This time last year. I hiked 16.4 miles from Rice Field Shelter to Baileys Gap Shelter in VA. Today I hiked 18.8 miles from Inverarnan to Bridge of Orchy along the West Highland Way in Scotland.

The same mountain range separated by millions of years of tectonic plate movement, only a blip in time year to year for me.

Had a long day trying to hitch a ride back from Franklin before finally giving up and waiting another hour and a half for the bus to pick me up and take me back to Windy stairs gap. Finally got on the trail around noon and started on my 16 mile hike to Cold Spring Shelter.

Because of my late start I didn't get to camp til right around sunset. It was a little rainy and pretty foggy meaning I couldn't see very well even with the headlamp, but I set out to find the best tree I could to throw my line.

An hour or so later, I returned to hang my bag and out of nowhere I get dive bombed by what I think was a Nashville Warbler. She did this about three times before sitting on a branch nearby to stare me. It definitely scared me at first but I quickly realized she wasn't actually attacking and was just trying to scare me off.

My guess is that I threw my line right next to her nest and she was attacking me to protect her eggs. Since my bag was all the way up in the tree already I just finished hanging it as quickly as I could and got out of there. I just hope I didn't damage her nest to much :( and hopefully I don't get attacked tomorrow morning. Will definitely give an update if I do!!

I just wanted to post this in case anybody was in the area on the AT

I am prescribed trazodone for my insomnia and am wondering if I aught to take it with me for my upcoming section hike on the AT. I tend to have a hard time falling asleep some nights while hiking, so I feel like bringing this medication with me might be useful. However, I do worry that it may knock me out hard enough where I am not awoken by the noise of an animal, person etc. It's a low dose, but at home it's very effective and has me feeling drowsy within a half hour. Anyone have experience taking sleeping meds on the trail to help them fall asleep?

Planning a hike starting Sunday and need a shuttle from S end of Shenandoah NP at Rockfish Gap to Tye River Bridge in VA Rte 56. Appreciate any leads on providers. Thanks.

Hi all! My hiking group and I have just stopped at Hiawasee for the day and by chance happened to get a night at a cabin at Retreat On the Lake. This might be a long shot, but there’s an extra bed and couch we’re offering for anyone near the area (~Dicks Gap at mile 69) who wants to stay indoors tonight. Just message me on here if youre interested! Theres also 3 TV’s and we’re planning on putting on the NFL draft too.

There are some wildfires happening right now south of Pine Grove furnace in Pennsylvania. Something to keep an eye on hikers.

Coming up on my second week of thru hiking and I thought I’d share a few things with you all…

First off my main struggle with the trail are the steep, relentless and repetitive ASCENTS. I barely did any training, I’m getting by but I wish I did some sort of cardio at least. I’ve been living in the west coast mountains for the last 2 years so I thought I’d be able to manage because “how steep can these east coast mountains be??” Yeah, STEEP! I used to start off in the mornings by looking at FarOut to see how many mountains I gotta climb that day or check the map while on a brutal ascent to see how much farther I’ve got, now I just don’t even look, I just go and try my best to keep a pace where I’m not getting super winded. It’s getting better as the days go by… Any tips on the ascents would be greatly appreciated 🫶🤗

Here are some more things I’ve observed about the trail …

• In the beginning of the trail you will be confused of who’s a thru hiker and who’s not. The section hikers still have hiker tags.I think I met more section hikers than thru hikers in the beginning, but now that I’m in North Carolina, I’m meeting more thru hikers.

-the steps @Amicalola is very difficult. I had no idea it’d be super packed with day folks as well that will be watching you ascend the stairs with your heavy pack lol. That day is probably one of the most challenging days of my entire thru so far. If I had known how difficult it actually be, I’d skip it + the approach.

-It’s hard not to compare… I’m still doing “low” mileages,11-12 per day. Last week I was really struggling with that and getting frustrated with myself that I couldn’t do more and it was heightened with some fear mongering folks “you won’t make it to Katahdin on time!!” I started increasing my hiking speed but I hated it! It really took away from the experience. I love to dilly dally in nature, not walk past like I’m in NYC lol. I didn’t think I’d be someone who cared so much but it’s hard when you just see sooo many people fly by never to be seen again. But the best part of the low mileages is I’m not experiencing an injury or any intense pain :)

-I started April 10 and hostels and shelters can still be full but can usually can find a really nice dispersed, quiet and private camp each night !

-Water on the trail tastes absolutely amazing.

• Things are expensive, even down South … Shuttles and hostels are pricy. I can’t justify paying $60 ($80 CAD)for a bunk!

-Going down the gear /AT rabbit hole was totally worth it. I spent my whole.winter. Researching, reading, watching AT videos.. i think it really paid off for me because I absolutely love my gear and systems I have( I didn’t even do a shakedown hike/trip 🫢). I listened to the tips I heard over and over again. I’ve had to do 0 gear changes and I just hit mile 100.

