, never took them out of the plastic.
I agree. Regular hiking boots and/or waterproof sneakers should be fine.
Thanks, appreciate it. If you’ve done the AT you get your hiking badge. I’ve just traveled portions in CT, MA and NH. That’s a really cool accomplishment. Wish I had done that before the body started complaining more often.
I did get my AT certificate. Ironically I was at my best in New Hampshire and Maine. I struggled a bit in New York through Vermont, because I was trying to keep up with my 30 year old son, who is 6’1” athletic and a few years younger than me. He had a day in Maine, in the mountains, with a full backpack where he did 54.7 miles in one day. Once we separated, we were both better off for the last month. If you’d like to see a few pics from our adventure:
54.7 miles in a day seems insane. I've done 20-30 in a day with a decent load up and down new Hampshire mountains and was absolutely wrecked. That's essentially 3 miles an hour for 18+ hours straight with no stopping.I did get my AT certificate. Ironically I was at my best in New Hampshire and Maine. I struggled a bit in New York through Vermont, because I was trying to keep up with my 30 year old son, who is 6’1” athletic and a few years younger than me. He had a day in Maine, in the mountains, with a full backpack where he did 54.7 miles in one day. Once we separated, we were both better off for the last month. If you’d like to see a few pics from our adventure:
It is insane. He was insane. Keep in mind he carried a typewriter, a chessboard, and a book with him at all times, on top of all his normal camping gear. However, the following day he took off, for only his third day off the entire trip. I took four days off.
So would you suggest counterclockwise- up under mountain, south on AT and then down bear?
You can go up Undermountain, take a right (north) on Paradise Lane, then a left up the backside of Bear (slightly less dangerous than going down the backside), summit Bear, then south on the AT to the Undermountain junction.
I have no idea what the elevation was like, we had separated at that point, but he was still in the heart of Maine, where the elevation was still pretty high. I believe by the end of the 54.7 he was getting to the easy part near the end of the entire trail heading toward Mount Katahdin. Either way, that is a long way to walk in one day. He never mentioned being tired, other than to say he took the next day off to let his fellow hikers, that he wanted to summit with, to catch back up with him for the final few days.
That is one of my favorite photos of my son. However, it still makes me nervous ha ha When we separated, and he was getting ready to climb Mount Washington, I would text him and ask him to be careful often. Four days before he was to summit Mount Washington, another hiker had died from the cold, and many were hospitalized due to a cold spell. I guess I cautioned him one too many times, because he said if he got one more text from me saying, “Please be careful on Mount Washington,” that he was going to throw his cell phone off of the mountain.
Perfect that’s what I was thinking. Thanks!
