View Full Version : To Approach or not Approach.......
That is the question. Do the approach trail, or do the road in a little closer. Advice?
Do the white blazes start at Amicalola or up on top at the S. Terminus of Springer?
Lone Wolf
10-03-2005, 20:11
White blazes start at Springer. It's a blue-blazed trail from the visitors center to Springer.
max patch
10-03-2005, 20:22
That is the question. Do the approach trail, or do the road in a little closer. Advice?
Do the white blazes start at Amicalola or up on top at the S. Terminus of Springer?
White blazes start on top of Springer, approach trail is blue blazed.
Either way is good, approach trail will add 1 day to your 6 month hike so its no real big deal either way.
If someone offers you a ride to USFS 42 then start at Springer. If someone offers you a ride to Amicalola then do the approach trail.
The main advantage to the approach trail is if your 90 year old parents will be dropping you off. USFS 42 is a 6.5 mile dirt road with no facilities. Amicalola is reached on paved roads and has picnic tables and restrooms.
i renamed the approach trail as the departure trail,in may 2001 i parked at amicola falls state park and got shuttled to deep gap in nc.south of standing indian shelter and hiked this section south. when i got to springer i had to do the aproach trail since i was parked at amicola falls visitors center,i hike south there for,i renamed it the departure trail,i am glad i done it,:cool: neo
jackiebolen
10-03-2005, 21:19
People talked about doing it or not for about a week or so. Then is just didn't matter anymore. In the whole scheme of things, it doesn't really matter.
MDSHiker
10-03-2005, 22:00
If you haven't hiked it before then I would suggest you do it. I think it adds to the experience. Like everyone else said, it's just one more day...or half a day.
I like it so much that I hiked it again a few days ago. LOL Go for it !
Thanks for the advice. Sorry, I didnt' know it was already discussed a week ago!
MacGyver2005
10-04-2005, 07:49
Sorry, I didnt' know it was already discussed a week ago!
I may be mistaken, but I interpret his response to mean that hikers made the approach trail a discussion piece for the first week of the hike or so, then it no longer really mattered.
I personally see no need to hike an additional day. If you thru-hike, at the end it seems inconsequential. However, if you get out there and realize that you do not want to be out there, you find yourself an additional day from your scheduled destination. You also consider the added weight of an additional day, and the fact that you are still fresh to the whole thing. But as said, if your ride does not coincide with driving all the way in and out of the forestry road then the approach trail is not that big of an issue.
Regards,
-MacGyver
GA-->ME
justusryans
10-04-2005, 07:57
We're doing the approach trail because we want to do the approach trail, Don't really care what color the blazes are, Don't care if it adds a day, Don't care what other people do, Don't care about the extra weight, Don't care what other people think. You only have one shot at life, live it the way YOU want to live it, not the way anyone thinks you should live it. Do what is important to YOU! :D
dje97001
10-04-2005, 08:37
We don't know what we are going to do yet. Not that it matters I suppose.
Rain Man
10-04-2005, 08:49
We're doing the approach trail because we want to do the approach trail, Don't really care what color the blazes are, Don't care if it adds a day, Don't care what other people do, Don't care about the extra weight, Don't care what other people think. You only have one shot at life, live it the way YOU want to live it, not the way anyone thinks you should live it. Do what is important to YOU! :D
Amen and AMEN!!!
I can't understand someone what says "_I_ liked the approach trail, therefore _you_ should hike it." Or "_I_ believe in this or that, therefore _you_ need to do thus and thus."
I'm a section hiker. I hiked the approach trail one time, and didn't hike it another time, due entirely to scheduling, but you do whatever works for you. I hiked up and back down the Hunt Trail on Katahdin. Maybe next time I'll have the opportunity to hike the Knife Edge instead, time and weather permitting. But I sure wouldn't tell others they should do it because I did, or vice versa.
You Hike Your Own Hike.
Rain:sunMan
.
Youngblood
10-04-2005, 08:54
That is the question. Do the approach trail, or do the road in a little closer. Advice?
Do the white blazes start at Amicalola or up on top at the S. Terminus of Springer?
Since you are from FL I will bring up one other factor about hiking the Approach Trail. The Approach Trail has at least three good mountains to climb to get to Springer Mountain. This should give folks a taste of what the AT is like before they get far enough in to make turning back a scary proposition (if you find you aren't prepared for mountains). If you start at the forest service road 0.9 mile north of Springer Mountain you get to hike about 9 miles further before you hit any sizable mountains and if you have problems there, turing around and hiking out will not likely work... you will need to try to get a ride out on one of the lightly used forest service roads.
So, if you don't have experience backpacking in mountains it might be a good idea to take the Approach Trail because if you can make that you should physically be able to handle what lies ahead on the southern AT.
Youngblood
In '87 we were just doing some day hikes/overnighters so we did the approach to trail, stayed the night at Springer and came back down. In '89 when we started out thru, we were camping at the campsites near the top of the falls and justs started from there.
On oct 31 of this year, we'll be doing the approach trail again to Springer, this time with our friend from Vegas. Her 1st time backpacking. What better way to introduce her to the glories of the AT!
Do it, don't do it, the Trail doesn't care.
