View Full Version : The Four Trails of the Apocalypse
Tipi Walter
11-08-2016, 10:24
Okay boys, I pull a 21 day backpacking trip into the mountains of TN and NC during the terrible drought in October and my first quest is to backpack the four main trails on the Joyce Kilmer side of Slickrock wilderness:
** Stratton Ridge down.
** Naked Ground up.
** Deep Creek down.
** Haoe Lead up.
My second quest is to enter the adjacent Citico wilderness and pull the North Fork--Brush Mt loop.
For all pics go here---
https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/
21 DAYS ON THE FOUR TRAILS OF THE APOCALYPSE
TRIP 177
October 15-November 4 2016
HIGHLIGHTS
** THE TERRIBLE DROUGHT OF 2016
** 100 LBS OF AVOCADOS AND PEARS
** 35 BACKPACKERS SEEN
** 9 DAYS ON THE APOCALYPSE TRAILS
** JOHN AND ISAAK IN COLD SPRING GAP
** TWO FT. WORTH BACKPACKERS ON BOB MT
** ON THE HORSE COVE TRAIL
** ON THE NAKED GROUND TRAIL
** JUSTIN AND CARRIE ON A SLICKROCK LOOP
** MEETING EVELYN FROM TRIP 102 AND TRIP 134
** A BIG CROWD ON HANGOVER MT
** ON THE DEEP CREEK TRAIL
** ON THE HAOE LEAD TRAIL
** ROCK CREEK KNOB HAS WATER!!!
** 9 POUNDS HAULING WATER ON HAOE LEAD
** 4 DAYS ON THE NORTH FORK TRAIL
** BRUSH MT NUT COUPLE OF THE YEAR---TODD AND RENEE ROEDER
** 4 DAYS ON THE BRUSH MT TRAIL
TRAILS
Entrance at Beech Gap
Fodderstack Ridge to Cold Gap
Wedge
**Little Cove Camp**
54A South
**Mighty Oak Camp**
54A South
Bob Mt and Four Mile Ridge
**Tipi Gap**
Four Mile Ridge
Stratton Ridge aka Horse Cove Trail
**Wolf Camp by Wolf Laurel Trail**
Horse Cove Trail
**Low Horse Camp**
Horse Cove
Kilmer Roadwalk
Naked Ground Trail
**Low Dog Camp**
Naked Ground Trail
**Middle Dog Camp**
Naked Ground Trail
Naked Ground Gap
Four Mile Ridge
**Watauga Camp**
Four Mile Ridge
Hangover Mt
Deep Creek
**Deep Creek Footbridge Camp**
Deep Creek
Haoe Lead
**Haul Water Camp**
Haoe Lead
**Toad Camp**
Haoe Lead
Four Mile Ridge to Naked Ground
**Bob Mt Meadow Camp**
54A North
Cherry Log Gap
North Fork Citico
**Rock Ledge Camp**
North Fork
**Stump Site**
North Fork
**Camp Two Second Crossing Camp**
North Fork
South Fork
Brush Mt Trail
**Audrey Camp**
Brush Mt
**Bug Hollow Camp**
Brush Mt
**Brush Mt Ridge Gap Camp**
Brush Mt
Trail 149
Cold Gap
54A South
**Bob Mt Fir Tree Grove (2)**
54A South
Fodderstack Ridge to Beech Gap and OUT
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-ZWxfT2V/0/XL/P1000025-XL.jpg
My trip begins at Beech Gap and the entrance to the Citico wilderness and 2 miles in I run into Isaak and John who know me from my journals and who are camping in Cold Spring Gap on the Benton MacKaye trail.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-rbhwcGT/0/XL/P1000041-XL.jpg
I leave Cold Gap and climb a thousand feet up to Bob Bald Mt with my heavy 100 lb pack and find the ONLY water on the Bob at this little spring seep a hundred feet down the mountain at the spring head. You just have to know where to look. The drought is a real test of our water filters and Sawyers just won't work---you need a pump filter to get tiny amounts of water out of tiny pools without stirring up mud.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-s98Dv8k/0/XL/P1000076-XL.jpg
I camp on top of Bob's Wall at around 5,400 feet and by Day 3 I'm ready to hit the 9 mile long Stratton Ridge Trail aka Horse Cove trail as it leaves Bob Mt and descends to the Joyce Kilmer side. Here's a part of the trail which hangs out in mid air with some great views.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-RqT4RCR/0/XL/P1000110-XL.jpg
At the bottom of the long Horse Cove trail I loop back into the Kilmer wilderness and head up Little Santeetlah Creek where I camp and get water. It's good to be by water because for the last 3 days I've been hauling around 9 lbs of extra water for my dry campsites. Now that I'm heading up the Naked Ground trail I don't have to haul much liquids.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-qg5d4Sw/0/XL/P1000149-XL.jpg
