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MedicineMan
04-07-2005, 02:12
I see that the Cumberland Trail will become a reality, and that the Pine Mountain Trail with its recent $10K grant may come to pass as well....now tell me about the Pine Mountain-Appalachian Trail Connector? where is it in the drawing books, or minds of the creators?
The whole thing is fascinating to say the least.
I did the Mischa-Mokwa Adventure Trail years ago and have always look at Cumberland Gap as a revered place.
Will there, or is there a connector anticipated between either the Pinhoti,B.MacKay, etc. with the Cumberland Trail...if so one could theoretically walk from the Springer area all the way to where the Pine-Mountain Trail Connector hits the AT....just curious.

MOWGLI
04-07-2005, 04:33
I see that the Cumberland Trail will become a reality, and that the Pine Mountain Trail with its recent $10K grant may come to pass as well....now tell me about the Pine Mountain-Appalachian Trail Connector? where is it in the drawing books, or minds of the creators?
The whole thing is fascinating to say the least.

...if so one could theoretically walk from the Springer area all the way to where the Pine-Mountain Trail Connector hits the AT....just curious.

Funny you should ask that. I was just at Breaks Interstate Park near Elkhorn City, KY on Monday to award the Pine Mountain Trail Conference their $10,000 National Trail Fund grant. Breaks Interstate Park is the northern terminus of the Pine Mountain Trail.

There has long been a vision of a Western Appalachian Alternative (concept name) that includes the Alabama & Georgia Pinhoti Trails, connected to the Cumberland Trail, and then the Cumberland Trail will connect to the Pine Mountain Trail at Cumberland Gap National Historic Park.

The proposed AT - Pine Mountain Trail connector is something that is being looked at, and one potential corridor runs from Breaks Interstate Park to the Burkes Garden area. This was proposed by a representative from the ATC at the 2004 Southeastern Foot Trails Coalition Leadership Council meeting in Alabama.

Taking the idea from a concept to reality will be challenging, but it is being carefully examined. There is not an abundance of public land between the Breaks and the Jefferson NF around Burkes Garden, so that poses some unique challenges. Like many trails, it may be a decade or longer before large segments of trail are on the ground, but I do think it will happen.

What will it take in order to accomplish a task such as connecting the Pine Mountain Trail and the Appalachian Trail? It will take hikers with time to dedicate to working with trail groups. It'll take a groundswell in the community where the proposed trail will pass. It'll require partnerships at all different level of government and in the non-governmental realm. None of that happens overnight.

Interested individuals can open the following link for more information;
http://www.americanhiking.org/alliance/sai.html

My employer - American Hiking Society - will have a booth at Trail Days. Please stop by, say hello, and consider joining American Hiking Society. Membership helps fund our work. ATC members get a $5 discount on membership. We do a lot of really valuable work including trails advocacy, awarding grants to trail groups (National Trails Fund), Volunteer Vacations, National Trails Day (June 4, 2005 this year) and much more. Members receive our quarterly magazine - American Hiker, and a one-year subscription to Backpacker. I should have a FINAL copy of the Long Distance Trails of the Southeast map at the upcoming Appalachian Trail Days Festival. This will be offered for sale sometime in the very near future. I hope to have some copies for sale at Trail Days.

I support the trail clubs in the SE in a variety of ways. In the last week I coordinated & appeared on Public Radio with folks from the Cumberland Trail Conference and the Benton MacKaye Trail Association, visited the Pine Mountain Trail to hold a press event and award the Pine Mountain Trail Conference a 10K grant, and gave a talk at a regional conference in Kentucky. Yesterday we took 40 blind and visually impaired students out on the Cumberland Trail near Chattanooga. I helped develop a Braille map and CD of the songbirds of the Cumberland Trail for the event. Generoll, a Whiteblaze member, came by and helped out for the day. Planning for the 3rd Southeastern Foot Trails Conference continues. This event will include lots of valuable training opportunities for local trail clubs, land trusts, and other conservation organizations.

You know, sometimes people think if your organization doesn’t have a particular trail that you are constructing or maintaining, that you’re not doing anything for trails. I hope this email helps people understand the work of American Hiking Society a bit better.

I apologize for the long response. There was no simple answer to your question Medicine Man.

