LOVE the AT, but I also need something more adventurous? Recommendations?

[stranger]

I've always felt that you should really focus on the task in front of you before looking forward. I've been guilty of this before myself and have suffered the consequences. This doesn't mean you are going to, but from what I've seen over the years, the lack of "adventure" along the AT doesn't make it any easier.

I agree the trail is well marked, simple to use, towns are everywhere, etc... And if you are looking for some real physical and logistical challenges there are plenty out West. If you are up to some real gruelling **** check out some long distance trails in Australia, not the popular ones like the Overland Track and Bibbulmun Track, but there are some where you have to bury food cause their ain't towns for 250 miles or more. If something goes wrong you will be utterly alone, etc... If you seek a "hardcore" challenge there are plenty out there.

However, for the time being, I would encourage you to focus on this little 2,100 mile trail, that has an proven, and consistent record of sending nearly 90% of prospective thru-hikers home much earlier than anticipated. Some don't even reach North Carolina, some not even Neels Gap, etc..

Just my two cents...

[Doctari]

My Bucket list, sort of in a loose order;

Thru hike the AT.
Kayak the Ohio & Mississippi rivers to NOLA (boat to the jct on the Ohio, then truck to Miss headwaters & finish in NOLA)
PCT
CDT
I have wanted to hike the Hayduke trail for a few years now. Talk about adventure. http://hayduketrail.org/
Bike across America, been wanting to do that just a few years less than I have wanted to thru the AT. http://www.adventurecycling.org/tour...FQEhDQodwgnXrw
Re-trace the Donner Party route, but in better weather.
Hadrian's wall in Engalnd. Pubs!!
West Highland way, & etc in Scotland. Pubs and SCOTCH!!!! And Haggis!
Can't remember the name, but there is a long trail on the South end of the South Island in New Zealand.
Climb Mt Fuji in Japan.
At least get to the bases of Everest & K2.
Around the world in 80 days, no, I'm serious. Flying not allowed.

The list continues, but maybe you now have an idea or 2, at least to start thinking.

Naturally, if I started tomorrow, it would take me about 40 years to finish. Thankfully, you are somewhat younger so have more time.

[Montana AT05]

I've always felt that you should really focus on the task in front of you before looking forward. --Stranger

Agreed. I try to do this at work--others try to attend to ten things at once. Better to do one thing well, than ten things poorly.

But like you, I often fail to follow my own advice. In 2008 I had an extensive trip planned. It involved a few long hike intersected by a long bike ride. I didn't complete the trip as I had planned, cutting short the first leg of the hike and extending the bike ride far beyond plans. I was left with a feeling of having failed.

Part of that failure was due to not focusing on the immediate effort--constantly thinking ahead to the next phase and desiring it over the present. I lost mental focus.

Doctari, I like your list, curiously, I was looking at Google Earth yesterday, tracing the Ohio River, wondering if I could canoe or kayak it.

I climbed Mt Fuji, not to the very top but a considerable ways...well, it was more like walking than climbing. It was enjoyable.

I also biked a large part of the Transam path you mentioned, it was a wonderful time. Cycle touring is great. I went from Montana to the Mississippi....I left the "established" trail in Colorado and cycled a northern route of my own making...in order to meet the Katy Trail in Missouri. It's a bike path along the Missouri River. NO CARS! And no hill....

Adventure cycling is up the road from me (which here in Montana means 201 miles but I go there on weekends sometimes, to shop in Missoula and see the sites).

[ki0eh]

If you want to do something no one's yet done, you don't need to travel much further than the A.T., since no one's known to have thru-hiked Great Eastern Trail - one could argue it's already as complete as the A.T. that Earl Shaffer walked in 1948.

[Montana AT05]

Thanks Ki0eh, that looks really interesting. I like the idea of interlinked trails...and choosing which of the links you want to hike. Combined with bike paths, bike routes, canoe opportunities--could be interesting.

All those small towns along the way, the history, local festivals. Very nice.

Looks like I better buy a lottery ticket because my to-do list is getting long.

[glessed]

So, I am absolutely PSYCHED for my upcoming thru of the AT. But, it honestly isn't as adventurous as it could be. I mean, everyone does it, it is extremely well blazed, you can't get lost (well, not really), it is pretty safe, there are towns every couple of days, etc...

Let me rephrase this- the AT is a huge adventure, giving up your fixed life in society and enduring the mental and physical difficulties. But, you do give up one society for another. Which, I don't mind. I know it will be very hard sometimes. But after the AT, I need a more adventurous adventure. Do you know what I mean?

