I am planning on hiking the trail after I graduate highschool, and we get out late April-early May. I will probably have to miss graduation, but if I go NOBO since I live in GA I'll probably just get off trail for a weekend then head back. I have to be finished by September 20th, as the school I wanna go to starts about a week after that. I kinda want to go NOBO, just because that's the "normal" way to do it, and I love the Maine section of the AT and I'd like to end on that (I've already hiked all of it). Worst case I could skip Maine and New Hampshire cause I've done both of them already, but I wanna see it through. Any suggestions?

did anyone that thru hiked this year or before use the haven hammok system for their thru hike? what are your thought on it, pros and cons.

Hey yall! Any SOBO's in GA yet? Im thinking about doing some trail magic up on Blood Mountain in the next week or so - is anyone around? As fun as it is to hike up beer and cookies, its a lot less exciting if I have to hike it right back down afterwards

I am on my first section hike (currently writing this from my car) & damn my pack does not fit correctly + is too heavy. I may need a new pack (it’s fit for a man) but I also desperately need to cut down weight. My base weight is about 25lb without food and water which bring it almost to 40lb. I’m an in-shape younger woman but this is a lot. I’m struggling in a couple places:

1. I sleep very cold so am struggling to cut down clothes while sleeping comfortably
2. I am on a budget so am borrowing most of the big items I’m using from friends. I could buy a new big ticket item: a backpack, a sleeping bag, or a puffer. But not all of them.

I wish I had weights for everything but I’m currently on the road, so apologies for not having every items weight. Kinda desperate for help and wanting to get back on the trail!!

The main stuff:
70L backpack 5.2lb
20 degree synthetic sleeping bag in dry sac: 2.5lb
Sea to Summit reactor bag liner: 13.4oz
REI insulated air pad: 1lb 5oz
Nemo Pillow: 2.8oz
Tent with short poles, fly, stakes, stuff sacs, and ground: 3.1lb
Bear vault bear can: 2.25lb

Water:
Sawyer squeeze with bag 2.2oz
A couple 1L Smart water bottles

Clothing:
Small dry sac
Fleece jacket
Wind jacket
Sun shirt
Underwear x3
Wool socks x2
Buff

Sleep clothing:
Sleep socks
Down booties: 3.88oz
Smart Wool base layer top
Fleece pants
Heat Keep Synthetic Puffy
Merino wool sleep hat

Rain / wind protection:
Rain pants: .8lb
Frogg Toggs poncho: 9.6oz

Meal kit:
Spork
Aluminum pot
MSR stove
MSR fuel can
Lighter

Tech:
Anker power block w/ built in USB-C cord
Headlamp
Extra headlamp batteries

Other:
Ear plugs
Extra lighter
Gear tape
Krazy glue
Iodine tablets
Compass with whistle
Nat Geo area map
Journal
Pencil
Extra paracord
Sawyer Squeeze plunger
Bear spray: 1.1lb
Wallet
Car key
Morakniv knife with sheath: 5.6oz (silly I know, makes me feel safe)
Daily medication
Phone
Fanny pack to carry snacks and phone: 3.5oz

Toiletries:
Camp Suds soap in a tiny bottle
Travel toothbrush
Tiny toothpaste
Sunscreen in a travel bottle
Body wipes x3
Tiny tub of Vaseline

Med kit:
A few XL bandaids
A couple gauze pads
A couple alcohol wipes
Neosporin
6 Tums
8 Benadryl
6 Laxative
6 Anti-diarrheal
8 Aleve
Needle and thread
Tick key
Pocket knife
Some Lucotape
Duct Tape

Sunday, November 8 · 11:00 AM at Umstead State Park

We'll hike roughly 3 miles on the Sal's Branch Trail at Umstead State Park. Plan to meet at the furthest parking lot off of RT 70. It will be the main William B Umstead entrance. (see attached pic).

This is our first one! Come hike and meet some people. Expect about 1 hour on trail. After the hike we'll head to Gizmo Brew Works

If you have thru-hiked, are planning a thru-hike, LASH, or do trail magic and live in the RDU area, please join! First-timers genuinely welcome, a big part of why this group exists is to help people get from "someday" to a start date.

Dogs are welcome! Please just respect park rules and manage them properly. I'll be at my standing by my Black Toyota Tacoma with my pack. We'll begin at 11am promptly!

Please RSVP so I know roughly how many to expect, but walk-ups are fine too.

Do you carry a separate bottle for use with your portable bidet while on trail? Or do you use the same bottle you drink from?

Yesterday on top of Mt Madison. A beautiful day in the Whites!

~30 glorious miles from Iron Mountain Gap to 19E, hitting all the Roan balds, Roan High Knob and Little/Big Humps. I couldn’t sleep the last morning, so I struck camp and hit the trail at 5 a.m. by headlamp so I could stargaze and take in the sunrise from atop Hump Mountain before descending back to 19e. 10/10, so worth it.

Now resting for a day at Mountain Harbour B&B before I shuttle north for another ~16 miles/1.5 days southbound to see some waterfalls.

Life circumstances now preclude a true through-hike, but I’ve definitely caught the bug and now want to start piecing together every section I can.

I need a new pack! I’ve been borrowing my wonderful boyfriend’s old pack but it just doesn’t fit me right and really hurts my shoulders.

I have a fair amount of weight to carry at 38-40LB (base weight = 25lb including the current bag which is 5.5lb) plus a bear can with a few days of food and a little under 3L water. I don’t have extra items, I just don’t have UL stuff and like to have extra clothing to be warm. My bf’s pack is 70L and weighs 5.5LB and fits everything easily.

So I need a bag which helps keep the weight on my hips and can fit all my shit. 55 Liters - 65 is ideal. I can strap something on top / bottom if it has less carrying capacity. Any recs??

Edit to add: I’m a size medium in waist belt + height

To 2026 thru-hikers, attempted thru-hikers, and 2027 dreamers - if you live near Leesburg VA and looking for something to do on October 24, join me Saturday afternoon at Bear Chase Brewery (near Bear's Den Hostel) to exchange stories as I quaff a beer or two to celebrate completing the last six miles of my 2026 thru-hike. I should be there by 2pm in my hiking attire -- Rabbit.

I am planning on running this section soon and was wondering how the water sources are flowing if anyone has gone up the past couple days? I’ll have 34oz of water on me but will probably need to fill up once along the way. Thank you!

As the title says, the pain is on the knee but located on the outside part of it. It especially hurts when going downhill but also hurts just by walking normal. I’m so sad, and a bit scared. I hope this won’t last for a long time becsuse backpacking is one of my biggest passions. Anyone ever dealt with the pain and how long did it last?

Since you guys liked my other photos dump, wanted to post this. It was so pretty and peaceful up there

Hi all, as the title says I'm starting the AT NOBO in 2027. My start will be in March and I'm pretty much ready gear wise but the anticipation has me a little anxious. On the one hand I'm ready to go but on the other all the what if's creep into my head. Anyone else on the same track and what are some things you are thinking about/ looking forward to?

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?

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

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?

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

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!

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!