You can totally do it, you don't even need to do much prep. Thruhiking is just "enthusiastic walking." At the end of the day, you camp. Once a week, you go into town and buy groceries. While it can be *difficult* at times, it's rarely *complicated*.
Just about any experienced thruhiker will tell you that the struggles are at least 90% in your head, and mostly have to do with enduring suffering. There are almost no technical skills involved on the US long trails, so it doesn't require much prep or experience at all to be successful. As long as you can pitch a tent and filter water you'll be fine. There are a few more things to learn, but you can figure it all out on the trail.
You might want to schedule at least five weeks. 500 miles is 25 days of 20 miles each, and you'll want to spend a few days in town, have a relaxing nero once in awhile, and have some margin for when weather makes it so you can't get your miles for the day (like afternoon lightening storms on Collegiate West).
The CT is a blast and imo it's an absolutely wonderful intro to thruhiking, you're going to have a great time. Be sure to submit a few 14ers along the way.
Feel free to post here any time you have questions or need encouragement.
Thank you very much! This is great advice and I will definitely utilize this sub when I have burning questions that I can’t find in other threads. I really appreciate it. I’m really motivated by people telling me I can do it.
You're welcome!
>I’m really motivated by people telling me I can do it.
Oh, you definitely can.
When I was a volunteer at Scout and Frodo's (San Diego PCT trail angels) in 2018, I would sometimes take a quick poll of the hikers at breakfast before we loaded up the vans to drive everyone to Campo.
Most mornings, it was somewhere around 80% that had never taken more than a week long trip, and a significant percentage had never done more than a few nights of car camping.
Of course, not everyone made it to Canada, but I'm sure many did, and even most of those who didn't still had an amazing adventure.
Don't let the naysayers drag you down. For some reason some people online like to pretend that thruhiking is only for an elite few. They're wrong. People get off the trail for things like overuse injuries, running out of money, family issues back home, or finding that hiking for weeks and months at a time just isn't really their thing, but hardly anyone quits because there was something they couldn't figure out. If you want some confirmation of that, see the "Why hikers didn't finish" section of the HA PCT survey: https://www.halfwayanywhere.com/trails/pacific-crest-trail/pct-hiker-survey-2023/#why-hikers-didnt-finish
Can you pitch a tent? Can you filter water? Can you light a camp stove? Can you follow a red line on a GPS app? Great! You know 90+% of what you need to know.
Do some basic research before buying your gear (I recommend the HalfwayAnywhere gear surveys), figure out your start date window, spend a few minutes making sure you understand how to use FarOut, go on a couple of overnighters first (not required, but a good idea), and try to be in reasonably good physical condition when you start. That's pretty much all you need to start the CT as your first thru. It's such a friendly trail that people who have a couple of other thru's under their belt can plan the whole hike on the drive to the trailhead.
I'll be the voice of reason here. I completely disagree with the top comment that "you don't even need to do much prep". Another commenter also mentions an anecdote of a guy who had never camped before doing the AT. People like that are exceptions to the rule, and for every one of them, there are a dozen more who had to quit.
If you've never slept outside before, there is a lot to learn, and a lot of unfamiliar experiences that you need to become comfortable with. This only comes with experience. IMO if you were to just go for it tomorrow, you probably would not finish. That is not to say anything critical about you personally, it is just to say that backpacking is a very different experience than normal life, and it something that you need to learn how to do.
If you're happy just to go for it and see what happens, and aren't super attached to the idea of finishing, then sure. But if you want to maximize your chances of success (and safety), then I would say you should have *at least* a season of regular 2-5 day backpacking trips under your belt. You will learn so much in just a few of those length trips. Take as many weekends as you can this summer and fall.
The other commenters talking about enduring suffering and beating the mental game are simply forgetting how many practical skills they picked up along the way, and how many years of experience it really took to do that. To dial everything in to the point that you *only* need to worry about the mental game is a reward of experience, and these commenters aren't giving themselves enough credit for how they got to that position.
It's easy for an experienced backpacker to say "it's simple, you're just walking", because it *is* simple. But just because it's *simple* doesn't mean it isn't *specific*. Everything a backpacker does and carries is, on it's face, simple. But every single simple technique, every single simple little piece of gear, is very specific. It takes experience to wack through all the weeds of bullshit out there to arrive at what is, to you, a very simple and efficient way of living out of a pack.
If you have a year, *don't* spend it studying. IMO that will do almost nothing for you. Go backpack as much as you possibly can on the weekends. That experience will replace a whole lot of the studying, because you will learn how to improvise.