Now I know, I may be getting ahead of myself. Hike the AT before making plans, ShLep. True. But I like to have ideas floating around in my head, taking root and making my mind itch.

After I finish the AT, I will be applying to college. And I figured, while I'm waiting to find out where I get in, I might as well do an adventure for a month or two.

Any suggestions for a real (hiking, no rock climbing for now) adventure?
I mean, I thought of doing a section of the PCT, and I eventually will- same goes for the CDT. But is that mcuh more of an adventure? I also am thinking about doing the LT in January. But I need slightly less travelled paths. Alaska, weird somewhat obscure hikes in Canada. Snow. (I need snow, snow is pretty much a requirement for my adventure) Could be a week to a month plus. I need to go somewhere OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE. Just realized that. And I figured, after the AT would be the perfect time, I'll have been done for about 4 months, and have finished college applications, etc...

So, recommend anything! Less well known trails in America, trails Canada, Europe, etc...

The Inca Trail in Peru, The Annapura Trail in Nepal, the Peace Corps (After College), Teach English in Europe or Asia (TOEFL is the certificate to obtain). I just got back from volunteering in Croatia. Spent three weeks and spent a total of $600 for travel, food and lodging. I have been to 135 cities in 19 countries. Just some thoughts. Make a list of all the things you want to do then forget about the list for a few years. Focus on what you are doing right now. You will find in 10 years or so (when you find your list) that everything that you wanted to do has pretty much been accomplished.

[Siestita]

LEAVE THE USA

Several people have made suggestions to ShelterLeopard that warm my heart::

Snow Leopard – Go trekking in Peru, Ecuador or Bolivia or just travel South America on the cheap.

Glessed – The Inca Trail in Peru, The Annapura Trail in Nepal, the Peace Corps (After College)…

Bluff Jeff—Why not just travel to a country you haven't been to before and see where you end up? If you really want to do another long distance hike, buy some good topographic mapping software and piece together a trek.


My thoughts -- It is challenging to travel through relatively uncharted and uninhabited wilderness, encountering unanticipated challenges there. It can be equally exciting to learn a foreign language and become accustomed to its culture, and then to trek through the mountains amongst farmers and herders whose life experiences have been very different from one’s own. Siestita

[Siestita]

Over the years I’ve generally found my solo, spontaneously conducted treks thru inhabited parts of backcountry mountain Mexico to be more interesting than my journeys into U.S. forests and wilderness areas.

Many years ago when I was 23, I spent a summer studying Spanish in Central Mexico. I then took a bus trip south to the predominantly Indigenous city of San Cristobal de las Casas. I thought I was being adventurous doing that until I met three French speaking Swiss guys my own age who had taken a more scenic route to San Cristobal. They had purchased horses down in the lowlands and then traveled for a month on trails winding through the mountains of Chiapas, each night purchasing lodging and food for themselves and the horses. They used their rather limited Spanish to communicate with the Native American farmers who provided them with hospitality and information about trails ahead.

Meeting the Swiss travelers opened my eyes to the fact that people possessing time, patience, and a bit of nerve can travel in unconventional ways through places not listed in guidebooks or recorded on maps. A person can develop the capability to undertake that sort of venture gradually, one step at a time..

While you are daydreaming about future adventures, Shelter Leopard, read “The People’s Guide to Backpacking, Boating, and Camping in Mexico” by Carl Franz. Published in 1981, that classic travel narrative/how-to-do-it book is available cheaply from used book sellers listed by amazon.com .

Some of Franz’s advice is outdated. For example, knowing how to skin and cook iguanas is no longer helpful because they are now endangered in much of Mexico. The book’s travel philosophy remains timely though, and its stories are gripping. Siestita.

[ShelterLeopard]

Wow, thanks siestita and glessed- very good ideas. I do have a lot of foreign countries on my "list", some of which I've already visited, but never alone, some of which I've never visited. I also definitely thought about the peacecorps, and I did at one point think about teaching English in Chechnya. I'll look up that book, and my list has been started. Thanks!

[The Weasel]

Wow, thanks siestita and glessed- very good ideas. I do have a lot of foreign countries on my "list", some of which I've already visited, but never alone, some of which I've never visited. I also definitely thought about the peacecorps, and I did at one point think about teaching English in Chechnya. I'll look up that book, and my list has been started. Thanks!

This is NOT a good time for Anglos to hike in Mexico or much of Central America, at least without a local guide, and, in most places, not even then.

As for the Peace Corps, the 'kumbaya in the jungle' days are gone. My kids have done rural Ethiopia and China. In Ethiopia they had electricity and shared water taps; in China, their kitchen had a dishwasher and their guest bedroom had Internet.

Even then, there will be ice-skating on Lake Hades before the PC sends volunteers to teach anything in Chechnya. No PCVs in that part of Russia. Egad.

TW

[ShelterLeopard]

This is NOT a good time for Anglos to hike in Mexico or much of Central America, at least without a local guide, and, in most places, not even then.

As for the Peace Corps, the 'kumbaya in the jungle' days are gone. My kids have done rural Ethiopia and China. In Ethiopia they had electricity and shared water taps; in China, their kitchen had a dishwasher and their guest bedroom had Internet.

Even then, there will be ice-skating on Lake Hades before the PC sends volunteers to teach anything in Chechnya. No PCVs in that part of Russia. Egad.

TW

I wouldn't go into Mexico without a guide- single young caucasian female who obviosly speaks no Spanish? Um.. not such a good idea. (I'd consider it with a group though)

I wouldn't expect "kumbaya in the jungle"- besides, I hate kumbaya. I have always wanted to go to Chechnya, though my whole Russian family pretty much flipped at that idea. And I do know that the PC doesn't send people to Chechnya (too big a risk, something like that. Or a lost cause?), but a couple other groups do. But who the heck knows how shifty those groups are?

I'm really not so keen on the peace corps anyway, I'd like to go see those areas, but they seem to not take any committment under 18 months, and rarely without a college degree, and who knows what my plans'll be after college?

[The Weasel]

I wouldn't go into Mexico without a guide- single young caucasian female who obviosly speaks no Spanish? Um.. not such a good idea. (I'd consider it with a group though)

It's not being a "single young caucasian female who doesn't speak Spanish." They have a lot of those there (and most Mexicans would consider themselve Caucasian, by the way). It's being an Anglo in the outback. Just not a good idea to hike there right now.

I wouldn't expect "kumbaya in the jungle"- besides, I hate kumbaya. I have always wanted to go to Chechnya, though my whole Russian family pretty much flipped at that idea. And I do know that the PC doesn't se?nd people to Chechnya (too big a risk, something like that. Or a lost cause?), but a couple other groups do. But who the heck knows how shifty those groups are?

Chechnya isn't an independent country, and is (forcibly, at least) a part of the Russian Federation. Post-Soviet Russia used to have some PCVs, but no longer does, having expelled them some years ago.

I'm really not so keen on the peace corps anyway, I'd like to go see those areas, but they seem to not take any committment under 18 months, and rarely without a college degree, and who knows what my plans'll be after college?

Peace Corps requires 2 years of service, plus a couple months of training. Volunteers are often taken without college degrees if they have desireable skills (e.g., masons, master carpenters, other skilled trades) and for many skills other than English-teaching (e.g. micro-lending, economic development, forestry).

It's known as 'the hardest job you'll ever love.'

TW

[ShelterLeopard]

I actually know a bit about the PC, and I know about why they no longer have volunteers in Chechnya (a Russian friend of mine told me all about it), and about the conditions in Chechnya now. I thought I read 18 months, maybe it was actually 28? And, as I don't have those skills, I figured college for me first! And, I'd want to finish college first anway.

And I'll take your word on Mexico- I know almost nothing about the conditions and attitude there right now.

[pjbarr]

shelterleopard:

considering hiking in hawaii - mainly oahu and kauai. i spent a week on oahu in late november and since i returned, i've been obsessed with reading about more trails, peaks, ridges, etc. this is a dramatic shift from the nightly reading about the AT on message boards, books, and the mileage guide on my bedside table. i've almost abandoned reading about the AT now, strangely.

Hiking on Oahu was unreal. People too often overuse the term "knife-edge ridge". I did too, until knowing what I know now. Their trails go over crumbling rocky ridges as wide as only your single boot length-wise - not two boots at the same time. And the drops are completely vertical. Not slopes, but sheer cliffs. It really opened my eyes to more dramatic hiking. These razor thin ridges then reach outcroppings and small cliffs themselves, and you either climb them carefully unsupported, or use the sketchy ropes and cables previous hikers have installed to pull yourself up. and by ropes and cables, I don't mean trail crew installed lines. I mean rubber garden hoses, electrical extension cords, phone cords, chains, etc. All that look incredibly unreliable, but it's your only option.

The island trails certainly expanded my comfort level. Almost all of their ridge trails are ungraded. The views are out of this world. The exhilaration is beyond description. The scenery (jagged mountains dropping directly into turquoise ocean with waterfalls coming down the cliffs everywhere) is mind boggling. Oahu gets overlooked because it is the most populated Hawaiian island, but just get away from Honolulu and Waikiki and its just amazing.

For a trail adventure, look into the Koolau Summit Trail (KST) - a crest trail constructed back in the 1930s by the CCC over most of the crest of the Koolau mountain range - a range that is disturbingly jagged and scary to look at its peaks and dikes up close. Trail couldn't be constructed in many places because it was too steep or there were insurmountable cliffs, but people have come along and found routes and installed homemade cables. The word is that only a handful of people have ever done the entire crest. It would be an amazing adventure, one never absent of life-ending danger. i'd love to spend a few weeks just on oahu doing portions of it, and other trails and peak

i can tell you more about hiking on hawaii when we're on the AT. it seems like we will be starting from springer within close proximity, so hopefully we'll run into each other this winter.

[buff_jeff]

shelterleopard:

considering hiking in hawaii - mainly oahu and kauai. i spent a week on oahu in late november and since i returned, i've been obsessed with reading about more trails, peaks, ridges, etc. this is a dramatic shift from the nightly reading about the AT on message boards, books, and the mileage guide on my bedside table. i've almost abandoned reading about the AT now, strangely.

Hiking on Oahu was unreal. People too often overuse the term "knife-edge ridge". I did too, until knowing what I know now. Their trails go over crumbling rocky ridges as wide as only your single boot length-wise - not two boots at the same time. And the drops are completely vertical. Not slopes, but sheer cliffs. It really opened my eyes to more dramatic hiking. These razor thin ridges then reach outcroppings and small cliffs themselves, and you either climb them carefully unsupported, or use the sketchy ropes and cables previous hikers have installed to pull yourself up. and by ropes and cables, I don't mean trail crew installed lines. I mean rubber garden hoses, electrical extension cords, phone cords, chains, etc. All that look incredibly unreliable, but it's your only option.

The island trails certainly expanded my comfort level. Almost all of their ridge trails are ungraded. The views are out of this world. The exhilaration is beyond description. The scenery (jagged mountains dropping directly into turquoise ocean with waterfalls coming down the cliffs everywhere) is mind boggling. Oahu gets overlooked because it is the most populated Hawaiian island, but just get away from Honolulu and Waikiki and its just amazing.

For a trail adventure, look into the Koolau Summit Trail (KST) - a crest trail constructed back in the 1930s by the CCC over most of the crest of the Koolau mountain range - a range that is disturbingly jagged and scary to look at its peaks and dikes up close. Trail couldn't be constructed in many places because it was too steep or there were insurmountable cliffs, but people have come along and found routes and installed homemade cables. The word is that only a handful of people have ever done the entire crest. It would be an amazing adventure, one never absent of life-ending danger. i'd love to spend a few weeks just on oahu doing portions of it, and other trails and peak

i can tell you more about hiking on hawaii when we're on the AT. it seems like we will be starting from springer within close proximity, so hopefully we'll run into each other this winter.

Don't forget Big Island. There's some awesome hiking there. I climbed Mauna Loa and only saw 2 other people in 3 days up and down. I REALLY wanted to hit Kauai, but I didn't have the time.

[Siestita]

Snow Leopard -- You could safely "go into Mexico [or Central or South America]without a guide" doing budget tourism, the activity which Europeans call "backpacking". Lots of solo women travelers, your age and older, do that successfully every day. If you ventured overnight into unpopulated or thinly populated areas, however, you (or the group of which you were a part) would want to have a Spanish speaking guide along.

None of the various ideas presented on this thread are risk free and some which have been proposed incorporate hazards--winter mountaineering, hikes circumventing Alaska, walking on knife edge" ridges, and summitting high Himalayan peaks, for example. It's interesting that the Weasel does not comment on the dangers inherent in those activities but rushes to condemn an entire region, rural Mexico and Central America, as unsafe for Anglo-Americans to visit.

"This is NOT a good time for Anglos to hike in Mexico or much of Central America, at least without a local guide, and, in most places, not even then....It's being an Anglo in the outback. Just not a good idea to hike there right now." The Weasel

I am not sure what Weasel means by "right now". Many people in the United States have long held paranoid views about travel and life in Mexico; those fears are not new but have intensified in recent years in response to drug violence occurring in several border cities.

