How To Choose Your Next Long Trail

It starts innocently enough. A day hike here, a day hike there. Maybe backpacking for a weekend or a week. Eventually you undertake an epic, multi-month backpacking trip -- thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, perhaps. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience," you exclaim. But life is never the same. You talk about your hike constantly. You yearn to totally immerse yourself in the nomadic outdoor lifestyle you enjoyed on the trail. You long to challenge yourself on another thru-hike, to test your limits and reaffirm your resourcefulness. Short hikes are no longer enough. You need another long trail thru-hike. The problem is you lead a busy life. You have a job and responsibilities. How can you fit in another long hike? You don't even have the time to research the many long trails in order to choose which trail might fit your parameters. Thru-hikers need trail information that short-term hikers do not: "How long is the trail? How do I get to and from the ends? When do I need to start in order to finish within the hiking season? What are the resupply options? How do I decide where to backpack next?"

Photo © Nancy Shepherd