Hiking - Appalachian Trail

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#1

Thinking about hiking the AT. Any suggestions about reading materials to help me be as prepared as I can be?
Thank you.

John C.

#2

AWOL on the Appalachian Trail for good easy to read info. A Walk in the Woods for good fun reading.

Francis

#3

I am planning to section the AT from Fontana Dam to Davenport Gap in late April or the first part of May, 2015. Has anyone done the same and do you have any advice?

D. Smith

#4

Most important thing is to tune into the weather. The GSMNP web page will tell you current trail and weather conditions. Put the GSMNP phone number into your phone. Listen to them. Never hike into a Winter Storm. Have a mindset that you will be willing to turn back. If caught in a deep snow condition is GSMNP do not bail off trail in an attempt to find lower altitudes. They can’t find you if you are off trail. The cell service is almost non existant. 2 feet of fresh snow will drift to 4 and you can’t hike. It’s more like swimming and you will be exhausted in a mile. Read Trail Journals, Oct 29-31, 2012, SOLO, Steve Ainsworth. This ends the fearfactor section of the post. Even without a storm there could be cold and snow above 4,000 feet. I would have some warm clothing and my 20 degree sleeping bag. If there was recent snow that has consolidated into ice on the trail I would bring along a pair of crampons for my feet. You should expect full shelters so get your shelter reservations as soon as they become available. I would be happy to make this hike in Late April or early May. That is not SMITH DJ, Bat 2, 3681 is it?

Francis

#5

Read the EBook “Then the Hail Came” on-line. Its a great read that although a little dated I think gives a good feel for what a thru hike is like.

Big B

#6

I always wanted to hike the AT or even the ADT. I have a 7 year old, who also loves hiking and adventure, and I was wondering, if there’s anything out there I can read about kids hiking. Like what to watch out for and similar. Obviously a 7 year old will not be able to walk endless miles, so we’d have to do it in small sections. I myself am a school bus driver with three months off in the summer, but even if I’m off, we would never get permission from his dad to do it in one piece. So sections it will be. In addition to being a school bus driver I’m also a snowboard instructor, so my thought was, that once the mountain closes and temps get better, we could already do smaller weekend trips on the trail? He did do the AT with me last year from about 10 miles north of the Susquehanna River down to the Darlington Shelter and about 10 miles south of Boiling Springs and he loved it. So I thought, when the mountain closes, which is around the end of March, I pop him into the car Friday night. We drive down to Helen and get started and be back by Monday, so I can school bus drive, and keep doing that until, well, we’re done, lol. Or do you think, it’s better to wait for the summer vacation, until I’m done school bus driving and then go up to Maine instead (we’re pretty much right in the middle in PA), and start walking downwards for 4-5 days until his dad gets him on his weekend. Then have a friend pick us up, drive us back to our car, come back. Son goes to dad, I go to work, and when I get the little guy back, we do it all over again? If you have any ideas or advice for us, please chime in. And there’s no way in the world we get permission from his dad to do it in one piece, so this is the only way we can do this. The question is just, so we wait until the summer vacation or do we start on weekends right away? We could also do the closer parts on weekends, that way we wouldn’t have to drive so far in such a short time. It would be out of sequence then, but we really want to do this. We’re already excited. :slight_smile:

Steph G.

#7

Not sure, if I posted under the wrong topic. Not sure, how this forum works yet. Was I supposed to click “Post a new message”?

Steph G.

#8

Hey Steph G! You probably want to start a new message thread so it’ll get more eyes/attention as its own subject.

Enjoy your trail time. Cheers!

Chipper

#9

Steph G. I have read on trailforums.com of kids making the trip as a thru hike in better shape than the parents that were with them. Sometimes some whining at the first but once they get the feel for it, they can do real well. It is educational in a very real sense. I wish I could remember some of the trail names so you could look them up.

Beverly

#10

Steph. G, check out this website for info on hiking with your child. Why the Appalachian Trail? | A Family Adventure of the 2,185 mile …


A Family Adventure of the 2,185 mile hike from Georgia to Maine – 2014 … For our family, backpacking on the Appalachian Trail has pulled us closer, it has …

TaDa

#11

I noticed, that it wasn’t a new message as soon as I posted it and I didn’t know, how to delete it. I now figured out, how to post an entirely new message, so I’m gonna do that shortly. In the meantime, thanks for all the answers. I’m really happy, I found this page :slight_smile:

Steph G.

#12

Steph G., I have been hiking with my son for numerous years. Started him when he was 4 and now he is twenty. We have done hundred mile stretches of the AT for vacation at least seven times during those years. However, when he was younger, just started him out with the short trips of approximately 50 miles and taking it easy. If you want him to enjoy it you need to make those first couple of trips awe inspiring. For example, somewhere with an incredible view or something else that stands out. For my son, his first trip was to through Grayson Highlands to see the wild ponies. He loved that and still talks about it to this day. A couple of years later, I took him to McAfee Knob, and the picture of him with his feet hanging off over the edge is the front page of our hiking photo album. My wife did not care about where he was sitting, but he loved it, and loves it to this day. Once again, at the early ages, keep it interesting and find things that he will enjoy. And hope that he can take the good with the bad. When my son was about 12, we hiked the length of the Smokies and it poured rain every day, almost all day. Once again, he can remember it to this day because of the fun we had in the rain, plus we saw at least 30 bears, most upclose. Because of the heavy rain, they could not hear us or smell us as easily. Good luck with the hiking.

20 Year Plan

#13

My little guy already loves hiking. I thought the same thing to start out. Make it interesting. The section where you go up to Peter’s Mountain has one of the most beautiful views of the entire AT. He absolutely LOVED it. We had such an amazing experience. We hiked up from the railroad tracks and he LOVES trains. Then we came to a flatter part, which could be used as a campsite, I guess. There was a fireplace also and some kind of overhang, from where you had an amazing view. Then the switchbacks started and we had to climb a little up and down at several places. He also loves climbing. When we got to the shelter it was already dark, so we partially had a night hike with flash lights. When we arrived, there were several hikers already at the shelter, one in a tent outside and another one in a hammock some way off with a dog. He made s’mores and invited us to eat s’mores with him. Then we both cuddled up in mommies sleeping bag in the shelter. It was adventure pure. The next morning we had to go back, cause he needed to go back to his dad. I’m sorry, we couldn’t stay longer. He actually cried, when we went back home, cause he wanted to stay. It was so nice!

Steph G.