To Thru, or not to Thru, ‘what’ are the questions?

What exactly is thru-hiking?
Simply put, thru-hiking (through-hiking) refers to hiking a long distance trail end-to-end in one hiking season. A hiking season is the time which climactic conditions allow a particular trial or set of trails to be accessible depending on their geographical location and may span 1 or more of the 4 calendar seasons.

The hiking season for the A.T varies depending on the direction of the hike (north-bound NB or south-bound SB). For NBs, hikers begin in Georgia as early as March and as late as June, attempting to complete the trail before the northern terminus ( Mount Katahdin, Maine) closes on October 15th (or sooner due to weather). SBs are able to start no sooner than May 15th when the northern terminus in Baxter State Park opens, as they make their way to the southern terminus at Springer Mountain in Georgia.

I will be among the north bounders, beginning in April, 2018 (exact date tbd) and aiming to finish before my 27th birthday on October 14th. Over the next 10 weeks I will be collecting gear (and learning to use it), researching, and saving $$ for the trip. Stay tuned for updates on my gear, the costs, and some excellent resources I have been using to learn!