[at-l] NOBO vs. SOBO

[spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

Mags wrote:
>Oooooh boy..now THAT question is a can o' worms.

Mags -
Good summary - just a couple comments -

>The *traditional* arguments for NOBOing: -Walk with Spring
>-More daylight as you progress
>-See the flowers  blooms and the songbirds sing
>-New Englnad Fall
>-Summit on Katahdin ...is there ANY better place to
>end a thru-hike? (On ANY trail? Sorry..the clear
>cut/border monument on the PCT could not hold a candle
>to Katahdin)

Since you'll be on the CDT next year - those who go southbond on the 
"official" CDT get to finish at a barbed wire fence on the Mexican border - 
with a 20+ mile walk back through the desert to the nearest paved road.  
Eminently unimpressive.  Makes the PCT finish look real good.  <VBG>


>Agaisnt SOBOing
>-Walking with less and less daylight
>-Lotsa bugs in the Maine to start
>-Summiting on Springer not quite as grand

One thing that nobody's brought up on this subject is "hunting season".  
I've never heard Felix say anything about it so maybe it wasn't bothersome 
to him.  But it would be a real good idea to know when the hunting seasons 
occur in each of the southern states - and wear "hunter orange."


>The most
>thru-hikers I saw at once was in Maine: I was the only
>NOBOer...at the shelter there were 13 SOBOers!!!
>In fact, from Northern Mass until the middle of the
>Whites, did not see any NOBOers. So much for the
>hordes of NOBOers. :-)

We finished  considerably later than you (Sept 23).   In the south, the only 
time I ran into "crowded" shelters was during Spring break.  A lot of the 
time we camped alone - because we didn't stay at a lot of shelters.  In the 
north, when we did stay at shelters, there might have been one or two other 
hikers there - or none.   The only time I ran into "crowded" shelters in New 
England was when the college orientation groups came out to play.  We spent 
a lot of time waiting for the hordes to catch up to us.  They never did.  
This was in 1992.  Later on, the Trail seemed to get more crowded.  That may 
have been partially because people started to travel in larger and larger 
packs, therefore the shelters were more crowded when the packs were there.  
And partially due to a 50 % growth in the starting numbers.


>You can find solitude on the AT, even northbound.
>Camp away from shelters, minimize stays in towns,keep
>a consistent pace.  You will find more of the
>experience you are looking for.

Depends - I know some  people who didn' t find what they were looking for 
until they were on the CDT.  Sometimes ya just gotta keep on lookin'.  <G>

>Mags
>(who will probably hike the AT SOBO if he does it again...)

Yup - us too.

Walk softly,
Jim

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