The Forgotten Ones: Shorter, Long Trails

[Gambit McCrae]

Since completing the AT my hiker brain has been whittling away at some "local" long trails.
In 2021 after finishing the AT, I had always wanted to hike the Sheltowee Trace, The Pinhoti and the BMT...So I prioritized them and started chipping away as we section hikers do, 30 miles at a time. Sometimes getting away for a little bit of an extended trip on a holiday weekend, say 50 miles. I was lucky enough to get 4 consecutive days in on the Pinhoti this October for a 80 mile trip, and a total of 142 Pinhoti miles in October.

I digress. What are your near future plans? What trails are you working on completing that are not the big 3? Here are my future plans

In order for 2024 & 2025:
Finish the Pinhoti - 2 trips
Foothills Trail - 2 trips
BMT- 8 more trips
Bartram Trail - 4 trips
Cumberland Trail - Not Complete yet but will take about 10 trips

Interested in, but no solid plans yet and in no order:
Ouachita Trail - 223 Miles - Oklahoma and Arkansas
Ozark Highlands Trail - 218 Miles - Arkansas
Mountain to Sea Trail
Florida Trail
GSMNP 900 Miler Club
The rest of the Long Trail
Mid State Trail - 330 Miles - Pennsylvania
New England Trail - 232 Miles - Connecticut & Massachusetts

The issue with the interested list is they are too far from home for weekend trips, but too low of a priority for extended trips due to chipping away at the CDT with my vacation time. So they will more than likely have to wait until vacation time is no longer a thing in my life I would call this post cabin fever but I have managed to get out there once a month all winter so far, so just wanting to see what others have planned

[LittleRock]

Great thread - that's a pretty ambitious list you've got there Gambit!

I grew up in Arkansas and did parts of the OT and OHT in high school/college. Both are quite scenic with low hiker traffic - highly recommend.

I've got the northernmost ~375 miles of the AT left, which I hope to complete over the next 3 years. After completing the first part of the Whites last fall, I'm actually really excited about the rest of NH/Maine. I'm sure it will be hard, but oh man it looks beautiful.

Other than that, I probably won't do much backpacking due to family obligations. My son will be 10 soon and I'd love to get him out on his first overnight trip next spring. He likes hiking and says he wants to climb Katahdin with me in a couple years. My wife and 6 year old daughter have never expressed any interest.

I try to get in a day hike on the Raleigh/Durham part of the MST every week. Lately, it's been less about hiking and more about finding a quiet spot along Falls Lake/Eno River and enjoying a beer and a nap in my hammock.

[Gambit McCrae]

LittleRock - Firstly, I have never realized we are so close in age. I as well have a 10 year old son, 13 year old daughter + wife. None really show any interest in joining my hikes however my wife has done Grayson a couple times with me, and she has shuttled me for 4 weeks in NH&ME and 4 days on the Pinhoti. She is my biggest supporter, just not a 20 MPD through the mountains kinda supporter lol

But that brings me to your AT completion, congrats in advance...and I can attest it will be difficult physically but what the heck, the whole thing was hard! And the views make it worth it.

[Slugg]

You and I have a very similar style as what I will call “goal-oriented” hikers! Nice thread.

Here’s what I would like to complete in the next SEVERAL years (while I also work my way up the AT, I’m at mile 625 but this thread is about NOT the Big 3):

Summit all of GA’s 4000ers (14/32 complete)
GSMNP 900-miler
Section hike Sheltowee Trace Trail
Section hike the MST
Section hike the Cumberland Trail
Section hike the Palmetto Trail
Thru hike the JMT
Thru hike the Tahoe Rim Trail
Thru (or section) hike a trail in Ireland
Finish redlining the combined Citico Creek/Joyce Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness (only have a 2 mile chunk left I couldn’t get when I was there over the past 4 days)
Redline the Southern Nantahala Wilderness (20ish% complete)
Redline the Sypsey Wilderness
Redline the Snowbird Wilderness
Redline the Bald River Gorge/Upper Bald River Wilderness (40-50% complete)
Hike some 13/14ers in CO (only done one) - make one trip out to CO to hike/backpack annually (have a friend who lives there)
Backpack with my wife

These will be completed over 3-16 day trips while working full-time.
Already completed the Pinhoti, BMT, Bartram, Foothills, already redlined Cohutta/Big Frog Wilderness, Ellicot Rock Wilderness, Cheaha Wilderness/SP, Blood Mountain Wilderness, Brasstown Wilderness, FDR SP, basically anything in GA.

