[at-l] Springer to Harper's Ferry

[Phil.Heffington@xxxxxx (Phil Heffington)]

> 1)    How long does it take normally  to walk from
> Springer to Harpers Ferry?

I'm a slow deliberate hiker.  I did the Springer to Harper's Ferry section =
in 89 days, with only one of those days being a true "zero" day.  I did it =
in 4 separate hikes, however, so that meant that I had to "get in shape" ev=
ery time I started the next section.  Also, about 8 of those days were part=
ial days in which I had travel time included in getting on or off the trail=
 that day to start of finish my hike for that year.  It also included one y=
ear when my mileage was very low due to my wife hiking with me.  Now, after=
 5 hikes, my average mileage from Springer to Great Barrington, MA is 12 m.=
p.d.

I would suggest you read the journals of several hikers to see where you mi=
ght rate yourself compared to them.  You can see my journals at http://www.=
oc.edu/staff/phil.heffington

On a scale of 1-10 I consider myself between 6-8.  I figure my determinatio=
n makes up for my snail speed and slow hiking preference.  I figure a good =
way to rate yourself as a hiker is to consider the normal number of miles y=
ou hike in a day on the AT, and then divide it by two.  Only 10 rated hiker=
s are likely to average 20 miles per day.