In one of the AT books I read that someone brought an intertube and a small pump to cross some of the deeper rivers in Maine. Is this a good idea and is there anywhere else this might be usefull.
Buckwheat
Intertube - Appalachian Trail
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#2
I assume you’re talking about a big black thingy that goes inside the tire and summer folk go tubing with? I think you’re talking about the Kennebec River. Not recommended to cross that except by the ferry canoe. Some of us hiker trash have been known to inflate the 'ol thermarest and go rafting on the ponds up north. Way fun. Some stream crossings are tough in high water, like last years hurricanes, but I don’t think a tube would help. Check out Leki-less’s journal for pictures of really high water.
Bushwhack
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#3
Intertubes can be used to carry water along the rest of the trail. You screw out the valve stem and use the air pump under water, reinsert the stem, and suck on it like a hydration bladder. You just have to push in the little pin in the stem with your tongue, which can take some gettng used to, but it’s worth it for the extra water you get.
Possum Meat
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#4
If anyone else does not have the powers of deduction or is just a stickler for spelling. It’s actually two words. Inner tube or inner-tube. Thanks Bushwhack.
Buckwheat
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#5
i mean do what cha like but i dont see much sense in that, unless you want to float down the river.
milo
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#6
It’s been tried, last time by a fellow from Maine (?) called Moose(?) in 2001(?) who mailed one to his last drop before the Kennebec. The current took him miles downstream.
Take the free canoe ride across the Kennebec Buckwheat, it’s the traditional and official method. The AT was routed here to Caratunk to take advantage of the existing boat trafic crossing here servicing the sporting camps.
[(?) = TJ’s memory is failing…]
TJ aka Teej