Not everyone can take five or six months to thru hike the Appalachian Trail (the “AT”). Why not consider doing a section hike of the AT instead? When you section hike the AT, you get the experience of backpacking this historic trail but within the time frame you have available for hiking.
Personally, I am just trying to section hike the prettiest parts of the AT, as is our guest today, Monica. On the podcast and down below, you will get insights on what you need to think about, know and prepare for to section hike the Appalachian Trail.
What is the AT – Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian Trail, nicknamed the “ATâ€, is the world’s longest footpath-only trail! Part of the National Park system, it currently runs 2194.3 miles. The southern terminus is at Springer Mountain in Georgia, and it winds through 14 states to Katahdin in Maine. Â
What States does the AT go through
The other states the AT goes through as it winds up the Appalachian Mountains include TN, NC,WV, VA,PA, MD, NJ, DE, NY, CT, NH, VT. Thru hikers, those who hike the entire trail, will go up and down about 464,500’!
What is a Section Hike of the AT
Because it can take as much as six months to hike the entire trail at one time, many hikers choose to hike the AT in sections. Personally, I am just doing the exceptionally pretty parts and have done sections in every state but GA to date. Others want to do the entire trail one section at a time as they have time to do so. There are many places where the AT crosses roads, so it is possible to squeeze in day hikes as you travel up and down the East Coast. But today, we are going to focus on doing multi-day backpacking sections of the AT.
Benefits of Section Hiking the AT
As mentioned, one of the best reasons to section hike the AT is that you can choose to do sections when the weather is best. You can follow the spring and fall weather and avoid the super cold and super hot weather. Also, you don’t have to give up family and work for close to six months. You can hike the AT in chunks! If you Register your hikes, and hike at least 2000 miles, you are considered to have completed the AT, even if it takes you years to do so! Â
Section hiking also puts less stress on the trail by reducing crowding (avoid GA and southern NC in March and April – that’s when the Thru Hikers are coming though).
I never section hike any of the AT without tearing out the appropriate pages of AWOL’s The AT Guide for that section.  I also use the guide to rough out a plan for my hike ahead of time.
This outstanding guidebook has all the details you need to know about the Appalachian Trail.
The AT Guide is a MUST HAVE on the Appalachian Trail!
AT Thru Hiking vs Section Hiking and the weather
Most hikers start in Georgia and head north. You need to make it to Katahdin before it shuts down in early fall, which means for most hikers, that you would need to start in early spring. This therefore means a LOT of spring rain and mud!
If you prefer to hike Southbound, you need to wait until around mid-June for the snow to melt enough. This means hiking in the south during the worst of the summer, so it will be really HOT.
Many do an AT ‘Flip Flop’, which means they start in the mental middle of the trail at Harpers Ferry in WV (where the AT Conservancy is based) so that they not only have a longer period to hike, but so that they have a better chance for good weather (and less crowds!). They head north to Katahdin, then shuttle back to Harpers Ferry to then backpack down to Georgia. Doing a Flip Flop takes the pressure off of doing a lot of miles each day to finish before the season ends and is a great way to thru hike the AT. Plus, you’ll meet a lot more hikers this way!
But even better yet is to Section Hike the AT : you get to pick the best weather for each section!
How to Plan a Section Hike of the AT
If you want to do a section hike of the AT, you need to prepare. Questions you need to answer include:
- What section do I want to hike? If you are planning to extensively section hike the AT, I recommend buying the long paper map so you can highlight and better visualize the trail. You can get it HERE. Considerations for which section may include how easy it is to get to and from the trail from where you live. Also, how many days can you devote to the trail (plus travel and rest time (I recommend a ‘zero’ day of no hiking at least once a week so you can resupply and give your body some rest)). You can stay at a trail town to rest and resupply. Â
- When is the best time to do this section? Since you have the benefit of choosing when and where to go, follow the weather! My favorite weather website is WeatherSpark, when available. It shows you the averages, the humidity and comfort zones, rain and snow averages and much more. Here are average monthly weather stats for some key AT trail towns to help you choose which section is best for the time you have available:
3. How do I get to my starting trailhead and then back to my car or home? Shuttling can be one of your biggest challenges of doing a section hike! You can find shuttle drivers and their phone numbers/email addresses is in AWOL-David Miller’s AT Guide.
