Appalachian Trail

You know... I'd be uh... happy... to watch the house for ya while you're away... Seriously, its no trouble...

Every time I hear mention of someone having been to Abaco, I want to ask if they've ever seen someone in a little boat, riding on top of a big tank...

 

Is the terrain that rough? I had the idea that it was pretty much a walking trail. The challenge is in sticking to it, not physically traversing it.

 

Did 56 miles with the boy scouts on the Loyalsock trail (2 nights). Nothing but uphills the whole way, at least it felt that way. Don't kid yourself, uphill is uphill no matter the Rockies or the App's. The guys who did 46 miles a day for the whole way were seriously out of their minds. You would have to hike a 20 minute mile for 16 hours a day, every day, to accomplish that.

 

Any time Pook, but bring your tools, it's still very much a work in progress.
Someone was telling that water tank story here just the other day!

 

I remember being at Windy Gap in the beginning of April when all the thru-hikers usually start. One stopped at the preacher's rock while we were there dog-assed tired. He was all "man, I didn't know Georgia had so many mountains!"

 

A lot of it is walking. Once up north though it's a lot of hand over hand climbing rocks. And whoever layed it out didn't go around many hills. If there is a hill or mountain, the trail is going over it! Hikers refer to them as "PUD's", pointless ups and downs...

 

From what the kid said the worst is the start and the finish. The Northern mountains are very rocky. Much more than a trail walk.

 

This is PA, and you can see the white blaze behind the girls right elbow. The trail gets rougher further north in the White mountains and Maine! Google "hardest mile on the AT"

 

Yes we have. Thanks.
The warmer it is the more active they are. If you are going through Loudoun/Clarke Counties in August I would recommend you drive.

 

Shake-down hike complete! Springer to Franklin, NC. About 120 miles with the approach, and no breakdowns to gear or crew! Heading to Shenandoah to start our hike officially.

 

That's so cool! Keep us all updated on your progress.

 

Good luck man! Update us on your trail name, ya hippy!

Should be a great experience.

 

That's a pretty late start, you better hustle!!! Have fun and good luck.

 

I did the first 220 miles from Springer. Mostly solo. Yes it's still very much a tough hike.

Take care of your feet.

Trekking poles are your friend.

Many come thru here at the NOC in western NC as early as the first weeks of Jan to avoid the crowds.

Bummer about winter tho, is you need more layers, more bag, more fuel, etc because of the colder temps. Snow is common higher up too. Also much shorter days make it hard to get much more then 12-13 miles per day. Esp when starting out since most aren't toughened up yet.

 

With any luck, I stay low enough under the radar, and avoid doing anything too stupid, and I can get away with "Pete"...

 

Yea, the rocks especially, are hard on the feet! And I agree, poles are great. We aren't all toughened up yet either. We started out trying to stay at 8-10 a day, but got tired of that pretty quickly and put in 15-17 starting day 4. I'm hoping the terrain up here in Shenandoah will be a little more forgiving and we can get rolling...

 

I just googled before and after AT pics. That walk will lean you out and make you look like a Wookie after a summer of music festivals.

Have fun and be safe.

 

So, after our shake-down hike in GA, we headed to Shenandoah to start our planned flip-flop hike as planned. So we're about 220 miles in. 10%! We're almost there! So far, so good. Sore feet, but nothing more. Tomorrow's weather looks crap, so maybe Saturday morning start Front Royal to Harpers Ferry.
So far we've seen 3 bears, 1 bobcat, and 1 raccoon...