Backcountry camping while section hiking

[rescue21]

I am working on section hiking the entire state of NC. My plans are to reach the GSMNP in 2016. I am a hammock camper and have read post about the Park regs concerning tent/hammock camping on the A/T. I have also read the park regulations themselves. I still will not sleep in a shelter with mice. That being said, I will have to skip the Smokies or, option #2, camp at the "back country" sites although they are not on the trail. I hate the thoughts of navigating the trail this way but I do want to complete my goal of hiking NC AT. Does anyone have advice or experience in dealing with a similar issue that you had? If so, please share and it would be greatly appreciated and helpful.

Thanks,

[TNhiker]

advice would be-----suck it up and stay in shelter..............it's only 4 nights...............

[swisscross]

Hike the entire length of the GSMNP in one day.
Been done before.
Problem solved.

[TNhiker]

or do it as a series of day hikes...........

or do it as a series of loops using other trails and staying in backcountry sites along the other trails..........

[Starchild]

You can hang at campsites. Only one campsite is on the AT and pretty early on, however you can drop off the ridge to a campsite and hang to yours and the ranger's hearts' content.

[rescue21]

Thanks, but I dont think hiking the Entire 71 miles is very realistic for me in one day. I would like to stop and take a few pictures, eat and maybe breathe. Did I mention, I am not a marathon runner. haha but thanks for the advice

[rescue21]

TN I was looking hammock camping advice, not shelter advice...I think I made that clear.

[HooKooDooKu]

Most back country campsites are several miles off the AT, and thousands of feet in elevation change down hill.

In some stretches, the distance from one campsite off the AT to the next will be so far apart that you may not be able to hike from one campsite to the next in one day. The stretch that comes to mind is from Pecks to Tricorner. The closest campsites to this section is Cabin Flats (BC49) and Maddron Bald (BC29). That's a distance of 16 miles with a cumulative elevation gain of about 10,000' and a cumulative elevation loss of 9,000'.

Unless you can manage a hike like the above, that also excludes the idea of doing loop hikes biting off a section at a time over many trips.

So you really have two choice:
1) Suck it up and stay in the shelters.
2) Hike the BMT thru the Smokies instead.

(Of course there's always the 3rd choice... don't hike the Smokies)
NOTE: By way of accomplishment, the BMT thru GSMNP is harder than the AT. It's longer and has more cumulative elevation change.

[rescue21]

HooKoo, Humm, talking about going around your elbow, thanks for the info. I really wanted to do this in my hammock but its looking pretty slim. I may have to do it on different trips like you say. appreciate your help here.

[TNhiker]

TN I was looking hammock camping advice, not shelter advice...I think I made that clear.

yes..........i am aware of that......

however, if you want to do this part of the trail and spend the night out along the trail in the backcountry----its suck it up and stay in the shelters.............

or, as do it like that other ways i suggest..........

as HooKooDooKu mentioned----it's pretty impractical to try to do the AT and drop down to other backcountry sites just to hang..............


and to be honest----the shelters aren't that bad.................and from my experience, most of the backcountry sites have mice as well.............

[Walkintom]

One of my childhood friends had a great suggestion for situations like this.

"Let's don't. And we'll just say that we did."

[scope]

I'm a hanger, too. I think about the only way to hang in the smokies along the AT is to go during the thru hiker crush and get to the shelters late, after they are full. Then you can do what you want.


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[Wyoming]

I'm a hanger, too. I think about the only way to hang in the smokies along the AT is to go during the thru hiker crush and get to the shelters late, after they are full. Then you can do what you want.


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People (and me too were doing that when I went through GSMNP. I also hate staying in shelters. Not because I am afraid of mice but because I can't stand the people density and the noise - I don't go outdoors for that stuff as I can just go to the Mall for it if I want it. The AT would be a far better place if we tore down all the shelters and made people actually camp. But I digress...

A problem with the above of course is that depending on when one hikes the shelter might not fill up and then you are forced inside.

But you one take it for the 3 nights it takes to cross the part if it happens that way too - it is not like going to prison - well almost not like.