There is no set rate and drivers can set their own rates, so check before your get in the vehicle. Most were charging $1-$2 per miles, but with current high gas prices, expect a bump up in faresÂ
Where do I park my car? You can leave you car at most trailheads. However, whenever you can, leave your car at an area hostel and use their shuttle. While there aren’t many car break ins, it IS becoming more common. Hostels charge a nominal daily fee – inquire.
4. How many days do I plan to be out (so you can plan food)? From my experience, it takes several days of backpacking for my metabolism to rev up enough for me to want to consume much more food than normal. The goal is to bring what you need, plus a little ‘emergency’ food, but not much more, because food is heavy!Â
On average, you will be bringing about 1.5 pounds of food per day. Be sure to bring enough protein to feed your muscles. However, this is also a great opportunity to eat the junk food you normally refuse! Crap food tends to be high calorie and lightweight. Mix up your sweet and salty snacks. Either dehydrate your own food, or buy some of the quality premade dehydrated meals.
 Here is a typical day’s backpacking food for me:
-
- Breakfast: Oatmeal with chopped nuts and dried fruit (you can get sick of this quickly!) or instant mashed potatoes with chunks of beef jerky or fiber cereal, dried fruits and powdered milk. Tea.
- Lunch:Â Tuna packets or whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter and raisins (sometimes with Nutella, too).
- Dinner:Â A purchased dehydrated meal or a packaged Knorr Pasta or Rice dish with beef jerky chunks.
- Snacks: Snicker bars, goldfish cheddars, Oatmeal pies… your basic junk food:) I got tired of trail mix and can barely eat it anymore.
- If you sweat a lot, perhaps bring some electrolyte powder packets
If you are out long enough to need food resupply, you will need to decide whether to send your resupply to a post office [General Delivery] or your hostel for pick up, or to buy food in a trail town, or some combo. I prefer to buy my food in town as it is really hard to figure out what you’ll be in the mood to eat. I know my face would fall if my resupply box contained (more) trail mix, oatmeals and other foods I got sick of.Â
On your mailing label, put the expected week you think you will pick up your package:
Your Name [AT hiking week of the week you expect to pick it up]
General Delivery
City, State, Zipcode [of the post office you want to pick it up from]
5. What gear and supplies do I need to bring? I’m going to refer you to my companion podcast and website, the Adventure Travel Show, where I break out everything that you should bring with you when you backpack the Appalachian Trail as well as how to backpack (and other outdoor skills).Â
Here is my recommended Backpacking Gear and Supplies Checklist.
6. How do I train for my section hike of the AT? Unless you keep your body constantly conditioned to backpack, you will need to train for your AT section hike. ATSP… for more details, but in a nutshell, at least several months before your trip, start getting your body used to carrying a backpack.Â
Begin with a weight that you can just feel, say 15 lbs. Hike a couple of hikes your first week with 15 lbs in your pack. Then add 10% each subsequent week: 16.5 lbs > 18 lbs > 20 lbs > 22 lbs > 24 lbs > 27 lbs > 29 lbs > 32 lbs > 35 lbs. It would take me 10 weeks to complete this training regimen.Â
Our guest Monica out on a hike
You shouldn’t carry more than 20% of your body weight, but try to work up to several pounds more than you expect to carry. My base pack weight is 17 lbs. With food and water, it is normally 28 – 30 lbs. So I train to 35 lbs so that my pack feel light on the trail.Â
If you want more guidance, you can hire my friend and affiliate, Becki of Trailblazer Wellness. She can customize a fitness plan just for you and what you plan to do that you can do at home with the equipment you already own. Mention Kit and ATA to get 10% off! Becki offers a free consultation to see if you two are a good fit.
 It is important to get in several back to back day hikes in your training! FOr me, one of the hardest things is getting my body, especially my feet, used to the fact that I have to hike with this weight on my back several days in a row.
