View Full Version : New Experience-Need Help
ryudemon1
08-14-2011, 13:05
Hey Everyone,
I'm entirely new to the hiking life, beyond the occasional day trips I make to local trails, and I want to plan a short, 2-day [overnight] trip with some friends before we go back to college. I was hoping to do this around the "Pinnacle Point."
I was hoping to get help in planning my trip starting with beginning location and destination, supplies, camping ideas/areas, and the works, basically everything I need to make this trip possible. I was hoping to be able to place two cars, one at the destination and one at the beginning, so we can see as much as possible and enjoy as much as possible out of the 2-days. Is this a possibility with the area I'm trying to explore?
Where should we start? (Towns and Addresses would be extremely helpful)
Where should we end? (Towns and Addresses would be extremely helpful)
If the cars can be parked in both locations, where would we park?
What should we bring? (Food, Gear, Supplies)
What should we wear?
Where/How should we camp?
What should we expect? (Bugs, Animals, Terrain)
Other things we should know.
It's a relatively short trip, not the dream trip of hiking the entire Trail like I wanted, but it'll have to do for now. If everyone would be willing to help me and my friends, this would be a great intro for me to plan a full AT hike in the future.
theoilman
08-14-2011, 14:11
A simple gear solution: If you don't have anything or any idea what you will want, some outfitters will rent gear. Ask them. If you can do this and more shakedown short trips by renting you will discover better what you want before spending a fortune on it. It is probably cheaper to rent than what many do - buy, resell, buy again, etc.
Do any of your friends going have trail hiking experience? Or are you all rookies?
ryudemon1
08-14-2011, 16:37
I would have to say Rookies, it's literally new experience. I mean some of us have had like boy scout training, but it was long ago.
Blissful
08-14-2011, 18:05
PM Emerald who can help you with this area of PA, he knows it well.
But I'm guessing you can at least park at Eckville Shelter on Hawk Mtn Road (mapquest it). You could exit out by Windsor Furnace by going down the side trail past the shelter there to the parking lot -
I'm assuming you mean the Pinnacle in PA? . If this is somewhere else, then disregard.
Gear? I'm assuming this is for this month? Check your weather beforehand but most likely you will need summer gear. Basics. Check the list of articles for basic camping gear to bring for an overnight. Renting is a good option for such a short trip if you lack the gear.
ryudemon1
08-14-2011, 19:34
PM Emerald who can help you with this area of PA, he knows it well.
But I'm guessing you can at least park at Eckville Shelter on Hawk Mtn Road (mapquest it). You could exit out by Windsor Furnace by going down the side trail past the shelter there to the parking lot -
I'm assuming you mean the Pinnacle in PA? . If this is somewhere else, then disregard.
Gear? I'm assuming this is for this month? Check your weather beforehand but most likely you will need summer gear. Basics. Check the list of articles for basic camping gear to bring for an overnight. Renting is a good option for such a short trip if you lack the gear.
Thanks Blissful! I was wondering where would I be able to rent gear?
Blissful
08-15-2011, 10:16
Check with outfitters in the area - go online and see who is closest to you and if they rent. I know certain colleges have also sometimes rented out gear, if yours does that kind of thing. (usually backpacks and tents).
Go online to see how to make your own alcohol stoves. You can get grease pots for cooking cheap at k mart (or you used to). Sleeping bags are tougher, but check out Dicks etc for a cheap bag or ask around. If you were closer to me I have a ton of gear. :) Ask around if friends, neighbors, etc have gear you can borrow.:)
Don't wear cotton anything. You can get cheap sort type clothes at Wally world or target. or check out your neighborhood Goodwill or Salvation Army store for gear and clothing
PM emerald who can help you with this area of PA, he knows it well.
I didn't click on this thread when I saw its title because it didn't indicate to me it involved a request for information specific to Berks County. It had been called to my attention, but I just read my email for the last several days late yesterday.
Later today, I will follow up with a post and email related to this request. Because the intended destination is visited frequently, special use restrictions have been implimented to protect natural and recreational resources. It is therefore important that visitors to this area understand these use restrictions, why they have been implimented and the importance of respecting them.
Please tell us more about why this area in particular appeals to you and your friends and why you wish to visit?
Berks County is exceptionally rich in natural and cultural resources often unknown to A.T. hikers who do not venture off the beaten path. It is not at all surprising to those of us who live here that this area is underappreciated by A.T. hikers and some of us are not entirely unhappy with that.