After my tough 3,000 foot gain on the Naked Ground trail I camp atop Four Mile Ridge between Naked Ground Gap and Hangover Mt and run into Justin and Carrie who know me from my trip reports. Good guys on a tough Slickrock loop as they're preparing to head down the dreaded Nutbuster Trail---Upper Slickrock #42.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-kBkvg3G/0/XL/P1000171-XL.jpg
The morning of Day 9 is my coldest morning at around 30F and so I leave Naked Ground Gap and head over to Hangover Mt where I find a score of backpackers camping so I stop and say hello to these North Carolina boys. After hugs and kisses I bail off the mountain down the rugged Deep Creek trail.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-ZpbvRjr/0/XL/P1000188-XL.jpg
Somewhere on the Deep Creek trail.
DuneElliot
11-08-2016, 10:38
100lbs? Wow, that's like carrying a whole other human being!
Tipi Walter
11-08-2016, 10:39
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-LMh25b7/0/XL/P1000200-XL.jpg
I finish the Deep Creek trail and start up the Haoe Lead trail with a liter of water in my pack but in order to really explore the Haoe Lead trail up---it's my last trail of the apocalypse---I need to find a water source. All of them are dry until I reach Rock Knob Creek which has a tiny amount so I dig out a trench and let it settle and pump out 9 lbs of water for the next 3 days of dry camping.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-d83ZqxB/0/XL/P1000268-XL.jpg
On Day 12 I finish the tough climb up Haoe Lead and reach Haoe Peak at 5,240 feet and my Quest is complete!!!
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-x3NSLBr/0/XL/P1000246-XL.jpg
I leave Haoe Peak and take Four Mile Ridge to Bob Mt and set up camp and on the morning of Day 13 a cold rainstorms hits me as I'm packing up so I go fast and gear up and descend the mountain to Fodderstack Ridge and Cherry Log Gap and the start of the North Fork Citico trail. My Arcteryx rain jacket once again saves my butt.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-ZTkknx8/0/XL/P1000271-XL.jpg
I head down the rugged North Fork trail (it drops 3,000 feet in about 4 miles) and camp a spot I call Rock Ledge Camp. On Day 14 I'm ready to keep descending this favorite trail.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-bFH52k6/0/XL/P1000342-XL.jpg
I finish the North Fork trail and head up the South Fork trail and cross South Fork Creek and begin my journey up the hardest most rugged and remote trail in the Citico---Brush Mt. I mutter to myself that this will be a lonely day but as I start up the Brush I run into Todd and Renee who are coming down the thing and we talk. It's a tough trail to follow but they made it.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-rHJtWzg/0/XL/P1000362-XL.jpg
Brush Mt trail is always in rough shape and so I camp 2 miles in at Audrey Camp and then on Day 17 I keep climbing around Ike Peak and descend to Testicle Creek for water (it has water!!!!!!!) and take another 9 lbs of water to Bug Hollow Camp but first I have to cut thru a couple low dead hemlocks.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-N7RCShj/0/XL/P1000396-XL.jpg
Brush Mt was tough but my Quest is done!!!!! I reach the top Brush trailhead and get on Trail 149 which takes me past Mitzi Creek (which has water) and back up to Bob Mt on a complicated loop.
Tipi Walter
11-08-2016, 10:42
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-Kj86mzk/0/XL/P1000407-XL.jpg
I climb another thousand feet and set up in the fir tree grove on Bob Mt and get caught in another minimal rainstorm. We had three such "rainstorms" on my trip but they amounted to no more than a quarter inch of total rain.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-xLkcVFx/0/XL/P1000426-XL.jpg
On Day 21 it's time to separate my Hilleberg tent into the fly and the body and get ready to pack the wet fly and poles away.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/Four-Trails-of-the-Apocalypse/i-hFxDTZm/0/XL/P1000433-XL.jpg
And so my trip ends where it started in Beech Gap.
