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I walked the Appalachian trail yesterday
Well, about 10 feet of it anyway. We were in Pen Mar Park which is near Camp David and the trail runs through it. DW walked the trail with a group from W. Va to Maine when she was 14 and I am still impressed.
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I know three people who have walked it all. I've walked a couple of small sections of it.
This is a great book about Grandma Gatewood who walked it several times wearing Keds and carrying a cloth bag she made. |
Bas, got you beat. I hiked ~250
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"Walking the Appalachian Trail" has special meaning in recent US political history.
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Only one was a thru hiker. Most do it in segments because of the time commitment and/or seasons. An extended family member (female) hiked 1/3 of it solo. My brother hiked it in the 70s but I don't really know how far. I need to ask. I have his black AT book. I wonder if it's valuable. I should check into that.
This is a cool hike in option adjacent to Springer Mountain - The Hike Inn |
One of our friends hiked tbe trail in 1971 when very few otber people did this. He was told he was the 35th through hiker.
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Forty some years ago, my brother did half the trail, while my husband and I hiked from PA to Shenandoah.
My husband carried 35 pounds and I had about 20-25. We are currently planning to hike the Camino in Spain; shopping for backpacks now has opened our eyes to how much lighter camping/hiking equipment has become. |
I unfortunately had to walk part when a cousin that was supposed to take a hike with DD couldn't go last minute. The two of them had wanted to hike to LeConte Lodge in the Smokies and spend the night. The only way to get there is to hike and they book up a year in advance. They have no running water and no electricity. At the time, the lodging was $100 per person a night (it's $162 per person next year) and you got a bunkbed with wool blanket. Supplies are brought in by llamas or dropped by helicopter. The hottest it ever gets is 70's and even in August the lows are in the 40's at night (cottages do have kerosene heaters). The shortest trail up (4 hours) is the steepest. The trail the llamas take is not as steep, but longer hike times and you have to dodge llama poop. The AT runs along beside the lodge.
https://scontent.flex1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...80&oe=615392F5 If you want to go, they are easier to book these days online. When we booked, you had to keep calling when ressies opened until you finally got through and had to take w/e date was available. They are only open March-Nov. because of snow. They have a deal where you can pay extra on your ressie for wine which we did ($8 per person then and $12 now) and it was worth every penny (as much as you wanted too). LeConte Lodge | Mt. LeConte | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | Log Cabins | the Smokies | Cabins | Llamas | Trillium Gap Trail | Grotto Falls | Alum Cave Trail | The Boulevard Trail | Newfound Gap | Bullhead Trail | Rainbow Falls | Hiking - LeCo LeConte Lodge | Mt. LeConte | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | Log Cabins | the Smokies | Cabins | Llamas | Trillium Gap Trail | Grotto Falls | Alum Cave Trail | The Boulevard Trail | Newfound Gap | Bullhead Trail | Rainbow Falls | Hiking - Gett |
My son thru hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2019. He started at Springer Mountain, Georgia at the end of February, and summited Mt. Katahdin, Maine mid-August. He was 24, had graduated college, worked for a year, and was disillusioned with his job. He had always been outdoorsy, and had hiked a lot in high school and college. This was a bucket list goal of his, and the timing was right for him in 2019 -- no wife / children, no financial commitments, etc.
The majority of thru hikers that he met on the trail were either in their 20s, or in their late 50s/60s. Most folks in their 30s and 40s can't spare 5-6 months to do a thru hike due to family and job considerations. His 'tramily' -- trail family -- was a group that he hiked the majority of the trail with. They didn't know each other prior to the trail, but connected because they were hiking at basically the same pace, and had similar goals and attitudes towards thru hiking. Three in his group were over 55, three were under 26. They formed a bond that will likely last a lifetime and get together regularly. My son has done several AT section hikes with friends since then. He would like to do the Triple Crown (Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and AT) but he now has a career job, purchased a house, and has a serious girlfriend so that doesn't seem feasible in the near future. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...66b4ba17d3.jpg |
Originally Posted by kybourbon
(Post 17279417)
The only way to get there is to hike and they book up a year in advance. They have no running water and no electricity. At the time, the lodging was $100 per person a night (it's $162 per person next year) and you got a bunkbed with wool blanket. t
A friend's brother hiked in for the overnight stay with his new girlfriend. When he got there he saw.... his ex-wife, who had hiked in with a friend. What are the odds?! SugarPlum, congrats to your son! The thru hiker I know was a neighbor's son who was about the same age in the same situation. |
There was a guy I knew at work, who opted to accept a severance package during some layoffs a few years ago. He then spent the next several months walking the entire length of the Appalachian Trail. We all looked forward to when he was able to post pics and a report of his progress, which he did faithfully every few days. What a way to celebrate his new life away from desktop IT support!
