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Hiking Plans for 2020

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    • jimmyjam wrote:

      I'm heading out next week with my hiking buddy Slingshot. Doing a 77 mile AT section near Roanoke. I hope my knees hold up. I've been carefully training them.
      A few years ago I planned to do the 71 miles from Stony Creek (VA 635) to Daleville (US 220). The first day I had dinner at War Spur shelter but there was a bear hanging out there so I walked a little further to camp at John's Creek (nice spot). Text day I camped on the top of Sinking Creek Mtn, north of the cut off to Sarver Hallow Shelter. This was the best camping spot ever if you don't get hit by lightning. Its a dry camp so I had to haul water up. But I figured that was better than hiking halfway down and up the mountain to get to the shelter. I found a spot in the rocks where the ridge is very narrow so you could see off the ridge in both directions. That night there was a tremendous storm down at Niday Shelter bit I got nothing. Lucky I guess. For anyone doing the Triple Crown Section, I recommend extending it down to VA 42. That's a very pretty valley and the next two mountains north before Dragons Tooth are both very nice. The next day my knee gave out so I limped in to Trout Creek. Another nice place to camp (by a road, but its very quiet). The next day I limped up and over Dragons Tooth on one leg and stayed at 4 Pines. I then aborted my original plans to hike to Daleville in two days. Instead I took a day off to let my knee recover and McAfee Knob as a day hike. Homeplace was closed that week (are they ever open?). Stopped at Three L'll Pigs for bbq. The bbq was good, but the AT Guide said they had a great selection of local beer. Not. You get spoiled living in Beer City.
    • Traffic Jam wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      I'm heading out next week with my hiking buddy Slingshot. Doing a 77 mile AT section near Roanoke. I hope my knees hold up. I've been carefully training them.
      sounds fun! Are you including Dragons Tooth?
      No we did Dragons Tooth last time ( which was my third time climbing it). We are stopping where the AT hits the road at Four Pines. You cross the street, sobo and the Tooth is about two miles. But it's a great section with Bryant Ridge shelter which is one of the best and biggest on the trail, a nice swimming hole at Curry Creek, walk right thru Daleville (where my best friend lives one block off the trail) and Tinker Cliffs and the Knob.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • Bryant Ridge is a really nice shelter. Really large with multiple levels. I was the only one there in summer of 2014, so I went ahead and set up my tent up without the rainfly. Did not sleep well though because much of the night helicopter kept flying by with flood light. Assume they were looking for a criminal or escaped convict. :S
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • I just hiked 3 days

      Theres a LOT of people on the trail.

      Shows how f'd up and out of touch ATC and forest service is. Shelters and privys are getting high use. Closed?.... In their dreams..... Lots of young hikers as well....first timers....car campers. One big group of at least a dozen.All the usual problems that accompany that. Music playing, garbage. loud inconsiderate people that carry on till 11:00 p.m.. Heard one young dumbass ask if there were " trash cans up here"...

      Theres bad bear problems at some sites. Even with bear cables.....people dont know how to use apparently. Or dont. Their legitimately are shelters that need to be closed because of the bear activity for safety. I heard Groundhog Creek is one . I talked to a lasher who related his experience there..... Multiple bears, all night, walking amongst the tents. Nearby bushes littered with debris, even clothing that was taken. at the very least active bear warnings should be posted. But the morons at the ATC are too busy working on their social agenda.

      These new hikers are not using guthooks and posting comments the way that traditional long-distance hikers often do.

      The post was edited 13 times, last by Muddywaters ().

    • I think it's a reflection on the hikers rather than the ATC and Forest Service. Many shelters and privys are officially closed as they should be. If hikers decide to ignore the closures and risk their health by sleeping shoulder to shoulder with strangers -- then what enforcement is practical? There are approximately 250 shelters -- can't place a ranger at every one of them.

      When I first starting backpacking the Forest Service placed those large brown trash cans at many road crossings. There was one at the Springer parking lot, one at 3 Forks, one at Hightower Gap (thats the first 9 miles of the trail). For some reason they had 2 at Gooch Gap. Those are long gone.

      For a short time, probably around 2000 or so, it cost $2 to park at Springer. That didn't last long. I bet it cost more to empty the cash box than the revenue collected.
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      I think it's a reflection on the hikers rather than the ATC and Forest Service. Many shelters and privys are officially closed as they should be. If hikers decide to ignore the closures and risk their health by sleeping shoulder to shoulder with strangers -- then what enforcement is practical? There are approximately 250 shelters -- can't place a ranger at every one of them.
      issue is not covid.....thats not an issue...AT ALL. As well there's not one shred of data that says it ever would be. Just fears. Largely unfounded fears.