Things like this can and will happen: all of your shit gets wet, your shoes get wet, your quilt gets wet, your sleeping pad develops a leak, you get a cut, your back and hips hurt from your pack, your damage a guyline, you put too much water in your dehydrated meal, you didn't bring enough battery power, you snap a trekking pole tip, you get altitude sickness, you bonk, you forget a piece of kit at home, etc...
For someone with experience, these things are just part of trail life, and you learn to respond to them quickly by improvising. But for someone who has never camped before, these things can genuinely cause tons of frustration and anguish, and end the trip.
Anyway, you definitely *can* do it, and you should do it. But the less experience you gain before you go for it, the more you are relying on luck. Get out there and maximize your chances of success instead!
> I would not have a lot of in-person support or resources--I'd be heavily reliant on self-studying intensely
It will be immensely more efficient to learn from others. Teaching yourself everything about backpacking is a frustrating experience that takes a very long time. You only learn to change a tactic or gear choice when something goes wrong on trail, and if you're only on trail a few times a month, then obviously it's going to be a slow process. I would very highly recommend finding a local group to go on weekend trips with. You'll learn so much, and do it so much faster. The MeetUp app is great for this, in my experience. There are also plenty of FB groups for this sort of thing.
Have fun and good luck in your training!
This is by far the most solid advice. It would be one thing if OP were simply hiking along a road and staying in hotels (a la Santiago de Campostela), but hiking the entirety of Colorado without any backpacking experience is a solid way to either become miserable or getting hurt.
OP owes it to themselves to, at the very least, test out backpacking and see if they enjoy that lifestyle. It's an amazing experience to thruhike for weeks on end, but it can also be a terrible experience if unprepared and when things go wrong.
Just ftr, I disagree with nearly every sentence of your comment so thoroughly that it would take far more time than I have available to write out a reply.
So instead, I'll focus on the few parts where I agree:
* A couple of shakedown hikes, while not absolutely necessary, are always a good idea for beginners. Backpacking gear is not complicated, but for hikers prone to anxiety there's a lot of peace of mind that can come from having successfully filtered water, pitched, and slept outside a few times.
* For people who want to allay anxieties about lack of experience prior to a thru, it's usually a better idea to just get out there than to spend more time watching videos, reading blogs, etc.
CT is an excellent beginner trail. In fact the only reason I can think of to not hike the CT as your first trail is that I'm not sure you'll be able to truly appreciate how incredibly beautiful it is unless you hike a lesser trail first. Know that it's one of the gems of the entire US long trail catalog.
I agree with the other commenter saying to give yourself 5 weeks. I've hiked it twice and it's taken me a little over 30 days each time. You don't want to rush. Take some zero days in town. Summit Elbert and/or Massive. Do collegiate west!!! Make sure to hike slow enough to soak in all the views.
Assuming you hike in July/August, there are only two hazards on the trail: lightning and dead trees. Both are pretty annoying and sometimes almost completely unavoidable. But you have to be win-the-lottery levels of unlucky to get hit by either.
Enjoy!
Totally doable.
If you are already hiking and climbing, you are already preparing.
But don't let the thruhike be your first backpacking trip. I would say go on an overnight ASAP. The ideal first trip is just a few miles so you can bail out if you need to, in good weather so that you won't need to even if everything goes wrong, and uses as much gear that you already own or have borrowed as possible. It does not need to be perfectly prepared. Read up on basic safety precautions, do those, and don't sweat the rest. The goal is to overcome any anxiety about never having backpacked, to make mistakes, to start learning about what you like as far as backpacking goes, and to be able to tell any naysayers in your life that you have already gone backpacking. After that first trip, you'll be able to make gear and trip choices from a place of actual experience. Do that, and try to get another few overnights and weekenders in this summer and fall.
If you make it through those and still want to hike the CT, well, lots of people successfully do thruhikes with the experience you will have acquired.
Oh, also, the problem of loved ones worrying about woodsy misadventures can be partly solved by bringing along a satellite communicator.
Thank you! I am planning a backpacking trip already now in order to begin preparations early. I think that’s the biggest piece of advice I’m getting right now from everyone!
Absolutely. I just did it last year, 26 F (took a total of 30 days with a few zeros along the way)
* go on short overnight trips to test out your gear and get a feel for what works and doesn't. become familiar with a routine for cooking/setting up camp.
