View Full Version : If you could change things...
longshank
02-09-2006, 15:33
...about the A.T., what would they be and how would you do it? Anything goes...
The trail would be paved in hamburgers, and all the streams would be beer.
Lone Wolf
02-09-2006, 15:37
Tear down all shelters, put back all the old roadwalks and no canoe for the Kennebec crossing.
Tear down all shelters, put back all the old roadwalks and no canoe for the Kennebec crossing.
i agree 100%,shelters sucks:cool: neo
I certainly would be interested in knowing where prior routes went, and perhaps take a few blue blazes on the old routes.
mweinstone
02-09-2006, 17:49
what he said about canoes and no dogs or horses.
MtnBikerGuy
02-09-2006, 18:09
#1 thing is that I wish I lived closer to it.
KirkMcquest
02-09-2006, 18:19
Foot massaging, bikini clad ridge-runners
Skidsteer
02-09-2006, 18:23
That with a note from your doctor, you could get paid leave from work in order to thru-hike...My father-in-law is an M.D-I'd be all over it!
Squeaky 2
02-09-2006, 18:38
rebuild all the shelters L.Wolf pulled down and have resident hooters girls in everyone of them.
gargamel
02-09-2006, 18:43
Transfer it to Europe so I wouldn't need to get in one of these nasty aluminium cans (plane) to walk it. (Though we had to put the damned thing in diagonally because it wouldn't fit in lenghtwise)
KirkMcquest
02-09-2006, 19:02
Transfer it to Europe so I wouldn't need to get in one of these nasty aluminium cans (plane) to walk it. (Though we had to put the damned thing in diagonally because it wouldn't fit in lenghtwise)
Don't you guys have a huge trail going through the alps? the haute route or something like that? have you ever done it? how does it compare, i.e mileage, terrain, ect...?
I would make it a multiple path network of trails. An example being sanctioning the BMT as being part of the AT, just an alternate route. I really believe that the official route of the AT is getting overused and providing choices of different routes would release some of the pressure on the main route. Now before anyone jumps in and says "those Trails already exist, no one says you can't make those choices", I am saying that having the other routes incorporated into the network would elevate their profile. More people would be aware of them. Oh, and burn down the shelters.:sun
gargamel
02-09-2006, 19:25
Don't you guys have a huge trail going through the alps? the haute route or something like that? have you ever done it? how does it compare, i.e mileage, terrain, ect...?
There's a route from Munich to Venice which crosses the alps. Although I have hiked a lot in the alps I haven't done this one. You can do it in 30 days and it's pretty mixed terrain (from 1500 to 10.000 ft, gentle hills/rough mountains.)
Here's a link (http://www.regionhall.at/1354,,,1.html) to a 2 days section (site is in english) so you can see some pictures as an example.
I echo some previous posters who would like more females with less clothing.:banana
Programbo
02-09-2006, 20:10
Tear down all shelters, put back all the old roadwalks and no canoe for the Kennebec crossing.
I don't know..I think the shelters are part of the character and history of the trial..I doubt I'd want to change much if anything about the actual physical part of the trail except maybe make sure the views don`t get to cluttered up with sub-divisions..Any changes I`d think of I'm sure might be people related.....As far as alternate or old routes I remember way back in the 70`s there was a long blue blazed alternate route in PA farther to the west of the AT...And maybe remove it from SNP and running it farther to the west up the more primative George Washington NF
Foot massaging, bikini clad ridge-runners
how about hillary clinton in a bikini,she is hot:cool: neo
I echo some previous posters who would like more females with less clothing.:banana
yes hillary clinton would a favorite:cool: neo
Lone Wolf
02-09-2006, 20:28
I don't know..I think the shelters are part of the character and history of the trial..I doubt I'd want to change much if anything about the actual physical part of the trail except maybe make sure the views don`t get to cluttered up with sub-divisions..Any changes I`d think of I'm sure might be people related.....As far as alternate or old routes I remember way back in the 70`s there was a long blue blazed alternate route in PA farther to the west of the AT...And maybe remove it from SNP and running it farther to the west up the more primative George Washington NF
Earl didn't need no stinkin shelters.
Tha Wookie
02-09-2006, 20:58
I would like to see old growth trees on the entire route. I keep thinking that my children's children will, but then again I wonder....
