View Full Version : The AT and trails vs. routes
This is probably a loopy question, but are most of the other trails discussed on WB actual trails or are they routes where you decide the best way to get around.
Meaning.. when I think of a trail I think of a worn path that you can follow by sight as opposed to walking from point to point with the hiker deciding the best way to get to each point.
This is probably a loopy question, but are most of the other trails discussed on WB actual trails or are they routes where you decide the best way to get around.
Meaning.. when I think of a trail I think of a worn path that you can follow by sight as opposed to walking from point to point with the hiker deciding the best way to get to each point.
Ever hear of the Appalachian Route? The Continental Divide Route? Pinhoti Route?
If I understand your definition of a 'route' as opposed to a trail, the fact that they are blazed would make all these trails, not routes.
Spirit Walker
02-01-2010, 12:08
Most of the Other Trails are actual trails. They may not be easy to follow, but there is generally an actual path, and usually a guidebook and maps. In the east there will usually be blazes to follow. Out west there may be cairns or axe blazes - or just pathway on the ground.
The main "route" that is commonly hiked is the Sierra High Route, which is not an actual trail, but is a well described route that is followable if you know how to read a map. I imagine by this time there is treadway to follow in places.
Some are a mixture - like the Great Divide Trail - which has a lot of actual trail, some roadwalking, and some bushwhacking along ridges.
Ever hear of the Appalachian Route? The Continental Divide Route? Pinhoti Route?
If I understand your definition of a 'route' as opposed to a trail, the fact that they are blazed would make all these trails, not routes.
You missed the question.
Pedaling Fool
02-01-2010, 12:32
The problem is language. We all have our own interpretations of any given word, which most of us learn by word-of-mouth. If you look up these words you can see how difficult it is, for instance here's a few definitions of Trail
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trail
If you look at the Verb form/meanings of this link it mainly lists all the other forms of the word Trail. However, if you click on the Noun then you see at the end of the page of this link it mentions Path & Route as if it's a synonym
And then add to that the fact that people learn not from the dictionary.
Does anyone know what the hell a valentine is?
The problem is language.
Yes, and to differentiate I wrote:
Meaning.. when I think of a trail I think of a worn path that you can follow by sight as opposed to walking from point to point with the hiker deciding the best way to get to each point.
At any rate, Spirit Walker answered my question
Thanks
With respect to Great Eastern Trail, the answer would be both.
From I-64 to Addison, NY there is at least one of (1) blazes (2) guidebook description or (3) maps, showing a single route.
There are also areas on GET where a single route has not been identified, where it would be hiker's choice as to where to walk, without definitive guidance from (1) through (3) above. These are gaps in the trail where one does have to make one's own way, but there are also areas referred to as gaps where blazes are either missing or possibly illustrate walks on public roads where it is hoped the trail will be relocated onto natural surfaces.
There is even discussion on what constitutes a "road", as in "roadwalking." In one earlier thread the consensus was that roadwalking was only on paved shoulders so walking on unpaved roads didn't count. That matter of definition alone vastly shortened the roadwalking percentage reported on PA's Mid State Trail. :D
If (volunteer) trail planners are perhaps confused by these terms, it's little wonder that potential hikers are too!
Spirit Walker
02-01-2010, 13:29
Then you get the problem of the CDT, and to a lesser extent the PCT, where there is an actual official trail, but most hikers do at least some alternates because they are more interesting or better watered or shorter or more scenic (etc. etc.) than the official trail. On both the hiker gets to decide where he'll stay on the official trail and where he'll choose another route.
Pedaling Fool
02-01-2010, 13:39
Yes, and to differentiate I wrote:
At any rate, Spirit Walker answered my question
Thanks
Sorry I screwed up and misread you original post. :o
I've looked at all the other trails on this website and I would count the following as a trail with respect to AT standards, but I'm sure others could add to my humble list:
1. Long Trail
2. BMT