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A map for the AT

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    • A map for the AT

      I know technology is wonderful, but I still like having a map with all the pertinent info such as towns I will be hiking through, shelters, etc. Is there a map out there that I can purchase when I get to Georgia in April? I tried the links on this website but can't figure out how to get a map such as I need. Any ideas out there?
    • you need a couple resources.

      you need the "thru-hiker"s companion" which lists shelters, water sources, routes to town, town services, elevation profiles and host of other info. the book incorporates info from the "data book" so that book is not necessary to carry if you have the companion. proceeds from the companion go to aldha and the atc. this is numbers and text based and is not a map. (a competitors version, "awol" does not support the trail.)

      atctrailstore.org/catalog/iteminfo.cfm?itemid=812&compid=1

      you can buy maps from the atc for the entire trail or state by state.

      atctrailstore.org/catalog/iteminfo.cfm?itemid=190&compid=1

      neels gap should have the companion unless they have sold out. i don't know if the visitor center at afsp carries this; perhaps TW will chime in if she see's this. i'd plan on getting your maps before you leave.

      i certainly wouldn't want to rely on a map stored on a cell phone or printed on a bandana.
      2,000 miler
    • rafe wrote:

      I like the ATC maps. But in the White Mountains I use the AMC maps. On the LT, I used the GMC maps.
      Have to agree. GMC map gives large scale & all needed info. Strip map for Whites don't give big enough picture. You need alternate routes if bad weather hits the open ridges. Although I would avise to be flexible so you can hike them in good wether. They are worth the waite.
    • I spend more time off the AT than on it, in the White Mountains. We're often crossing the AT, or meeting up with it at some point, but it's important to know the trails by their local names.

      On our Kinsman hike on Saturday, my hiking partner (who is a peakbagger with little interest in or knowledge of the AT) asked me, "So, is this the Cascade Brook Trail or the AT?" It is both. Here in the White Mountains, the AT consists almost entirely of local trails that predate the AT.

      My Franconia Ridge loop hike consists of a blue blaze up to the ridge on Falling Waters Trail. The ridgeline itself is the AT, but that only accounts for three miles of the loop. The descent on the northern part of the loop is typically on Bridle Path Trail, another blue blaze. Variations of the loop are possible, using other blue-blaze trails leading to the AT.
    • I bought the first two NatGeo sets going north. Expensive for me. But then again I might not get further north than that anyway. I'm still trying to get out to some local hiking areas to work on my walking... try out different packed weights. Hopefully not wear out my boots or sneakers.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.