Re: [ft-l] FT Thru-hike Questions

Datto,

Can't answer 1 accurately, but the new maps will be out by the end of the
summer (they promise!) and the maps, together with emails and phone calls,
should give a good idea of the remaining road walks.  BTW, the new FTA
approved "definition" of an FT End to End hiker states that the road walks
are to included since they are the route of the FT at the time of your hike.
That is, you must HIKE the roads to officially qualify for the End to End
patch and recognition.

For 2 and 3 - Yeah, winter is the best time to avoid bugs and hot weather.
I'm thinking about a thru in the next few years and I've personally decided
that south to north would be best, primarily because of the hunting seasons.
As a rule, General Gun season starts and ends earlier in the south and moves
later as you go north.  I'm considering starting in the south in Dec/Jan
after general gun and it should be over or close to it by the time I get up
to the north in Feb/Mar.  This is not the entire answer, of course, but
something to consider in your planning since a few sections of the FT the
land managers actually close the trail to hiking during hunting sessions.

Also BTW, the FTA office has Rick Guhse's new book in which he has collected
the journals of 4 FT thru-hikers.  (Chet Fromm, Rick Guhse, Joan Hobson and
Jon Phipps)  It's $15 plus tax, all profits going to benefit the FTA.  Just
ask for the "Long Distance Journal".  Taken as a whole, there are some words
of advice in it for anyone thinking about hiking the entire trail.

Cricket
>
>1) How much (percentage or miles) of an FT thru-hike still remains as a
>roadwalk or on a gravel roadbed?
>
>2) Is November through February considered to be the optimum time to do a
>southbound FT thru-hike or is later/earlier better?
>
>3) Do most FT thru-hikers do a southbound thruhike or do they do a
>northbound thru-hike?
>




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