View Full Version : Fun things
Rachmish
03-02-2014, 00:10
Hey everyone!
So I want to do so many things on my trip, including skydiving, whitewater rafting, and so much more! Do any of you have any ideas of what I should do on my trip! Like just adventurous, amazing things?
Thanks everyone!
rocketsocks
03-02-2014, 00:18
Now I'm not suggesting you should do this, but if you can las souey one of them "Texas long Horns" and ride it for an 8 count, I'd sure love to read about it.
Sarcasm the elf
03-02-2014, 00:22
You say "on your trip" is this a thru hike or a section hike? If it's a thru hike do you care about actually hiking every mile of the A.T., or are you willing to bypass certain parts if it allows you to have a more interesting experience? Also, what kind of a budget are you working with?
There is a fellow member named Ozjacko who had an amazing experience on his hike last year and his trail journal is worth a read. He blue blazed, he went to NYC, he traveled by bush plane, he canoed many miles of a river that parallels the trail and had many other sidetrips. In the end he did not actually complete a thru hike (according to him, not me), but he got a lot more out of his trip than he ever would have had he decided to just follow the white blazes from Georgia to Maine.
The link to his trail journal is below:
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=398405
kayak karl
03-02-2014, 00:22
are you talking about a thru hike?
i think it was stumpknocker that went off on tangents and different things on his hikes :)
Rachmish
03-02-2014, 00:48
You say "on your trip" is this a thru hike or a section hike? If it's a thru hike do you care about actually hiking every mile of the A.T., or are you willing to bypass certain parts if it allows you to have a more interesting experience? Also, what kind of a budget are you worki with?
There is a fellow member named Ozjacko who had an amazing experience on his hike last year and his trail journal is worth a read. He blue blazed, he went to NYC, he traveled by bush plane, he canoed many miles of a ricer that parallels the trail and had many other sidetrips. In the end he did not actually complete a thru hike (according to him, not me), but he got a lot more out of his trip than he ever would have had he decided to just follow the white blazes from Georgia to Maine.
The link to his trail journal is below and it is well worth reading:
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=398405
I will be hiking NOBO until Harper's Ferry. I honestly, saved enough money up for the A.T for most of my life, and so I am finally ready to try everything out on this experience!
WingedMonkey
03-02-2014, 00:50
You first opportunity to "whitewater" will be at Nantahala Outdoor Center almost right on the trail.
Rachmish
03-02-2014, 00:55
I plan on already whitewater rafting at NOC, and probably doing something fun in Gatlinburg, and then something at Hot Springs, but I am trying to find something that I have never done before, even riding a bull, or jumping off a cliff... Because I noticed once you hit VA, there are not a lot of major cities, that I am come across to do something that you would say "Mark off of your bucket list" type of things!
I am just graduating college, and so I want to experience the world at its finest! I really do appreciate all the responses!
Kc Fiedler
03-02-2014, 00:57
And backpacking the AT from VA north isn't worthy of a bucket list by its self?
WingedMonkey
03-02-2014, 01:00
And backpacking the AT from VA north isn't worthy of a bucket list by its self?
LOL I was just starting to post "actually making it to Harrpers Ferry is the world at its finest.
Rachmish
03-02-2014, 01:14
And backpacking the AT from VA north isn't worthy of a bucket list by its self?
I understand that it is a bucket list point of my life for sure, but I am going through some difficult things in my life. I just want some other options of things to do while I am on the trail by myself, I know more will probably come up along the way, but I really do want to get a lot of my "bucket list" type of things done on this trip! haha
Feral Bill
03-02-2014, 02:45
Caving would be good. There should be some near the trail. A wild cave with experienced people.
Sarcasm the elf
03-02-2014, 02:51
Caving would be good. There should be some near the trail. A wild cave with experienced people.
Now that's a great idea! Though I place emphasis on doing it under the supervision of experienced folks.
Hill Ape
03-02-2014, 05:53
off trail, but hang gliding at lookout mtn TN. it takes a solid pair of low swinging stones to run off that ramp
Damn Yankee
03-02-2014, 07:07
You can get off in Waynesboro and take a glider ride or maybe bungee jump off the New River bridge. Maybe fish for some wild trout or muskie or a zipline over the canopy
Lone Wolf
03-02-2014, 08:32
ramp eating contest at the Ramp Festival in Whitetop Va., the sunday of Trail Days
1. Side trip to NYC. http://www.backpacker.com/may-2010-zones-urban-manhattan-ny/destinations/14184
2. Float plane tour in Maine
Floating/rafting down the Potomac near Harpers Ferry, right next to the trail. Swimming in lakes along the trail (Little Rock Pond, Pierce Pond, etc. etc.) Water blazing down the Delaware. White water at NOC. Arrange to camp at an open mountain top for the meteor showers in August (Perseid on Aug. 12 this year.) Trail days, of course. Check out NYC and/or DC, both easily accessible from the trail. Gatlinburg is a trip if you're into kitsch.
in Damascus, I enjoy bike riding the Va. Creeper trail. it's a fun way to spend part of a day and it's all downhill so you can give the legs a break. plenty of places in Damascus to rent a bike and shuttle up to the trailhead on top of whitetop Mtn.
I understand that it is a bucket list point of my life for sure, but I am going through some difficult things in my life. I just want some other options of things to do while I am on the trail by myself, I know more will probably come up along the way, but I really do want to get a lot of my "bucket list" type of things done on this trip! haha
If you are going through some difficult things in your life just being with your thoughts on the 6-month journey will likely be the most challenging and rewarding thing to do. May not be the "fun" you are looking for but will be the most memorable.
Teacher & Snacktime
03-02-2014, 10:24
Try the Ridge & River tour at NOC....it's a guided zipline tour PLUS a white-water rafting tour. This will be the big adventure Snacktime and I are undertaking on our trip....maybe we'll see you there!
Another idea -- potentially scarier than skydiving-- but certainly something to tell the grand kids..
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?36866-Sunny-Rest-Resort-Palmerton-PA
You could also get a tattoo along the way-- i saw a joint in North Woodstock, NH -- but not sure if there would be too great of a potential for infection on a hike.
LIhikers
03-02-2014, 23:22
The question I have is why wait for your hike? Start living life for all it's worth right now!
LIhikers
03-02-2014, 23:27
Oh, and if you'll be just graduating college, then you're probably to young to be workin a bucket list. It's probly called sumthin else for a young person, if you are one of those.
check out skydiveorange.com They're about 30 miles east of Shenandoah National Park.
Sierra2015
03-03-2014, 01:02
Oh, and if you'll be just graduating college, then you're probably to young to be workin a bucket list. It's probly called sumthin else for a young person, if you are one of those.
A list for before you get old and need to start a retirement fund?
Go to as many overlooks, waterfalls, Natural wonders, music festivals, dance in the rain, historical sites(lots of them on the AT), fish, paddle, wander into nearby towns(hang with the locals), visit Botanical Gardens, rent a bicycle and ride the Creeper Trail, volunteer(at a Homeless Shelter, Park pulling weeds/learning about plants, doing a few days of trail work with others!), go to Trail Days(that's always an adventure, walk in the hiker parade), check out caves, get lost INTENTIONALLY(if capable bushwack at least once), hitch hike often(that's always an adventure), hang glide, learn something totally new, zip line, take alternate routes, sleep in a tree/treehouse/on an island/in a cave, etc. In other words, do what I do on every hike. LOL Never did the parachuting thing though on a hike.
In Palmerton sleep in the jail! LOL. That's north of HF though.
Hot Springs - well, hit up the Hot Springs - get a massage, take a soak at the spa.
Go vegetarian for a wk.
If you give me long enough I can get ya to spend $50K on a hike from Springer to HF. It's not all about having to spend money though. Some of my greatest memories of adventure are when I had little to no $ in my pocket.
It's an adventure in itself finding ways to increase adventuresome experiences with little money!