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Articles From Category “2014 Trip Reports” 5

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  • as rasty has already filed a pretty thorough report on the 10 days he spent with me, i'll just fill in a few details.
    the first site we camped at, coker creek, was the least desirable site on the entire bmt. close to a forest road crossing, their was a camper trailer parked for the night, we found a spot far enough away , but the place was less than tidy. i stepped on a marshmallow, so i put my camp shoes on to pick the crap out of the tread, when i stepped on a second marshmallow.we went to sleep early that night, as it had been a rather long first day for rasty.
    my second resupply point was at green cove motel 1.6 mi from the trail. everyone was friendly and helpful, and the local kids were enthralled to be visited by foreigners."my dad went to new york once!"the room was spartan, institutional yellow cinder block,no tv, but a powerful shower head, and thats all i cared about. it is sooo frustrating when you hit a town, craving a nice hot shower, and it comes out in a trickle,… [Read More]
  • i got to thunder rock campground in a light rain, hoping to find a phone so i could call rasty, as i didnt have any service on my cell, as is typical with att in the south.rasty was due to meet me in a couple of days, and we still hadnt planned a place to meet.
    when i got to the campground i asked the caretaker about a phone, she said they didnt have one. i went to set up my tent on the stupid gravel excuses for tentsites, common at public campgrounds. i couldnt get my stakes to go in, so i started to set up on the adjacent grass. the caretaker drove up in her little golf cart and informed me if a ranger caught me tenting on the grass, i would get a $75 fine.i explained i couldnt get my stakes into the gravel. she then asked if i had a mallet. i laughed and said, no ,i don't carry a mallet, as i usually dont set up my tent on gravel.besides, i said."it's just grass".she said regardless, i would still be fined. she then offered to bring some heavy duty stakes and a mallet for me to… [Read More]
  • the benton mackaye trail is very different than the appalachian trail.overall, i would rate it somewhat more difficult to both walk and navigate.as it was still early spring, some of the trail, particularly in the more remote wilderness areas, were full of brush and blowdown, making walking very tedious at times.the georgia section had steeper ups and downs than the same section of the at, but still easier than most trails ive hiked here in the northeast.i found sgt rocks, bmt guide a must, as well as the national geo maps. although the trail is usually easy enough to follow, the trail intersections can be confusing at times, as well as reentry into the woods off roadwalks, which are not always clearly marked. this lack of blazing is pronounced in the wilderness areas, where there are no blazes at all.it just means paying close attention at the trail intersections to make sure you're on the right trail.if you hop on the wrong trail, you could travel miles without knowing you're on the… [Read More]
  • i started from springer mountain on my 57th birthday, april 10th. The night before i had stayed at hiker hostel in dahlonega. everyone there was doing the appalachian trail. they mostly had that wide eyed "what am i getting myself into ?"look, but most were equipped fairly decently. i helped one guy lose some pack weight as his pack was close to 60 lbs with food and water. he had an arctryx mountaineering pack that weighed 7lbs alone!his sleeping pad weighed over 3 lbs and he was carrying 3 sets of clothes,plus raingear.i told him he should consider replacing his pack and pad at neels gap, helped him eliminate some other stuff he didnt need.
    i also met shea,who was wearing a ny mets cap, and lives just a few towns away from me in ny. i would run into shea again several times during the course of my hike. he's still on the trail, making miles.
    the benton mackaye trail starts just a few hundred yards from the at terminus.it intersects the at 4 times before turning westward. about 4… [Read More]
  • Benton MacKaye Trail
    April 21st through May 1st

    Day 1 – Mile 110 to 119.9 (Reliance, TN to Coker Creek)

    I left the House at 1 am to make the drive to Reliance, Tennessee. Hikerboy had been on the trail around 10 days at that point and was taking a zero at Reliance waiting on me. We planned to hike a short day on Monday and I was glad we did. With 3 hours of sleep and 9 hours of driving anything more than the 10 miles we did would have killed me. Day one always sucks when you don’t train on hills. The first couple of miles were flat with great views of the Hiwassee River then the trail goes up with some really nice river views. We made camp at Coker creek. Hikerboy managed to find the one marshmallow to step in within 10 miles. He’s such a good manager he managed to step in it twice.



    Day 2 – Mile 119.9 to 137[Read More]