When ever I stop to pick up a hitchhiking thru hiker I ask if he/she did the approach trail. If they say no I just drive off and leave them in the dust.
typical elitist/purist behaviorOriginally Posted by finklequirt15
^^ I think FQ's post was in jest.
I would never hate anybody who got a ride up to the top Springer Mountain but you work so hard to get the money, time, and gear together to hike the AT why shorten the experience. Then again I also feel the same way about slack packing. I'm going to enjoy every day that I'm out there because I can't stand being a corporate whore anymore
Then why don't you hike every blue blaze trail along the AT.......? By skipping all of them, except for the approach trail, you are shortening your experience.......
Lonehiker (MRT '22)
I wish I could I always see those blue blaze trails and wonder where they're going
Ok it's true the taco bell doesn't count for AT mileage.. but hey.. your just starting the hike and you're already cutting corners on a 5-6 moth hike? Do the damned trail. Start at Amicolola, climb Springer mountain and all the other mountains in the next 2200 miles!
I assume that the last few posters didn't catch the response where the OP made it clear that his question was in relation to a section hike?
I'm fairly certain he just wanted to know if the approach trail was enjoyable/worth hiking. Which I would agree that it is.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
I did a GA-NC section last summer and started at Amicalola. I really enjoyed the approach trail. It just seems like a more natural starting point to me. The falls are beautiful. You get the sense of leaving civilization behind as you hike beyond the crowds into the quiet of the forest. And there was a building anticipation to reach White Blaze #1 on the climb up Springer. I'm very glad I did it.
I think you spend too much time making assumptions. You assume this and are certain of that...... I know that you are wrong on the former (at least for my part) and I suspect you are wrong on the later as well.
Lonehiker (MRT '22)
oops my mistake. I thought the op was speaking of a thru hike not a section hike. SO then as to is the approach trail worth it? well the woods are nice but there are no special views.
Never been there, but hey, who dosen't like water falls right...I wouldn't skip it unless I had a reason for not doing it, like time constraints.
Hear, hear!!
““Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees....” ― John Muir
Okay I'm lost already. The ATC says there is no official sign in/register yet I read on these forums about sign ins, registering, getting a number and weight ins. Can someone enlighten me?
"He was a wise man who invented beer." Plato
I started at the Falls because it was part of trail before 1958, when the trail started at Mt Oglethorpe.
I had seen the Falls previously, and the stairs are no fun. I did the old trail east of the falls thru the woods, and reconnected at the top.
there is a register ( a notebook in a metal box)at the first blaze on the rock on top of Springer Mountain- see my profile picture, I am on that rock. There is also a register at the ATC HQ in Harpers Ferry where they take your picture and list you as # xxxx passing thru Harpers Ferry. There is another register at Katahdin.
I really enjoy the Approach trail. I did it on my very first hike on the AT back in 2004 and I hiked it both thruhikes NOBO and hiked it last year while finishing my SOBO thru.
AT x 3
GA-ME 2010
GA-ME 2011
ME-GA 2013
I have the Data Book, the companion and AWOL. I am doing the Approach. AT LEAST I THINK I AM. Currently I am surfing more than reading those books. I don't know my start time on that big day but I assume I'll make it to the top just in time to camp that evening.
Are there good places to camp up there at the trail's beginning (relatively safe) or would it be better to figure out a way to make it to the first good shelter if that means skipping the approach after all.
Otherwise I don't mind doing the 8 blue blazed miles.
I vote in with swisscross, heading back to the AT in April,
Springer - Franklin, on a bit of a tight time frame, no approach trail planned as of now.
Fantastic! You can sign in, weigh your pack, talk to the Rangers, and see Amicolola Falls. If in reasonable physical shape, can leave Ranger Station by noon and be sitting on Springer by Sunset. Shelter and plenty camp sites when you arrive. Enjoy!
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