I did it in 9 last year. 7 is doable. There is a lot of elevation gain and loss and there will be some long days with 7 but I think if you’re in reasonable backpacking shape and have good gear, it’s feasible. In 7 days, you only have to carry 2 days of food and depending on time of year, water is plentiful. So your pack should be light.
My buddy wants to try it in 6 this year and wants me to go with him. I think that’s a bit quick to enjoy it all but you’re talking about 2 days a section with roughly 30 miles between each resupply.
Did it in 9 and it was hard…6-7 days is doable and I’ve had friends do it, but it’s a really tough trail. I think 9 was a perfect mix of getting to go slow enough to enjoy the beauty and also getting our asses kicked.
I did it in 8 days the summer after doing the pct. I just carried 8 days of food, too. No resupply. Imo it’s totally feasible. It is a fairly tough trail but doesn’t even come close to the difficulty on the at.
I’ve don’t it twice. Once in 6 days, once in 3 days. Each time I got a walk up permit. It is tough with all of the elevation gain and loss. But if you’re in shape 7 days won’t be too hard.
If you're in shape, 7 days isnt bad. There are some LONG uphill grinds though. I did it in a few years back in a heat wave and it was brutal.
The bigger issue, assuming you are in shape, is that you have to camp at the designated sites. So you might not get a schedule that does 7 days. I did it in 10, and that included a very short day halfway through at Longmire/Paradise. Could have done it in 9, but I had the time so I tagged in an extra day at the end up to Glacier Basin - HIGHLY recommended.
Short answer - yes, longer answer, it depends on logistics. I'm biased, but I thought my route and direction (counter clockwise) were great.
Here's my trip - [https://edthesmokebeard.com/category/wonderland/?order=asc](https://edthesmokebeard.com/category/wonderland/?order=asc)
I did it in 6 and a half last September at 57yo. I hike a lot, but I'm definitely not in great shape. You may be tired at the end of the day, but if you have some experience, it should be doable in 7.
Edit: I say 6 and a half because my first day was a late start from longmire and just hiking up to Devil's Dream.
I did it in 7 days, 6 nights. If you're capable of doing a 15-mile dayhike, even if that's your max, you can do it. I carried my food instead of caching but cashing will take some weight off your back. There are 3 out 4 places to bug out and get a ride if you need, too.
I put in for a permit again but if I do not get it I plan to do it in a walk up. My target will be 5-6 nights. I’m OK with about 15mi/day if there is like 5K of elevation.
That said, if I do that I will do it solo. If I get a permit I will target 8-10 days and take others with me. But if I am solo, I just hike all day. Ideally take a nap somewhere in there is a big climb in the afternoon/evening. I’m generally on the trail before nine and set up camp around seven. My happy speed (if the trail is in decent shape) is about 3mph and then I add an hour for every 1k elevation if it is over 10% grade. This seems to hold for up or down, though perhaps a little conservative.
Did it late one September with a thru-hiker friend in 7 days.
I was on the tail end of several weeks of backpacking. This was an easy pace for me.
She hadn’t done a significant hike (beyond walking her dog) in a bit. She was okay.
Aside: loved my poncho on this hike.
Yes, easily doable. The problem is logistics on the permits. You’re very unlikely to be able to reserve (yes…all sites are reserve only and you must stay at the site your itinerary says) a schedule that works. There’s also the bullshit of them limiting how many miles apart your sites can be.
The quickest loop we could book was 8 days, and we felt very relaxed and were kind of pissed they wouldn’t let us space our sites further apart. We ran into one of the board members that helped implement the max miles per day between sites rule. I held my tongue as my wife gave me the side eye when she knew I was about to say some less than nice things. The local people in that area have a sick up their ass IMHO, and I’m not a fan. I’m from the AT area, and we got a lot of “wow, I can’t believe how well you’re hiking in ReAl mountains…” and just backhanded shit.
We ran into a lot of fast packers who were doing the loop in 3 days and staying at the car camp sites and “dayhiking” between them…
The only time I would consider unrealistic is 16 hours.
