View Full Version : Where is it in writing...
hikerjohnd
04-02-2006, 11:52
I know we have all heard or read that one could probably outfit a thru-hike with gear discarded along the first few miles of the AT - but where did this come from??? I know I've read it somewhere and want to cite it in my paper... PLEASE HELP ME!!! Thanks!
Didn't Bryson mention it in his book
Lion King
04-02-2006, 12:39
It may be written but it isnt neccasarily true.
You may find clothes at shelters, cans of food, or small items people forgot, but in general you will find nothing more then books, socks left drying, garbage from idiots who arent out long enough to know better, and maybe a tent. I remember walking past a Seirra Design tent in 2001 right before Dicks Creek Gap, it was half put up, a bag of stakes laying beside in addition to a rodent raveged food bag.
Later I heard that a hiker got caught in a rain storm and got really pissed off because they didnt know how to put the tent up, packed his backpack and hiked to Dicks Creek and went home.
but then again, you never know..
Lion King
04-02-2006, 12:39
Didn't Bryson mention it in his book
But he was by far not the first.
hikerjohnd
04-02-2006, 12:58
It may be written but it isnt neccasarily true.
Agreed, but it would be a nice addition to emphasize preplanning and the effects of poor planning.
I definitly used Bryson - but wanted something from a different source... I know someone out there knows - thanks for the help!
Perhaps we could list the things found on the AT in the first 15 to 20 miles at each end of the AT.
I'll start: (from Springer) A bandana at about mile 2, A net hammock at Hawk Mt.
Have found other stuff, but probably don't count as it wasnt in position for outfitting a thru.
I bet that if you hung out at neils gap for a few days during "The season" you could very easily supply the start of a thru. After all they ship back an average of 1 to 2,000 Lbs of stuff each year, I would think much of it would gladly be given to a fellow thru hiker in need :)
Doctari.
Lion King
04-02-2006, 15:43
Perhaps we could list the things found on the AT in the first 15 to 20 miles at each end of the AT.
I'll start: (from Springer) A bandana at about mile 2, A net hammock at Hawk Mt.
Have found other stuff, but probably don't count as it wasnt in position for outfitting a thru.
I bet that if you hung out at neils gap for a few days during "The season" you could very easily supply the start of a thru. After all they ship back an average of 1 to 2,000 Lbs of stuff each year, I would think much of it would gladly be given to a fellow thru hiker in need :)
Doctari.
Now see, thats actually a good idea.
If you were a hiker on a budget and didnt mind hanging out at Neels for a week or so, you could probably save hundreds of dollars on new gear that didnt work for some, but for you it might be perfect. Then it would save them mailing it home, it would save you from spending more then you needed to and it would help out everyone. In addition:
you might have one of them thar wealtheee cety foke whom hav demselvs 2 much muney and will giv U stuff they tend to thro awa. :D
Doubt it, but hey...support Winton though!
I saw hikers sell gear for ten cents on the $ because they decided to lighten up. Near Dragons Tooth a section hiker offered to sell be a classic boy scout frame pack with all the gear in it for $5. He just wanted to find the nearest road and hitch home. I told him the pack was a classic antique and worth alot of money but he just was tired of carrying it. I showed him a trail that led to a paved road and told him it was all downhill. I found mostly food in the first 15 miles. I did see several hikers quit before Hawk Mountain and even more in the next 50 miles but most kept their gear, I One fellow who quit near Neels Gap gave his sleeping bag to another hiker that had a cheap heavy one but I found nothing but food left by the trail. Dances With Mice spends more time on this section than anyone I know so it will be intresting to see his coments.
I know we have all heard or read that one could probably outfit a thru-hike with gear discarded along the first few miles of the AT - but where did this come from??? I know I've read it somewhere and want to cite it in my paper... PLEASE HELP ME!!! Thanks!
It's fundamentally a trail myth. Stuff is left. Much of it is junk, or damaged, or too heavy.
