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B-Rabbit
08-31-2011, 16:25
I wasn't planning on doing the approach. I just didn't want to burn a day hiking to start my official hike. It didnt make since to me. Is this the wrong idea? Is there any importance to the approach?

ChinMusic
08-31-2011, 16:32
No importance at all. It is totally a personal decision. Either you want to hike it of you don't. Many hike it. Many skip it.

mountain squid
08-31-2011, 16:58
Concur. No importance other than what other hikers make of it. If you get dropped off at FS42 trailhead, whoever drops you off (friends, family) could make the hike up to the plaque with you, take your picture and then see you off.

See you on the trail,
mt squid

how to hike (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?73587-how-to-hike) (with a couple of links to threads concerning the Approach Trail)

Serial 07
08-31-2011, 17:00
no, IT IS the most important part of the hike...i mean, THE most important part...no, i kid...but if you're gonna be out for 5 plus months, what's another day?

ChinMusic
08-31-2011, 17:17
no, IT IS the most important part of the hike...i mean, THE most important part...no, i kid...but if you're gonna be out for 5 plus months, what's another day?

That is the way I look at it, right now. Unless someone is really crimped for time, what is another day? Personally I will prob stop at the Len Foote Inn for the first night (prob starting after lunch at Amicalola), not even making it to Springer. I visited the Len Foote a couple years ago and enjoyed my stay. I'm out there to have fun, and that was fun for me.

DavidNH
08-31-2011, 17:22
If you do the approach trail (only 8 miles, no big deal) you'll be more in swing of things when you actually start the trail. Plus.. it starts at the SP visitor center. Plenty of parking, and they take your picture.

Pedaling Fool
08-31-2011, 17:29
I don't advocate one way or the other, but one thing I don't understand is other than the non-whiteblazes on the approach trail you can't tell the difference. I don't get the idea of "wasting time" on the approach in lieu of the AT, they're the same thing, including the climbs, descents and views.

Am I missing something here; you put one foot in front of the other and repeat:confused:

Lone Wolf
08-31-2011, 17:39
I wasn't planning on doing the approach. I just didn't want to burn a day hiking to start my official hike. It didnt make since to me. Is this the wrong idea? Is there any importance to the approach?no importance at all. get a ride to the parking lot at FS 42

Jim Adams
08-31-2011, 17:43
doesn't matter at all but why are you worried about 1 more day?....it's alot of days to Katahdin, why rush?

geek

B-Rabbit
08-31-2011, 18:14
True. I guess Im just anxious to get passed that Springer marker and get some mileage under my belt. No rush to Katahdin, I know a day wont make a difference. I was just curious to see if not doing the approach was frowned upon.

ChinMusic
08-31-2011, 18:52
I was just curious to see if not doing the approach was frowned upon.

Not at all. zero frowning.

Mags
08-31-2011, 18:53
You'll find that a lot of things are frowned upon by a variety of people.

You'll also find that what these people frown upon is usually just plain silly. ;)

Enjoy your hike. That's the key!

And the one's frowning upon your hike? Let 'em. They are obviously too busy worrying about your hike to enjoy theirs. :D

ChinMusic
08-31-2011, 19:12
Dang it, I was gonna add something like Mags posted but he beat me to it. I frown upon that........

WingedMonkey
08-31-2011, 19:17
If you get to Katahdin, the trail back down down count either. So just stay there.

lemon b
08-31-2011, 20:43
Why even think let alone worry about 15 clicks?

chiefiepoo
09-01-2011, 00:25
At my age, didn't know if I'd get back to hike the approach if I didn't do it this past spring. Made a reservation for the lodge at the top of the falls. Arrived late afternoon and hiked to the top of the falls then checked into the lodge. Good dinner, shared info with those coming down the approach trail who had been through a near tornado hit along the AT and started the next morning after breakfast at the lodge. No point in roughing it when there is an alternative. The approach was a good warm up for a flatlander and it was a challenge. I'm out there to have fun, too. No woulda, coulda, shoulda remorse over leaving out the approach trail.

