View Full Version : Claustrophobic green tunnel?
I'm a member of another trail group that recently led a story about a trail town in its magazine with the following lead:
"The Appalachian Trail has been labeled 'The Long Green Tunnel' because of bouts of claustrophobia endured by through[sic]-hikers. Not so the [X] Trail, whose pastoral splendor affords frequent vistas."
A few threads recently on WB have lamented the "roadaphobia" that led to Virginia's rollercoaster, or have seemed to accuse maintaining clubs of making deliberately difficult sections as PUDs or MUDs. There has even been an observation of Pennsylvania's attempt to create extraterritorial regulations affecting activities outside the acquired corridor.
Many other long trails lack the A.T.'s land acquisition resources, so they feature road walks, such as the [X] Trail; or passages on private land closed during hunting seasons. There may be more opportunity per mile to interact with real Trail neighbors, as opposed to through[sic]-hikers or hiker-oriented service providers.
Although there are the threads on here faulting the A.T. for this and that, there certainly are many more hikers on the A.T. than on the East's other long trails.
Is that because we really do love the "green tunnel," or is it just from lack of knoweldge about the alternatives?
I'm a member of another trail group that recently led a story about a trail town in its magazine with the following lead:
"The Appalachian Trail has been labeled 'The Long Green Tunnel' because of bouts of claustrophobia endured by through[sic]-hikers. Not so the [X] Trail, whose pastoral splendor affords frequent vistas."
A few threads recently on WB have lamented the "roadaphobia" that led to Virginia's rollercoaster, or have seemed to accuse maintaining clubs of making deliberately difficult sections as PUDs or MUDs. There has even been an observation of Pennsylvania's attempt to create extraterritorial regulations affecting activities outside the acquired corridor.
Many other long trails lack the A.T.'s land acquisition resources, so they feature road walks, such as the [X] Trail; or passages on private land closed during hunting seasons. There may be more opportunity per mile to interact with real Trail neighbors, as opposed to through[sic]-hikers or hiker-oriented service providers.
Although there are the threads on here faulting the A.T. for this and that, there certainly are many more hikers on the A.T. than on the East's other long trails.
Is that because we really do love the "green tunnel," or is it just from lack of knoweldge about the alternatives?
I think it has to do with the availability of info about the AT, and the prestige that the trail has. It is arguably the most famous hiking trail in the world.
4eyedbuzzard
05-15-2008, 20:46
I think it has to do with the availability of info about the AT, and the prestige that the trail has. It is arguably the most famous hiking trail in the world.
Yep. It's the best known trail in the world. Rumor has it there are even internet discussion boards relating to hiking it. How crazy is that? :rolleyes:
It is also very well maintained and blazed, has a system of shelters, easily obtained guidebooks and maps, documented water sources, etc. It's also a social experience, and even a quest for some. But the biggest reason, as planned, it is a 2175 mile linear pak within 1/2 days drive of most of the US east coast's major population centers.
Down here in the Southeast there is no way to avoid the "green tunnel" if you desire to walk a trail longer than 10 miles. My question would be: is the "green tunnel" the path through Rhododendron that is very much like a tunnel or just walking in lush foliage without extended views?
I was actually surprised at how much time was spent in the woods on the trail. I always enjoyed an old woods road, or a walk through a meadow. Still do.
hopefulhiker
05-15-2008, 20:52
It depends on the time of year you hike.. When you hit the 500 miles of Virginia after the leaves have come out, it does seem to be like a green tunnel.. Also the fact that the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Shendeoah Drive steal a lot of the good views... I got an Mp3 and listened to audio books through much of VA...
I think we complain about the AT in the same way some folks complain about their family. We can cause we love them, but don't anyone else fault them. Same with the AT. Folks who hike long distances on it take on a bit of ownership of it. I know I have. It's my hike on my trail and I'm in Central VA right now. It has become very personal, and I think anyone who goes back to it year after year may feel the same way.
As far as the AT being a 'green tunnel', yup, and I love it. Never heard anyone complain about it being claustrophobic though.