I found a Coleman backpack, -- first the frame and then the sack -- and then a watersoaked sleeping bag on a side trail in the Smokies on my way north in 1993. I concluded the guy was giving up backpacking.
Since I was heading back up the mountain after some exploration of the park i left it there.
Earkier on the way to Neels Gap I found a plastic bag of food tied in a tree above the trail. It was enough to last me a week at least. I was moving slow and getting a bit low so I rescued a couple of mac&cheeses, and left the rest.
Animals probably got the rest.
I suppose if one walked the approach trail and the AT as far as Neels Gap over and over again for a couple of weeks, one could pick up quite a bit of marginally useful stuff, though that doesn't strike me as a particularly good use of trail time.
Bryson's book had a lot of silly exaggerations. This is one of them.
Weary
Nearly Normal
04-02-2006, 17:07
Empty bottles and trash that won't burn is all I ever find. Except at Tray Mountain shelter I found someone's blue beanie 2 weeks ago. Hung it up for claim.
Pete
When I hiked Georgia last month, I didn't find anything useful along the trail, but there's tons of stuff, some decent, that gets left at hiker hostels. A guy I met on the Approach Trail said he found an old urethane coated tarp (10X12) and was bringing it back for sale at a Boy Scout fundraising yard sale. Maybe in the early days of the trail, when there weren't shuttles for every road crossing imaginable, where the weary hiker could get a night's rest between clean sheets (and dump unwanted gear), it was more common to jettison gear along the Trail. Except for candy wrappers and cigarette butts, I found very little north of the summit of Frosty Mountain where there was a pile of burned trash with a rusty hooded grill on top of it.
check out Model T's book, "Walking on the Happy Side of Misery." I believe he talks about things he's seen discarded on the approach trail.
I know we have all heard or read that one could probably outfit a thru-hike with gear discarded along the first few miles of the AT - but where did this come from??? I know I've read it somewhere and want to cite it in my paper... PLEASE HELP ME!!! Thanks!
I remember reading that too, but I have searched and searched WB for it with no luck! Im sure it will show up somewhere!
Lone Wolf
04-02-2006, 20:31
I know we have all heard or read that one could probably outfit a thru-hike with gear discarded along the first few miles of the AT - but where did this come from??? I know I've read it somewhere and want to cite it in my paper... PLEASE HELP ME!!! Thanks!
It's bulls**t. I've been to Springer 20+ times in the past 20 years and never found gear along the trail. Just a couple of cans of sardines once.
I had the ridgerunner in lecture me for burning jeans and socks left at the Plumorchard Shelter. I think he thought they were mine, but I was disgusted seeing all the discarded **** from the start. He ranted about non-burnable parts like zippers and stuff, said he would have packed it out.
The fire rings are well abused and sterile ground, basically anything you burn in them is hardly going to make a difference. I figured it was easier to shift through the ashes and pack out a few non-burnables like zippers than multiple pairs of soaking wet jeans and cotton socks.
Besides clothing I've seen all sorts of things disgarded along the trail, mostly in Georgia. Cheapo felt sleeping bags, shaving kits, cologne, deodorant, books, fuel, tents and lots of food in shelters. The latter which increases rodent problems. People generally take enough food, leaving extra behind in the hopes someone else will need it in order to lighten ones load is as bad as littering. It is littering.
Pack it in, pack it out.
It's bulls**t. I've been to Springer 20+ times in the past 20 years and never found gear along the trail. Just a couple of cans of sardines once.
That's because you don't do shelters! :)
I had the ridgerunner in lecture me for burning jeans and socks left at the Plumorchard Shelter. I think he thought they were mine, but I was disgusted seeing all the discarded **** from the start. He ranted about non-burnable parts like zippers and stuff, said he would have packed it out.
.....People generally take enough food, leaving extra behind in the hopes someone else will need it in order to lighten ones load is as bad as littering. It is littering. Pack it in, pack it out.