It does please us when we have an opportunity to share it with others who come here with an open mind and a desire to learn more about its riches. Many of us who live here have lived here most of our lives and have no desire to live anywhere else.
Our portion of the A.T. dates back to as early as 1926 and in some places still follows the original treadway. What hikers see today is the culmination of efforts by BMECC volunteers since Harry Rentschler and his contemporaries agreed to take on the task of building the A.T. between the Susquehanna River and Lehigh River 85 years ago.
Their dream of a Blue Mountain Wilderness Park is now a reality. The land ownership and its management here is complex, involves many partners and the regulations related to its use vary with ownership.
It takes a bit more effort here to know what's permitted and where than in most other places, but for those willing to expend the effort it's a valuable lesson in how the A.T. came to be and how the various parts work in concert with one another to form something greater than its constituent parts.
For more information, please refer to Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club: Keepers of the Appalachian Trail (http://www.berkshistory.org/articles/trail.html) provided by Historical Society of Berks County. It's an older article published years ago in Historical Review of Berks County, but it still provides a good introduction to the A.T. in Berks County and how it came to be what it is today.
bigcranky
08-16-2011, 20:27
Where do you go to college? Many colleges and universities have outdoor programs that offer classes, weekend trips, and gear rental. Might be right up your alley.
BigHodag
08-16-2011, 23:51
Since you're already in NJ, why not hike a section of northern NJ? You could do a 2-day, 1 night trek from Unionville, NY to High Point shelter and back. Its good trail and all uphill the first day and downhill on the return. There's water at the shelter and its pretty. You also get to walk on puncheons.
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/7/7/3/0/PICT0332_thumb.jpg (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=11803)
For gear, start by "dirtbagging" using items you already likely own or can acquire inexpensively. Sgt Rock has a good dirtbagging FAQ (http://hikinghq.net/dirtbag.html) on his Hiking HQ forum.
For such a short trip, bring whatever food makes you happy as you'll only need 2-3 meals. If everything is pre-cooked, you won't need a stove or cook kit. Just eat out of the bag/container.
Yes, you should expect wildlife, bugs and terrain. Bring bug dope, use the bear box, and don't play with the timber rattlers or copperheads.
To research your section hike, visit TrailJournals.com (http://TrailJournals.com) and read the journal entries for the AT section you intend to hike.
Alternate beginner hikes would be from Delaware Water Gap north to the backpacker camp and return or from DWG to the Mohican Outdoor Center with an overnight at the backpacker camp.
ryudemon1
08-17-2011, 14:08
Thank you everyone for your advice.
My friends and I aren't the type to act idiotic and vandalize the Appalachian Trail or any wildlife for that matter. We are all very respectful and understand the importance of maintaining nature. We are like many of you, we look to experience nature and its beauty, to breach the gap between the contemporary and the primitive, and to spend some time socializing outdoors instead of indoors. Like the name of this thread suggests, it is a "new experience" that we wish to take on and see where it leads us.
We go to separate colleges, and that is why I wanted to do this before we all left for school. I go to the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the others go to The College of New Jersey and Raritan Valley Community College.
It was from my research that led me to find Pinnacle Point and its good comments and photos. Much of my knowledge only comes from surfing the web and obviously none of it from personal experience, so I may be just following a popular area. If any of you have better areas to suggest that provide one of my personal preferences, an amazing cliff-side view of the land, I am no stranger to new experiences.
To my knowledge, no one local to the area refers to the place you wish to visit as Pinnacle Point. I was born in Berks County and have spent nearly all of my life here. How some of these changes in terminology and place names get started, take root and are popularized escapes me.
If Berks County is your destination of choice, I will be happy to help make your 1st encounter with the A.T. an informative and memorable experience, but please refer to the well-known promontory on Hamburg's watershed by its proper name.
You have selected a good destination and time for your activity. It does tend to be a popular place especially among local day hikers and it may receive more visitation than is good for it.
Long-distance hiker traffic in both directions is light at this time of the year. If you are hoping to meet and spend time with through hikers as the term is employed most often by A.T. hikers, then you will be visiting at the wrong time.
I suggest you plan to visit some time other than a weekend. Given what you've indicated, I believe you are apt to have a more satisfactory experience in the early or middle portions of the week.
Stay tuned for more and tell us just how much time do we have to help you pull together a plan for this activity?