7. Who do I notify about my plans? Once you come up with a plan, be sure to share it with a loved one with complete details of where you anticipate being each day. While cell phone coverage is much better along the trail, you can’t count on it! Plus, your battery might die or you could drop your phone in a stream. And if you pick up a trail name, tell this person that as well. Be sure to sign all log bogs that you find in the AT shelters.
The AT Conservancy also asks that you register your section hike with them. You can do so HERE.Â
Below is an award winning, hour long recap of a thru hike. It will give you a great idea about what backpacking along the AT is truly like.
Best Sections to Hike on the AT Â
100 Mile Wilderness
Baldpate, Maine
Baxter State Park, Maine
Clingman’s Dome, TN
Dragon’s Tooth, VA
Grayson Highlands,Â
Max Patch, NC
McAfee Knob, VA
Mount Killington, VT
Mount Mahoosuc, ME
Mount Katahdin, ME
Roan Mountains, NC
Shenandoah National Park
Smoky Mountain National Park
Stratton, ME
The Pinnacle, PA
Tinker Cliffs, VA
White Mountains, NH
How to Navigate on the AT – Do I need a map on the AT
The Appalachian Trail is marked with white blazes. These small verticle painted rectangles are generally posted on trees so that you can see one right after you pass one. On rocky outcrops, you will see the blazes painted on the bedrock and maybe a stacked rock cairn as well. So the trail is very well marked – in most places. However, there are a few places where it can get a bit confusing.Â
So not only would I carry a paper map (rip out the pages of your AT Guide book), but you can also download the trail section on an app. I like All Trails.
There are many places without cell coverage along the AT. You may wish to carry a GPS Satellite Tracker, especially if you will be hiking solo, in case you get hurt or lost.
Is it safe to hike solo on the AT
I feel very safe solo section hiking the AT. Particularly in season, you will see lots of other hikers on the trail. You are likely to meet someone with whom to hike some of your section with, too!
My biggest worry is towns and roads. So I have a couple of rules:
- Never camp within a mile of a road (or anywhere it would be easy to carry a case of beer). Encountering drunk ‘Townies’ is my major concern.
- Be cautious around roads in general. Stay back and don’t cross when people/cars can see you crossing a road solo.
- If you are nervous, stay in or by one of the many AT Shelters, or look for a more hidden campsite (there are tons of camping areas along or just off the trail).
- If anyone gives you the heebie jeebies, trust your instincts and don’t camp near him. Look for others to camp nearby. Hikers are a friendly lot!
- Consider bringing some pepper spray if it will make you feel safer. Â
Critters on the AT
Ticks – Before your hike, spray your clothes and tent with washable permethrin spray. Lyme Disease fro tick bites is a legit concern on the AT. Also use DEET and consider gaitors. Do a tick check each night.
Snakes – You’ll probably see some. Most are not venomous. That being said, never put your hands or feet where you can’t see. Look over a tree blow down before putting your foot on the other side. Most bites come from surprising the snake.
Bears – Only black bears are along the AT, and there is a chance you will see one. Most are shy around humans and will run when they see you. In the National Parks, however, stupid people have either fed bears or been careless with their food and so the bears are aclimatized to humans. I covered what to do in you encounter a bear on my companion podcast, the Adventure Travel Show (ATSP), and website. You can check it out HERE. Â
General Bear Rules: Cook your food away from where you’ll be sleeping. Ideally use a Bear Canister or Hanging Sack, but in any case, hang your food in a tree. Sometimes it is hard to find a good spot, but you want to hang it 10’ from the trunk, 15’ in the air and at least 50’ (ideally 200’) from your sleeping area.Â
Lightening on the ATÂ
Lightening is my biggest fear when backpacking. If a storm is rolling in, get off the ridge! You can’t avoid trees in a forest but never shelter under a lone tree. Also, don’t hide in a cave or rock overhang as the rock is loaded with metals. See ATSP for more complete details on what do do if you get caught in a thunder storm.