True words. But increasingly I doubt whether few, if any, hear the message.
I once burned 50--maybe 100--pounds of stuff at a smokies shelter, mostly plastic tarps and decayed and mouse molested food. A guy from New Zealand complained about the air pollution I was causing. I offered to put out the fire if he would carry out half the trash, while I carried out the rest. He walked away.
Weary, aka garbageman
hikerjohnd
04-02-2006, 21:56
It's bulls**t. I've been to Springer 20+ times in the past 20 years and never found gear along the trail. Just a couple of cans of sardines once.
I never said it was true - but it adds color to an otherwise bland statement about the need for propper planning when it comes to gear...
Mountain Man
04-02-2006, 22:04
I know we have all heard or read that one could probably outfit a thru-hike with gear discarded along the first few miles of the AT - but where did this come from??? I know I've read it somewhere and want to cite it in my paper... PLEASE HELP ME!!! Thanks!
A Season on the Appalachian Trail by Lynn Setzer it states you can almost outfit yourself on the Approach Trail. As a Section maintainer and district leader of the Approach trail I have found about everything you would need to outfit yourself except a pack. Of course not all in the same year. I have found where it looked like someone dumped out half their pack trying to lighten their load. A Thru Hiker last week thought someone was leaving him trail magic as he picked up duct tape and other items along the way. I told him it actually wasn't trail magic just hikers trying to lighten their load. I guess it was trail magic to him though. Hopefully most don't see all the trash and items along the trail as we try to stay on top of it especially this time of year. I don't blame it all on Thru hikers because it gets a lot of use from the weekenders and day hikers. It's just this time of year it gets a lot more traffic than usual.
hikerjohnd
04-02-2006, 22:32
A Season on the Appalachian Trail by Lynn Setzer it states you can almost outfit yourself on the Approach Trail.
THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bulldog49
04-02-2006, 23:38
Didn't Bryson mention it in his book
I wouldn't use Bryson as an authoritative source for anything about backpacking. :eek:
Just Jeff
04-02-2006, 23:39
I wouldn't use Bryson as an authoritative source for anything about backpacking.
Seconded. Great book, though.
I picked up a pair of camp shoes at Hawk Mountain Shelter (the first one after Springer Shelter). I used them until Damascus when I switched to the holey soles rubber things (whatever they're called). I would be curious to know if anyone ever made it to the first or second shelter, gave up, left their pack at the shelter and slacked packed out.
Perhaps we could list the things found on the AT in the first 15 to 20 miles at each end of the AT.
Doctari.
I found two one-gallon Ziplocks full of peanuts and raisins abandoned at the Cheese Factory campsite. Next to them was a plastic grocery sack with a giant-sized jar of Bama peanut butter and an equally large jar of grape jelly.
In TN, in a meadow next to a river, I found three abandoned sleeping bags, well soaked.
in 2003 while I was staying at Neel's Gap one of the other hikers also staying at the hostel quit the trail...left his sleeping bag on his bunk, backpack and gear under it, and went home.
Lion King
04-03-2006, 20:05
I get a little creeped out when I walk up on an abandon site with gear everywhere. It makes me wonder if said hiker is alive or eaten or squealing like a pig or worse.
If you are going to toss gear at least leave a note or something.
"Dear random hiker,
if you find this gear it means I have quit the trail and had enough. You will find maybe a small oder of my essence in the bag, and that along with the sleeping bag is yours at no charge.
Tell Bearknuckles I hate him for forcing me to follow his path"
Or something...
"Dear random hiker,
if you find this gear it means I have quit the trail and had enough. You will find maybe a small oder of my essence in the bag, and that along with the sleeping bag is yours at no charge.
Tell Bearknuckles I hate him for forcing me to follow his path"
You forgot to add the rest.
"I'm a self-centered, wimpy, bastard who couldn't handle it even though I did manage to carry all this crap this far and need to get back to my mother. Waaa, the Appalachian Trail kick my ass.
