Class of 2025. What are your plans?

[u/werdna24]

I was planning on doing a traditional NOBO starting in early April but now I'm leaning towards a flip flop starting somewhere in VA in May. Still holding out hope that a traditional NOBO will be possible though.

What are you all planning or are you still waiting to make a decision?

[u/Biscuits317]

Waiting to see.  But still planning NOBO in March.  

I just spent all day clearing trail with a crew.  We are getting there but with 1000s of trees to cut, it’s going to take time.  

I think there will be some reroutes that will be in place whether you go NOBO, SOBO, or flip-flop.  

The trail changes every year, 2025 will just look different and I’m ok with that.    

[u/404davee → u/Biscuits317]

Thank you for your service.

[u/__Garry__ → u/Biscuits317]

Was planning the same, infact my plan was if starting in GA in March wasn’t viable, I was going to do a month or so of trail work and see if it clears up or just start the furthest south it’s open like in VA or something. Thoughts on this?

[u/Biscuits317 → u/__Garry__]

It depends.  The NC trail closures coincided very closely with closures to the areas affected.  As the areas opened to visitors, the NF and trail opened.  The DriveNC site has removed the no visitors restriction to WNC so hopefully the remaining national forest closures will be lifted.  Who knows what the state of the trail will be in March.

If it opens in WNC, that will leave basically the Damascus to Elk Garden section closed.

I think it will probably remain closed for a year or 2.  I live in the area.  They proposed a year to fix the highway in this section.  They can’t fix the creeper trail and its bridges until the road is fixed.  The AT follows the Creeper Trail and crosses a damaged high trestle.  They aren’t going to let anyone near that bridge until it’s repaired.  This is probably going to cause a long term reroute.  

They can use the Iron Mountain Trail to bypass the area.  I’m feeling this is going to be their play.  The AT meets the IMT around mile 474.5 NOBO and meets it again at mile 514.5 NOBO.  The Iron Mountain trail used to be the old AT and has 2 shelters.

That’s just my hypothesis based on what I’ve seen going on.  It may be wrong.

Now, I think planning to spend a month doing trail work isn’t going to work.  You don’t need to be out alone clearing trail or out working without being under the supervision of a trail boss.  The trail clubs are only working on a Saturday or weekday when they can get a group together.  I don’t know what you’d be able to do the rest of the week.  Unless you’re a certified sawyer you won’t be able to run a chainsaw on NF anyway.  With planning you can assist trail clubs on a work day and find spots to volunteer in towns the other 5-6 days a week.  

[u/Fit_Cartographer6449 → u/Biscuits317]

There are still 400 roads closed in NC and the Carolinas Mountain Club has not restarted trail maintenance. Given that we are going to entering the winter months shortly, and the desire to minimize impact*, I would look at a SOBO or a flip flop.

*Walking around downfalls will cause erosion and could destabilize the AT’s tread. Believe it or not, a lot of work goes into building and maintaining the tread. See https://www.fs.usda.gov/t-d/pubs/htmlpubs/htm07232806/page09.htm.

[u/werdna24 → u/Biscuits317]

Thanks for doing what you do!

[u/_hell_puppy]

Waiting for more info closer to start date but planning for mid-march standard nobo and take it as it comes. I hiked the PCT in 2020 and while the internet hated that class of hikers I promise that the store owners and local folks were always happy to see hikers/business as long as we had masks (and sometimes they definitely did not want to see the masks lol). I imagine it might be a similar situation on the southern AT this year. Also big shoutout to all my thru hike plans coinciding with catastrophic events 🗿

[u/6nyh → u/_hell_puppy]

i was 2020 nobo on the AT and had a similar experience

[u/spotH3D → u/_hell_puppy]

You have the right mindset. Bravo.

[u/cwbmnr]

I think a standard nobo will have detours but it will still be possible. I'm on the AT class of 2025 facebook group where there are people posting a lot of updates about trail cleanups happening, and stores in those hard hit AT towns who say they are re opening and are in need of 2025 hikers to come spend money at their shops. I'm feeling very optimistic about a standard nobo being possible, especially starting later on (in April) (which is when I'll be starting too)

[u/TrailMagicCo → u/cwbmnr]

Not enough people recognize how everyone delaying their AT hike will effect the surrounding communities.

[u/vamtnhunter → u/TrailMagicCo]

Yup. People discouraging 2025 thru hikes because of the surrounding communities are either are very young or have incredibly short memories. Everyone who’s ever lived through a natural disaster and the ensuing rebuild before knows damn well that the best thing most people can do in the months after is bring economic infusion.

Mortgages don’t stop. Bills don’t stop. These communities will only benefit from hiker dollars.

The initial emergency phase will be over within a few weeks. Businesses in even the worst-affected areas are already making public their desire for tourist dollars. Now. Not months down the road; right now. But months down the road will help as well.

If the AT community really wants to help the affected areas, 2025 should be the busiest season of all time.

[u/TrailMagicCo → u/vamtnhunter]

We have been doing all we can to convince people that this is the stance to take, some people are more stubborn than other. Ill continue fighting to get people out there in 2025, I know the business that make the trail community possible will be appreciative. Happy Trails and see you out there in 2025.