RLC_FLA
GAME '89
Footslogger
10-04-2005, 09:55
If you've never done the approach trail and have the time, it's not a bad hike. But like others have said ...it is not part of the AT so there's no need to feel as if you HAVE to do it in order to complete the trail.
'Slogger
Hi MacGyver2005,
"I may be mistaken, but I interpret his response to mean that hikers made the approach trail a discussion piece for the first week of the hike or so, then it no longer really mattered.[QUOTE]
What I meant was I didn't notice another thread here on WB the week before, I didn't mean to start a thread about something that was already discussed ;-)
Good advice for folks from FL, yes I am from here, but have done WV - PA and CT-MA on Section hikes over the past few years, so have a good feel for the mtns....I suppose it's just a personal choice...I truly didn't realize that it was a Blue Blazed trail, I just wanted to get some opinions from those who had been there done that.
Sounds like a nice days hike, and I've heard there are waterfalls, which I really dig.
AT-HITMAN2005
10-04-2005, 11:37
I just finished my thru-hike last week, and I did the approach trail. At Springer Mtn. shelter there was a past thru-hiker there for the night just to meet some of the new class. He said that between Hawk Mtn. shelter and Gooch Gap would be our hardest day yet. Well, doing the approach trail was, in my opinion, harder than just about anything else in Georgia. I'm pretty positive it was from being the first day in the mtns.(I'm from Florida as well) but the approach does help prepare you for whats to come.
And it's funny because I talking to come fellow thru-hikers towards the end about if they slack packed or not. And a couple said they carried there full packs all the way in a northerly direction, BUT they didn't do the approach trail...So they started out southbound. Wether the approach had any views or not, I wouldn't know I was in a fog and rain the whole way to Springer.
Dances with Mice
10-04-2005, 14:07
The Approach Trail is alright, neither extremely hard nor too easy. The only waterfall along the Trail is Amicalola, just a few yards off the trail a mile or so from the beginning. The climb out of the visitor Center starts with a couple switchbacks through a thick rhododendron tunnel, then it hits an old gravel road. Most of the climb to the top of the falls is along this gravel road, not the prettiest piece of trail but there are very nice views along the way. Don't carry any water for this portion of the trail, there's a water fountain at the restroom beside the trail near the falls.
After the falls it's a nice, quiet walk in the woods to the ridgeline of Frosty Mtn., right after crossing a FS road. Frosty is a straight up the ridge slog that will make a lot of people re-evaluate their pack list. It's not very steep, it's just long and sort of depressing because you can see the trail continuing a long ways ahead with no turns.
After Frosty the trail just rolls along with short climbs and dips to Springer. There is one sharp climb and drop as the trail cuts across the shoulder of a mountain, but nothing major. That might even be immediately after the Frosty summit, I forget. Anyway, the hardest part of the trail is the part from the Visitor's Center to the top of the falls, then the climb up Frosty's ridgeline, both near the beginning of the hike. And then there's the climb up Springer, but that is switchbacked and I think it's an interesting walk, you can see the vegetation change from the gap to the summit. It's a much prettier walk than along the over-trod rock hop from the Springer summit down to the parking lot. Walking to the Springer summit from the south is a nicer approach to the terminus than from the north.
max patch
10-04-2005, 14:28
Sounds like a nice days hike, and I've heard there are waterfalls, which I really dig.
Then make sure you don't miss Long Creek Falls, which is about 100 yards (at the most) on a blue blaze trail about 5 miles north of Springer.
Naturally its all a matter of opinion. Mine for what its worth, (not much, as its free advice)
Do the approach trail, I think its likely that you may regret not doing it, particularly if you are of the "white blaze" mind-set. Yes I know its not officially part of the trail, but it used to be when the trail started at Mt. Oglethorpe, and I suspect that its at least a sentimental "official" part of the trail for most.
Besides, its a nice hike.
Interesting discussion. I skipped the approach trail in 03 because it wasn't part of the AT and at that time I did not want to add more miles to the goal of getting to Katadhin. Last year I did the approach trail and of course the ultimate goal was still to reach Katadhin but I felt I'd be cheating myself to skip the approach trail twice. There isn't anything really special about it other than those are your first footsteps on a long walk. If you choose to take it, thousands of miles later you'll realize It wasnt a big deal and it wasnt that hard. They give you all kinds of warnings about it because they realize for many it's the first piece of real hiking for many and they want to scare you into being prepared. Realistically if you are in fair hiking shape its going to take between 3 and 4 hours to get to springer from the arch. If you are in bad shape and it takes you a day, the following day is likey to be an 8 mile day too... so what?
That is the question. Do the approach trail, or do the road in a little closer. Advice?
Do the white blazes start at Amicalola or up on top at the S. Terminus of Springer?
for me it was not an approach,it was a departure,i did georgia section southbound starting at deep gap south of standing indian,i parked at amicola and got shuttle to deep gap in nc,so i nicknamed the approach trail the departure trail,i was glad i did it:cool: neo
Almost There
03-21-2006, 17:38
As this was all covered before and in truth, the current approach trail was "never" part of the old AT, however, the Benton MacKaye from Springer to Three Forks was.
That all being said...do what you want, HYOH.
Old Spice
03-21-2006, 18:03
I remain undecided as to whether or not I will do the approach trail. I am being shuttled from the Hiker Hostel, so I will probably just start from wherever they are dropping us off.