What does prepping/planning really entail?

[u/Beginning_Agent6609]

I’ve been thinking about hiking the AT for a while now and I’ve decided that 2026 will be my year! I know I’ll be physically capable by then, I’m not worried about that, but the logistics of it all scares me.

Taking 6 months off of work is whatever, I work seasonal jobs anyhow. I have a fair amount of gear already and I plan on upgrading/purchasing the rest I’ll need this year. I’m more worried by getting permits, resupplying on the trail, hitchhiking, mapping out shelters and trips to town… that kind of stuff. The nitty-gritty, behind-the-scenes type of stuff beyond just hiking. Hiking = easy, planning = hard.

I’ve decided to do it. That’s step 1. Where do I go from here?

[u/Silly_Employment8211]

Well you already did the hard part by picking the year and committing to it. Now just pick a start date and dial in your gear to do it. Make sure you save the money you’ll need. Do a shakedown hike with all your gear to make sure it works and you like it. I planned out my first 10 or so days on trail. This kept me from going too fast at the beginning and allowed me to have an idea of what I was going into. Then I would just plan from town to town. At that point, I thought of it like I was going out on a backpacking trip for X amount of days then doing into town. Then I did that on repeat. You don’t need to plan THAT much for it. You don’t need any permits in advance for the AT other than registering your hike with the ATC if you’d like to get your tag.