View Full Version : Beginner Needing Some advice
I'm a new member, new to the whole backpacking world. This summer a friend and I are planing to do some backpacking in the Appalachians. Any good suggestions for an area in the southern part of the Appalachians for a four day hike. We were considering the Great Smokey Mountains, but we wanted to try and hike somewhere less frequented and good for beginners. Any suggestions on a good trail to pick would be really appreciated.
The area around Roan Mtn. is quite lovely. You might want to consult Miss Janet and base your hike out of her hostel. That way you could have easy resupply and/or bail-out points.
Marta/Five-Leaf
booney_1
04-03-2007, 10:02
Max Patch to Hot Springs is a good 4 day hike (~20 miles). The views when you start are great. It's nice to hike into a town like Hot Springs. The outfitter there can easily shuttle you. It's a fairly easy hike.
TN_Hiker
04-03-2007, 11:31
You can do some great hikes in GSMNP off of the AT. This is also known as blue blazing.
Max Patch to Hot Springs is a good 4 day hike (~20 miles). The views when you start are great. It's nice to hike into a town like Hot Springs. The outfitter there can easily shuttle you. It's a fairly easy hike.
That's some good advice, but I'd extend that out to I-40 to Hot Springs. That'll mean approximately 8 mile days for 4 days. I did that trip in 3 days with my 15 year old over the July 4 holiday in 2005. You can find some photos from that hike in my photo gallery.
How new? I would suggest you do several overnight shakedown trips near home, to test your equipment, learn what to bring, what not to bring. The first big rain, set up your tent in the backyard, make sure you can keep everything dry.
Have fun and welcome to WB
We're new to the Appalachain Trail, but not too camping. I was a boy scout, have good reliable gear that I'm familiar enough with, and am confident in my hiking and camping skills. Mostly I'm just looking for a decent 4 day loop, that isn't too over-crowded. We enjoy a challenge, so rough terrain isn't a big concern. Also, we're poor.. so knowing places that dont require too much in the way of extra costs (i.e. permits, shuttling, or any other fringe expenses) is important.
Hoping I'm not asking too much, but it seems very confusing to find a good information on trails via the internet. Thanks again for your help.
hammock engineer
04-04-2007, 01:06
If you are looking for a good hike and not a lot of people but not the AT, consider some of the other trails in the Smokies. A couple of summers ago I did an overnight on 4th of July weekend. I saw 3 people on the trail and 3 people in the next campsite over 2 days.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
04-04-2007, 06:21
For solitude, consider the trailheads in the Abrams Creek Campground area and the Twentymile Ranger station area. These are the least visited areas and where us locals go during tourist infestation season :D. Here is a link to a trail map of the GSMNP in PDF format (1.4 MB) (javascript:HandleLink('cpe_53660_0','CPNEWWIN:New Window^top=10,left=10,width=500,height=400,toolbar =1,location=1,directories=0,status=1,menubar=1,scr ollbars=1,resizable=1@CP___PAGEID=53663,/grsm/planyourvisit/upload/trails2005.pdf');) As you can see, there are many, many ways to make a loop of almost any length you want.
You might also want to consider hiking a portion of the Benton MacKay trail (marked in yellow on the map above) in the park. Warning - I hear it has a lot of blowdowns on the trail right now.
For loop hikes, the Smokies can hardly be beat. The Park is loaded with trails, and there are plenty of tentsites on the side trails that don't require reservations. There's lots of water. Once you get to an information station, you can buy a map that will work for about a dollar. Parking is free. The backcountry permit is free.
Hiking the AT in the Smokies is a bit of a hassle because of the shelter/reservation thing. But hiking the side trails does away with that problem. And you get a much better view of the biological diversity of the area. And, if you are so inclined, you can get a great deal of exercise, climbing from the base to the ridgeline and back over and over again. Or you can choose trail that are very gently graded and almost like roads.
Marta/Five-Leaf
Since you are from Illinois and time sounds a bit limoited and you want to keep costs down, why not go to the UP of MI or Isle Royale? There are some beautiful areas up there worth backpacking in.
erwin to damascus is pretty part of trail
Pennsylvania Rose
04-05-2007, 20:59
I'd have to agree with GSMNP. Lots of potential loop hikes. I just did one with my kids. Lots of solitude in the backcountry away from the AT. We saw 5 people in 5 days, except for on the AT. We saw 12 hikers on the about 3 miles of AT we used.