Dru Posted November 1, 2001 Posted November 1, 2001 If ya want to get some practice on long distance walking in a day just get out and start walking. Do Twight style Enduro pushes. A buddy of mine once left Vancouver at midnight and was north of Whistler within 24 hours. Thats over 60 miles i think... Quote
willstrickland Posted November 1, 2001 Posted November 1, 2001 The coolest sections IMO were: 1. White Mountains in New Hampshire, specifically the 20+ miles through the Presidentials. Very rugged, very steep in the whites, and fall is unlike anything you'll experience in the west. 2. Mahooksiks through 100 mile Wilderness and Baxter St Park on the far north end. Awesome solitude, lots of water, bogs, etc and it's the home stretch. Baxter St Park is cool and the knife-edge on Mt Katahdin is wild exposure for a hike. The Mahoosiks are pretty rugged too. Don't do this section in spring or summer (the bugs would kill you...I speak from experience as I did this section in summer '97 to scope my interest in a thru-hike, almost went insane). Great wildlife here too...bears, moose, martens. 3. Nantahala's through the Smokies (NC/TN border). This is a great stretch and just fucking relentless through the Nanty stretch. You'll cross balds, see plenty of wildlife (wild boars, black bears, turkey, grouse, deer, and more). From the south end (GA) the climbs and descents gradually get longer and with less switchbacks until the Nantahalas. Then it gets gnarly, culminating with a 6 miles of rocky downhill into the gap at the Nantahala river and 7 miles of uphill out of the gap.There's really virtually no flat hiking until the end of TN going into Virginia, a ridgetop section called the Tennesseee Turnpike where I did my first 30+ mile day. If you do this stretch, beware of the ranger/cops at the "Fontana Hilton". This is the huge shelter(would hold 25 hikers in a pinch) at Fontana Dam at the south end of the Smokies right before you hike up onto the ridge proper. I know six different people who got busted smoking herb there. Also beware of the towns of Roan Mt, TN and Elk somthingorother, NC (it's accessible from the same road as Roan Mt). These are notoriously unfriendly towns to hikers. Also avoid any of the towns around the Smokies (Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Cherokee) they define tourist hell. Quote
willstrickland Posted November 1, 2001 Posted November 1, 2001 quote: Originally posted by David Parker: Personally I think the best mountains in New England are the Whites in New Hampshire. There are tons of side trails too. Will, at which end did you start/finish? I'd give a high recommendation to the Long Trail (Vermont up to Canada, about 400? miles) as well, fewer hikers, more remote. From memory it crosses and runs in conjunction with the AT at some point. In '97 I started in mid June at the North end and hiked down to Mass. In '98 I started in mid-March at the south end and hiked to the north end. Got a little sidetracked once in VA (ran into a high school friend and partied in Damascus for about a week during trail days fest) and then got sidetracked again in southern Mass...just got really tired of walking around all day, decided to sit around and smoke bowls and see all the hikers (one little hottie from Houston in particular) coming through who I'd passed along the way. Yeah, got a little sidetracked in TN too, spent a week at a commune-farm getting my head together. Northbounding starting in March-May is like a big roving party. You don't really feel isolation unless you seek it until mid Virginia when alot of would-be thru hikers have thrown in the towel. Town stops are frequently prolonged by hangovers and the proximity of food and showers! Quote
nolanr Posted November 2, 2001 Posted November 2, 2001 Yeah, that's pretty impressive. I think my body would totally break down before I logged that many miles. I once hiked 14 out of 16 days or something like that, probably only averaged 10 mi./day or something, and it wasn't thru hiking, some here and some there, some day hikes and some multiday backpacks. Anyway, by the end my knees were getting pretty sore and I had some pretty annoying ankle pain/shin splint type thingys going on. I can't really understand the 30+ miles per day everyday, from dark til dark, not hardly stopping for anything. Hey, if the guy ate on the fly, I wonder if he crapped and whizzed on the fly too? Doesn't sound like fun to me. I've kinda been doing the PCT in short sections in WA and OR. I'm sure the CDT would be pretty awesome. But I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in the AT. Quote
ruddersbox Posted November 2, 2001 Posted November 2, 2001 San Jose is representing with the crazy ass shit. Cop shootings, dudes rollin the tripple crown in under a year, yosemite, 3 hours away, college town you say... This place is badass, even for disc golf. Quote
johnny Posted November 2, 2001 Posted November 2, 2001 All this talk just makes my feet hurt! Will, Havn't hiked any of it yet, just glimpsed tiny bits of the AT. Any recommendations on a 3 to 10 day stretch? I want to spend some time on it over the next year or so , some will be alone, some will be with my girlfriend and some with the kids. Totally different trips, those, but I am looking for highlights to get started with....??? I have never strung more than two 30 plus miles together in my life. THAT F%#(&*NG ROCKS!!! Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.