General Trail Questions/Comments

[BarefootForester]

Hello All

I am new to this forum, just registered a few minutes ago. I've recently been thinking about the trail, and I just can't seem to get it out of my head. I really feel the need to just get out there and thru hike the entire thing to set me straight. I was just wondering how much money on average food costs on the trail, and if any of you hunted/fished/gathered on the trail at all? I am going to attempt to do the trail old school, with as little new fangled gear as possible. I want to do it the old fashioned pioneer way to see if I can do it. Just wondering if any of you had any advice about food and such. I know many edible plants and tree fruits, but I was just wondering how many, if any, of you have tried this before.

Thanks
Barefoot

[fiddlehead]

Not too many have tried that route.
I wish you luck. (you may need some)

(ps. are you a troll?)

[WalkingStick75]

I was told that someone has tried it barefoot before (ouch) and I hiked with a guy in Vermont by the name of Johna that made a great salad one night out of the local vegetation. I hope you are a vegetarian because hunting laws, weapon laws, the weight of a weapon will prevent any hunting.

Good luck with that!

[Terry7]

Use the search engine here on W.B. and you will see that what your thinking of doing wont work. Read all you can get your hands on, go on some over night hikes, and if you still want to do the A.T. then save your money.

[4eyedbuzzard]

You can't hunt on a lot of the AT(Nat Parks, most state parks, ect) and game will not always be in season. Carrying a weapon is illegal on National Park administered land and in many states as well. Most of the AT is on ridges and fishing will usually be a ways off though Maine presents some great fishing heading into Baxter Park. You would also need fishing and hunting licenses for each individual state. Foraging is very limited, against most etiquette guidelines, and illegal in some areas.

As for the pioneer stuff. The AT isn't a pioneer trail, it's a modern day(1900's) invention to create (to some degree the illusion of) a wilderness experience within a days drive to major population centers. With some exceptions it rarely gets more than 10 miles away from any road crossing. And very few thru-hiked it until the late 60's, early 70's most after Ed Garvey popularized it in the 70's. Earl Shaeffer was the first right after WWII. If Lewis and Clark had goretex and nylon they would have used it. Pioneer style = heavy and wet and you can't take pack horses on the AT. Ain't nothing that good about pioneering and you don't get any medals for inflicting pain on yourself.

Most hikers spend $3K to $6K for actual hiking expenses(food, meals, motel lodging, campground/hut fees, laundry, booze, medical, etc) excluding equipment and transport to/from Springer and Baxter.

[BarefootForester]

Thanks for all the input guys. But I still feel that hiking the trail with as little as possible would be more rewarding in the end. Eustace Conway, one of the most important figures alive today although no one knows of him, hiked the trail with almost nothing, collecting food along the way, setting traps, fishing, etc. and made it out just fine. I'm not here to knock anyone who likes their gortex and all that stuff, but I just feel like in the end, people would get more out of the trip spiritually if they did it living as close to nature as they could the entire trip. I think these "etiquette rules" are kind of keeping us from experiencing true trail life. Now that statement might get me crucified on this site, but c'mon, who doesn't enjoy a small campfire after a long and tiresome day of hiking. And a squirrel caught in a figure 4 snare or a trout caught on a line tastes even better over that open fire at the end of the day ;). The pioneer way may be a little harder to come by, but people have done it, and I just feel that by partaking of natural fruits, greens, small game when can be found, would make the trip all that much better.

[Cai]

And that campfire will be even nicer after the rest of the forest burns down around you.

Rules exist for a reason.

[4eyedbuzzard]

It's 2008 man, not 1808. The wilderness is long gone. The AT is mostly on ridgelines and in mature forests which are NOT rich in nutrients. Pioneers settled along rivers and in valleys for a reason - a greater abundance of water, food, tillable soil, etc. You'd have to devote virtually all your time to foraging, fishing, trapping and hunting. You'd end up hiking nowhere. Now if you want to go off and do the survival thing for awhile go for it. But it isn't a realistic hiking strategy. Those etiquette rules and laws are there to protect the experience for all, on our public lands. The AT corridor isn't that wide, and given the number of hikers that use the AT uncontrolled foraging would lead to devastating impact in the few areas where wild foods can be found. Nothing wrong with enjoying a campfire, I make one whenever possible and allowed. But I won't hunt or fish without a license and refrain from picking wild foods. Leave the berries for the critters.

[Feral Bill]

I need a clearer image of what you want to do. Supplemeting your food with some fish, greens, and berries is surely possible. So is using staples like flour, dried beans etc. You can also keep your gear minimal, if not 100% old style. Living off the land? I don't think so.

[Grumpy5280]

Hey BF! Your idea of living "frontiersman-style" sounds neat! I think there ARE some places you could make a go of it...just not the AT as the .