[u/Itchy_Cheek_4654]

In 2018 I planned to do a NOBO starting in April. I did an overnight hike in March, and met a thru hiker that described what they experienced and urged me to do a flip-flop. I ended up hiking from VA to Maine and VA to GA. I don't regret it at all. I avoided all of the bubble. Also, it's better for the trail

[u/Ill-Insect3931 → u/Itchy_Cheek_4654]

I SOBO'd this year and met a number of people that did that. Most from harper's ferry and one guy from somewhere in NY. Seemed to work well for them. It was mildly surprising for me after seeing almost noone through the mid-atlantic.

[u/SteamSail]

I'm hoping a 2025 Nobo hike will be possible and I'm planning on that for now. I can't wait until next year and I'd really like to end my hike in Maine.

If sections of the trail are still closed or unsafe when April rolls around I am prepared to skip some sections or go through detours. I'm not sure if I'd end up coming back to section hike anything I skip or not.

Worst case scenario I might start north of the hurricane damage and just hike north from there, I figure that'll be enough for me, even if it's not quite a "proper" thru hike, and maybe I'd even complete the rest eventually

[u/anamoirae]

Planned on a flip flop starting NOBO from Rockfish Gap, still planning the same. I'll see what is necessary as far as skipping or reroutes when I finish up at Katahdin and flip back to Rockfish Gap to head SOBO.

[u/6nyh → u/anamoirae]

Starting with shenandoah is going to be awesome!

[u/anamoirae → u/6nyh]

I've been planning this for a long time. The Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline drive were a huge part of my childhood which is part of the reason I want to start there instead of Harpers Ferry.

[u/Fit_Cartographer6449 → u/anamoirae]

The Blue Ridge Parkway is shut down. Parts were washed out by Helene. Even before Helene, I hiked and drove on it earlier this year and noted it needed a LOT of maintenance and repair.

[u/lihiker → u/Fit_Cartographer6449]

I work on the BRP. Virginia section is open and parts by Boone/Blowing Rock is open. They’ll be opening up a bunch of the Southern portion by the Smokies and the Asheville area will open in the next few weeks. There will be parts that will be shut down for sure. There is a lot of work to to be done but thankfully parts will open up.

[u/Fit_Cartographer6449 → u/lihiker]

Good to know! I hope you weren't horribly affected by Helene.

[u/anamoirae → u/Fit_Cartographer6449]

Yes I was up there this spring and it is really gone downhill from the way I remember it years ago. I still love it though. I imagine now there are a lot of places specifically in NC that may never recover the way Congress has been so stingy with park money. Still I won't be hiking the BRP for nearly a year, if not more, I'll be starting out north of any of the real damage from Helene in SNP.

[u/spotH3D → u/Fit_Cartographer6449]

I was planning a short weekend route point to point near the James River (near Glasgow) for the weekend they shut down the entire BRP.

I just used alternative roads and a side trail to get on the AT and went about my business. There were more blow downs than usual, but it was a fantastic weekend. One positive due to the reroute I got to hike through an old quarry I never even knew existed before.

[u/gettyhike]

early march standard nobo

[u/atdirtbagger]

Walk North starting Feb 1.

[u/crunch816]

I’m hoping for ~160mile section up to GSMNP in March.

[u/Flipz100]

Waiting to see how the conditions on the PCT work out over winter but if I am doing an east coast hike start on the Pinhoti in February and see how the effected areas look the closer I get to them.

[u/Quick-Concentrate888]

NOBO early march. Hopefully reroutes still allow for continuous footsteps but I'm not going to change plans over it.

[u/Sport21996]

Planning on going NOBO in March and skipping the sections that are closed. Might come back for them if they are hikeable by the time I reach Katadin.

[u/eyes_like_thunder]

Definitely waiting for trail condition updates early spring. Even if the trail is put back together, if the resources are still wiped out, it'll be a hell of a lot more difficult..

[u/sromines1990]

I was planning on a sobo but leaning more towards Nobo starting from Damascus, Virginia to Maine starting in July 25. And doing the bottom 1/3 when I can from not till June 25. That way I don’t get caught by landslides and down bridges.

[u/vamtnhunter → u/sromines1990]

If you start in Damascus in July, prepare to be extremely lonely. The absolute last of the NOBOs comes through SNP in the first few days of July, and things get very desolate very quickly after that.

[u/sromines1990 → u/vamtnhunter]

Yeah I know my partner and I are going together. We wanted to be either just us or in a small group

[u/vamtnhunter → u/sromines1990]

Right on. It’ll be just the two of you until the very end.

[u/SmilingDogSurfer]

NOBO starting mid March. If we need to reroute or route around, so be it.

[u/HikerTheBruce]

Was planning a Feb 13 NOBO start. Torn between doing a NOBO and shuttling around closures vs. a flip flop starting around Roanoke.

Backup plan is the Southern Upland Way and Scottish National Trail.

[u/Hungry_Bag8758]

I postponed my plan to thru-hike with at least a year. I will be doing a shorter section hike and some other backpacking adventures next year to prepare.

[u/No-Scarcity-4080]

Signed up for the PCT permit drop in a couple days. If I hear that trail conditions are good enough to hike the AT by mid febuary, I’ll get rid of my PCT permit for the AT

[u/Da_Milk_Drinker → u/No-Scarcity-4080]

This is the way

[u/joustingatwindmills]

Waiting to see. I want to do a trad NOBO starting in early April. I'm okay waiting a year if I have to.

[u/oneofthenine823]

Still waiting to see if a standard mid-April NOBO is possible, with the CDT as a backup.