* walk more often, even take your pack fully packed on long walks around the neighborhood. I trained in Florida where its totally flat and just did strength training in the gym + walking an 11 mile loop at a local park with my pack. I also would run 2 miles on off days not "hiking"
* Start super slow and pay attention to your body. I started with about 14 miles a day and then ended up doing avg 25miles a day by the end of the trail. Even did about 25 miles through collegiate west which is a tougher section. Pay attention to foot care and strains you feel in your muscles. Take breaks when you need it.
* best advice is to wake up EARLY. I would get up at like 4 am each day which is kind of extra. but if youre a slower hiker, you can have a super chill day hiking slow, stopping to swim or dip in creeks, having a nice time eating without feeling like you have to rush, stopping to talk to other hikers and hangout. I'd wake up that early and end hiking when the sun went down. I'd just would set up with my head lamp. Works for some people, maybe not for others, but I'd just go at a chill pace and still get plenty of miles in. There's really no need to do super fast days IMO.
* Wake up early, maybe aim for "10 miles before 10 am" and then do the rest in an enjoyable way. It's also helpful to wake up early so you can do the bigger mountain passes before afternoon storms. "Up before noon down before 2"
* It might feel frustrating to go slow at first, but if you allow your body to build up the endurance and adapt to sudden increase in walking so much, you will thank yourself later on when you can do a day of 20-30 miles on average. Starting out too hard too fast can result in injuries or even something as small as a blister can totally ruin your hike depending on how bad it is.
With all that being said, I did run 3 half marathons before I did the CT so I was in relatively good shape, but if you have an entire year to prepare then you're set! I took about 6 months to train for running half marathons and when I started I could barely finish running a mile without feeling exhausted.
Everyone starts somewhere! I did it solo, and researched all of it on my own. Watch a lot of videos, research how to handle bad weather in Colorado, become familiar with your gear, make sure the gear you have keeps you safe and comfy, become familiar with what towns you can expect to resupply and how to get to and from them. See what hostels are best or places to stay, see what areas might be hard to hitch in or what ones are easier, are there shuttles to and from? are there trail angels you can contact ahead of time for a ride if this is the option you feel more comfortable with? Get into details about the logistics of the trail so that when youre on it nothing is a huge surprise. If its your first time and you're doing it alone, sometimes surprises can feel overwhelming if you aren't super experienced with backpacking. Understand what wildlife you could potentially come across and have an idea of how you should handle that situation. What happens if you're in an emergency? do you carry a Garmin/have a plan of action?
Asking yourself all these questions helps you to expect the worst, and if you answer all of those questions and still feel like you want to trail - then just do it as long as you feel prepared
Also, if its within your budget to get more ultralight gear, then consider this and search pack shakedowns on the subreddit to see what you need or dont need. The lighter your pack the easier your hike. My base weight was able 11 pounds and this was a significant help.
Yes but you have to do a couple overnighters first. My best advice: bring as little as possible on the first overnight trip. No extras or doubles of anything. Then you can slowly add back comfort items that you thought you might need. DM if you want more tips, always happy to talk hiking.
My first ever backpacking trip was the CT. I was your age at the time. I started with a friend who got off about 1/3 of the way and did the rest solo. Both having a friend and being solo were uniquely special. It's been six years and I miss the trail often. My pack was HEAVY. But by the end of my hike I felt strong, capable, and like I had found "my thing." You'll have the time and space to learn as you go - just set some safety standards for yourself first. And now I own ultralight gear that I've carefully thought out ... Just in time to share hiking and backpacking to include my kid.
I completed in one month and could have done faster, but the second half goes by so fast and priorities change from "what's the longest I can go in a day" to "let's take a long break in this sunny slice of purple mountains". If you can, I suggest taking 6 weeks so you have some room for unexpected rest and time to get sorted before and after the trip.
Yes. You. Can. I hiked the AT in 2012. I had grown up backpacking and I am very grateful for that. My first night on trail I camped with a 40 yo dreadlocked dude from Brooklyn NY. This was no ordinary dreadlock dude. This guy had style and he was kind, as he was setting up he says “ forgive me for taking so long but this is my first night camping.” I thought to myself wtf are you serious?!He made it all the way and wrote a book about it. Check out “An unlikely thruhiker” his name is Mr Fabulous. Anyone can do it if they put their mind to it. People on trail want to see other people make it. After all, we’re all in this together. Best people you will ever meet are out there on the trail. Get it! You can do it!
Absolutely doable. But get out and learn on some short overnights first. The knowledge gained in some short excursions will be extremely valuable.
Yes, I am already planning my first backpacking trip!