I would prefer you acquire a copy of Guide to the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania, 11th edition (http://www.atctrailstore.org/catalog/iteminfo.cfm?itemid=30&compid=1) or at least the map for sections 1-6 (http://www.atctrailstore.org/catalog/iteminfo.cfm?itemid=208&compid=1) rather than one of the substitutes that benefit private entrepeneurs seeking to capitalize on the popularity of the Appalachian Trail.
Proceeds from the official guide published by Keystone Trails Association help support trail clubs and trail building activites in Pennsylvania. Much information about the A.T. and surrounding area is included as well as the best maps that are available. I am always reluctant to provide information here in the same level of detail it provides because doing so may discourage someone from purchasing the guide and deny revenue to those who provide the experience.
See also ATC's Interactive Map (http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hiking/find-a-hike/interactive-map).
Some people who post here appear incapable at times of relishing anything more than their simplistic attempts at yanking my chain and fancy themselves experts at knowing all the right buttons to push. This post is dedicated to them and will expend completely when it posts all the time I have to spend on WhiteBlaze.net today, but I am not yet finished with this thread and guarantee more will be written on this topic.
One of their favorite faux arguments revolves around the concept of wilderness and the fact that although everyone has heard the word few have any idea what it means. I have come to believe they have even succeeded in suckering ATC with their posts since they don't seem to understand any better what the word means based upon what they have put on their website.
The truth of the matter is it takes a lot of land and hard work even with advances in mechanization and productivity to feed our huge population. A significant portion of the agricultural land visible from the Appalachian Trail in Berks County is protected by conservation easements as a result of a far-sighted bond issue, one of the most successful and remarkable in the entire nation. Consequently, the viewshed here may be less subject to change than in Maine and it provides a beautiful, pastoral backdrop to the Appalachian Trail which serves to remind those who travel it of certain realities.
Berks County was once situated on the American frontier and Kittatinny Ridge formed the boundary between the English colonies and the native people who inhabited Pennsylvania before William Penn sailed from England. Southeastern Pennsylvania and the hard-working people who lived here mostly of German extraction were the breadbasket of Colonial America. It was also the center of scientific inquiry in America to which Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis for a crash course in natural history.
Pennsylvania was where John James Audubon and Alexander Wilson lived as did John Bartram and his son William. Earl L. Poole quite possibly Pennsylvania's most accomplished student of birds in the 20th century lived here too. It was said he died of a broken heart and what broke his heart was what was happening to change his beloved Berks County. A portion of what he so loved can still be seen today from the Appalachian Trail and in particular The Pinnacle.
Albany Township remains one of the most scenic portions of Berks County and continues to serve as a backdrop and insipration to the artisians who live there. One of our county's most notable painters was Ben Austrian who owned a farm at the base of The Pinnacle and it was said he bought the farm because of its view.
There are several resident landscape and wildlife painters who turn out exemplary work in their studios there. As I have time, I will see if I can link some examples of their work. For now, an image from WhiteBlaze's gallery of The Pinnacle from Dan's Pulpit will have to suffice when I can locate it. Yes, that's Dan as in Daniel K. Hoch, one of BMECC's founders who twice attempted to introduce legislation to protect the Appalachian Trail. There are as many if not more legends surrounding him than Earl Shaffer.
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/1/1/5/5/2/2005_1031Image0043.JPG (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showimage.php?i=18641&original=1&catid=member&imageuser=11552)
teresa95
08-19-2011, 11:02
You guys go to school in NJ or just from there?
teresa95
08-19-2011, 11:04
I live like 5 minutes from the College of NJ and go to Rutgers but it's hard as heck to find people around here my age who backpack
I could easily add another post daily for the remainder of the year extolling the many virtues of Berks County with links to more information than anyone would care to read, but the purpose of this thread was to request an overnight hike recommendation. It is not a difficult question that requires a dissertation to answer and I will attempt to answer it with my next post in a screenful or less.
If you are able, open ATC's Interactive Map (http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hiking/find-a-hike/interactive-map) in a new tab. You will be able to zoom in and get a feel for what I have in mind as you read through my post. It would also work better if your browser is set up to open links in a new tab which will enable you to display and read links I provide, close the window and return to this post.
What I'd hoped to do with ATC's Interactive Map apparently won't work as planned and Google maps (http://maps.google.com/) won't suffice because the A.T. route isn't current. It may be useful in other ways. Click on the link and key in Port Clinton to work with it.
With two vehicles you'll be able to see and experience things through hikers rarely if ever see. I'll attempt to create for you insofar as possible an experience similiar to what a GAME through hiker would experience and call to your attention some of the more interesting places you may wish to visit.