View Full Version : doing the trail, off the trail?
dr magooo
02-19-2009, 18:12
If i programmed in a ton of GPS coardinates into my magellen GPS, is it technically possible to stay on the trail but not on the beaten track so to speak.
Could i program in a GPS coordinate every 20 miles so i would know where the trail was and how close i am to it but just be more in the wilderness than just following the basic trail?
Has anyone ever done the trail like this before?
Rockhound
02-19-2009, 18:18
It's called bush whacking and it is not allowed in some areas. ie. the Whites. The trail itself wont be too crowded and you will have plenty of alone time. When you reach a shelter, hostel or trail town that's when the crowds set in.
Much of the AT is a narrow corridor, you'd be trespassing much of the time if you tried bushwhacking or going cross country. Not to mention thick brush, cliffing out, and if you got hurt no body would find you.
hootyhoo
02-19-2009, 18:19
And you might figure your bushwhacking speed about 3 mpd. That's three miles per day. 2000/3= 667 days. Thats not bad.
Or you could just do the trail.
For a thru-hike, I would imagine it's not possible. Bushwacking takes a lot longer to do the same distance, and you have limited time in the first place.
sticks&stones
02-19-2009, 18:25
you'd end up on private property, the corridor is long, but it's as narrow as a stone's throw in some places.
boarstone
02-19-2009, 18:31
Leave the Magellan home, save the headache, just walk the trail. If and when you want to bushwack some of the country you've hiked, then and only then...consider a return to do so...just make sure the area of the country you want to bushwack in-- is bushwack-doable.
Go for it. Sounds reasonable.
dr magooo
02-19-2009, 18:38
its not like im planning to stray 100 miles off the track, 20 mile markers will keep me close enough to the real trail without actually being on the main pathways.
Maybe i should find 10 mile markers instead and elect to never stray more than 15 miles from the next marker.
Good idea?
its not like im planning to stray 100 miles off the track, 20 mile markers will keep me close enough to the real trail without actually being on the main pathways.
Maybe i should find 10 mile markers instead and elect to never stray more than 15 miles from the next marker.
Good idea?
Just hike the trail for chrissakes and save yourself a huge headache. As some have said, if you leave the trail corridor in many places you'll be trespassing on private property. Leave the Magellan at home and follow the blazes. Good luck and enjoy!
its not like im planning to stray 100 miles off the track, 20 mile markers will keep me close enough to the real trail without actually being on the main pathways.
Maybe i should find 10 mile markers instead and elect to never stray more than 15 miles from the next marker.
Good idea?
In many places, if you are more than about 50 meters off-trail, you are rolling down an impossibly steep mountainside, the only thing preventing you from your death is the incredibly thick brush which will be clawing you up.
So physically, there are sections which would, for all intents and purposes, be impossible to realistically do off-trail.
The trail almost never runs in a straight line. 20 miles of "trail" may only be 5 miles apart as the crow flies, but you'll have to bushwhack straight down and mountainside busting through brush, then bust your way uphill through more of the same. Busting through a rhododendron wall is sort of like trying to walk through a wall of stacked tires. You CAN eventually get through them, but not without exhausting yourself first.
Following a GPS buchwhacking route might be fun in some sections, but it would be virtually impossible for the whole corridor.
dr magooo
02-19-2009, 18:59
Ok, i accept the advice from everyone here, stupid idea for a first time thru-hike, maybe after a few times i will be able to devise an alternative bush-whacking route that is slightly off the trail
just Hike The Trail For Chrissakes...
Lol... ;)
Ok, i accept the advice from everyone here, stupid idea for a first time thru-hike, maybe after a few times i will be able to devise an alternative bush-whacking route that is slightly off the trail
Hello, anybody home. It doesn't matter how many times you hike the trail; you will always face the same challenges trying to bushwhack. Dangerous conditions, dense foliage, cliffing out, private property.
Good idea?
No. You should stay on the trail or use connecting trails.
Blissful
02-19-2009, 20:15
No. You should stay on the trail or use connecting trails.
This was a nice sensible answer without all the cutting emotion and use of derogatory language.
(He was just asking a question)
Just wondering what all one might stumble upon in the few places it could be done: stills, illegal crops, poacher camps, stolen vehicle stashes, boobytraps, nudists, sinkholes, illegal waste dumps, backyards, frontyards, Jimmy Hoffa, bear dens, rattlesnake dens, bigfoot, "lost" Indian tribe, Billy Joe & Bobby Sue, mad cows, white supremest "clubhouse", crack "lab", etc......... Could be so much more exciting than staying on trail.
fiddlehead
02-19-2009, 20:50
On the AT, it is tough. On the CDT, it is the norm.
On the PCT, possible sometimes.
I've done a bit of bushwhacking near the AT in PA. SLow going, it's not so much the thickness of the bushes, etc. It's the fact that the AT is normally on tops of the mountains, the sides are often steep and not easy to traverse.
Just go ahead and try it. It would be a good idea to save the track you are making and use the trackback feature so you don't get lost. I doubt you'll go 20 miles before realizing that the above posts are correct: better to stay on trail.
max patch
02-19-2009, 21:23
Doing the trail off the trail?
Well, you could always hike the first 16 miles on FS42 to Gooch Gap which is close to the trail. Even crosses it a time or two.
But bushwacking? I bet you'd change your mind before 3 Forks.
