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Philetus
04-27-2014, 13:45
Hey, folks.

After almost 20 years, I finally got my wife to spend a few nights in a tent. It was the epitome of car camping, and we managed to fit an Areobed in the tent, but it's a start. She wants to go look at tents (we were using a borrowed 3-man, and my trail tent is an REI one-man that is just barely big enough for me), and she thinks that should could forgo the air mattress for a pad. Baby steps.

I'd like to get her up onto one of the southeastern trails (the AT is my first thought, but I'm coming here for any and all advice), that would provide a relatively short (three miles or less) and relatively flat hike in and out. She does not do great on hills, and I am still rehabbing my knee after ... well ... after falling down an active volcano last summer (Cotopaxi, in Ecuador. Luckily, falling down is not the same thing as falling into).

We are in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, but would have no problem driving five, six, seven hours to a trailhead. I think she would actually really like shelter camping, but I want to strike the tent-camping iron while it is hot.

So, does anybody have any suggestions for baby-step backpack camping in GA, NC, TN, SC or VA?

-- Philetus
(Only about 200 miles in; more than 2000 to go, but I'll get there)

chiefiepoo
04-27-2014, 14:00
Around Clayton, GA, Walhalla, SC there is the Chattooga river trail. It parallels the river for many miles and the slopes are easy. Find a raft guide to shuttle you to an access point and hike back to uS 76 and your car. Bring your banjo.

Philetus
04-27-2014, 14:12
Great idea. We've rafted the Upper Chattooga (it only took me 15 years to get her in a raft), and the Lower Chatt is on our to-do list. I think I'd want to combine rafting with a hot shower, though.

HikerMom58
04-27-2014, 14:31
Well, you know her a lot better than we do.. baby steps. :) Looks like you got a handle on it.

I would get a A.T. Guide book and look at that. Pick out something that she would be comfortable doing.

Malto
04-27-2014, 15:03
I was also going to suggest the Chattooga as well. Very nice but relatively easy.

WingedMonkey
04-27-2014, 15:33
Close to home for you is the Palmetto Trail.

I'm familiar with the section through Sumter National Forest, and think it's some beautiful woods (and flat). Nice primitive camp sites or developed sites if that's her thing.

Swamp Fox Passage section is in your backyard, but I haven't hiked that area yet. Might be good if you need to bail out and head home.

http://www.palmettoconservation.org/maps.asp


:sun

scudder
04-27-2014, 16:42
Have you considered Cumberland Island National Seashore? Not too far from you, very flat, and you might find a few sharks teeth in the sand.

bamboo bob
04-27-2014, 16:52
How about the C&O canal? Columbus MD to Georgetown. Flat, camping every five miles, with water pumps.

chiefiepoo
04-27-2014, 17:16
That would be Cumberland, MD. and with amtrak service once a day, hike from there to DC and train back to your car.

dmax
04-27-2014, 17:19
My wife is the same way. So for our first multiday day hike I took her to the Virginia Creeper Trail.

DugK
04-27-2014, 17:30
Just got home with my wife.. She set foot on the AT the first time yesterday. I planned a small trek in Grayson Highland. The scenery is great and many wild ponies. The trail up to Wilburn ridge is up hill but if you go slow it is ok. I planned to set up camp close to a spring, helped her knowing I could get water back to site and she can clean up. The sun set and rise from the ridge is very nice(romantic with the spouse). She now is interested in another trek. Best if luck

FooFighter'12
04-27-2014, 20:52
Chattooga river trail is definitely a good one. Park at the Hwy 28 Russell bridge and head upstream. My girlfriend is adverse to hills, and sometimes flats, but she enjoyed that. Good campsites on the river and at least one with chairs of river rock. A couple waterfalls not too far upstream where the chattooga meets the Foothills and more campsites.

Another good one for the Chattooga is to park at the Fish Hatchery and hike the East Fork Chattooga trail 2.5 miles to the river where there is great camping.

Also, Shining Rock Wilderness on the BRP would be a good one. Park on Black Balsam rd and enjoy breathtaking scenes on your hike in. One of my favorite areas in the south but gets a lot of traffic.

South Mills river trail in Pisgah. Good camping on a short hike from Turkey Pen Gap.

Jones gap trail in Jones Gap state park. Set up camp on the river and hike to Rainbow Falls.

Namtrag
04-27-2014, 22:24
Neusiok Trail in New Bern NC area is a great trail before bug season.

Also so you should look at some loop hikes in Uwharrie National Forest in central nc.

Adriana
04-28-2014, 03:07
So, does anybody have any suggestions for baby-step backpack camping in GA, NC, TN, SC or VA?