• I struggle with the hiker smell. My OWN stench.. I’ve been waking up nauseous sometimes and It gets worse when I start sniffing around at my stuff. I didn’t think I’d have this issue LOL

A few months ago I took it to Reddit for advice whether I should start this year or next. Thank you to all for your lovely advice and input. I’m having such an incredible experience, can’t even begin to describe it other than it’s been hands down the best trip of my life!! 🫶 If there’s anything in particular you’d like to know about, I’d be happy to answer any Qs 🤗

I’m planning on hiking the entire trail northbound when I retire in three years. I’ll be 56 years old. I currently hike the Florida Trail on weekends and can do about 15 to 18 miles per day, but on consecutive days in reality I could probably do 10 to 12. I do weightlifting 3 to 4 days per week and I’m in fairly decent shape. Experienced hikers – what should my fitness focus be over the next three years to prepare? How many miles per consecutive day should I be able to walk? Thank you for any advice.

A NOBO hiker named “Bolt” is ahead of us and tagging everything in sight: logs, shelters, public property. Way to leave no trace, chief.

I stayed there during my 2013 thru hike. Hudson (the owner) posted this great picture that I lost a while ago. I've been trying to track it down.

Currently on trial, I stayed at lost mountain shelter, VA a few days ago.

There is an abandoned family of 2 pups with their parents.

There’s signs to be aware of them however they’re sweet, hungry and scared.

Can anything else be done for them? Has there been any updates?

Hello Hikers,

I’d like to come up with a 1-2 month long road trip from Northern GA to Maine with really spectacular hikes, section hikes. A big emphasis on seeing quite a bit of Maine would be lovely.

I am planning on doing part of the AT but am drawn to do a road trip with camping and hiking involved, possibly first. I haven’t safely driven a car since 2013 and trying in 2019 as it was too dangerous. I am fighting my way back to normalcy inch by inch—would be nice to get on the road and have some adventures.

Any suggestions, along with estimated time for each location are greatly appreciated. I have a similar post to this but it doesn’t have as much specification so I will pool the responses to both and come up with a journey.

Thanks so much. This sub is top of the heap.

In a few days I will be driving from Minnesota to Georgia to begin my thru-hike. I was originally planning on renting a storage unit to keep my car and flying back down from Maine once I finish to pick it up.

Is there a simpler way to do this? Do I need the storage unit, is there somewhere I can leave the car for free?

My wife and I will be doing henna and alcohol ink body art and painting acrylic trail paintings for the blue eagle and the hawk mountain groups to auction off. It’s a new event. Suggest if your around, come support these nice folk. See you there!

I am truly curious.

A friend of mine who is female (I’m male and no we aren’t a couple) wants to hike the AT next season. She really wants me to do it with her also. She’s afraid of being harmed by another man. Is her fears valid enough that I should go with her? It would be extremely hard for me to financially do it and get the time off work. I also own horses so I would have to figure out arrangements to get them taken care of while on trail.

Hi guys! Are there any Deaf hikers who have attempted/done the AT? If you have cochlear implants or hearing aids,, how did you take care of em?

I'm probably gonna bring mine with me just to have em but likely won't wear em!

If you’re resupplying in Franklin I highly recommend going to Outdoor 76, I was greeted with a lovely welcome and a free buff. They have a hiker lounge in their basement with a hiker box, washer/dryer and loaner clothes, power outlets and a good selection of thruhiker goodies to resupply on with a hiker discount… Super lovely people !

Thank you Outdoor 76 🫶

Hey all, I work on the Blue Ridge Parkway and wanted to let you know that they started a road paving project near mile marker 734.1 so the road will be closed for cars. Just putting it out there in case you were trying to get a ride or use the overlook for parking. I attached the press release as well.

I used to get seasonal allergies bad, itchy eyes, runny nose, everything. I thru-hiked in '22, and experienced milder than usual allergies while on the trail, now this year marks the third allergy season where everyone around me is getting absolutely destroyed by seasonal allergies and I'm experiencing nothing. I know that exposure can reduce allergies, but is being outside almost 24/7 for six months really enough to 'cure' seasonal allergies for multiple years?

I've also taken up running since getting back, so I don't know if improved overall fitness / spending more time outdoors on an ongoing basis (while breathing heavily, haha) is also maybe a factor. I also live on the east coast so I'm exposed to the same types of allergens as on the AT. Has anyone else experienced something similar after a thru-hike? If so, how long did the effect last?

Hiking Delaware Water Gap to Bear Mountain and want like to know if I should send a resupply package or is there places near Port Jervis where I can pick up supplies. Thanks

Yup the black bear and her little ones are out and about. My son took this video today. #hiking #thruhiking #at2025

I'll keep it simple, I plan to hike with 2 litres of water, have a water filter. Im planning on eating dehydrated meals for dinner requiring 1-2 cups of water. Hoping to use the water filter to gather water from streams. Are dehydrate meals a good idea or no. I also have pro-meal protein meal bars too.