SOBO!

What does it mean to be a SOBO?

SOBO stands for "Southbound" which means starting at the northern terminus of a trail and heading to the southern terminus. In the case of the AT, that means starting at Mount Katahdin in Maine, and finishing on Springer Mountain in Georgia.

The standard way to hike the AT is to go northbound, or NOBO. An estimated 3400 people attempted a NOBO thru hike last year. 620 finished. If you hike NOBO, the typical start time is sometime between February and April. Mount Katahdin access is restricted after mid October, (when the weather becomes too dangerous to let people attempt to summit) so if you hike northbound, you are racing the calendar. 

I will be going southbound. Last year around 500 years ago attempted a SOBO thru hike, and around 100 finished. Katahdin doesn't open back up to hikers (after closing in October) until late May. Because of this, most SOBOs start in June or July and finish sometime between November and December, so if you hike southbound, you are racing winter weather.

So why am I going SOBO?

It is simply a calendar thing. I have always envisioned going NOBO, however my contract won't be over until mid June. Someday I hope to NOBO and finish on Katahdin. (Maybe after I complete my triple crown!) But for this year, it is SOBO or no-go.

A NOBO is likely to be surrounded by tons of people (as in 20 or 30 people at a shelter every night) for the first quarter/half of the trail, since most people start at the same time. A SOBO is likely to have far fewer people around them, but there are still enough people that they are still bound to make some great friends along the way.

There is a saying (for NOBOs) that once you make it to New Hampshire, you've hiked 80% of the trail, but only 20% of the difficulty. So that means as a SOBO, I will be up against the hardest part of the trail right from the beginning. Because of this, I am trying to get myself ready for the difficulty by spending time on the most strenuous trails around me. Hopefully, that will help.

[foot update... still hurts, but I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning] 

63 days to go.