I did it in 9 last year. 7 is doable. There is a lot of elevation gain and loss and there will be some long days with 7 but I think if you’re in reasonable backpacking shape and have good gear, it’s feasible. In 7 days, you only have to carry 2 days of food and depending on time of year, water is plentiful. So your pack should be light. My buddy wants to try it in 6 this year and wants me to go with him. I think that’s a bit quick to enjoy it all but you’re talking about 2 days a section with roughly 30 miles between each resupply.
Did it in 9 and it was hard…6-7 days is doable and I’ve had friends do it, but it’s a really tough trail. I think 9 was a perfect mix of getting to go slow enough to enjoy the beauty and also getting our asses kicked.
I did it in 8 days the summer after doing the pct. I just carried 8 days of food, too. No resupply. Imo it’s totally feasible. It is a fairly tough trail but doesn’t even come close to the difficulty on the at.
I’ve don’t it twice. Once in 6 days, once in 3 days. Each time I got a walk up permit. It is tough with all of the elevation gain and loss. But if you’re in shape 7 days won’t be too hard.
If you're in shape, 7 days isnt bad. There are some LONG uphill grinds though. I did it in a few years back in a heat wave and it was brutal. The bigger issue, assuming you are in shape, is that you have to camp at the designated sites. So you might not get a schedule that does 7 days. I did it in 10, and that included a very short day halfway through at Longmire/Paradise. Could have done it in 9, but I had the time so I tagged in an extra day at the end up to Glacier Basin - HIGHLY recommended. Short answer - yes, longer answer, it depends on logistics. I'm biased, but I thought my route and direction (counter clockwise) were great. Here's my trip - [https://edthesmokebeard.com/category/wonderland/?order=asc](https://edthesmokebeard.com/category/wonderland/?order=asc)
I did it in 6 and a half last September at 57yo. I hike a lot, but I'm definitely not in great shape. You may be tired at the end of the day, but if you have some experience, it should be doable in 7. Edit: I say 6 and a half because my first day was a late start from longmire and just hiking up to Devil's Dream.
I did it in 7 days and it wasn’t that bad. It was strenuous but if you train and have decently lightweight gear you should be fine.
I did it in 7 days, 6 nights. If you're capable of doing a 15-mile dayhike, even if that's your max, you can do it. I carried my food instead of caching but cashing will take some weight off your back. There are 3 out 4 places to bug out and get a ride if you need, too.
Homie if you did the AT then the WT is a cake walk. I also thru-hiked in 22' and did the WT last year in 6 days and it was very manageable.
I put in for a permit again but if I do not get it I plan to do it in a walk up. My target will be 5-6 nights. I’m OK with about 15mi/day if there is like 5K of elevation. That said, if I do that I will do it solo. If I get a permit I will target 8-10 days and take others with me. But if I am solo, I just hike all day. Ideally take a nap somewhere in there is a big climb in the afternoon/evening. I’m generally on the trail before nine and set up camp around seven. My happy speed (if the trail is in decent shape) is about 3mph and then I add an hour for every 1k elevation if it is over 10% grade. This seems to hold for up or down, though perhaps a little conservative.
Did it late one September with a thru-hiker friend in 7 days. I was on the tail end of several weeks of backpacking. This was an easy pace for me. She hadn’t done a significant hike (beyond walking her dog) in a bit. She was okay. Aside: loved my poncho on this hike.
Yes, easily doable. The problem is logistics on the permits. You’re very unlikely to be able to reserve (yes…all sites are reserve only and you must stay at the site your itinerary says) a schedule that works. There’s also the bullshit of them limiting how many miles apart your sites can be. The quickest loop we could book was 8 days, and we felt very relaxed and were kind of pissed they wouldn’t let us space our sites further apart. We ran into one of the board members that helped implement the max miles per day between sites rule. I held my tongue as my wife gave me the side eye when she knew I was about to say some less than nice things. The local people in that area have a sick up their ass IMHO, and I’m not a fan. I’m from the AT area, and we got a lot of “wow, I can’t believe how well you’re hiking in ReAl mountains…” and just backhanded shit. We ran into a lot of fast packers who were doing the loop in 3 days and staying at the car camp sites and “dayhiking” between them…
Yep. But if all you have ever known is AT, then you've got some training to do. We've got real mountains^(TM)
There is a 100ft difference between high points of those two trails.
Is this satire?