I've finally figured out why you do such short mileage days. You spend so much time keeping track of and writing down all these stats. :D
I have to hand it to you. I've never heard of or observed anyone anywhere, of all things, hauling 100lbs of avocados and pears on a hike. Much more you weighed these items? And I thought I ate a lot of avocados with umpteen avocado trees within 300 ft of my front door in Hawaii.
Great pics, as usual. How often do you hike elsewhere than the same trails and the same narrow region? You really spend the time getting to know an area!!!
Gotta hand it to you for getting out as often as you do.
Tipi Walter
11-08-2016, 12:19
How often do you hike elsewhere than the same trails and the same narrow region?
Let's see, my stomping grounds run from Mt Rogers backcountry south to the southern tip of the Cohutta wilderness including parts of the AT from Fontana south and the Grandfather Ranger District in Pisgah NF running from Linville Gorge east to Upper Creek and Harper/North Harper and Lost Cove Creek and Gragg Prong.
I just got back from a 24 day trip into the Pisgah-Wilson Creek area---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=537721
REGIONS OTHER THAN THE CITICO/SLICKROCK
** Pulled a Big Frog trip in 2011---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=350541
** Did a long Mt Rogers trek in June 2011---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=354645
** Pulled a trip into the Snowbird backcountry in January 2012---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=13084
** Did another long trip into the Mt Rogers area in April 2012---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=378256
** Went into the Big Frog again in May 2012---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=383411
** Another Big Frog trip in January 2013---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=14569
** A long Cohutta wilderness trip in February 2013---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=403914
** Exploration of the Tallassee Mt Backcountry in April 2014---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=454111
** Exploration of the new Yellow Creek Mountain Trail reroute of the BMT in May 2014---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=461309
** Long trip into Pisgah NF in June 2014---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=468345
** BMT thruhike with Amy in 2015---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=493581
** 2015 trip back into the Snowbirds---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=514418
** Two long trips back into the Big Frog and the Conasauga River in the Cohutta wilderness---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=515331
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=517414
Very nice. So when are we going out west? Arches, Bryce, Escalante, Pecos Wilderness, Big Bend, Olympic Peninsula, Glacier, Alaska, Hawaii(there you might find wild avocado/mango/papaya breadfruit trees with all you can eat),....
Why don't you write a book(s) on those areas?
rocketsocks
11-08-2016, 15:51
Very nice. So when are we going out west? Arches, Bryce, Escalante, Pecos Wilderness, Big Bend, Olympic Peninsula, Glacier, Alaska, Hawaii(there you might find wild avocado/mango/papaya breadfruit trees with all you can eat),....
Why don't you write a book(s) on those areas?24 days...that a new personal best, eh?
rocketsocks
11-08-2016, 15:53
Let's see, my stomping grounds run from Mt Rogers backcountry south to the southern tip of the Cohutta wilderness including parts of the AT from Fontana south and the Grandfather Ranger District in Pisgah NF running from Linville Gorge east to Upper Creek and Harper/North Harper and Lost Cove Creek and Gragg Prong.
I just got back from a 24 day trip into the Pisgah-Wilson Creek area---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=537721
REGIONS OTHER THAN THE CITICO/SLICKROCK
** Pulled a Big Frog trip in 2011---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=350541
** Did a long Mt Rogers trek in June 2011---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=354645
** Pulled a trip into the Snowbird backcountry in January 2012---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=13084
** Did another long trip into the Mt Rogers area in April 2012---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=378256
** Went into the Big Frog again in May 2012---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=383411
** Another Big Frog trip in January 2013---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=14569
** A long Cohutta wilderness trip in February 2013---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=403914
** Exploration of the Tallassee Mt Backcountry in April 2014---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=454111
** Exploration of the new Yellow Creek Mountain Trail reroute of the BMT in May 2014---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=461309
** Long trip into Pisgah NF in June 2014---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=468345
** BMT thruhike with Amy in 2015---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=493581
** 2015 trip back into the Snowbirds---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=514418
** Two long trips back into the Big Frog and the Conasauga River in the Cohutta wilderness---
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=515331
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=517414
24 days...that a new personal best, eh?Oopsies
@ Walter...new personal best, eh?
