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Hiking Plans 2022

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    • This graphic from the BBC suggests that CO2 emissions per passenger per km are not sunstantially worse for flight than one person in a car. Sure public transportation would be best, but good luck finding remote trailheads with that option. While I laud you concerns, I have always felt that as a whole backpacking must have a much lower environmental footprint than most hobbies. When you are out on a weekend, look at all the pleasure boats on the water and trucks pulling RV, ATV, snowmobiles, boats, etc on the highway, or the people cruising the streets with restored muscle cars. Also consider the difference between the resources needed to manufacture and transport these power toy vs the 20 lbs of gear on your back. I flew to FLG for my GC hike in Apr, bur for the 5 days of hike, my carbon footprint was zero (used solar powerd composting toilets with waste hauled out by mule and burned Everclear in my stove).

    • IMScotty wrote:

      I have a 16.8 mile gap to fill on the PCT in the High Sierra, Cottonwood Pass to Crabtree Meadows. This gap exists because I am weak and I could not push through a previous section and it has been eating away at me!

      So, I snagged a 'Whitney Exit' permit for next week, so I could make a nice little hike. But I am feeling guilty about by carbon footprint. Should I fly across county for this short little jaunt? No matter how I fill it, there will be logistics problems. Just mad at myself for creating this situation.

      My other section in the spring fell short. Completed CA section 'E' in the desert, but now I need to head back for section 'F' in Spring 2023. In some ways the thrus have it easier, not that I can do what they do.
      Get real. You should go and enjoy every minute of it and not think twice about it! :thumbup:

      That plane is going to make that trip with or without you, so you have not impacted anything. Now the hypocritical Global Warming yahoos that fly around in their private jets doing their "celebrity" appearances, now that might be an impact (never mind all of the unregulated factories in China and India). And if you really feel you need to do some type of penance, just work a little harder at recycling or reducing energy consumption the next month. ;)

      As for being a thru you certainly have what it takes, it is just the current priorities of our personal lives. When I was sitting down and talking to Baltimore Jack he told me section hiking is harder, and thru hikers have it easier because once they get their trail legs it is just a mental thing. From my experience, also much easier to bail on a section hike since you know you are coming back again anyway.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Well, I wouldn't fly becasuse of the increased risk of Covid from sitting next to strangers in a packed, enclosed metal tube, but that's a whole nother discussion.

      I understand and share your concern becasue I understand that climate change is real and we -- and the rest of the world -- are not doing what needs to be done NOW to mitigate the damage. I won't be around to see the end of the world, but I worry about the conditions my kids will experience when they are my age and I don't even want to think about the grandkids will be up against. Based on what I've seen thus far, I don't think the world will get serious about this problem until it's too late. Both China and India have said that their future carbon emissions will be increasing, not decreasing.

      QB Patrick Mahommes chartered a private jet and flew his finance to New York for the sole reason for her try on a wedding dress. Is this really necessary? Schitt like this has to stop. And what's equally worrisome is that I read no articles or heard no news reports comdeming this action. None.

      Go ahead and take the flight with a clean conscience. The planes leaving whether or not you're on it or not.

      Now that we've touched upon climate change, I'm looking forward to when we can discuss what the appropriate prison term for Trump should be. :)
      2,000 miler

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

    • Do it! Then fly to Phoenix, rent a car and drive to the South Rim and hike some Grand Canyon. Or do it, fly to Las Vegas catch the little commuter to Cedar City rent a car drive to Bryce and hike and then drive to the North Rim and hike!!!
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • If it makes you feel any better, as a fellow section hiker I'll likely be driving seven hours round trip just to hike 20 miles that I skipped in VT due to logistical issues.
      Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
    • Just firmed up a 90.1-mile section from Winding Stair Gap to Clingmans Dome during the first week of October. gif.014.gif
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • max.patch wrote:

      StalkingTortoise wrote:

      Just firmed up a 90.1-mile section from Winding Stair Gap to Clingmans Dome during the first week of October. gif.014.gif
      Let us know how you like the hike outta the NOC. :)
      Is it really even in the same league as Wildcat E or Carter Dome?