Donde
09-01-2011, 00:42
Totally personal decison of no consequence. However I gotta ask if you "don't want to burn a day hiking" why are you going out on the AT? Forget the mileage and go burn as many days hiking as you can on whatever trails or sections you want.

lush242000
09-01-2011, 07:31
I will be doing it on my next section hike in April. The reason? It's easier to have someone drop you off there as opposed to driving up dirt roads.

Wobegon
09-01-2011, 07:51
I did the approach trail and am happy I did it... It was a lot easier for my ride to drop me off at the state park visitors center.... the falls at Amicalola were some of the best I saw the whole thru-hike, and the only time I ever went "backwards" on the AT was coming back down the Hunt Trail off Katahdin.

BobTheBuilder
09-01-2011, 09:10
If you hike the approach trail, you will never have to wonder what it was like. There is no ther 9 mile section of trail more discussed and debated, despite the fact that it is fairly non-descript. The trail from the visitor center to the top of the falls is pretty ridiculous, though.

B-Rabbit
09-01-2011, 09:24
I didn't realize that the approach trail and the trail to the falls were the same thing. Has this always been the approach? Being from Ga I have hiked to the falls many times when I was younger. Are the dirt roads to the Springer plaque that rough?

I didn't mean "burn" a day hiking.... Any day "wasted" on a trail is time well spent!!

scope
09-01-2011, 09:28
If you get to Katahdin, the trail back down down count either. So just stay there.

Gosh, I hadn't thought about this. I'm going to have to see if I can mail drop my hang glider to Baxter.

Seriously, though, it is somewhat underwhelming to me to be dropped off near the top of the mountain and have to backtrack to the top to start the mental clicker. For me, I would do the approach because of the experience getting to Springer - the "grand gateway" at Amicalola for one, and the moderately difficult hike getting to Springer. Folks may have differing opinions of those two attributes, but the point is that the work involved getting there may be worthwhile in terms of your experience "starting" the trail. Or, it may not, that's what you have to decide. Certainly, if it makes no difference to you, don't worry about what anybody else might think.

max patch
09-01-2011, 09:33
The approach trail was relo'd to the stairs approx 3-5 years ago. You don't have to walk the stairs unless you want to. You can take the "old" approach trail or even walk the road. Or for that matter get dropped off at the top of the falls.

The FS road is in good shape.

The approach trail is not difficult. If you are not in good enough shape to hike the approach you are not in good enough shape to hike the AT.

The approach trail used to be the actual AT. The shelter on the approach trail used to be the Springer shelter.

I think the question can best be answered in many cases as "what is best for the person dropping you off?"

B-Rabbit
09-01-2011, 09:37
Good stuff. I think I will hike it... I wouldnt mind seeing the falls again anyway. Thanks for the all in the info!

max patch
09-01-2011, 09:37
Seriously, though, it is somewhat underwhelming to me to be dropped off near the top of the mountain and have to backtrack to the top to start the mental clicker.

You don't have to do so. You can always drive another mile or so past the FS 42 parking lot to where the BMT crosses 42 and hike up Springer via the BMT SOBO. It will take you to the start of the AT. You'll backtrack about 1/10 of a mile on the AT doing this.

scope
09-01-2011, 09:54
...The approach trail is not difficult. If you are not in good enough shape to hike the approach you are not in good enough shape to hike the AT...

Ooh, gotta disagree with that. Not about it being difficult, which is more subjective, but the idea that if its difficult for you, then you're not ready for the AT. Just means that its an indication that you might want to take it slower at first.

Gotta remember, there's a lot of flatlanders that decide they're going to do the AT, and there's almost nothing they can do to prepare for it. Be in good shape, sure, but it takes a while for your legs to get accustomed to consistently going up hills, which for the approach trail, it is 8+m consistently up. Not straight up, of course, but a decent amount of elevation gain stretched out over a relatively long section. Is it really a difficult section, especially when compared to many other parts of the trail to be done in coming days?... NO. But it is consistently the section where people start before they've really gotten their legs under them, some with almost no prep. In that light, it can be a difficult section, and finding that it is difficult for you has no bearing on whether you can hike the AT.