Tipi Walter
11-08-2016, 15:59
Very nice. So when are we going out west? Arches, Bryce, Escalante, Pecos Wilderness, Big Bend, Olympic Peninsula, Glacier, Alaska, Hawaii
Nature is nature. Sit under a tree, close your eyes. You're outdoors. No matter where. The important thing is sleeping outside as much as possible while we have what's left of nature.
Unless someone's unrestrained dog shat there.
I would practice some more before heading into real drought country. Going cross country on the Colorado Plateau is serious business.
Meanwhile that pack cover would be a serious way to contain water for silt settlement. Might even make a good hot tub after an afternoon in the sun or maybe a para sail for cliff jumping,
Did you haul out of the avocado pits?
Nature is about variety for me. I'm not going to see many glaciers, Big Horn Rams, Mountain Goats, Brown Bears, Polar Bears, wolves, buffalo, Pronghorn, dolphins, whales, sea otters, sea lions, anemone, puffins, flowing lava, hoo doos, Gila Monsters, salmon choked streams, deep crevasses, hot spring geysers, golden larches in fall, peaks over 7000 ft, aspens in their golden fall glory, or be able to hug a 2000 yr old redwood or Bristlecone Pine in any of those areas you limit yourself to. :-? :p :confused:
I can imagine not ever experiencing the Rocky Mountains, southwest, west coast, Northwest, Sierra, Denali, and Hoh rain forest and I can decidedly say Nature in a limited southeastern Appalachia area is well...limiting Nature. :confused:
Glad its a HYOH kind of thing though, right? To each his own. Seems to me that Tipi does just exactly whatever he so chooses to do, and where ever he chooses to do it. I am quite jealous, but in a nice way. :) I don't think hiking should be a greater than less than proposition. Just a get outside and do it kind of thing, right?
Tipi Walter
11-08-2016, 17:07
Nature is about variety for me. I'm not going to see many glaciers, Big Horn Rams, Mountain Goats, Brown Bears, Polar Bears, wolves, buffalo, Pronghorn, dolphins, whales, sea otters, sea lions, anemone, puffins, flowing lava, hoo doos, Gila Monsters, salmon choked streams, deep crevasses, hot spring geysers, golden larches in fall, peaks over 7000 ft, aspens in their golden fall glory, or be able to hug a 2000 yr old redwood or Bristlecone Pine in any of those areas you limit yourself to. :-? :p :confused:
I can imagine not ever experiencing the Rocky Mountains, southwest, west coast, Northwest, Sierra, Denali, and Hoh rain forest and I can decidedly say Nature in a limited southeastern Appalachia area is well...limiting Nature. :confused:
Like I said, sleeping outside in what's left of wilderness is the goal. Getting our bag nights. Whether you do it in Africa or North America or Brazil or India matters not a whit. Having a "limited natural experience" in a single geographical area is a nonsensical concept and only can be uttered by envious backpackers who have never spent thousands of nights out in this area during droughts and rainstorms and blizzards and -30F temps. Come out and you'll get your bellyful of nature and desire nothing else.
Despite my repeated trips, I in no way see nature as limited here or in fact any different in degree or quality than nature in the Sierra or Denali or the Rockies. I have backpacked in South Dakota and camped on Lake Michigan and backpacked in the Sierras along the Yuba River. I closed my eyes and slept in my tent in all these places exactly as I have done here in the Southeast. Same rainstorms, same severe cold, same trails.
It's like "promiscuous backpacking". Gotta have new vistas and new locations and new trails without end, a sort of quest for the most. Me? I can dearly love the Woman I'm with, Miss Nature that is. Gotta love the one you're with. The variety She offers here is outstanding. Hankering for the next hill over works for me in a smaller way by going to the AT to Mt Rogers to Pisgah to Cohutta and the Citico and Slickrock and Big Frog.