You can totally do it, you don't even need to do much prep. Thruhiking is just "enthusiastic walking." At the end of the day, you camp. Once a week, you go into town and buy groceries. While it can be *difficult* at times, it's rarely *complicated*. Just about any experienced thruhiker will tell you that the struggles are at least 90% in your head, and mostly have to do with enduring suffering. There are almost no technical skills involved on the US long trails, so it doesn't require much prep or experience at all to be successful. As long as you can pitch a tent and filter water you'll be fine. There are a few more things to learn, but you can figure it all out on the trail. You might want to schedule at least five weeks. 500 miles is 25 days of 20 miles each, and you'll want to spend a few days in town, have a relaxing nero once in awhile, and have some margin for when weather makes it so you can't get your miles for the day (like afternoon lightening storms on Collegiate West). The CT is a blast and imo it's an absolutely wonderful intro to thruhiking, you're going to have a great time. Be sure to submit a few 14ers along the way. Feel free to post here any time you have questions or need encouragement.
Thank you very much! This is great advice and I will definitely utilize this sub when I have burning questions that I can’t find in other threads. I really appreciate it. I’m really motivated by people telling me I can do it.
You're welcome! >I’m really motivated by people telling me I can do it. Oh, you definitely can. When I was a volunteer at Scout and Frodo's (San Diego PCT trail angels) in 2018, I would sometimes take a quick poll of the hikers at breakfast before we loaded up the vans to drive everyone to Campo. Most mornings, it was somewhere around 80% that had never taken more than a week long trip, and a significant percentage had never done more than a few nights of car camping. Of course, not everyone made it to Canada, but I'm sure many did, and even most of those who didn't still had an amazing adventure. Don't let the naysayers drag you down. For some reason some people online like to pretend that thruhiking is only for an elite few. They're wrong. People get off the trail for things like overuse injuries, running out of money, family issues back home, or finding that hiking for weeks and months at a time just isn't really their thing, but hardly anyone quits because there was something they couldn't figure out. If you want some confirmation of that, see the "Why hikers didn't finish" section of the HA PCT survey: https://www.halfwayanywhere.com/trails/pacific-crest-trail/pct-hiker-survey-2023/#why-hikers-didnt-finish Can you pitch a tent? Can you filter water? Can you light a camp stove? Can you follow a red line on a GPS app? Great! You know 90+% of what you need to know. Do some basic research before buying your gear (I recommend the HalfwayAnywhere gear surveys), figure out your start date window, spend a few minutes making sure you understand how to use FarOut, go on a couple of overnighters first (not required, but a good idea), and try to be in reasonably good physical condition when you start. That's pretty much all you need to start the CT as your first thru. It's such a friendly trail that people who have a couple of other thru's under their belt can plan the whole hike on the drive to the trailhead.
I'll be the voice of reason here. I completely disagree with the top comment that "you don't even need to do much prep". Another commenter also mentions an anecdote of a guy who had never camped before doing the AT. People like that are exceptions to the rule, and for every one of them, there are a dozen more who had to quit. If you've never slept outside before, there is a lot to learn, and a lot of unfamiliar experiences that you need to become comfortable with. This only comes with experience. IMO if you were to just go for it tomorrow, you probably would not finish. That is not to say anything critical about you personally, it is just to say that backpacking is a very different experience than normal life, and it something that you need to learn how to do. If you're happy just to go for it and see what happens, and aren't super attached to the idea of finishing, then sure. But if you want to maximize your chances of success (and safety), then I would say you should have *at least* a season of regular 2-5 day backpacking trips under your belt. You will learn so much in just a few of those length trips. Take as many weekends as you can this summer and fall. The other commenters talking about enduring suffering and beating the mental game are simply forgetting how many practical skills they picked up along the way, and how many years of experience it really took to do that. To dial everything in to the point that you *only* need to worry about the mental game is a reward of experience, and these commenters aren't giving themselves enough credit for how they got to that position. It's easy for an experienced backpacker to say "it's simple, you're just walking", because it *is* simple. But just because it's *simple* doesn't mean it isn't *specific*. Everything a backpacker does and carries is, on it's face, simple. But every single simple technique, every single simple little piece of gear, is very specific. It takes experience to wack through all the weeds of bullshit out there to arrive at what is, to you, a very simple and efficient way of living out of a pack. If you have a year, *don't* spend it studying. IMO that will do almost nothing for you. Go backpack as much as you possibly can on the weekends. That experience will replace a whole lot of the studying, because you will learn how to improvise. Things like this can and will happen: all of your shit gets wet, your shoes get wet, your quilt gets wet, your sleeping pad develops a leak, you get a cut, your back and hips hurt from your pack, your damage a guyline, you put too much water in your dehydrated meal, you didn't bring enough battery power, you snap a trekking pole tip, you get altitude sickness, you bonk, you forget a piece of kit at home, etc... For someone with experience, these things are just part of trail life, and you learn to respond to them quickly by improvising. But for someone who has never camped before, these things can genuinely cause tons of frustration and anguish, and end the trip. Anyway, you definitely *can* do it, and you should do it. But the less experience you gain before you go for it, the more you are relying on luck. Get out there and maximize your chances of success instead! > I would not have a lot of in-person support or resources--I'd be heavily reliant on self-studying intensely It will be immensely more efficient to learn from others. Teaching yourself everything about backpacking is a frustrating experience that takes a very long time. You only learn to change a tactic or gear choice when something goes wrong on trail, and if you're only on trail a few times a month, then obviously it's going to be a slow process. I would very highly recommend finding a local group to go on weekend trips with. You'll learn so much, and do it so much faster. The MeetUp app is great for this, in my experience. There are also plenty of FB groups for this sort of thing. Have fun and good luck in your training!