      Habituated bears, poor hiker practices.....these are someones responsibilities. The trail is OPEN. And someone, is not doing their job, not in the least.

      and as I said, nothing is closed because they don't want to take the time to actually close them physically. No signage, etc. putting it on a web page somewhere does not amount to an effective closure for most people. Because most people have no idea where that web page is. But regardless even most shelter areas are open for camping , except we're posted otherwise, like partnership shelter,even if the shelter itself is closed. If there's bear issues, somebody should be paying attention.

      yeah, they tried to discourage people from doing what people were entitled to do on their public lands fortunately that's all they could do was try to discourage. Instead they're sitting on their arse, doing nothing. While problems grow. you need ridge runners right now in popular spots as much as you need them in Georgia in the spring.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Muddywaters ().

    • This past August my wife and I hiked the Hundred Mile Wilderness in Maine and there were tons of people. You could tell that many of them were first timers. Some of them didn't even know that they were hiking on the AT, despite the signs. And some of them didn't even know what the AT is. Just people trying to find a way a way to enjoy themself during difficult times. The problem is that they are jumping into something without the knowledge or experience that some of us have gained through years of hiking and camping. Hopefully they'll learn as they go and not ruin things for the rest of us. We need to educate them as we are able. But we need to be willing to accept change or we'll become POed and that's not the way I'm going to live life.
    • Muddywaters wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      I think it's a reflection on the hikers rather than the ATC and Forest Service. Many shelters and privys are officially closed as they should be. If hikers decide to ignore the closures and risk their health by sleeping shoulder to shoulder with strangers -- then what enforcement is practical? There are approximately 250 shelters -- can't place a ranger at every one of them.
      issue is not covid.....thats not an issue...AT ALL. As well there's not one shred of data that says it ever would be. Just fears. Largely unfounded fears.
      Habituated bears, poor hiker practices.....these are someones responsibilities. The trail is OPEN. And someone, is not doing their job, not in the least.

      and as I said, nothing is closed because they don't want to take the time to actually close them physically. No signage, etc. putting it on a web page somewhere does not amount to an effective closure for most people. Because most people have no idea where that web page is. But regardless even most shelter areas are open for camping , except we're posted otherwise, like partnership shelter,even if the shelter itself is closed. If there's bear issues, somebody should be paying attention.

      yeah, they tried to discourage people from doing what people were entitled to do on their public lands fortunately that's all they could do was try to discourage. Instead they're sitting on their arse, doing nothing. While problems grow. you need ridge runners right now in popular spots as much as you need them in Georgia in the spring.

      I don’t know what the answer is but I don’t think that I’m more deserving to be outdoors than anyone else and can’t criticize the large number of people seeking relief in the outdoors. I made so many stupid mistakes and violated LNT practices when I was learning to hike and backpack (that’s hard to admit). But it was ignorance and not deliberate malice...there were things that I just didn’t realize were important.

      Certainly, people should be responsible enough to self educate but it’s helpful to have experts around for guidance. Education is the key and the ATC has always played a big role in education. Pulling the ridge runners and other care takers off the trail was a ridiculous and short-sighted move, IMO. The trail needs them more than ever right now.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Traffic Jam wrote:

      Muddywaters wrote:

      I think.....people who are respectful of others , their impact, laws, and the land and wildlife ....all have equal rights.

      My brother runs trails in Ga , SC.....hes seeing same thing. Lots of people......lots of trash.
      Yeah...I may be ignorant but even I know better than to leave trash and tp laying around! That’s deliberate.
      My brother and I had a long conversation about this topic just a few days ago. He often carries a trash bag with him and picks up trash.

      He recently observed a fly fisherman standing in the water crush up a can, and then throw it as far as he could up into the bushes behind him......

      your trash is lighter than what you packed in, packing it out should be no problem whatsoever.!

      I once bought a boat from mississippi. To counter trash from boats, Mississippi requires that all boats have a dedicated trash receptacle. Might be a garbage bag, might be a net sack, but it's required. If you get stopped and don't have one you'll be ticketed. the idea basically is people throw their trash in water cuz they don't have anywhere else to put it, they didn't think ahead. If they have it, maybe they'll use it.

      Might be a good idea if all hikers were required to carry a trash sack.....by law. Could be a ziplock, but if you can't show it then you get a $250 ticket.