I thought Earl built a shelter in PA
WalkinHome
02-09-2006, 21:21
Those of you that wish the shelters to be gone should keep one thing in mind. The shelters were built and are maintained to protect the AT from the masses (aka you). Picture in your mind a fire ring every 50 feet, matted undergrowth and bare spots to go with it and erosion everywhere. Yeah, I know some will say well that you practice Leave No Trace and all of that but there are plenty that do not. We are forever busting up "stealth" fire rings etc. Don't believe it-look at the trash left in the shelters and fire rings. If the shelters were gone do you think that would just end? 99% of trail maintenance is done to insulate or mitigate the wear and tear hikers inflict upon it. The 1% left is most likely a safety issue. It is nice to envision Utopia but we must live in the real world. Rant over, thanks for listening. Thank you DixiCritter and Attroll for all that you do.
KirkMcquest
02-09-2006, 21:22
Here's a link (http://www.regionhall.at/1354,,,1.html) to a 2 days section (site is in english) so you can see some pictures as an example.
nice, thanks for the link;)
KirkMcquest
02-09-2006, 21:28
how about hillary clinton in a bikini,she is hot:cool: neo
Hillary is alright. Don't know how she'd look in a bikini, she's got a set of cankles ( calf goes directly into foot, no ankle). But if she work out the knots in my feet we might find a spot for her:p
Almost There
02-09-2006, 21:28
Ed,
I believe that is a future proposition to allow the use of other trails that link up with the AT for alternate routes. I think I remember Mowgli saying something about it at the SoRuck. Mowgli if you read this can you confirm?
Programbo
02-09-2006, 21:55
Earl didn't need no stinkin shelters.
Perhaps not but many of them were already there long before he thru hiked :-?
Ed,
I believe that is a future proposition to allow the use of other trails that link up with the AT for alternate routes. I think I remember Mowgli saying something about it at the SoRuck. Mowgli if you read this can you confirm?
At the Grand Opening Ceremony for the Benton MacKaye Trail in July '05, Morgan Sommerville, the Regional Director for ATC based in Asheville said that he hoped that ATC would recognize thru-hikers that chose to hike the BMT in GSMNP. At the same ceremony, George Minnigh, Backcountry Ranger for GSMNP stated that the NPS hoped people would start taking that alternate route, because early on in the season there is often treacherous weather that requires SARs along the AT. The BMT route is longer and more arduous than the AT, but it is at lower elevation, reducing some of the risk associated with hiking in bad weather.
The attached photo is of Morgan at the ceremony. Seated to his left is (R-L) George Minnigh, Tom Speaks of Cherokee NF, and Stephen Cartwright - President of the Benton MacKaye Trail Association.
Almost There
02-10-2006, 00:43
Thanks, Mowgs!
BTW if you are ever back down here in my backyard and staying overnight, let me know Kennesaw is about halfway between home and work for me. Would love to do dinner. I actually think there are great portions of Kennesaw to use for training, got my in good shape last year just hiking little Kennesaw. Take care.
Those of you that wish the shelters to be gone should keep one thing in mind. The shelters were built and are maintained to protect the AT from the masses (aka you). Picture in your mind a fire ring every 50 feet, matted undergrowth and bare spots to go with it and erosion everywhere.
WalkinHome is correct, I fear. My wish would be to cut the number of hikers in half, and make all hikers prove they now how to treat the outdoors with respect before they are allowed onto the trail. Late last fall, I found a campsite right on the trail, within feet of the side trail to Nopel Shelter. Tent area, fire, beer cans, frying pan and booze bottle. Right on the footpath. Boy, I wish I had come across that SOB while he was still there (preferably waking up with a hang over). I would have fired up my chain saw right next to his tent.
Cosmo
Foot massaging, bikini clad ridge-runners
Sorry, as a woman, I am not into the bikini-clad thing - men in bikinis on the trail...I saw it once at Blood Mtn., with only water socks (not near water). I do not need that vision again.....:p
freefall
02-10-2006, 22:22
WalkinHome is correct, I fear. My wish would be to cut the number of hikers in half, and make all hikers prove they now how to treat the outdoors with respect before they are allowed onto the trail...
:-? And who gets to decide who does and does not get to hike? Who would administer the "proving" that they know how to respect the outdoors? Lots of trailheads out there, would we fence in the trail with fence and barbed wire and post guards at each access point? What would be the penalty if they didn't follow LNT principles?
:-? And who gets to decide who does and does not get to hike? Who would administer the "proving" that they know how to respect the outdoors? Lots of trailheads out there, would we fence in the trail with fence and barbed wire and post guards at each access point? What would be the penalty if they didn't follow LNT principles?
Who would administer? Well, me of course. :cool:
And those who didn't follow LNT would be subjected to having to watch reruns of Family Matters over and over and over and over again... mwahahahaha....:eek: