View Full Version : Does AT Still Provide Solitude?
SavageLlama
10-19-2004, 09:33
Interesting article today on USA Today's website about the AT providing solitude. Not sure I agree with this.. as I've never gone more than about 5 or 10 miles on the AT without seeing another hiker.
"Sylvan solitude: Hikers often go for days on the Appalachian Trail without seeing other people."
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2004-10-18-appalachian-trail_x.htm (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2004-10-18-appalachian-trail_x.htm)
I just got back from hiking the Long Trail in Vermont and we went nearly 3 days without seeing a single person. Is this still possible on the AT? :confused:
Cedar Tree
10-19-2004, 09:41
I also just got back from 2 days and 12 miles of southern AT, Hightower Gap to Woody Gap. The trail was PACKED with hikers. The parking area at Woody Gap was full, only 1 space left for my truck when I arrived. I couldn't begin to count the number of people I met in the Woods, but it was many, many more than I am used to seeing. Still a great hike with beautiful weather. The new Gooch Mountain Shelter is really nice too, first time I'd seen the new one.
Cedar Tree
Hammock Hanger
10-19-2004, 09:45
I also just got back from 2 days and 12 miles of southern AT, Hightower Gap to Woody Gap. The trail was PACKED with hikers. The parking area at Woody Gap was full, only 1 space left for my truck when I arrived. I couldn't begin to count the number of people I met in the Woods, but it was many, many more than I am used to seeing. Still a great hike with beautiful weather. The new Gooch Mountain Shelter is really nice too, first time I'd seen the new one.
Cedar Tree
It is leaf season... so you get all the "Peepers". I know a lot of FLoridians who miss the change of seasons go up to GA to see the colors. ALmost as crowded as Spring when all those crazy "Thrus" come out!!:D (BTW: That's where I'm headed come Thursday!!)Sue/HH
The Solemates
10-19-2004, 09:48
If complete and utter solitude is what you want while hiking, then I dont think the AT is the way to gain it, unless you are winter hiking.
I have hiked in the Smokies in the dead of winter and saw not a soul for the whole week.
However, if winter hiking is not your thing, try another trail during the hiking season. On our thru of the GA section of the Bartram Trail a few years ago, we saw only 2 other people on our last day out (near the TH).
Blue Jay
10-19-2004, 09:49
Yes, it's very easy to get solitude. Just avoid the over run areas, such as the Smokies, Whites and others. Most of the trail is empty early in the year in the north prior to the bulge in the snake and in the south after the bulge has passed. When you look at the few shelter journals that last a whole year, clearly there are more days that they are empty than when someone is there.
smokymtnsteve
10-19-2004, 09:52
down south here it is all those springtime NOBO "thru-hikers" that jam up the trail..that first 35 or so miles can be a real circus in the spring.
No, it is not possible. Even if you can avoid people (camping at places other than shelters goes a long way), you are rarely out of earshot of a road. Or a shooting range. Or a race track. Or the hum of electricity. I think it is better to accept the AT for what it is, rather than force something on it that can't support. The AT is a social trail, not a wilderness or wild experience. Enjoy it for what it is.
It felt like I had the Smokies to myself as I went through Sobo in December of 2000. Even the footprints of the hikers a day in front of me were swept clean by the wind across the snow. To be honest, though, I did see a few people: a photographer early in my first morning, a few campers waking up as I passed by a couple of shelters. But I felt that the experience was a great chance at solitude: 3.5 days, 71 miles, maybe 40 minutes total contact with other people in the nation's most visited national park. I also had several one or two-day stretches throughout the southbound hike where I saw no one else except my hiking partner (and maybe some cars going by at road crossings). In fact, for one-third of our nights on the trail, no one else was there...and this was usually at shelter areas!
No, it's not like out west or even like many of the more remote and primitive wilderness areas here in the east . But, I think that a certain solitude can be found on the AT. It is much easier to find it, though, in the larger forests of the south during "off-seasons". And, of course, there is always the solitude of bad weather hiking! :)
chknfngrs
10-19-2004, 10:15
I think hiking is what you make it. Be it the AT, or a walk down the street. HYOH. Be it for solitude or for a day-hiker's attitude.
Just the other day, my wife and I were dayhiking in the Shenandoah National Park near the ever popular Skyline Drive. We took off from Thornton Gap and headed NOBO a quick jibble to the Pass Mountain Hut. In the 1.2ish miles between US211 and the junction of Pass Mountain Trail, I saw a father and his two teenage sons proceed to pretend to not get lost, 2 sets of what looked like grandparents, and an older couple walking a dog. I hate to say it but I loved seeing people out hiking, and especially when the rain started!
"This land will surely vote for me..."