How limited is Nature in the Southeast mountains of TN and NC? UNLIMITED---Here's proof from a few fotogs from some of my trips (all in the Southeast)---
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpacking2010/16-Days-with-a-Miracle-Dog/i-HsCSDSk/0/L/TRIP%20111%20153-L.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpacking2010/16-Days-with-Wisenber-and/i-mx4CQCt/0/XL/TRIP%20112%20064-XL.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpacking2012/Tipi-Walter-Grayson-Highlands/i-V2Qk2Mb/0/XL/TRI%20132%20105-XL.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpacking2011/Tipi-Walter-In-Mt-Rogers/i-hJbTcFD/0/L/TRIP%20123%20102-L.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpacking2010/15-Days-with-a-Red-Hilleberg/i-PPGJkB8/0/L/TRIP%20105%20098-L.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpacking2006/Subzero-Blizzard-and-the-16th/i-gczGkSr/0/L/Trip%2065%20039-L.jpg
PatmanTN
11-08-2016, 19:31
Nice report Walt, Sorry I missed you out and about.
Tipi Walter
11-08-2016, 19:45
100lbs? Wow, that's like carrying a whole other human being!
It's the same exact weight as my Ego.
24 days...that a new personal best, eh?
24 days without resupply is currently the longest time spent out with one load. Always intrigued with a 30 day trip though.
Nice report Walt, Sorry I missed you out and about.
Yeah, I got your two messages about Gonzan and an even earlier message the week before but my route went all haywire due to the dried up water sources.
dudeijuststarted
11-08-2016, 20:00
I can imagine not ever experiencing the Rocky Mountains, southwest, west coast, Northwest, Sierra, Denali, and Hoh rain forest and I can decidedly say Nature in a limited southeastern Appalachia area is well...limiting Nature. :confused:
Prior to automobiles and airplanes, the human species lived outdoors in generally the same geographic regions, barring migrations, for about 50,000 years. I wouldn't take anything away from their experience. The Rockies & Sierras are nice, but they don't tickle my fancy like Appalachia. Why? Well I grew up in Appalachia, it means something to me, and is steeped in American history.
Perhaps the issue isn't Tipi's lack of variety, but other hikers' endless quest to find their place in this world. There are many a triple crowner and beyond that continue to search without finding. I'd say Tipi's approach to hiking is about as close to nirvana as one could get.
His hiking is very zen. Nw to go 24 days with no pack, I would say he was an enlightened being ��
The Rockies & Sierras are nice, but they don't tickle my fancy like Appalachia. Why? Well I grew up in Appalachia, it means something to me, and is steeped in American history.
Perhaps the issue isn't Tipi's lack of variety, but other hikers' endless quest to find their place in this world. There are many a triple crowner and beyond that continue to search without finding. I'd say Tipi's approach to hiking is about as close to nirvana as one could get.
CONCUR!
I've been out West. I've been North. I've been South.
My favorite place in the world is Citico/Slickrock/Joyce Kilmer. If I choose to go there again and again I don't see why anyone else should care.
rocketsocks
11-09-2016, 19:50
Yup...I hike for hikin'
full conditions
11-10-2016, 10:04
Unless someone's unrestrained dog shat there.
I get the distinct feeling that "someone's unrestrained dog shat" in your cornflakes recently.
Tipi Walter
11-10-2016, 11:07
My favorite place in the world is Citico/Slickrock/Joyce Kilmer. If I choose to go there again and again I don't see why anyone else should care.
The Southeast is full of places to go backpacking, and even more once it starts raining again. Dogwood has a burr in his sock.
I get the distinct feeling that "someone's unrestrained dog shat" in your cornflakes recently.
I like the way your mind thinks.
I might add that the ride in is also awesome.
Mr. T Walter,
Thank you for the great trip report. Look forward to your photo reports on smugmug every time. How much did your pack weigh after the trip was over?
Also, thank you for the winter hiking tips in the other thread about winter hiking.
Tipi Walter
11-11-2016, 14:25
Mr. T Walter,
Thank you for the great trip report. Look forward to your photo reports on smugmug every time. How much did your pack weigh after the trip was over?
Also, thank you for the winter hiking tips in the other thread about winter hiking.
Let's see, end of trip pack weight minus food and books and fuel comes to around 30-35 lbs. This weight includes my winter kit---subzero sleeping bag, down parka, winter pad, solar ccf pad, extra gloves, down pants etc.