Signed,
Pathetic hiker who doesn't mind trashing the woods.
Lion King
04-03-2006, 20:26
You forgot to add the rest.
"I'm a self-centered, wimpy, bastard who couldn't handle it even though I did manage to carry all this crap this far and need to get back to my mother. Waaa, the Appalachian Trail kick my ass.
Signed,
Pathetic hiker who doesn't mind trashing the woods.
Well, thats a given...
:D :D :D
Well, thats a given...
:D :D :D
I say, again and again. If you carry it into the woods and hills you are morally obligated to carry it out again.
None of this sh#t about leaving it to help someone else. Yeah. occasionally someone will pick up your crap and post in White Blaze about its wonderful usefulness.
But the facts are clear to us who have worked on trails for more than an hour or two. 99 percent of the crap that is left in shelters eventually has to be carried away by a maintainer.
So being a Liberal, let me suggest a compromise. Leave 1 % of whatever you think useful. On the oft chance that you may be right, I'll agree to that. Though I fully expect to pick up that 1 percent the next time I run across your leavings.
Weary
Lion King
04-03-2006, 22:02
I say, again and again. If you carry it into the woods and hills you are morally obligated to carry it out again.
None of this sh#t about leaving it to help someone else. Yeah. occasionally someone will pick up your crap and post in White Blaze about its wonderful usefulness.
But the facts are clear to us who have worked on trails for more than an hour or two. 99 percent of the crap that is left in shelters eventually has to be carried away by a maintainer.
So being a Liberal, let me suggest a compromise. Leave 1 % of whatever you think useful. On the oft chance that you may be right, I'll agree to that. Though I fully expect to pick up that 1 percent the next time I run across your leavings.
Weary
I couldnt agreed more, the above post was a joke. I've bitched at people for tossing cigarette butts at Apple Orchid shelter, who then told that they will disolve in a month..HA! What the hell?
They picked them up too. :D
I try not to be rude ever (Sans for snorers), but ignorance sometimes needs to hear a firmer voice.
TJ aka Teej
04-03-2006, 22:34
The amount of gear discarded by Southbounders is pretty substantial. Several years ago the Rangers at Daicey Pond would mail gear home for the sobos, but that stopped the year before the Birches was built. Now they'll just abandon gear anywhere from the Ranger's porch to Hurd Brook.
I try not to be rude ever (Sans for snorers)
Two words suitable for all ages, EAR PLUGS! :)
I get a little creeped out when I walk up on an abandon site with gear everywhere.
Had an experience like this a few years ago near Naked Ground in the Slickrock Wilderness. A pack and about everything else was left on the ridgeline. Looked to have been sitting for a couple weeks, and there had been a real bad ice storm recently. We figured the hiker got caught up high in the worst of the ice storm and ditched the gear to escape the falling limbs. Trees were down everywhere. Very creepy, but nothing tragic had happened in the end as far as I know.
RockyTrail
04-04-2006, 09:51
But the facts are clear to us who have worked on trails for more than an hour or two. 99 percent of the crap that is left in shelters eventually has to be carried away by a maintainer.
Imagine if instead of Tyvek and silnylon, all gear was made of $20 bills pasted together (or for me, even $1 bills!). The forest would be sparkling clean:)
As much as some gear costs, it well could be made of that...:-?
I wouldn't use Bryson as an authoritative source for anything about backpacking. :eek:
Never said it ways an authoritative source, just that it was mentioned in the book. I've read some of his other books and while entertaining, he's definitely not a reliable source of authoritative information.;)
A Walk In The Woods, that's where I first read it at....
Two words suitable for all ages, EAR PLUGS! :)
Exactly. Where does it say snorers are banned from shelters? Snoring is breathing on steroids! (Or do steroids prevent snoring? I was never clear on that one.) Maybe we need a ban on steroids on the AT? :-?