View Full Version : Pine Mountain Trail in KY/VA
I was wondering if anyone here has ever hiked this trail. I want to know what this trail is like because I was thinking about hiking it this summer.
Tennessee Viking
05-30-2009, 22:02
I was wondering if anyone here has ever hiked this trail. I want to know what this trail is like because I was thinking about hiking it this summer.
All I heard is that it is still in pieces. http://www.pinemountaintrail.com/trailinfo.html
Cabin Fever
05-30-2009, 22:18
Couple of weeks ago they made the official connection of the Pine Mountain Trail and the Cumberland Trail at Cumberland Gap. Those two trails are major pieces of the proposed Great Eastern Trail that will parallel the AT on the western side of the Appalachians.
I have hiked about 30 miles. There is some nice stuff along the trail.
johnnybgood
05-30-2009, 23:51
I have hiked about 30 miles. There is some nice stuff along the trail.
Could you be more specific ? :confused: How about water sources ?
I know there's 2 sections of it done at this moment, I was wanting more information on this trail than the website provides. I wanted to know how tough it would be for a beginner because I want to hike it and it's not far from my house.
kythruhiker
05-31-2009, 10:53
They have a Yahoo Group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PMTC/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=5
You can also email Shad Baker directly @ sbaker@email.uky.edu, he can help you with your question.
I hiked the first completed section years ago, it was almost all ridge-line with no water if my few working brain cells recall correctly.
vamelungeon
05-31-2009, 10:57
I hiked last week starting from Mullins Pond near Clintwood. I would have to say that part of the trail is poorly cleared and poorly blazed. My son started with me (ex-Marine) but quit while we were still in sight of South Mtn. Road due to the briars we waere having to hike through and the difficulty in finding blazes. I had to drop my pack at that point and go about 100 yards down a steep hill in two different directions to locate the next blaze, which I found finally.
I had trouble with blazes the rest of that day. I passed two springs, but one was basically unreachable because of the sea of mud created in front of it by all the ATV's that are rampant on the trail.
Until I got to the part of the trail that is old road bed, the trail is basically bushwhacking. I wish I had worn long pants of heavy material like jeans, and I hate to hike in jeans, but my legs were hamburger from the knees down, and bleeding. Once on the road portion of the trail that was over but then I spent a great deal of time getting around the endless huge mudholes that are caused by or made larger by ATV's.
I had a pack of ATV's wake me up that night. One was even kind enough to chunk his empty crushed beer can at my tent.
The next day I expected to reach Pound Gap, but again the blazing let me down. There are endless trails caused by ATV's and old logging trails. I never noticed doing anything other than staying on the trail I was on, but after a long and steep decline I noticed it had been a long time since I had seen a blaze. I decided to go ahead and follow the trail I was on and walk out rather than climb back up, which was a mistake since that trail was long, steep and difficult. I ended up on a road in KY and was able to call my wife by cell phone after I got directions from a local resident.
Maybe I should blame myself for having not seen a blaze that turned left on the trail, but I felt like the blazing could have been MUCH better, especially at crucial turn offs. The scenery is of course fantastic. I've actually been on portions of the trail near Pound Gap geocaching and hunting and had no expectation of taking a wrong turn, or missing one for that matter.
I am choosing not to hike the trail again, mainly becuase of the ATV issue and the lack of blazing.
vamelungeon
06-12-2009, 11:26
BTW, search "Pine Mountain Trail" in YouTube, and here is some of what you will find...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SmPJEJrrRw
traildust
06-12-2009, 11:43
Will definitly be a challenge given the weeks of rain we have had.
ATV's or 4-wheelers are a big problem on the trails in Ky.
Oh, btw I own a 4 wheeler but we don't ride on the trails.
vamelungeon
06-12-2009, 18:23
Will definitly be a challenge given the weeks of rain we have had.
ATV's or 4-wheelers are a big problem on the trails in Ky.
Oh, btw I own a 4 wheeler but we don't ride on the trails.
My son has one that I ride, but I don't use it on hiking trails. Unfortunately there are thousands of square miles of strip mined land in this area but that does give people a place to ride ATVs and dirt bikes and stay off the trails. Some of these people will ride on hiking trails BECAUSE they aren't supposed to do it. Apparently it makes them feel like real outlaws, when in reality it just makes them jerks. :mad:
kythruhiker
06-12-2009, 18:43
ATV ruts on hiking trails are right up there with mile+ long stretches of pitted horse destroyed trails. There's a section of the Sheltowee Trace around here that they call Mars because of the ATV damage...
I hate 4 wheelers and dirt bikes I really do. I almost got ran over a few years ago by a 12 year old on a dirt bike. People got mad at me when I told them that KY should enforce its 4 wheeler laws more because I see too many young people driving them and they don't know how to drive.