      I am aware of the elevation gains in this section but they seem to be over longer distances than in The Whites and I'm assuming (gasp) on dirt trails with an occasional switchback, not straight up rockpiles.

      Slow and steady sez the Tortoise...
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard

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

    • StalkingTortoise wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      StalkingTortoise wrote:

      Just firmed up a 90.1-mile section from Winding Stair Gap to Clingmans Dome during the first week of October. gif.014.gif
      Let us know how you like the hike outta the NOC. :)
      Is it really even in the same league as Wildcat E or Carter Dome?
      I am aware of the elevation gains in this section but they seem to be over longer distances than in The Whites and I'm assuming (gasp) on dirt trails with an occasional switchback, not straight up rockpiles.

      Slow and steady sez the Tortoise...
      There is no comparison. But if you are a thru or a sequential section hiking NoBo it is a rude awakening for what lays many miles ahead. 8o
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      StalkingTortoise wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      StalkingTortoise wrote:

      Just firmed up a 90.1-mile section from Winding Stair Gap to Clingmans Dome during the first week of October. gif.014.gif
      Let us know how you like the hike outta the NOC. :)
      Is it really even in the same league as Wildcat E or Carter Dome?I am aware of the elevation gains in this section but they seem to be over longer distances than in The Whites and I'm assuming (gasp) on dirt trails with an occasional switchback, not straight up rockpiles.

      Slow and steady sez the Tortoise...
      There is no comparison. But if you are a thru or a sequential section hiking NoBo it is a rude awakening for what lays many miles ahead. 8o
      Yeah... Guthook lists this section as 25,341' up and 23,655' down. Skewed a bit towards ascending since we're finishing at the highpoint of the Smokies.

      Hard to believe that we made it to Winding Stair Gap in 2008 and haven't returned that far south since. My NC / TN Guidebook was missing a shelter that was built in 2017 and the trail added a few miles as well.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • odd man out wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      WanderingStovie wrote:

      Or Fontana Dam to Mollies Ridge
      Sometimes it is nice to be south bound. ;)
      reddit.com/r/lotr/comments/2io…south_feels_like_walking/
      So how fast would I have to go to achieve weightlessness? Would I need space shuttle tiles for armor? How many calories per hour would I burn to overcome the air resistance?

      I went NOBO twice and SOBO once over this section. Yellowjackets got me the second time SOBO.
    • Very brief hike report....

      I filled in that annoying 16 mile gap I had on the PCT in the Sierra Mountains; Cottonwood Pass to Crabtree Meadow.
      A lovely section, but I cannot excuse my struggles as being caused by the desert anymore. It is age. I was slow as molasses and needed daily 'naps.' Did about another 20 miles getting there and out over a four-day hike.

      I had hoped to climb Mt. Whitney again on my way out. I didn't.
      Got up to 'Trail Pass' at 13,500 feet, but my slow pace meant it was getting close to dark. I did not want to do the 2-mile ridge walk at night. Truth is many hikers do that in the dark, sunrises at the summit are a popular pursuit, but it was not for me on wobbly feet. I started down Whitney Portal in the last light remaining to get out of the wind.

      I have some regrets about not summiting, but the decision had some advantages. Next morning I enjoyed the 'golden hour' of sunrise shining on the East Face of Whitney. I would have missed that if I spent the night on the summit. And I now had time on my drive back to Las Vegas to explore Death Valley a bit.

      All in all a good (but inefficient) short trip. As usual, it it probably take me a few weeks to update my TrailJournal.

      S
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • Sox and I got our plans laid out for the first week of October for the Winding Stair Gap - Clingmans Dome section hike. Shuttle is reserved, back country permits are approved, two pre-hike rooms at The Hike Inn are waiting for us. He flies into Cincinnati on the afternoon of 9/30 which gets us down to Fontana Dam in time to get a full night's sleep.

      I had read that catalytic converter thefts were occurring at the Fontana Dam Visitors Center but received an encouraging update from Nancy Hoch from The Hike Inn. Converter thieves, being a low-level life form, couldn't be content attacking private vehicles. After they hit three TVA vehicles, TVA responded by installing cameras and upping patrols at the dam. The thieves were smart enough to look for other locations to practice their craft.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard