Pinhoti Trail

[10-K]

Hmm.. ok.. I think I'm going to put the Pinhoti on top of the list for my next long hike and shoot for late February / early March of 2013.

I've got from Bull Pen Gap to the northern end at the Benton MacKaye trail on GPS.

[10-K]

Trail Maps are available from Cheaha State Park store and Solo's trail guide is available to order from the PTA web site. I have hiked all of it, some of it several times. It is a good trail and except for the area around Cheaha State Park there are very few hikers on it. It has more of a wilderness feeling to me than the AT except maybe in Maine. It is well maintained. John C. Calhoun aka "Mother Natures Son" is constantly working on it.

Do you know if Solo's guide is available again? Website says it's "temporarily unavailable" but that was in 2011. No email address is given.

[atmilkman]

So the "official" maps from the forest service - are these up to date?

Can this trail be thru hiked (both AL and GA) without spending a lot of time trying to find and locate where the trail is constantly?

Resupply? Convenient or requires taking half day or better off the trail?

Official maps are slightly outdated. (1997) Only cover from MM 52.3 to 161.1 Use Mr. Parkays maps and the guide down left hand side of home page of the Pinhoti Trail Alliance Site.
Trail in AL is blazed good. Easy to locate.
We always pre-drop resupplies. Cheaha State Park Lodge (79.3) front desk will hold, access 24-7, Hwy 431 Trailhead (96.7) green house about a 1/4 mile past where the trail crosses the highway, first house you come to on the right side of highway going south the man will hold drop there, normal daytime hours, can get water here too, nice guy, you have to backtrack north and cross highway to the east, very easy to find. Shoal Creek Ranger Distric South FS500 Trailhead (106.2) Will let you put resupply on back porch of office, we use 5gal bucket with lid, access 24-7. Or hitch into Heflin to the east or Oxford/Anniston to the west, but like KK says can easily take 1/2 day. Pine Glen Trailhead (119.8) Campground Hosts will hold resupply, normal daylight hours, very nice people, very helpful with trail conditions ahead, need to get to show where trail picks back up, you used to cross the old bridge and it was on the right, now you need to go under the new from the old bridge after you cross the creek, go to the right. North from there we have had pre-arranged resupplies at different trailheads. I'm pretty sure the man at Chief Ladiga Campground (152.8) would hold a resupply because he's let us park vehicles there. And there's always the Pinhoti Trailhead Shuttle Service of Blister Bob and Shadow Sue, super nice folks. Bob will help you customize your hike anyway you like, can keep your vehicle(s) at his house.
Blister Bob (256) 276-1661 [email protected]
Shadow Sue (256) 276-1856
10-K I've said this to Rainman and it goes for you, with your experience if you use Mr. Parkay's maps and the guide from the website I have no doubt that you will easily find your way the very first time as if you had been on the trail your whole life. No doubt. And I think you'll really enjoy it.

[Drybones]

Hmm.. ok.. I think I'm going to put the Pinhoti on top of the list for my next long hike and shoot for late February / early March of 2013.

I've got from Bull Pen Gap to the northern end at the Benton MacKaye trail on GPS.

I hike the Pinhoti on a regular basis in cold weather so it would not be a problem for me to schedule a hike where I can help with resupply.

[10-K]

I hike the Pinhoti on a regular basis in cold weather so it would not be a problem for me to schedule a hike where I can help with resupply.

Thanks - I'll be glad to take you up on that.

[10-K]

Looking at Mr. Parkay's profile maps the trail looks pretty level but reading various journals I note that there are lots of rocks and up-down-up-down stretches of trail.

How does the Pinhoti compare to the AT as far as difficulty rating goes?

[Drybones]

I believe you'll find it much easier than the AT although there are some sections that will get your heart rate up a little. The uphill stretches are much shorter than the AT. The toughest section to me is Oakey Mt...1000 elevation gain in a mile, but to me it's nothing like the AT, but still an enjoyable hike. The section around Cheaha Park (about 15 miles) has a lot of rocks but it's not really that bad. Did see a hiker wearing a pair of solid leather boots with one of them ripped almost in half at the ankle from rocks in this area.

[SouthMark]

Do you know if Solo's guide is available again? Website says it's "temporarily unavailable" but that was in 2011. No email address is given.

10K, you are welcome to my copy. PM me your mailing address and I will be glad to send it to you. The sections trail guide on the PTA site is pretty much the same thing and is printable. The main use of Solo's Trail Guide is water information. I don't think Hugh is publishing or selling them at this time. He and his wife are pretty busy building a house just off the Pinhoti near Piedmont.

[perrymk]

Is this guide scanned in and ready for emailing? I'd appreciate a copy if it is.

[SouthMark]

Is this guide scanned in and ready for emailing? I'd appreciate a copy if it is.

No it si not a scanned copy. It is an original loose leaf printed copy. If you visit the PTA web site http://www.pinhotitrailalliance.org/sitemap.html, you can find a web version along the left side (column 1) entitled Northbound Trail Guides. There are a number of ways to print these or save them as PDF files.

[Drybones]

No it si not a scanned copy. It is an original loose leaf printed copy. If you visit the PTA web site http://www.pinhotitrailalliance.org/sitemap.html, you can find a web version along the left side (column 1) entitled Northbound Trail Guides. There are a number of ways to print these or save them as PDF files.

I copied and pasted the PTA info into an Excel spread sheet...only takes a few minutes.

[10-K]

Pinhoti it is! Put it on the calendar for February 15th....

I"m planning to do the AL and GA sections at the same time.

[Maddog]

Pinhoti it is! Put it on the calendar for February 15th....

I"m planning to do the AL and GA sections at the same time.

I've been looking at this trail lately as well! It's definiteley on my to do list! Sooner than later! Maddog

[Drybones]

I ran across a couple of old geezers at the Lower Shouls Shelter this spring that were headed to ME via the Pinhoti. I had hoped I would see them on the AT but I was about two weeks ahead of them. Anyone out there seen or heard of Creekgeek and his sidekick Doug?

[golfjhm]

They had to stop due to injury.

http://www.trailjournals.com/locatio...railname=12615

[Drybones]

They had to stop due to injury.

http://www.trailjournals.com/locatio...railname=12615

Thanks for the update Golf...I was pullin for the old boys.

[birdygal]

I have hiked the majority of the pinhoti in Ga just have the first rail bed part and the last part past the roadwalk this year the guides on the pta site for Ga have been enough . Going to tackle 5 days in Alabama this weekend

[Hitchin' Post]

I"m planning to do the AL and GA sections at the same time.

I recommend hiking one first and then the other.

[Drybones]

I have hiked the majority of the pinhoti in Ga just have the first rail bed part and the last part past the roadwalk this year the guides on the pta site for Ga have been enough . Going to tackle 5 days in Alabama this weekend

What section are you doing?

[birdygal]

I was doing Cheah state park north, Had to get off the lady I was hiking with fell and hurt her hand day 2 guess I will have to find someone else to do it with, Alabama pinhoti is just too far away for me to day hike