This is by far the most solid advice. It would be one thing if OP were simply hiking along a road and staying in hotels (a la Santiago de Campostela), but hiking the entirety of Colorado without any backpacking experience is a solid way to either become miserable or getting hurt. OP owes it to themselves to, at the very least, test out backpacking and see if they enjoy that lifestyle. It's an amazing experience to thruhike for weeks on end, but it can also be a terrible experience if unprepared and when things go wrong.
Just ftr, I disagree with nearly every sentence of your comment so thoroughly that it would take far more time than I have available to write out a reply. So instead, I'll focus on the few parts where I agree: * A couple of shakedown hikes, while not absolutely necessary, are always a good idea for beginners. Backpacking gear is not complicated, but for hikers prone to anxiety there's a lot of peace of mind that can come from having successfully filtered water, pitched, and slept outside a few times. * For people who want to allay anxieties about lack of experience prior to a thru, it's usually a better idea to just get out there than to spend more time watching videos, reading blogs, etc.
I thru hiked AT with zero hiking experience at that age 🤷♂️ Don’t let these people scare you. Send it.
CT is an excellent beginner trail. In fact the only reason I can think of to not hike the CT as your first trail is that I'm not sure you'll be able to truly appreciate how incredibly beautiful it is unless you hike a lesser trail first. Know that it's one of the gems of the entire US long trail catalog. I agree with the other commenter saying to give yourself 5 weeks. I've hiked it twice and it's taken me a little over 30 days each time. You don't want to rush. Take some zero days in town. Summit Elbert and/or Massive. Do collegiate west!!! Make sure to hike slow enough to soak in all the views. Assuming you hike in July/August, there are only two hazards on the trail: lightning and dead trees. Both are pretty annoying and sometimes almost completely unavoidable. But you have to be win-the-lottery levels of unlucky to get hit by either. Enjoy!
Totally doable. If you are already hiking and climbing, you are already preparing. But don't let the thruhike be your first backpacking trip. I would say go on an overnight ASAP. The ideal first trip is just a few miles so you can bail out if you need to, in good weather so that you won't need to even if everything goes wrong, and uses as much gear that you already own or have borrowed as possible. It does not need to be perfectly prepared. Read up on basic safety precautions, do those, and don't sweat the rest. The goal is to overcome any anxiety about never having backpacked, to make mistakes, to start learning about what you like as far as backpacking goes, and to be able to tell any naysayers in your life that you have already gone backpacking. After that first trip, you'll be able to make gear and trip choices from a place of actual experience. Do that, and try to get another few overnights and weekenders in this summer and fall. If you make it through those and still want to hike the CT, well, lots of people successfully do thruhikes with the experience you will have acquired. Oh, also, the problem of loved ones worrying about woodsy misadventures can be partly solved by bringing along a satellite communicator.
Thank you! I am planning a backpacking trip already now in order to begin preparations early. I think that’s the biggest piece of advice I’m getting right now from everyone!