[LoneStranger]

I've been mapping out another loop Have to finalize a few details, but it looks to be about 400 miles over 42 days with one zero and a couple neros. That is all I can divulge at this time.

The rest of the season is still up in the air though I am thinking about trying a Fall Long Trail again.

[fudgefoot]

I intend to keep hiking as long as these old legs let me. My 2024 plans include:

Foothills Trail
Northern half of the Quehanna Trail (earlier thru trip cut short by a May snowstorm)
Loyalsock Trail
Coast to Coast Trail or Camino de Santiago
Standing Stone Trail?

And biking:

Katy Trail

I always do my hike planning in January/February each year. It's a good way to spend the winter months.

[Deadeye]

It's a never-ending list, but in 2024 I have:
The northern third of the Long Trail to finish my third end-to-end
8-10 more of the New Hampshire 48. I'm at 31 so far.
Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail, and maybe the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway again
In 2025 and beyond:
New England Trail
The rest of the NH 48
AT from Katahdin to Gorham
AT in Mass and CT
a fourth LT end-to-end, as a thru this time

[LazyLightning]

Eventually I want to get west for the PCT and will thru the AT again someday as long as I'm physically able and don't die first. Before that I'd like to get to a few shorter long trails that are fairly close to home.

Cohos Trail
Complete Long Trail
and probably first this year or next I want to do the North South Trail > Midstate Trail > Wapack Trail

I wanted to start with the complete Narragansett in CT and through Yawgoog and whatnot in RI - then get a ride to the beach to start the North South but the Narragansett currently has 2 big closures. I might loop around Quinebaug/Pachaug/Nehantic a couple days then go through Yawgoog or just the North South Trail straight. I was actually thinking Pequot>Narragansett to start but now Pequot even has a closure in the middle from private land owner...

[LazyLightning]

A lot more I'd like to get to not so close to home. I section hiked the NET once and do sections all the time but would love to thru hike it through the Monadnock Sunapee Greenway also. Lots of trails in PA I'd like to get to and the Finger Lakes someday.

[LazyLightning]

One more thing, none are too long but I really want to complete all the Blue Blazed Trails in CT before they end up closing more I haven't got to yet.

[Dan Roper]

My soul long-term objective is to see how far I can make it on the AT. I've done 834 miles (Springer to Tye River, VA) to date. Due to work, no plan to ever retire, and other important obligations, I'll never have more than a week or two a year. I doubt I'll finish the AT, but I do have a casual hope of getting to at least the halfway mark in a couple of years or so. This year I plan to do roughly 130 miles, from Tye River through Shenandoah National Park.

Other than that, I'll just keeping doing things mostly without any long-term planning, especially day hikes.

[Deadeye]

Superior hiking Trail!!
Foothills Trail

[HeartFire]

There is the Salt loop (Southern Appalachian Loop Trail) which connects the Foothills, Bartram, AT, MST & Art Loeb. There is a small section where they don't connect all the way. It's about 300 miles, I'm missing a few miles on the MST, but also decided to do all of each trail

[Bubblehead]

Since completing the AT in 2022, I have thru hiked the Georgia Loop ('22), the BMT ('23), and the Foothills Trail ('23). I plan on thru hiking the Long Trail in October....

[illabelle]

One of these days we want to fly out west and do pieces of the PCT - not really interested in doing the whole thing.
We want to explore a bit in Alaska and Hawaii, not sure where.
There's parts of the AT we want to revisit, particularly Katahdin, and maybe the 100 mile wilderness.

In the meantime, we've been entertaining ourselves by traipsing around on some of the old unmaintained trails in the Smokies. They get a tiny bit of traffic, and many are in danger of disappearing. New Years Eve we went with 3 others and hiked about 13 miles, the last 3 by headlamp on a maintained trail. Lots of blowdowns on the old trail made progress difficult. Crawl under, climb over, or find a way around. It's a different kind of adventure.