There are still many places in Mexico and Central America where foreigners can camp, hike, and backpack safely. During December, 2009 I spent three pleasant and very safe weeks traveling in Mexico. Some of that time was spent in cities, places which (as in the USA) tend to be less safe than rural and wooded areas. Outside of the cities most of my time was spent in scenic rural towns in northern Oaxaca, including staying several places that few foreign tourists visit. As is usually the case in rural Mexico, people in those communities were very helpful to me.

Drug violence doesn't pervade all of Mexico, nor has a virulent outbreak of anti-american sentiment suddenly arisen in that country. Besides my late 2009 trip, I've had other safe and enjoyable experiences in Mexico's "outback" (strange word Weasel) in recent years.

In mid-December of 2004 I spent six days trekking through the mountain cloud forests of a UN designated biosphere reserve in Colima state (Sierra Manantlan). I sent one night camped in the forest, another sleeping on the covered porch of a welcoming farm family, and three nights staying in a free campground which friendly local people had built to attract eco-tourists.

In late December 2004, and also in December of 2005, I spent extended periods tenting in a well organized, very secure beachfront campground run by members of a friendly Mexican fishing village-Faro de Bucerias.

In July 2001 I "walked off the map" for nine days into Puebla's spectacular "Sierra Norte", a Nahua speaking area. When I hiked into one remote town at the end of the day a local council of elders decided that I would be permitted to spend the night sleeping on mats placed on the floor of their town hall. I would then be required to leave the area at sunrise the next morning. I understand why those Indians were concerned about my presence there. The only foreigners whom they had previously encountered had been Pentacostal missionaries intend on changing their religion and shattering their communal harmony. In other nearby towns Nahua people gave me food, water, and directions, and at times invited me to stay in their homes. "Trail Magic" is not just an AT phenomena.

Earlier, in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s I had similar experiences hiking other places in Mexico, and also a number of places in Costa Rica. That doesn't mean, of course, that people should not be mindful of risks inherent in trekking. As with AT hiking, perspecitive is required. Posters on another forum (Mexican Travel--Thorn Tree-Lonely Plant) provide good destination and safety advise. For a sense of what Mexican hiking offers see:

http://www.terrain.org/essays/3/harrison.htm

http://www.backyardnature.net/mexbirds/11mazate.htm

http://www.summitpost.org/area/range...volcanoes.html

Siestita

[sbhikes]

For what it's worth, I did a very non-traditional hike of the PCT and I didn't ask anybody for suggestions. How many PCT hikers shared a drink and a campsite with homeless people? How many started their hike from their front doors? If you want adventure, you have to think it up yourself, otherwise all you get is something someone else has done.

[nox]

If you want a cheap, fairly short get away just pack your bag and some snow shoes and head u to northern PA. It'll only cost you gas to get there since you're from jersey. Loyalsock in the winter would probably be pretty fun!!

[Cookerhiker]

I didn't read this whole thread so perhaps this has already been raised and (a) summarily rejected or (b) taken-into-consideration by you.

What about the Arizona Trail? You want to get out of your comfort zone - try hiking in the extreme dryness of the Southwest where the water availability we find so easily on the AT is a day-to-day challenge. You can experience nights in the 20s and days in the 90s on the same hike within a week of each other.

[Cookerhiker]

.....Peace Corps requires 2 years of service, plus a couple months of training. Volunteers are often taken without college degrees if they have desireable skills (e.g., masons, master carpenters, other skilled trades) and for many skills other than English-teaching (e.g. micro-lending, economic development, forestry).

It's known as 'the hardest job you'll ever love.'

TW

You're understating the Peace Corps Weasel - it's what you say and then some, in fact much, more. So you want to consider the Peace Corps? Then be prepared to:

1. Be willing, adept, and able to learn foreign languages fluently and these are not your high school languages. These languages will be the only ways you communicate with your clients.
2. Be very open and adaptable to cutures far different than mainstream or any part of America. Throw your ideas and book-smarts out the window, roll up your sleeves, and open your mind.
3. Exercise patience and manage your own expectations of what you can accomplish.
4. Willingly live in absolutely primitive conditions. We ATers think we can do that but the AT and all US backpacking is luxurious compared to conditions in most Peace Corps assignments.
5. Cast aside any feelings of superiority or smugness emanating from our American standard of living and the attendant attitudes that often follow. The operative word here is Respect. Don't just outwardly show it - feel it.
6. Remember that more than anything else, you're an ambassador - an ambassador for good works and good will.

All of the techical skills and gifts one can offer which you cite above can be great assets to share and help with people but unless you have the attributes I've cited, your probability for successful and rewarding PC service is limited.