-- Philetus
(Only about 200 miles in; more than 2000 to go, but I'll get there)
Three Forks to Long Creek Falls is beautiful, flat and only a 3 mile round trip.

slbirdnerd
04-28-2014, 07:58
Teach her the lock step! :) I have a much easier time hiking uphill now. Granted, my moves look a little like Frankenstein but it gets me to the top without stopping and without feeling totally winded and beat when I get there. Also, with the lock step, climb the hill at a slow, steady pace--however slow you have to go to progress consistently. This past weekend I likened it to a cog railway as I climbed some steep hills. Use rhythmic breathing as well, think Lamaze. The other things that helps me is that I use two hiking poles and going up, I don't put them out in front of me. I found this tempted me to pull on them which is hard on your arms and the poles--use your thigh muscles. My poles go only slightly forward of my body, but out to the sides. In theory, I think this feels better because it creates a more stabilized, wider surface area going up the hill.

Doughnut
04-28-2014, 08:36
Panther Creek Falls in georgia or several falls trails in SC, Can't rememerb the names, there was a book "Waterfalls of South Carolina" or similiar, many are in and out hikes, not too far, not too steep.

Tron-Life
05-05-2014, 17:23
My wife is the same way. So for our first multiday day hike I took her to the Virginia Creeper Trail.

I second this suggestion. If not the Creeper Trail, the AT int he
Grayson Highlands section is really beautiful, reasonably mild, and has horses which is fun for everyone. There are alot of hikes i that area all you have to do is choose where to park, then hike to town and get a ride back to your car.

Namtrag
05-05-2014, 17:34
Dolly Sods has some pretty gentle terrain depending on which loop you take, and it is one of the most beautiful places I have been.

Professor Paul
11-17-2015, 03:25
Google "rail trail." Rail trails are pretty common, often very nice, and usually easy. One here in central Maryland is the NCR or Torrey Brown Trail; it goes for about 20 or 25 miles through some very nice countryside and attracts folks with a similar aversion to hills. I got a guidebook for rail trails in WV/MD that has a lot of options. I'm sure there are guides for the areas you're looking at, too.

Lnj
11-17-2015, 15:44
Teach her the lock step! :) I have a much easier time hiking uphill now. Granted, my moves look a little like Frankenstein but it gets me to the top without stopping and without feeling totally winded and beat when I get there. Also, with the lock step, climb the hill at a slow, steady pace--however slow you have to go to progress consistently. This past weekend I likened it to a cog railway as I climbed some steep hills. Use rhythmic breathing as well, think Lamaze. The other things that helps me is that I use two hiking poles and going up, I don't put them out in front of me. I found this tempted me to pull on them which is hard on your arms and the poles--use your thigh muscles. My poles go only slightly forward of my body, but out to the sides. In theory, I think this feels better because it creates a more stabilized, wider surface area going up the hill.

I am a woman who just recently discovered that I have developed exercise induced asthma. I take a hit on an inhaler about an hour before a hike to help me breathe on the climbs. I have heard of but have no knowledge of "the lock step". Can someone clue me in?

JustaTouron
11-17-2015, 16:38
Agree with rail trails. Also in keeping with baby steps, I wouldn't necessarily do backpacking as the first hike. Get her to like day hiking and car camping as separate activities before merging them into one.

Sent from my SM-T110 using Tapatalk

Tipi Walter
11-17-2015, 17:03
I have no location suggestions but I love the quote "Hill-Averse Wife." Or just "Hill Averse". It makes a great sound bite and the words would make a great tattoo on a backpacker's forehead. Hill Averse Wife about sums up America's relationship to backpacking.

squeezebox
11-17-2015, 19:02
Around Clayton, GA, Walhalla, SC there is the Chattooga river trail. It parallels the river for many miles and the slopes are easy. Find a raft guide to shuttle you to an access point and hike back to uS 76 and your car. Bring your banjo.

Damn!! Now I have to learn to play banjo.

squeezebox
11-17-2015, 19:10
Be easy, be gentle, and realize you probably won't get what you want. Lots of posts in WB from folks with a non-hiking spouse. Get your hiking fix without her maybe.

squeezebox
11-17-2015, 19:15
Consider doing some of the things she has been nagging you about as a warm up.

cycle003
12-21-2015, 18:41
One option is to take up canoe or kayak camping.

Mr. Bumpy
12-22-2015, 07:55
Paris Mountain Just a little bit north of Greenville, SC has a little known backcountry option that would work. There are easy backcountry options at King's Mt. National and State Parks, and Crowder's Mt. NC has a backcountry spot as well.

rocketsocks
12-22-2015, 08:25
It wouldn't bother me one iota to hike the Grand Canyon...around the rim, just makes gettin' water a bit of a walk.

dervari
12-22-2015, 20:06
Panther Creek Falls in georgia or several falls trails in SC, Can't rememerb the names, there was a book "Waterfalls of South Carolina" or similiar, many are in and out hikes, not too far, not too steep.

I wouldn't recommend Panther Creek, at least from the West Trailhead. Hiked it in September and there are some major erosion issues on some parts of the trail. If she's relatively new to hiking, this probably isn't for her. They actually re-routed part of the trail and the only marker is a red ribbon tied in a tree. No sign, blaze, or anything. If you go the wrong way you are in for a very narrow trail with some serious drop-offs.

This is an example. So much erosion that the poles holding some safety cables have become uprooted. :(
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