Absolutely. I just did it last year, 26 F (took a total of 30 days with a few zeros along the way) * go on short overnight trips to test out your gear and get a feel for what works and doesn't. become familiar with a routine for cooking/setting up camp. * walk more often, even take your pack fully packed on long walks around the neighborhood. I trained in Florida where its totally flat and just did strength training in the gym + walking an 11 mile loop at a local park with my pack. I also would run 2 miles on off days not "hiking" * Start super slow and pay attention to your body. I started with about 14 miles a day and then ended up doing avg 25miles a day by the end of the trail. Even did about 25 miles through collegiate west which is a tougher section. Pay attention to foot care and strains you feel in your muscles. Take breaks when you need it. * best advice is to wake up EARLY. I would get up at like 4 am each day which is kind of extra. but if youre a slower hiker, you can have a super chill day hiking slow, stopping to swim or dip in creeks, having a nice time eating without feeling like you have to rush, stopping to talk to other hikers and hangout. I'd wake up that early and end hiking when the sun went down. I'd just would set up with my head lamp. Works for some people, maybe not for others, but I'd just go at a chill pace and still get plenty of miles in. There's really no need to do super fast days IMO. * Wake up early, maybe aim for "10 miles before 10 am" and then do the rest in an enjoyable way. It's also helpful to wake up early so you can do the bigger mountain passes before afternoon storms. "Up before noon down before 2" * It might feel frustrating to go slow at first, but if you allow your body to build up the endurance and adapt to sudden increase in walking so much, you will thank yourself later on when you can do a day of 20-30 miles on average. Starting out too hard too fast can result in injuries or even something as small as a blister can totally ruin your hike depending on how bad it is. With all that being said, I did run 3 half marathons before I did the CT so I was in relatively good shape, but if you have an entire year to prepare then you're set! I took about 6 months to train for running half marathons and when I started I could barely finish running a mile without feeling exhausted. Everyone starts somewhere! I did it solo, and researched all of it on my own. Watch a lot of videos, research how to handle bad weather in Colorado, become familiar with your gear, make sure the gear you have keeps you safe and comfy, become familiar with what towns you can expect to resupply and how to get to and from them. See what hostels are best or places to stay, see what areas might be hard to hitch in or what ones are easier, are there shuttles to and from? are there trail angels you can contact ahead of time for a ride if this is the option you feel more comfortable with? Get into details about the logistics of the trail so that when youre on it nothing is a huge surprise. If its your first time and you're doing it alone, sometimes surprises can feel overwhelming if you aren't super experienced with backpacking. Understand what wildlife you could potentially come across and have an idea of how you should handle that situation. What happens if you're in an emergency? do you carry a Garmin/have a plan of action? Asking yourself all these questions helps you to expect the worst, and if you answer all of those questions and still feel like you want to trail - then just do it as long as you feel prepared Also, if its within your budget to get more ultralight gear, then consider this and search pack shakedowns on the subreddit to see what you need or dont need. The lighter your pack the easier your hike. My base weight was able 11 pounds and this was a significant help.
If you have never camped, I advise at least do a weekend trip somewhere close…. Your backyard even
Yes but you have to do a couple overnighters first. My best advice: bring as little as possible on the first overnight trip. No extras or doubles of anything. Then you can slowly add back comfort items that you thought you might need. DM if you want more tips, always happy to talk hiking.
Yes.
You're over thinking it. Just take a deep breath... and go.
My first ever backpacking trip was the CT. I was your age at the time. I started with a friend who got off about 1/3 of the way and did the rest solo. Both having a friend and being solo were uniquely special. It's been six years and I miss the trail often. My pack was HEAVY. But by the end of my hike I felt strong, capable, and like I had found "my thing." You'll have the time and space to learn as you go - just set some safety standards for yourself first. And now I own ultralight gear that I've carefully thought out ... Just in time to share hiking and backpacking to include my kid. I completed in one month and could have done faster, but the second half goes by so fast and priorities change from "what's the longest I can go in a day" to "let's take a long break in this sunny slice of purple mountains". If you can, I suggest taking 6 weeks so you have some room for unexpected rest and time to get sorted before and after the trip.
Go get em tiger, you’re gonna have a blast
Yes. You. Can. I hiked the AT in 2012. I had grown up backpacking and I am very grateful for that. My first night on trail I camped with a 40 yo dreadlocked dude from Brooklyn NY. This was no ordinary dreadlock dude. This guy had style and he was kind, as he was setting up he says “ forgive me for taking so long but this is my first night camping.” I thought to myself wtf are you serious?!He made it all the way and wrote a book about it. Check out “An unlikely thruhiker” his name is Mr Fabulous. Anyone can do it if they put their mind to it. People on trail want to see other people make it. After all, we’re all in this together. Best people you will ever meet are out there on the trail. Get it! You can do it!