App Trail Info

[bigalpha]

The woman and I are looking to do some hiking on the App Trail in September and are looking for some good resources to research trail data and information.

Also, suggestions on books is welcome. I see the App Trail Data Book is highly rated.

Any other comments or suggestions are highly welcome.

 

[H8PVMT]

there is a book my parents bought me when I was preparing to thru hike the trail, don't have it handy but it's green with a purple stripe across the middle with a 1.2 cover pick but it's written by the guy (in his 70's as of publishing that has hiked it the most......TONS of awesome info in it, can't find it on google but it reads kind of like a diary but way better, also you HAVE to read "a walk in the woods" took me a day to finish it and it's hillarious at some points. guessing you will be doing the smokies and/or blue ridge since they are local so should be relatively easy (read no maine black flies). It's an amazing experience and you'll meet a ton of pretty cool people, but bring a large knife or have a hatchet hanging from your backpack just in case (dead serious)

HTH

Doug

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

I have hiked the entire trail from springer mountain to just past Damascus. I love it. I want to get back into backpacking again. In scouts we would do at least a 10 mile trip a month. And every summer we did at least 50 miles in a row, 2 summers we did 80.

You have a bunch of options on the trail. We tried to go shelter to shelter when possible. It just makes things easier. I never read any books about it, dad did though, Ill ask him what he recommends.

 

[Cnickgo]

Forget a Walk In the Woods. Bill Bryson is a punk who used hearsay and lores for monetary advantage. I read the book years ago because it was recommended to me, his stories seemed a bit wild then and I have since realized an overweight scholar with his imaginary friend "Katz" has no decent story about the AT, only whining and embellishment. /Rant.

If you are looking for a book to read before hand, grab AWOL on the Appalachian Trail by David Miller, or Barefoot Sisters, Southbound by Lucy and Susan Letcher. Both written by well established thru-hikers.

I would not recommend the Data Book to carry. It is a slimmed down version of the Thru-Hikers Companion. I would strongly recommend picking up the Companion for your planning. It has all the information you need for the trail. Do your research and planning with the Companion, take notes, and leave it at home. You can also download the Companion in PDF form.
http://www.aldha.org/comp_pdf.htm

For your book to carry, get The AT Guide. It is very well organized with your elevation map on every page. It is fantastic to see your shelters, water, and other important information in a visual form that you can see the difficulty of the trail ahead of you.
http://www.theatguide.com/

The last bit of paper is a topographical map. This comes in for an even better idea of your day ahead of you, as well as safety. You should never need a topographical map, as you should never leave the Trail unless you are planning a round trip using side trails, but it's something you don't want to be caught without. I use mine almost every stop, to compare against the guide book.

Whiteblaze.net has a wealth of information for you about everything from planning/preparing, food, trail info, gear, more than you could imagine.

My best advice I can give to you is prepare, plan, train, repeat. Start hiking every day you can increasing to a full pack weight, and the shoes you will be wearing. Your muscles and more importantly joints need to get used to carrying that extra weight. If you drop that on yourself all at once, you will get injured, and you will be miserable. The trail is not a place to get in shape.

Gear- Is it absolutely necessary to carry? "No", "not really", "well if...", "but": Don't bring it! The lighter your pack, the happier your hike. No big knife or hatchet needed. Shakedowns are a lot of fun with new hikers, you dump out their bag, sort into 4 categories, and start tossing items in a box they don't need. Your first shakedown will amaze you with the difference in your next hike. I started with a 23lb dry pack, well under most everyone, and still lost 5lbs on my first shakedown. At the same time, you do need to make sure that you have the essentials for your safety and comfort. Investing in the right clothes and sleep system makes a big difference. Don't be the guy other people have to take care of, because you wore cotton or didn't bring a tent expecting to have shelter space every night.

Hiking on the AT for 5 miles or 2,000 is a blast. It was a life changing experience to me. Time and effort spent now will come back to you tripled on your trip(s). I can help you a whole lot more, always feel free to ask questions. If I can find it I will send you a packing list I built for some friends, I think it's on this hard drive.

 

[bigalpha]

Thanks guys.