Bringing a dog on the ATÂ Â
A well mannered, leashed dog is allowed on much of the AT, but there are several sections where it is forbidden:Â The Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Bear Mountain State Park Trailside Museum and Zoo, and Baxter State Park.
The rocky terrain of the White Mountains, and some parts of PA and ME can also be quite painful for dog paws.
Drinking Water on the AT – Water Purification
Fortunately, along much of the AT, there is ample water for you to purify and safely drink. While it can be tempting to drink from a fresh looking spring, you don’t know if a cow pasture is uphill, etc., so do yourself and your digestion a favor and take the time to treat your drinking water. As someone who suffered once from giardia, from untreated water when backpacking, I can attest that you DO NOT want to ingest this microscopic parasite! You’d need antibiotics to get rid of them as your body expells nastiness from both ends. Trust me on this, please.
There are lots of water purification systems from which to choose. You can even use bleach or iodine,but the taste is not pleasant and you want to encourage yourself to drink plenty of water while backpacking. Also check out ATSP, where I covered this topic in depth to help you choose.
The AT Guide also lists the mile markers of water sources. But remember, if there hasn’t been a lot of rain, some marginal sources can dry up. This happened to me once on a long, 20 mile day. So be sure to check with hikers coming from the opposite direction. I like to use a 3L water bladder which I fill with the amount of water I think I’ll need until my next refill, and then keep a back up water bottle on the side of my pack that I can ration if my bladder runs out (It’s hard to know how much is left in your bladder).
Who can section hike the AT : YOU! Â
Provided you plan and train, YOU can section hike the Appalachian Trail! There have been people with all sorts of disabilities that have managed to thru hike the AT, so if section hiking the AT is a dream for you: Go For It!!!
Watch Monica’s Video of Roan Mountain on the AT
Check out Monica’s video of the Roan Mountain AT Section Hike she did in June 2022. You’ll get an idea of what it’s like to do a section hike.
I met Monica while I was backpacking with Taylor on Roan Mountain. She rolled into the Overmountain Shelter area around 7-8 pm – that’s hardcore! I’m normally looking to set up camp around 4pm. Monica was out section hiking the AT’s stunning Roan Mountain Highlands. This spectacular landscape is filled with rhododendrons (in bloom during June when I met Monica), and also has some amazing ‘Balds’ – grassy topped mountains which afford a 360 view.
Meet our AT Section Hiker Guest, Monica Singleton
“I am a filmmaker from Maryland, just outside of DC. I’ve loved hiking and the outdoors from a young age. I started backpacking just a few years ago and quickly fell in love with section hiking and long distance hiking. I completed my first thru hike on the John Muir Trail in 2021, which gave me more of a hunger to challenge myself and my endurance on the trail.
Since then I’ve completed multiple solo sections hikes along the AT in the Shenandoahs, Roanoke VA, and the Roan Highlands. One of my goals is to inspire more people of color to enjoy the outdoors with confidence and see nature as a place of freedom. When I’m not on trail, you can find me filming and editing videos, playing drums, or researching the next trail 🙂 “ — Monica
Mention ATA to get 10% OFF your Custom Online Training Program with Trailblazer Wellness!
My companion podcast and website, the Adventure Travel Show, is a “How To” of adventure travel. Below are some of the shows. You can listen from any podcast app or directly from the website link below, where you’ll get more details about the topic, see pics and more.
If you sign up for the FREE monthly Newsletter, you’ll also get access to ALL the ATSP and ATA travel planners, checklists and downloads. Sign up HERE.
Adventure Travel Show Podcast & Website How To Topics:
What to do if you sprain your ankle on the trail
Backpack Water Purification Options
How to Fit and Pack Your Backpack
Hiking Boots vs Hiking Shoes: How to choose
Choosing Your Backpacking Sleep System
Tents vs Tarps: the Pros and Cons of each
What To Do if You Get Lost in the Woods
Outdoor Etiquette and Leave No Trace Principles
How to Train for Your Adventure
Understanding and Buying Travel Insurance
15 Benefits of Adventure Travel
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