I think we complain about the AT in the same way some folks complain about their family. We can cause we love them, but don't anyone else fault them. Same with the AT. Folks who hike long distances on it take on a bit of ownership of it. I know I have. It's my hike on my trail and I'm in Central VA right now. It has become very personal, and I think anyone who goes back to it year after year may feel the same way.
that was really well said and even though i ha:)vent done it yet i agree full heartedly
Time To Fly 97
05-16-2008, 09:28
I always feel that if you are looking for a good time or expecting to be delighted, you always will be...like a self fulfilling prophesy. I found that the green tunnels of the AT never ceased to amaze me. It seemed each day was better than the last (and I do not at all understand why people get bored on the AT). These areas are beautiful in themselves and are the perfect place to reflect, feel gratitude and just enjoy the hike. Then you would pop out of the "tunnel" for the next gift from the AT: meeting someone cool, a beautiful view, perfect spot for lunch, an endophine rush from hiking, etc. etc. It is SO MUCH FUN!! I hope you 2008 hikers are having a blast!!
Happy hiking!
TTF
I haven't thru-hiked (although I hope to soon), but having done large sections of the AT as well as a good chunk of the JMT, I too am not bothered by the so-called "green tunnel." It has a lot to be said for it. For one, you don't get sunburned nearly as easily -- I got scorched on the JMT. Second, I know some would disagree, but I think the vistas are more powerful due to their rarity and often being unexpected. Finally, being from Georgia and having grown up spending lots of time in the woods, the AT feels like home to me. There's something very peaceful about the southern woods that I wouldn't trade for all the 14ers in the world.
4eyedbuzzard
05-20-2008, 14:17
Then again, you won't have that constant green tunnel problem in most parts of NH. Usually a view or two every few miles, and then nothing but above timberline. Of course you pay for it with sore legs.
I always feel that if you are looking for a good time or expecting to be delighted, you always will be...like a self fulfilling prophesy. I found that the green tunnels of the AT never ceased to amaze me. It seemed each day was better than the last (and I do not at all understand why people get bored on the AT). These areas are beautiful in themselves and are the perfect place to reflect, feel gratitude and just enjoy the hike. Then you would pop out of the "tunnel" for the next gift from the AT: meeting someone cool, a beautiful view, perfect spot for lunch, an endophine rush from hiking, etc. etc. It is SO MUCH FUN!! I hope you 2008 hikers are having a blast!!
Happy hiking!
TTF
A very wise post. Personally, I like to walk in the woods. I do it daily -- or almost. For most of us vistas are welcome, but rare. Our town land trust has built 25 miles of trails, mostly "green tunnel" trails. Yeah. We have one ocean-front beach that were it not for the curvature of the earth we could see portugal. But on both sides are summer cottages and year round homes. Hardly wilderness.
These days I mostly walk 253 acres fronting a man made pond -- made for cutting ice more than a century ago. In a couple of places rock bluffs have me looking onto the tops of oaks and red maples. Do these qualify as vistas? Probably not. But I see and hear something different every time I walk the preserve -- from a variety of spring peepers in a vernal pool, great masses of salamander eggs, tad poles, lady slippers, may flowers, gold thread, gay wings, wild strawberry blossoms, an abandoned beaver flowage, bunch berries, mushrooms, winterberry, partridge berry, the new leaves of spring, the beauty of a New England autumn, clouds reflecting on the water.... The list is endless.
My daily walks are microcosm of the long green tunnel I walked in 1993 -- and in many ways equally enjoyable.
Weary
High Life
05-22-2008, 13:28
i love the green tunnel .
I like variety. Too much of the green tunnel and I get antsy. In particular -- I like it when I can look into the woods for a ways. When dense vegetation comes right up to the edge of the trail on both sides, and obscures my view -- I get claustrophobic in a hurry. Fortunately that doesn't happen all that often. But I remember miles and miles of rhodo and laurel tunnels down south. Those can get old in a hurry.