View Full Version : Looking for threads on Section Hiking the WHoleTrail
bigfootmarty
08-09-2010, 14:56
I am "collecting" trail sections and would love to share with others doing the same.
What sections to do- how to do best for day hike or weekend or weekn vacation.
Thanks
Still in VA now but prepping to plan trips in both directions.:welcome
Daydream Believer
08-10-2010, 09:29
I don't recall too many threads on this sort of thing. Most folks just section hike and occasionally report on how it went. If you have questions about a section...the terrain, best way to hike it, campsites, resupply, shuttles, etc... you can post a question on here and almost always someone has a good answer for you.
I'm doing the same thing as you but I started at one end at Springer mtn. and am working my way north on my various trips. However, I may end up bouncing up to the Shenandoah Nat. Park later this Fall and slackpack for a few days with my husband. I figure it all goes towards the prize of 2175 miles. :-)
Now one thought is to go to trailjournals.com. There are a number of folks on there with journals who are section hiking over a stretch of years.
Tennessee Viking
08-10-2010, 09:42
The best sections IMO will be Springer to Mt Rogers. Best time would be fall or spring when water sources are flowing well. Right now, the temps and humidity are not very friendly either.
Just ask questions about a section you are about to hike.
Kerosene
08-10-2010, 09:45
Here's a link to my journals, covering the entire AT except for NC and ME (which I'll complete in the next 3 years!), and ranging from 1973-79, 1988, and 2000-2009.
peakbagger
08-10-2010, 15:07
My general comments (sorry no link) Although I sectioned spring summer and fall, the September/October hikes were generally the best weather and least folks on the trail. Water was more of a challenge in the fall but with a bit of planning in advance, it wasnt a major issue most of the time. I have run into a couple of folks who have sectioned the entire trail doing one month stretches in September.
I did what you're doing.
Basically, I started closest to where I was able to get to the trail and get shuttles and worked north and south from there until it wasn't logistically feasible.
Then I jumped up the trail and found a point where I could get shuttles south to connect to where I stopped and north from there.
I repeated this all the way up the trail. The further I got from home the longer my hikes became because it had to be worth the trip to bother.
I finished up on June 25th of this year with an 800 miles section, completing the trail 2 days shy of 2 and a half years from the day I started.
fredmugs
08-10-2010, 16:55
I have 1730 miles done and my favorite section by far was the 170 miles from the James River to Pearisburg in Oct 2008. Perfect fall weather and the colors at Tinker Cliffs and McAfee Knob were peaked out.
Crotalus
08-11-2010, 10:55
Just curious, how do you guys track your progress to know when you have completed the whole trail?
I am just getting started and that is one of the things that i have been wondering.
-SEEKER-
08-11-2010, 14:24
I have section hiked the trail from Springer Mountain, Ga to Great Barrington, MA. I make detailed notes every night on the trail and would be willing to share info with anyone who needs it.
Daydream Believer
08-11-2010, 14:44
Just curious, how do you guys track your progress to know when you have completed the whole trail?
I am just getting started and that is one of the things that i have been wondering.
I am keeping a spreadsheet of what I've done, when and the cumulative miles. So far, it's easy as I started at one end and have worked north. I also have a journal I'm keeping. I can see it would be more complicated to remember if you jumped all over.
You could also use a guide book I'd think and mark off the areas where you have been.
Just curious, how do you guys track your progress to know when you have completed the whole trail?
I am just getting started and that is one of the things that i have been wondering.
welcome.....I started at Springer and am now just finishing Penn.
I have a Thru hikers companion and I have just used a yellow highlighter
to mark off the sections of the trail that I have done. I update my companion from time to time but keep the miles highlighted in the
original book.
When contemplating Spring hikes over the winter...it is reassuring to look
back and be able to readily see how much I have done. Motivation to keep going.
Hikes in Rain
08-12-2010, 08:09
Just curious, how do you guys track your progress to know when you have completed the whole trail?
I am just getting started and that is one of the things that i have been wondering.
I have one of those four-foot-long maps of the Trail, that my father-in-law built a nice custom frame to hold it. It hangs on the library wall, and I use little sticky-arrows to mark the sections I've hiked.
Daydream Believer
08-12-2010, 08:49
I have one of those four-foot-long maps of the Trail, that my father-in-law built a nice custom frame to hold it. It hangs on the library wall, and I use little sticky-arrows to mark the sections I've hiked.
How Cool! Where can you get one of those maps?
Just curious, how do you guys track your progress to know when you have completed the whole trail?
I am just getting started and that is one of the things that i have been wondering.
Oh, you'll know... :)
Hikes in Rain
08-12-2010, 09:28
How Cool! Where can you get one of those maps?
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy sells two, a folded paper one, and one that's already laminated and mounted:
Mounted: (https://www.atctrailstore.org/catalog/iteminfo.cfm?itemid=221&compid=1)
Paper: (https://www.atctrailstore.org/catalog/iteminfo.cfm?itemid=198&compid=1)
I think I got mine at the gift shop up in the Smokies. It was rolled, so doesn't have the fold marks, which I think would mar the appearance if it's going to be displayed.
Daydream Believer
08-12-2010, 12:38
Thanks! I'll check it out!
Hikes in Rain
08-12-2010, 12:51
Happy to help!
dzierzak
08-12-2010, 13:12
strip map and a Sharpie:)
Crotalus
08-12-2010, 22:08
Thanks for the ideas. I like the spreadsheet, guidebook and strip map, might make use of all of them.
Now I just need to get started.
Just curious, how do you guys track your progress to know when you have completed the whole trail?
I am just getting started and that is one of the things that i have been wondering.
When I was section-hiking with a view to hiking the whole trail that way, I marked my Data Book. When I'd hike a section, in the margin I'd note the date. I also drew a line in the margin from beginning point to ending point.