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**The Hike Inn next to Springer is similar.**
I just looked at it. It seems Hike Inn is a bit fancier and has electricity (solar panels on their roof) and showers. Le Conte has no electricity and gives you a metal bucket (bring your own washcloth/towel) so you can get some water from the well outside (ice cold water). You have to carry food/water for your hike up and back. Once you are there, they make you put your food in metal containers in the game room because of bears and mice. We paid $200 for one night for a room with no electricity, no bathroom/showers in 2006. They did have decent outhouses (concrete floors). You did get dinner (pot roast, no choices) and breakfast for that price, but the food is not great. They rotate the menu every other day because some people stay two nights. Not my idea of a $200 a night hotel experience. YMMV Next to the AT, there was a lean-to for hikers that weren't staying at the lodge. It was open on one side and had ropes to pull your food up in the trees to keep away from the bears. The lodge did let the hikers staying in the lean-to get water from the well, but not food. It's expensive for the lodge to bring in food so they don't have enough to feed people that aren't staying there. |
The food at the Hike Inn is very good. The bathrooms are nice, but there's a pretty significant cold rush of air up from the pit toilet when one sits down. Everything is super clean and well taken care of. The bunks are very basic though.
They are similar in that you hike in to lodging. I have no idea how much a night costs there now. |
DD’s Best friend Alice thru hiked the AT with a few others. A few years later she thru hiked the Pacific Crest Trail with her new Husband - that is what I call a dedicated hiker - it comes out to 5-6K mikes altogether. . As long as I know her, her idea of fun was camping and hiking.
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bas, there should be an entry in the DSM for that :lol:
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:):)
She was a dance major too. |
I walked some parts of the AT in New Hampshire when I was in my thirties and into that kind of thing. The most memorable hike was one December in the White Mountains, about five hours uphill in four feet of snow to a mountain notch. We had snowshoes, but a narrow trail of packed snow allowed us to get along with our boots. You were up to your waist if you stepped wrong. The temperature was in the teens (F) during the day and went to zero overnight. We got our water from a pond with a bucket and axe, and slept in a primitive shelter, where the privy steaming nearby was the warmest spot in the area. The next morning, New Year's Eve, we retraced our steps and headed back to civilization, central heat, and indoor plumbing.
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I was smuggled in to Le Conte by a dear group of friends. My mother had just died after spending her last months with us. They had reservations which was for the entire lodge and asked if I'd like to go along. We hiked up the less vigorous trail. I stayed in the cabin while they had dinner. AND we were visited by a bear. We tied the door closed with pantyhose--do not ask me wha nay one of us had that available. I have NO idea!! It was and is a great memory.
there was a recent news story that the paandemic had put a lot of pressure on the AT My neighbor has hiked the Trail and I think all the way. Also the son of a friend did it. |
[cough] I did four days along Hadrian's Wall a few years ago.
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We’ve hiked Le Conte twice the past five years (via Alum Cave trail) and would love to stay at the lodge someday. Had to chuckle at Kyourbons review of the lodge. I’ve backpacked about 50 times (I’m 61 now) anywhere from a night to a week. My parents being city people could never understand why anyone would subject themselves to that. About 22 years ago I got them to agree to stay in a remote cabin (one night) in the Adirondacks (near Johns Brooks Lodge, about 2.5 mile hike in). Propane stove, no running water (Johns Brook nearby), no electricity, outhouse, wooden bunks (we brought sleeping bags). My wife and kids thought it luxurious compared to the usual tent, pit toilet, hanging food in trees and/or in bear canisters, and camp stove. My mother brought knee high rubber boots should she have to tinkle on the trail for fear of any overspray on her legs. She was a trooper, but on the ride home made my father promise to never take her someplace without a bathroom, heat/AC, or electricity – he promised.
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