Rain Man
10-19-2004, 10:21
As far as solitude on the AT, in my short section so far, I've slept alone in shelters, and have seen dozens and dozens of other "hikers" some days. So, it all depends. But NOT the solitude of the book "Into The Wild," thank goodness.
Also, that USA article quotes a register entry by Leki-Less!!! I wonder if that's this year's thru-hiker, who got his name after my family mistakenly took his Lekis on his first morning, at the Springer Mountain Forest Service parking lot? Hmmmmmm. They were exactly like mine and our foreign exchange student put them into our van, after Leki-Less leaned them against our van. Don't worry, I over-nighted them to Walasi-Yi at Neels Gap. NEAT if that really is the same hiker. Small world on the AT!
:sun
Rain Man
.
poison_ivy
10-19-2004, 12:59
While I agree you're never far from a road... you can find solitude on the AT as long as you're not hiking at the height of the season. I've hiked many New England sections without seeing a soul -- once for three days of a five day trip. The trick is to be out hiking before the pack of thru-hikers arrive or after they've left. In some areas -- like the Whites in New Hampshire, that's a lot harder. But I've often been alone on the trail in spots in CT, Mass., and even Vermont.
- Ivy
bearbait2k4
10-19-2004, 13:16
You can definitely find solitude on the AT, but don't expect it during the normal "thru-hike" season. Even then, you can find it, but you may have to work at it.
In popular locations like the White Mountains, Shenandoah and Smoky Mountain NP's, and others, hike during the week, away from holidays and in the spring or fall.
If you want to thru-hike with some solitude, don't start Mid-March-Mid-April. Start earlier or later. Flip-flop when you're half through. Do a SOBO hike.
Solitude is out there, and you can find it with some common sense.
Solitude is out there, and you can find it with some common sense.
Solitude is a relative term. For a city dweller unaccustomed to the backcountry, the AT probably offers as much or more solitude than an individual can handle.
I took a few hikes in Great Smoky Mountain NP this summer where I saw only a handful of people once I left the trailhead. Similarly, outside the thru-hiking window and the prime hiking season (October) you can have shelters all to yourself along the AT.
My experience has been that most folks who hike the AT do so because of the presence of people, not the absence of people. What I would suggest to those seeking true solitude is to avoid towns and shelters, or try hiking some of the other great trails other than the AT. The Benton MacKaye Trail (GA-TN-NC) come to mind as does the Foothills Trail (SC) or the Cohoes Trail (NH).
The AT offers lots of things. What it does not offer is the guarantee that you will be alone on the trail. 3-4 million other AT enthusiasts ensure that each year.
I can sit in my apartment all weekend long drinking beer and not seeing anyone else, but the solitude I have there is not, I suggest, the same kind of solitude that people seek in the outdoors. In my apartment, I can hear the planes from the near by USAF base overhead, or the Fort Lewis guns going off. Cars coming and leaving the parking lot, the chatter of the radio, the hum of my neighbor's drier. Even if you hike the AT in the off season and see very few other hikers, you still can't escape things like road noise or electrical hum. These things didn't bother me on my first section hike in 2002. However, after my thruhike of the PCT I returned for another section on the AT. These things really did bother me quite a bit. I felt like I could have gotten the same spiritual benefit that I got on the AT from the solitude I get in my apartment. That is, it wasn't that the solitude of the AT changed, but rather that I did.
My experience has been that most folks who hike the AT do so because of the presence of people, not the absence of people.
Good point. Just from hanging out here and reading Trail Journals, I get the impression that lots of people thru and section hike for the social aspects.
For me, solitude is getting away from what I want to get away from.
I felt like I could have gotten the same spiritual benefit that I got on the AT from the solitude I get in my apartment. That is, it wasn't that the solitude of the AT changed, but rather that I did.
Interesting stuff. Chris, we've never met, but I often read your posts with great interest. You have written about your love of reading (which I share) and having your "special places" in the Smokies that you keep to yourself. You have also written about your reaction to Bear Mountain (NY) and your recent hikes to some really remote areas of Canada.
You clearly strike me as an introvert - although I could be wrong. I consider myself an introvert, but on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a recluse, and 1 being someone that is comfortable going to the movies by myself, I probably would rate myself at about a 3 or 4.
I'd be curious to hear more about your personal transformation. How much of your response (if any) is attributable to your reaction to sprawl or the consumer culture that gobbles up land like so many french fries? Or is it something more basic that has changed in your personality?
If you don't want to share this in an open forum, please PM me. Thanks.
Jeffrey Hunter
tlbj6142
10-19-2004, 16:09
MOWGLI16,
Have you read Chris' PCT journal? Its a must read. Though the on-going soap opera with Glory does get old at some point.
http://mypage.iu.edu/~chwillet/travel/PCT/index.html
grrickar
10-19-2004, 16:39
Put me into the category with those seeking solitude and wanting to get away from it all.
