NOBO 2013 thru hiker here. I would say SOBO is harder, but not because of the terrain of the 100 mile wilderness. That section is actually incredibly flat and kind of a breeze. It is more that, at least in my own experience, i had no real good idea of what the trail was going to be like or exactly what kind of gear i would need (even after doing research). And going SOBO, you cannot really lighten your pack or get different gear if you need to until you get to Monson ME--114 miles into the trip. As a NOBO, i hit two places to exchange gear or mail things home in the first three days. This made all the difference, especially for my friend who started with the 50+ lbs pack.
TurtleSquares18 karma
NOBO 2013 thru hiker here. I would say SOBO is harder, but not because of the terrain of the 100 mile wilderness. That section is actually incredibly flat and kind of a breeze. It is more that, at least in my own experience, i had no real good idea of what the trail was going to be like or exactly what kind of gear i would need (even after doing research). And going SOBO, you cannot really lighten your pack or get different gear if you need to until you get to Monson ME--114 miles into the trip. As a NOBO, i hit two places to exchange gear or mail things home in the first three days. This made all the difference, especially for my friend who started with the 50+ lbs pack.
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