[illabelle]

One of these days we want to fly out west and do pieces of the PCT - not really interested in doing the whole thing.
We want to explore a bit in Alaska and Hawaii, not sure where.
There's parts of the AT we want to revisit, particularly Katahdin, and maybe the 100 mile wilderness.

In the meantime, we've been entertaining ourselves by traipsing around on some of the old unmaintained trails in the Smokies. They get a tiny bit of traffic, and many are in danger of disappearing. New Years Eve we went with 3 others and hiked about 13 miles, the last 3 by headlamp on a maintained trail. Lots of blowdowns on the old trail made progress difficult. Crawl under, climb over, or find a way around. It's a different kind of adventure.

Meant to add, the trails we hiked were built by the CCC. Nice stonework, sitting out there barely touched. I wish the Park would restore some of these trails.

[Nanatuk]

Superior hiking Trail!!
Foothills Trail

Definitely the Superior Hiking trail, I think its part of the North Country Trail.
Another one to consider would be the River to River trail in Southern Illinois. 160 miles between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers thru the Shawnee forest.

[Odd Man Out]

Not local, but I want to hike Kungsleden The Kings Trail), a 290 mile trail in northern Sweden. It sounds like hiking paradise. The trail is mostly wilderness but the few trailheads are all served by public transportation. Along the trail are back country huts with beds, shared kitchen, resupply shops, and saunas. If you don't want to stay in huts, you can hike and camp almost anywhere you want. No permits, fees, reservation, or permission needed. That's true for all undeveloped and unoccupied land in the entire country.

[hopetofinish]

Since completing the AT my hiker brain has been whittling away at some "local" long trails.
In 2021 after finishing the AT, I had always wanted to hike the Sheltowee Trace, The Pinhoti and the BMT...So I prioritized them and started chipping away as we section hikers do, 30 miles at a time. Sometimes getting away for a little bit of an extended trip on a holiday weekend, say 50 miles. I was lucky enough to get 4 consecutive days in on the Pinhoti this October for a 80 mile trip, and a total of 142 Pinhoti miles in October.

I digress. What are your near future plans? What trails are you working on completing that are not the big 3? Here are my future plans

In order for 2024 & 2025:
Finish the Pinhoti - 2 trips
Foothills Trail - 2 trips
BMT- 8 more trips
Bartram Trail - 4 trips
Cumberland Trail - Not Complete yet but will take about 10 trips

Interested in, but no solid plans yet and in no order:
Ouachita Trail - 223 Miles - Oklahoma and Arkansas
Ozark Highlands Trail - 218 Miles - Arkansas
Mountain to Sea Trail
Florida Trail
GSMNP 900 Miler Club
The rest of the Long Trail
Mid State Trail - 330 Miles - Pennsylvania
New England Trail - 232 Miles - Connecticut & Massachusetts

The issue with the interested list is they are too far from home for weekend trips, but too low of a priority for extended trips due to chipping away at the CDT with my vacation time. So they will more than likely have to wait until vacation time is no longer a thing in my life I would call this post cabin fever but I have managed to get out there once a month all winter so far, so just wanting to see what others have planned

Best thread in recent memory!
Just started the Pinhoti this month, hope to go once per month until hiking season opens up in Vermont. I'll get back to my second section hike of the AT, starting north from Rutland, maybe finish in 2 more seasons? I'm a bit intimidated to go up Wildcat this time (didn't know any better before).
Then hope to finish the Pinhoti along the way. The SHT, along with most of the other 'shorter' trails mentioned. I'll hike as long as I can keep doing it!

[Sarcasm the elf]

One more thing, none are too long but I really want to complete all the Blue Blazed Trails in CT before they end up closing more I haven't got to yet.

Completing the CFPA blue blaze trails are definitely on my list, but not until my kids are old enough to join me at a decent pace.

The second part of your comment makes me sad as well, especially after watching the Mohawk trail get rerouted off public land and onto roads for several miles last year as a result of a single unhappy landowner that owned a few hundred critical yards of the trail.