I saw people during my first section hike, and it didn't bother me in the least. I could choose to stop and talk or keep going. I only once ran into a large group of people. Most of the time it was one or two people hiking together. I had a hiking partner, but I also enjoyed walking alone and taking everything in by myself.
My experience was overall a very positive one. I hiked a section that is typically busy this time of year, and didn't see all that many people with the exception of those day hikers headed to Charlies Bunion out of Newfound Gap. The most we ever ran into was about 15 people in a day (previous exception noted). It really gave me a chance to think about a lot of things: my family, my job, my health, etc.
I thought about all of the things I take for granted, and all of the things I strive to have that really don't mean anything when it comes down to it. As I told some of my coworkers when I returned, "it's amazing what you are willing to do without when you have to carry it on your back up a mountain." I can only imagine that thru-hikers return from their journey with an even stronger sense of what I felt.
The shelter stays somewhat dulled my experience, due to the fact we always were the last two to arrive, and the shelters were usually full. Getting there late meant that they kinda had run of the place (one shelter we stayed at I really wanted a fire, but they had one laid in place but weren't ready to light it right then - that sort of thing).
I'd rather tent on Max Patch, Snowbird Mtn or a number of other places anyday. Some days we would hike for miles and only see a couple of people, only to stop at a shelter for the night and have 8 people already there that were hiking together.
walkin' wally
10-19-2004, 16:44
This spring while spending 3 days during the first of May maintaining my section at Rainbow Lake in Maine at the north end of the 100 mile wilderness I did not see a soul hiking the trail. No footprints in the mud and no new register entries. If the roads are passable to the Golden Road then maybe a southbound section hike might work for some solitude. I did not even see any traffic on the logging roads.
The wildlife is moving around a lot at that time of year trying to replace the energy lost during the winter. The nights can be quite cold, the stream crossings can be a challenge, and the mornings can be frosty, but it is a nice time of year just the same after a long winter.
I would imagine that a decent southbound section hike could be done there without seeing anyone. Like some of the previous posters say "Do it in the offseason".
Not many bugs either. :sun
Kerosene
10-19-2004, 17:49
I agree with Walkin' Wally, the off-season has a lot to offer in the way of solitude. Certainly there are many sections where, although you may not run into other hikers, you can't get away from the sounds of civilization. But there are also a lot of other places that are remote enough that you can't see, let alone hear, civilization. I've always found it amazing how easy it is to pick out the straight lines that typically accompanying humans, especially after I've been walking in the woods for a few days.
I love to hike in the Fall. Fewer people, fewer bugs, colorful foliage, bluebird skies, less heat. Spring outside of the thru-hiker rush is pretty nice also, although I miss the leaves on the trees and the trails can be pretty muddy or even snow-covered.
On Monday, Sept. 27, I hiked 18 miles southbound from Blanchard to Moxie Pond Road. I came across 48 hikers. I didn't ask them whether they were thru-hikers or not, but I think my group was the only southbounders they came across. Now, if I did that same stretch on a weekday in July, I wonder how many hikers I would have seen? If you want solitude, don't go hiking anywhere north of the Bigelows on the AT in Sept. or beginning of October. I imagine that has to be Steve Longley's busiest month.
If you need a dose of serious solitude, I'd suggest the Continental Divide Trail. This summer, Lynne Whelden and I hiked a 125 mile segment along the Montana/Idaho border (gorgeous, snow-draped mtns) and we encountered people just once, a group of six fishermen. No other hikers!
Be careful what you wish for, though. If you're like me, extreme solitude can get old. I did a long section in grizzly country in northern Montana solo several years ago, and was dying for someone to talk to. It's nice to have someone else along for safety reasons, too, even if it's just for the illusion of safety.
I'd be curious to hear more about your personal transformation. How much of your response (if any) is attributable to your reaction to sprawl or the consumer culture that gobbles up land like so many french fries? Or is it something more basic that has changed in your personality?
If you don't want to share this in an open forum, please PM me. Thanks.
Jeffrey Hunter
I don't know if I can really explain something like this, as I haven't sorted everything out for myself. I was really rather astonished at my reaction to returning to the AT this summer, and then how right everything felt on the GDT. I can point to the PCT as the big-bang, but I do not know what exploded, what remains, and what is gone, either for now or forever.
My reaction to sprawl and mass consumerism is one of pity and compassion. Or, at least, I try for compassion. When I think to how some people live their lives, I cannot come up with anything other than this, and sorrow.
Thoreau wrote "There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the greater part of his life getting his living."