The Thru-Hikers Companion looks like exactly what we wanted to help us plan. Does it show the trail in each section, too? I looked at the Data Book and thought it was good to have, but I'll pick up the AT Guide instead. Definitely like to have too much information.

I don't know how long we'll be out or how far the woman wants to hike yet. We are not new to hiking but I don't consider us seasoned veterans. We have some good equipment, though. I never wear cotton anything and we have good boots and such. We've have a few REI buying sprees in the past.

We don't have the big, framed backpacking packs since we've never done a multi-day hike+camp so we'll make due with our smaller packs. At this stage, I dont think we're planning on doing more than and overnight camp. If I had to guess, we'll probably do a 8-10 mile hike then set up camp and chill then hike out. Still don't know what the woman wants to do yet but I imagine it'll be along those lines.

We never plan to be "those people" - on our honeymoon, we hiked a bunch of parks in AZ/UT and there were so many people with no water or packs or equipment I couldn't believe it. Even if we think it's a short hike, we always take someone along; water, packs, first aid, etc.

What's the general consensus on venturing off-trail? If we decide to hike someplace that doesn't have a shelter, do you generally just go off-trail and set up camp? There is no registration requirement for hiking right?

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

Honestly, after SERE, I could get by with my day pack for a multi day hike. It is a nice MOLLE covered pack. Not too big. I can fit my food and change of clothes on the inside and my sleeping bag on top. I do need to find some Sage colored pockets for it. I currently have it packed as a bugout/zombie/emergency bag. I could pick it up and leave for 4 days or so and be perfectly fine. I usually pack a Kelty Hurricane internal frame, and would pack way too much stuff in it. With this one I can pack only what I need. Granted, I am now a hammock camper 95% of the time. So I pack a good tarp, my hammock (it is a poleless brazillian style hammock), and some insect netting. On the AT I would go shelter to shelter. Even if it full I would ask, and if no one minded just hang above everyone else. If they did I would just set up between two trees.

If I set up a tent off trail, I would just find a nice clear spot, I would't clear anything out. The only exception was a case of hypothermia developing in a kid and we needed to get him warm and dry ASAP. So we just beat a campsite into the side of the trail, then got a shelter put up and a fire started. There are also a lot of campsites on the AT that do not have shelters. Our scout troop built collapsable hiking poles with a screw in the top. With 10 or so people carrying a pole, and 3 or 4 carrying a tarp, we could set up some small mansions if there was enough space.

I would start by picking a 5 mile hike in, camp, then hike back out. Do a couple of those, then go 10 in 10 out. Then streatch out into a 25 miler over 3 days.

Protip of the day: Invest in a lot of Ziplock bags, freezer bags are good. 1 gal or even 2 gallon are very nice. Take extras with you. I pack stuff like underwear and socks into quart sized bags. The man who invented those should be cannonized as the patron saint of backpackers. No matter how waterproof you think your gear is, it is not. Dry sacks are heavy and expensive, ziplocks are cheap and light, you decide.

 

[Cnickgo]

The only places off the top of my head that limit camping are the Smokies and the Whites(?). Both of those parks require you to stay at shelter sites.

The only thing about camping somewhere other than a shelter is following Leave No Trace. It's strongly recommended to use an established site, there are some very nice locations out there. I'll let you know some privately.

Staying at the shelters can be a lot of fun though. You get a good sense of community and meet some amazing people. Water is normally very close, as well as ease for cooking. Most every shelter location has plenty of tent pads scattered around so you can still have your privacy and quiet when it's time to hit the sack.

 

[Mr.Shrek]

AT guide is the one i was thinking of BA. Check it out at theatguide.com Have a co worker's son who is now in the northern portion of the AT. Went through the guide and it is very detailed. You can see a sample of the pages at the web site.

 

[bigalpha]

The place that she was thinking of going to is Roan Mountain.

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

The place that she was thinking of going to is Roan Mountain.

Been there a few times. One of our hardest hikes was there, it started storming about halfway there and continued until we left the next day. We actually went the other way on the trail, away from Roan Mtn. Across 2 big balds. We were crossing the balds on the same day that Grandfather mountain set new wind records for both sustained and gusts. We were having to link arms with 3 or 4 guys to stay standing and get across.

Good trip, it is the one that everyone remembers.