You print out the books and then burn them after reading, if I remember. Me and the wife and the dog are heading out next week for 7 days of hiking in the Shenandoah NF. We are going to use the votive candle trick in the tent to warm up fingers and maybe raise the temperature in the tent by a little bit. Got to admit, I'm a little worried about the cold, but the all the stuff should work if we keep it dry. Thanks for your help.
Ashepabst
11-18-2016, 14:50
you just missed the Maple Springs Fire. I got a little teary-eyed the other day watching the perimeter creep up towards the Haoe.
Tipi Walter
11-18-2016, 14:58
Once the hiking ban is lifted we'll just have to see what it looks like and what the trails look like and what damage was done.
Wow, who's making harsh judgements about who now? I simply said I have a different approach to exploring Nature and backpacking in that I like greater variety. Because my approach is different than yours you're attempting to belittle those differences....again!
Tipi Walter
11-18-2016, 16:23
I'm not going to see many glaciers, Big Horn Rams, Mountain Goats, Brown Bears, Polar Bears, wolves, buffalo, Pronghorn, dolphins, whales, sea otters, sea lions, anemone, puffins, flowing lava, hoo doos, Gila Monsters, salmon choked streams, deep crevasses, hot spring geysers, golden larches in fall, peaks over 7000 ft, aspens in their golden fall glory, or be able to hug a 2000 yr old redwood or Bristlecone Pine in any of those areas you limit yourself to. :-? :p :confused:
I can imagine not ever experiencing the Rocky Mountains, southwest, west coast, Northwest, Sierra, Denali, and Hoh rain forest and I can decidedly say Nature in a limited southeastern Appalachia area is well...limiting Nature. :confused:
Wow, who's making harsh judgements about who now? I simply said I have a different approach to exploring Nature and backpacking in that I like greater variety. Because my approach is different than yours you're attempting to belittle those differences....again!
This thread was going pretty good without my judgments until you brought up the idea of limiting Nature by staying in the Southeast or in one geographical area. You say experiencing "Nature in a limited southeastern Appalachia area is well . . . limiting Nature" and of course this is wrong in my opinion as I tried to prove with pics of outstanding "nature" as shown, and all taken in this "limited" area.
You may like greater variety elsewhere and yet I see tremendous variety just in the mountains of Georgia and TN and NC and Virginia. It's enough for me and in no way limited. Spend 3 weeks in December during rainstorms and then spend 3 weeks in July with the rattlesnakes and then 3 weeks in February during a series of blizzards and you'll get all the variety you want. Quantity of regions in no way corresponds or compares to quality found at single spots.
Do this test: Sit under a tree in Big Frog wilderness. Spend a night in Low Gap on the Big Frog trail. You just slept under the same night sky shared by the Earth. You just sat under a Moon and the same Moon shining over Alaska. You just sat under a single tree which is a symbol of all the trees on planet Earth. You just experienced a small slice of nature which is the same Nature covering planet Earth.
When I see a fox or a coyote or a raccoon or a deer or a black bear or a wild pig it satisfies my need to see a polar bear or a musk ox or a bonobo monkey or a giraffe or a dolphin or a bison. I like to pick up newts and toads on my trips and they are in no way qualitatively different than a crocodile or a anaconda. If this needs to be explained by exhaustive examples then you won't ever get my mindset.
It's different ways/paths to approach the same goal. Both worthy as you described and just as worthy as I described just coming from different angles taking into account different considerations. No better or worse implied for all people all the time. Can't differences be welcome and appreciated? Can't options be welcome and appreciated? From my POV they certainly can.
FWIW, I appreciate and like and have considered worthy what you do even though I don't always take your approaches. We don't all have to be the same, do the same, or believe the same to be equally worthy.
Don't get it twisted. I put myself in your shoes, stinky shoes too, ready for new ones. :D I aim to understand as you understand. I can respect differences without fully having to embrace those differences. And, I think I've done a good job of doing that. I poke a little at you at times but no great insult is intended. It's a friendly poking fun at you. Besides, one day I might want an avocado. :D
Great and appropriate title for this thread. 24 days without a resupply? Impressive. I'm feel like I'm still in the mindset of having to make 12-15 miles a day to be worthy even though some of my shorter days have been the best; like the days where other backpackers run across me sleeping against a trailhead sign at 12:30pm. Longest I've been without a resupply is 7 days.
btw - Nice photos. That purple flower is awesome.