About the Appalachian Trail “The AT”

A paraphrasing of Bill Bryson & a trail map (displayed below images & tables) . . .

14 States and 2,200 miles later …

The Appalachian Trail. A footpath meandering in a dangerously beguiling fashion throughout the Eastern states. Running more than 2,100 miles along America’s Eastern seabord, through the serene and beckoning Appalachian Mountains, the Appalachian Tral (AT) is the granddaddy of long distance hikes. From Georgia to Maine, it wanders across 14 states, through plump, comely hills whose very names — Blue Ridge, Smokies, Cumberlands, Green Mountains, White Mountains — seem an invitation to amble. Who could say the words “Great Smoky Mountains” or “Shenandoah Valley” and not feel the urge, as the naturalist John Muir once put it, to “throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence?” It seemed such an extraordinary notion — that we could set off from Georgia and walk at least 2,100 miles through the wilderness to Maine. The daunting thought of a hike of this caliber would deter many people. But not us. A little voice in our heads simply said, Sounds neat, let’s do it!

… and we thank you Bill Bryson for your encouraging words

Trail Information and Links

Officially measured in 2009 at 2178.3 plus the 8.8 hike up to the trail head brings our total hiking distance to 2187.1 miles. We’re looking to set the pace between 12-16 miles per day, for a total of somewhere over the 5 million step mark.

Our Estimated Itinerary:

… and excited thoughts about daily mileage danced in their heads … we know we can’t really plan for accurate daily mileage, but we thought we’d just do this anyway because it’s exciting to think about. Our goal was to give you somewhat of an idea as to where we’ll be and when (in case you want to meet up with us). Of course you can always check our SPOT map to see where we are at in reality.

There are 5 tables:

1. Projected – We are planning on taking a slower start and end with a more aggressive middle section approach to what our daily mileage could be
2. Conservative – We took my projected mileage per day and took 90% to see where we’d hit if we were 10% slower than projected
3. Necessary – So we are leaving on 4/18 and need to hit the “deadline” for Baxter on 10/15, so this just calculates out the daily average mileage we need to hit this deadline and then calculates out the dates that we’d hit eat state by
4. Aggressive – We took 110% of projected to see if we moved a bit faster than we had thought (which will probably happen)
5. Average LDH 1994 – This is from some data we came across from a sampling of AT thru hikers in 1994 what their daily mileage was

Now, this isn’t entirely accurate, the mileage is probably slightly off per state, but it’s a good estimate.

Projected
State	Tot Miles	M/D	Arrival	Duration
GA	76	8	04/18/2009	10
NC	89	10	04/28/2009	9
TN	294	12	05/07/2009	25
VA	551	15	06/01/2009	37
WV	4.1	15	07/08/2009	1
MD	42	18	07/09/2009	3
PA	230	15	07/12/2009	16
NJ	73	18	07/28/2009	5
NY	89	18	08/02/2009	5
CT	53	18	08/07/2009	3
MA	91	18	08/10/2009	6
VT	151	15	08/16/2009	11
NH	162	12	08/27/2009	14
ME	282	10	09/10/2009	29
Finish	2187.1	12.6	10/09/2009	174

Conservative (10%)
State	Tot Miles	M/D	Arrival	Duration
GA	76	7.2	04/18/2009	11
NC	89	9	04/29/2009	10
TN	294	10.8	05/09/2009	28
VA	551	13.5	06/06/2009	41
WV	4.1	13.5	07/17/2009	1
MD	42	16.2	07/18/2009	3
PA	230	13.5	07/21/2009	18
NJ	73	16.2	08/08/2009	5
NY	89	16.2	08/13/2009	6
CT	53	16.2	08/19/2009	4
MA	91	16.2	08/23/2009	6
VT	151	13.5	08/29/2009	12
NH	162	10.8	09/10/2009	15
ME	282	9	09/25/2009	32
Finish	2187.1	11.4	10/27/2009	192

Necessary
State	Tot Miles	M/D	Arrival	Duration
GA	76	12.2	04/18/2009	6.3
NC	89	12.2	04/24/2009	7.3
TN	294	12.2	05/01/2009	24.2
VA	551	12.2	05/25/2009	45.3
WV	4.1	12.2	07/10/2009	0.3
MD	42	12.2	07/10/2009	3.5
PA	230	12.2	07/13/2009	18.9
NJ	73	12.2	08/01/2009	6.0
NY	89	12.2	08/07/2009	7.3
CT	53	12.2	08/15/2009	4.4
MA	91	12.2	08/19/2009	7.5
VT	151	12.2	08/27/2009	12.4
NH	162	12.2	09/08/2009	13.3
ME	282	12.2	09/21/2009	23.2
Finish	2187.1	12.2	10/15/2009	180

Aggressive (10%)
State	Tot Miles	M/D	Arrival	Duration
GA	76	8.8	04/18/2009	9
NC	89	11	04/27/2009	9
TN	294	13.2	05/06/2009	23
VA	551	16.5	05/29/2009	34
WV	4.1	16.5	07/02/2009	1
MD	42	19.8	07/03/2009	3
PA	230	16.5	07/06/2009	14
NJ	73	19.8	07/20/2009	4
NY	89	19.8	07/24/2009	5
CT	53	19.8	07/29/2009	3
MA	91	19.8	08/01/2009	5
VT	151	16.5	08/06/2009	10
NH	162	13.2	08/16/2009	13
ME	282	11	08/29/2009	26
Finish	2187.1	13.8	09/24/2009	159

Average (LDH 1994)
State	Tot Miles	M/D	Arrival	Duration
GA	76	10	04/18/2009	8
NC	89	12	04/26/2009	8
TN	294	12	05/04/2009	25
VA	551	15	05/29/2009	37
WV	4.1	15	07/05/2009	1
MD	42	15	07/06/2009	3
PA	230	15	07/09/2009	16
NJ	73	15	07/25/2009	5
NY	89	15	07/30/2009	6
CT	53	15	08/05/2009	4
MA	91	14	08/09/2009	7
VT	151	14	08/16/2009	11
NH	162	12	08/27/2009	14
ME	282	13	09/10/2009	22
Finish	2187.1	13.1	10/02/2009	167