Have you hiked much on the AT?? There are a lot more trails and forests around than the AT. For many reasons, it's not really a place for you to practice "living off the land," as many have said in reply to your post. You might be able to go "Frontier-style" with your rig, and do like Daniel Boone and carry some flour, sugar and smoked jerky, which you could supplement with greenery and some fish. Use a canvas tarp, wool plaid clothes, no bug juice, no dental care, etc. It would be an adventure!

If AT folks find out you are hunting down furry critters for sustenance, they'll likely want the authorities to make sure you have a fishing / hunting license, etc, even if you are "trapping" them (that is, acquiring them without a firearm). You'd bring trouble on yosef you wouldn't want or need.

There ARE some great areas you might give a go of it, like the Wilson Creek area of Pisgah National Forest, or down in the Southern Nantahalas.

I'd try it out for a couple of long weekends, and see how it goes frontier-style. See what you can learn. You might just prefer the frontier-re-enactment experience, or, you might find you prefer just the camping and hiking, and would be fine to occassionally partake of some of nature's bounty when in season: Catbriars, ramps, grubs, blueberries, blackberries, etc.

You're still a young fella, and ya got quite a bit to learn. Listen well, and folks will help you out.

[Nearly Normal]

Before you go frontiering around Alaska, Idaho or Montana somewhere read up on Jim Bridger and a few more famous mountain-men. Each had their own list of "possibles" and pack animals. You will need the skills these fellows grew up with and the ones they developed or copied from Native Americans.

There's way to many laws for most to stealth public and park lands frontier style.
Those shining times and the freedoms of it are long gone.
You might find a spot or two in Canada wild enough to get away with it.

[FFTorched]

Go to Conway's Turtle Island. It's right in North Carolina. You can go there as camper or you can put in an application to be an intern. From what I've read being an intern is the hardest thing you will do and that's completely living off the land.

[excuses]

If you plan on gathering the leaves, twigs and the rest then you aren't moving very fast. There is alot of easy carbs to come by on the AT. The problem gets into the protein and fats. That is the legal problems with many different state laws and federal laws too. What experience are you really after? Hiking the AT or survival skills?

[Gray Blazer]

Who was that centennial park bomber who was supposed to be so great at surviving in the wilds of NC? They caught him dumpster diving behind the Winn-Dixie in Murphy.

[Nearly Normal]

If they keep on with the economy it won't just be the ones on the run.

[Lilred]

Who was that centennial park bomber who was supposed to be so great at surviving in the wilds of NC? They caught him dumpster diving behind the Winn-Dixie in Murphy.

Eric Rudolph

[Mrs Baggins]

Thanks for all the input guys. But I still feel that hiking the trail with as little as possible would be more rewarding in the end. Eustace Conway, one of the most important figures alive today although no one knows of him, hiked the trail with almost nothing, collecting food along the way, setting traps, fishing, etc. and made it out just fine. I'm not here to knock anyone who likes their gortex and all that stuff, but I just feel like in the end, people would get more out of the trip spiritually if they did it living as close to nature as they could the entire trip. I think these "etiquette rules" are kind of keeping us from experiencing true trail life. Now that statement might get me crucified on this site, but c'mon, who doesn't enjoy a small campfire after a long and tiresome day of hiking. And a squirrel caught in a figure 4 snare or a trout caught on a line tastes even better over that open fire at the end of the day ;). The pioneer way may be a little harder to come by, but people have done it, and I just feel that by partaking of natural fruits, greens, small game when can be found, would make the trip all that much better.


So..........Have you ever read "Into the Wild"?????????? Know how it ends??? I don't know what part of NC you're from but 99% of the rest of us do NOT eat roast squirrel and we would not think of killing something like that on the AT! The trail does run through National Parks but it is in it's own way one long continuous PARK and we don't kill off the wildlife in parks! You are out there to enjoy how the wildlife LOOKS, not how it TASTES. The first time another hiker sees you killing off the wildlife to eat it they'll get on their cell phone (and most of us do carry them) and get a ranger or trail club out there to haul you off. It won't be admirable, cute, manly or anything else like that. Just stupid. Fishing is one thing but you can not go out there expecting to hunt down the animals. Gees.
:mad:

[ScottP]

good luck fishing in PA, where for several hundred miles many of the streams are so polluted that there aren't fish in them. The AT (for the most part) isn't wilderness.

The hunting will probably be good on the zoo the trail goes through, though.

[Tinker]

From what I've seen, the biggest problem of "going primitive" on the AT is getting the necessary 5,000 or so calories you'll need daily for a sustained hike. In the Northeast, with which I'm most familiar, fishing streams aren't as plentiful as you'd think and most of the vegetation in high elevations is not conducive to foraging. You would have to hike very slowly in order to set traps for small mammals daily, and you'd have to be pretty good at it.
It's a romantic notion, no doubt, just not practical.

[Appalachian Tater]

I think it's a great idea but the wrong trail. The A.T. is not in the wilderness. It goes straight through towns. Pick a better trail where you can hunt and fish.