Jeffrey Hunter
American Hiking Society
http://www.americanhiking.org

MedicineMan
04-07-2005, 04:45
and thanks for taking the time to respond......and to think it may connect near Burks Garden, now that is something to think about...
I think some people-in fact many AT purist-are put off, even offended that people might even consider a Western AT alternative, but hey the Appalachians are wide and no one trail can capture all they offer, so more power to you and the AHS's quest in this.
I am building a small trail from the cabin down to a kayak rack on the lake i live on, working on it made me reflect back to last years Big Dig on the Cumberland Trail...it wasnt a lot, only 2 days of my life given to 'a' trail (well counting soreness of muscle more like 4 days afterward) and I plan on giving another 2 days in June...its one thing to sit and fantasize about future trails and how they might connect, one thing to simply walk the trails, but now I know it is quite another matter entirely to actually swing the fire rake or push the rock bar :)

MOWGLI
04-07-2005, 04:53
I think some people-in fact many AT purist-are put off, even offended that people might even consider a Western AT alternative...

Well I suppose that may be true, but bear in mind that the ATC is involved in this effort to some degree. ATC Executive Director Dave Startzell is an AHS Board Member, and Morgan Sommerville of the ATC's Asheville office is actively involved with the Southeastern Foot Trails Coalition.

The key thing to keep in mind is that with proposed trail connections, the AT will never lose it's identity. It will always be what it is.

Bear in mind that the Cumberland Plateau (including Pine Mountain) is completely different geology than the Blue Ridge. Hikers on the Cumberland & Pine Mountain Trails see stuff you'll never see on the AT. It's like comparing apples & oranges.

MedicineMan
04-07-2005, 05:05
another thought,,,,,maybe West Virginia needs a trail of its own, connnected in the south to Pine Mountain Trail and then in the north to the AT near Harpers???

MOWGLI
04-07-2005, 05:12
another thought,,,,,maybe West Virginia needs a trail of its own, connnected in the south to Pine Mountain Trail and then in the north to the AT near Harpers???

It already has the Allegheny Trail, which connects to the AT at Peters Mtn just north of Pearisburg.

Connecting the Pine Mountain Trail directly to the Allegheny Trail is a very difficult task. Beside for the fact that the topography doesn't lend itself to a north-south ridge system (like you see along Pine Mountain), the area between the two trails is coal country. Much of the area is privately owned by coal interests and slated for mining.

MedicineMan
04-07-2005, 05:22
i was just surfing the monogohela national forest, would have been a nice stretch....will study the Alleghany now

MedicineMan
04-07-2005, 05:25
i was just surfing the monogohela national forest, would have been a nice stretch....will study the Alleghany now
Do you have a link/url showing the route of the Alleghany Trail?

Jaybird
04-07-2005, 06:45
I see that the Cumberland Trail will become a reality, and that the Pine Mountain Trail with its recent $10K grant may come to pass as well....now tell me about the Pine Mountain-Appalachian Trail Connector? where is it in the drawing books, or minds of the creators?
The whole thing is fascinating to say the least.
I did the Mischa-Mokwa Adventure Trail years ago and have always look at Cumberland Gap as a revered place.
Will there, or is there a connector anticipated between either the Pinhoti,B.MacKay, etc. with the Cumberland Trail...if so one could theoretically walk from the Springer area all the way to where the Pine-Mountain Trail Connector hits the AT....just curious.



Are we talking about the CUMBERLAND TRAIL (http://www.cumberlandtrail.org/) in TN?

By the way if you visit the LINK...thats "Too Tall" (red shirt, green backpack)with his son on top of page photo. :D

MOWGLI
04-07-2005, 07:29
i was just surfing the monogohela national forest, would have been a nice stretch....will study the Alleghany now
Do you have a link/url showing the route of the Alleghany Trail?

Here is the website for West Virginia Scenic Trails Association;
http://wvscenictrails.org/a-trail.html

They put out a nice guidebook available here;
http://wvscenictrails.org/guide.html

Tim Rich
04-07-2005, 08:16
That's a long trail (proposed 120 miles) to be named after a mountain. I guess they went with that name since it originates in Pine Mountain State Park. Besides this Pine Mountain Trail, there's the 20-something mile PMT in FDR State Park in GA, one near Mt. Rogers, one in the Whites, at least one in CA, and one in AZ. The GA PMT is a nice hike, particularly for winter getaways.

MOWGLI
04-07-2005, 09:43
That's a long trail (proposed 120 miles) to be named after a mountain. I guess they went with that name since it originates in Pine Mountain State Park.

Pine Mountain in Kentucky is about 120 miles long. Its just one big long undulating ridge. If you look at satellite photos of eastern Kentucky, its pretty clear.

Tha Wookie
04-07-2005, 10:19
This is all so exciting!

I can't wait to get out there this summer, as I have no long trail in sight now. Might as well start checking out this brilliant manifestation!


Thanks for all your hard work, Little Bear!