Fat Man Walking
02-20-2009, 22:21
Oh, I don't know...... If you really want to bushwack, just start in the South in...Oh.....say.......July. By then, all the trail maintaining crews down that way will know that most of the folks that are going to hike the trail have already done so and don't bother clearing the trail anymore. By then, the undergrowth is over your head and it is just like bushwacking only you're still on the trail.
Best of both worlds.
Or, at least it was like that when I sectioned through there several years ago.
Of course, your mileage may vary........
Poison ivy is so thick, you'll end up at the hospital in a calamine bath
My house sits 200 yards from the trail. Cross the property line and my dogs will have you for lunch. Of course I'm just kidding, but many people in these parts ain't too keen on hiker trash enterring their property. Some of the good ol' boys are likely to shoot and ask questions later.;) IMO, it would be wise to keep to the trail. That last thing the trail community needs is for hikers to be tresspassing.
Spirit Walker
02-21-2009, 00:19
You could try to follow the boundary markers. ATC has had some interesting articles and workshops on the folks who make sure the trail corridor boundaries are kept intact. They do some very[/*] rough hiking.
FWIW, I think you'd do better to hike a straightforward hike this year - then get involved in maintaining either the trail or the boundaries - you'll see those places that are off the beaten track.
Or just see how you like thruhiking, and if you do, then head west to one of the less populated trails. There are many possibilities - once you've learned what you need to learn on the AT.
If i programmed in a ton of GPS coardinates into my magellen GPS, is it technically possible to stay on the trail but not on the beaten track so to speak.
Could i program in a GPS coordinate every 20 miles so i would know where the trail was and how close i am to it but just be more in the wilderness than just following the basic trail?
Has anyone ever done the trail like this before?
This is an interesting idea, and I have had similar thoughts. Theoretically possible, but there are a few obvious problems.
#1: In the heavily populated East, the AT corridor is often as wildernessy as it gets. Going "off" the AT in many cases means you'd see MORE roads, buildings and signs of civilization. Not less.
#2: You would have to rejoin the AT many times anyway, to cross major rivers on bridges, etc. Or at the least, use other existing man-made structures to cross waterways which seems to negate the spirit of the idea anyway.
#3: If you applied your scenario to the AT, you'd have to do a hell of a lot more planning than just loading waypoints onto a GPS. You'd need to crunch the miles between every one of your resupply points, and then figure out how you'd access them. You'd need to do heavy research into land ownership and uses for the lands you'd be crossing, obtain necessary permits, pay fees for those permits, and obtain permission from the land owners who's private property you'd inevitably end up crossing. (As you may imagine, a GIANT pain in the as$.)
#4: Your idea of simply hiking from one waypont to the next doesn't really work in reality. In most cases it's very unlikely you could simply hike in a straight line from one waypoint to the next, and I would venture that it's almost ALWAYS impossible if your waypoints are anything even close to 20 miles apart. So if you couldn't just follow waypoints you'd need some way to efficiently navigate between them. You'd probably end up having to create a somewhat exact route of where you plan to hike, create your own mapset of that route, probably by spending a GREAT deal of time and money and mapping software and printing services. Then, you'd have to follow that route in real life- Overwhelmingly through thick, overgrown, disorienting terrain. Even for a pro, this kind of navigation is exceptionally trying.
So ultimately, if you want to hike from Georgia to Maine, or vice versa, the existing AT would seem to offer BY FAR the best backcountry way in which to do so. The AT, more often than not, follows the best and most scenic route through the regions it crosses. It also has the added benefit of being a well constructed hiking trail that's easy to follow, that can be hiked legally, that you can cheaply buy maps for, and that a vast wealth of planning information is available for.
I'm not suggesting you abandon your idea, but maybe plan and attempt a shakedown off-trail hike of a few days first. Then, go for a few day hike on the AT and compare the experiences.
If your goal is to travel on a lightly traveled way, try the BMT. The BMT roughly parralells the AT from Springer to the N end of the Smokies & (so far) sees minimal use. Once through the Smokies, the Thru hiker crowd spreads out AND thins by then, so the AT will mostly be yours.
Avoid the shelters & likely you will see few people during your hike.
fiddlehead
02-23-2009, 20:16
In designing a trail here in Phuket which involves about 30% bushwhacking, it took me 7 days to get around a military installation that was off-limits. Those 7 days got me about 2 miles distance as the crow flies.
But now, i'm through it and found a trail that goes pretty much where i want to go so i'm sticking with it. Reminded me of the AT yesterday and i even said that aloud although the trees are a different species.
Haven't heard from the OP lately so he's probably gotten the jist of the hardships involved. But it is a very interesting quest anyway and would probably take many years to complete.
hootyhoo
02-23-2009, 20:43
Cause. This river don't go to Aintry. You done taken a wrong turn. See uh, this here river don't go nowhere near Aintry.
Now, let's you just drop them pants.
Take off that little ol' bitty shirt there, too.
Come on piggy, give me a ride...Looks like we got us a sow here, instead of a boar....I bet you can squeal. I bet you can squeal like a pig.
Weeeeeeee!
There are alternative, less traveled, often less developed, pathways through the Eastern USA mountains, sometimes discussed here on WB. For instance, here is one that is not known yet to have been thru-hiked: http://www.greateasterntrail.net/
neighbor dave
02-24-2009, 16:46
while bushwhackin' is allowed in the whites, it can be very slow goin'
here's an example of what you'd be in for
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=15370&catid=member&orderby=title&direction=ASC&imageuser=4327&cutoffdate=-1