appalachan trail

[jonesthecurl]

My house backs right onto the Iron Horse trail.

[PLAYER57832]

. I did it cause another counselor on a hike was calling out "Here bear!", cause that's who you're really warning, the black bears who are nothing to afraid of unless you end up between mama and cub (I've chased many off myself, even when they do that faux charge), and one of the campers walked up to me very seriously and demanded to know for the sake of others why in God's name the other counselor would SUMMON THE BEARS.

LOL... HAD to laugh when I read this. Around here, scouts have been known to leave out food to draw the bears in. (at least until the local Game commissioner gives them a little chat about what happens when fed bears are no longer given food.....)

[DoomYoshi]

. I did it cause another counselor on a hike was calling out "Here bear!", cause that's who you're really warning, the black bears who are nothing to afraid of unless you end up between mama and cub (I've chased many off myself, even when they do that faux charge), and one of the campers walked up to me very seriously and demanded to know for the sake of others why in God's name the other counselor would SUMMON THE BEARS.

LOL... HAD to laugh when I read this. Around here, scouts have been known to leave out food to draw the bears in. (at least until the local Game commissioner gives them a little chat about what happens when fed bears are no longer given food.....)

Reminds me of:

[PLAYER57832]

My house backs right onto the Iron Horse trail.

I-80?

[macbone]

William, that sounds awesome, man! If I were financially independent and didn't have a family to look after, I'd definitely want to do something like that.

I was only on the AT for a couple of miles in the Smokies. We did a week in the Smokies about ten years ago. We covered about 50 miles of the trails and really only scratched the surface, but it was awesome. It had been raining all day, but right when I got to Silers Bald, the clouds broke, and I could see for miles. Gorgeous.

[oVo]

btw... had an encounter with bears in Virginia, not a big problem, just had to give them some space. Saw my first Timber Rattler and a few deer herds on the trail too.

[PLAYER57832]

btw... had an encounter with bears in Virginia, not a big problem, just had to give them some space. Saw my first Timber Rattler and a few deer herds on the trail too.

Yeah.. the problems come when people try to pretend that bears are not wild and not dangerous. I once talked to the guy who wrote the book "Bear Attack!" A sensational title, but what he did is go through every last account of bear attacks he could find to come up with conclusions and trends.

Example.. a kid was holding out a sandwich for a bear, teasing the bear. Window down, the hid holds out the sandwich, pulls it back, holds it out.. finally the bear takes a swipe, basically a "cuff", treating the kid like a cub needing to be chastised... except, of course the kid is not a cub and gets seriously hurt. What did the headline read? BEAR ATTACK!!!

[WILLIAMS5232]

William. Don't look back. Just go. I heard all the same stuff about all the reasons why I shouldn't, or all the concerns and dangers and "Well, if you can pull it off, more power to ya!". That's so dismissive and cunty to say.

People say that because they're overwhelmed by it. You're going to run into adversity. There will be situations you weren't prepared for (but you'll learn how to prepare for them next time because of the experience!).

You CAN do it. And if you don't, you'll regret it forever. You're not doing this to complete a checklist. You're doing this find out what the checklist was you never conceived of and will only know you checked off after it happened.

Nike came up with the best slogan of all time: Just Do It. Now just fucking do it, bro, like the badass and courageous American you are.

yeah, i'll probably do it. i couldn't imagine a better way to spend 6 months. if i really really enjoy it, i'm sure i'll get hooked and just go around looking for long trails to hike. there is one where i grew up in desoto nat. forest. it's only 26 miles long. that will probably be my initial test.

I worked it, as part of a paid crew under both the US Forest Service and the Park Service. I was part of a select Backcountry Trail crew through the now defunct California Conservation Corps. (not to be confused with the Conservation camps.. which are juvenile prison centers).

To begin, you should look into the differences between National Parks, EACH state park, National Forest, Wilderness within Parks and National Forest. I am thinking that some of the trail goes through other jurisdictions, but I would have to look through a map to be sure. Just roughly (very roughly), the parks are going to be more strict... basically think of them as living museums. They are designed to preserve everything 'as is" as much as possible, though with allowances for truly natural change. National Forests are designed to be used...that means logging, but also that rules for you hiking there are less strict. You will almost certainly need to get advance permits for any stretch going through National Parks, but I am not sure that it does. I seem to think that the trail is mostly through forest and Borough of Reclamation lands. Regardless, you want to know of the jurisdictional differences because even if the trail doesn't go directly through those areas they are close enough that you should know what is what.

A couple of other points: Weather matters. In the west, altitude REALLY matters. You talk of October as if it is just fall, but in much of Idaho, Alaska, that is already pretty much winter. (depending) You might be able to get work, but more likely in McDonalds than gold mining or fishing. Those opportunities have largely dried up. You never know. If you are flexible and of good humor, you can make contacts. My brothers did.

Per Alaska, think about the "Alaska marine Highway".... at least for one side of the trip. Bring a HEAVY sleeping bag and plan on sleeping on deck (do NOT try a tent!!!!!! Some do, but they also lose a few tents every trip)

i'm not a fan of all that permit BS required to do such a basic human function as just walking. i can't believe our country has gotten to a point where you can't walk from point a to point b without being hassled and burdened with worry that you may have forgotten to grab a silly piece of paper that costs 4 bucks. or 50. i'll gladly donate to volunteer groups and such, but that park service can go take a hike (pun intended) i read that just last year, now you need a permit to hike through the smokey mountains on the appalachian trail. ain't that just stupid?

i have a friend that is in canada for the week. he says it is 12 degrees F right now. brrr. i put a jacket on in baton rouge today because it was 60 this morning. anyway. i'm sure i'll be pretty much miserable if i go up there in the winter. but that's kind of why i want to go. i want to really experience being miserably cold.

Reminds me of:

haha!

William, that sounds awesome, man! If I were financially independent and didn't have a family to look after, I'd definitely want to do something like that.

I was only on the AT for a couple of miles in the Smokies. We did a week in the Smokies about ten years ago. We covered about 50 miles of the trails and really only scratched the surface, but it was awesome. It had been raining all day, but right when I got to Silers Bald, the clouds broke, and I could see for miles. Gorgeous.

right on sir!
make it a family event. take a week and hit that sum bich.

I was in Confluence, PA and saw that the Railroad System had been converted into a bicycle trail. Don't know it has any relation to the Appalachian Trail, but it seems to be extensive and unlike the AT, has civilization (and real food & lodging) in closer proximity.

The Great Allegheny Passage

i'm going to look at this as well. i've got nothing against a nice bike trip.

[notyou2]

i have a friend that is in canada for the week. he says it is 12 degrees F right now. brrr. i put a jacket on in baton rouge today because it was 60 this morning. anyway. i'm sure i'll be pretty much miserable if i go up there in the winter. but that's kind of why i want to go. i want to really experience being miserably cold.

I was just finishing my igloo and we had a thaw. It's been 70F plus in all of Canada all week. FUCKIN' GLOBAL WARMING!!!!!