Trail Route

I get many questions concerning the trail. The trail is 2,175 miles long, and goes through 14 states. I will be starting at Springer Mountain north of Atlanta around April 8th, and I hope to finish at Mount Katahdin sometime before the end of August. I will have almost 20 weeks to finish the trail. I need to average about 110 miles per week, which is about 15.5 miles per day if I take no zero days.

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I hiked about 55 miles of the trail through the Shannadoah Valley in Virginia the summer before last. My best day was about 16.5 miles. I finished that day at about 3:30 PM, and was fairly tired. My legs were quite sore the next day.

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With a lighter pack and being in much better physical condition, I think that 20 miles a day would not be too unreasonable. However, I also realize that I will have to do this day after day. Even after a really good day (or week), Mount Katahdin will not be preceptably closer.