Benton MacKaye Trail Thru-Hike

[hikerboy57]

oh yes it's here in the guidebook my bad

[10-K]

After the BMT left the AT for the last time I only passed 1 other hiker wearing a pack all the way to GSMNP. This was in April.

[Mags]

I only saw six backpackers on the BMT...4 of which were a few miles from the Smokies parking lot.
A few misc day hikers near a popular falls (can't remember off hand) and that was it.

Nice little trail.

[4shot]

Hello everyone:
I'm contemplating a Benton Mackaye Trail Thru Hike starting on May 27th or 28th of 2014. My goal would be to do the trail in about 18 days.

3) Finally, would you or anyone you know like to go with me? It's a pretty remote trail. If and when I do the AT again (thru) I know I can go solo and meet tons of people -
maybe more than I want to. The BMT is different - - much more remote - - a partner would be fun. Like I said, I'm a capable and experienced hiker and can easily do 18 mile
days on the AT - - I'd like to start the BMT at a 12 mile per day pace for a few days but quickly get to the 18 -20 mile per day or so pace - - hoping to average around 16 miles per day plus over the course of the trip so any partner would need to be somewhat experienced and trail-fit.

that's about it. Please respond. Thanks!

Papa D

papa D - I did the BMT thru the Smokies last summer (picked it up at the Fontana dam via the Lakeshore Trail as I came up the AT nobo from Hiawassee until I hit GSMNP). I absolutely loved it. I am a school teacher and always do a couple of weeks of backpacking at the end of the school year. I might be interested in hiking with you on this thing. Like you, I can ramp up to 18 mile days but don't plan on that at the beginning. Will stay in touch.

[Traffic Jam]

I'll be out there sectioning/day hiking it over the next year. I'm already a little nervous about the sketchy trail markings I've heard about and I'm grateful to have such expert guides here on WB. Any suggestions for how to section it in 4-5 day blocks would be appreciated. I'm slow and 10-12 mi days are my norm. I'm planning on starting in the Smokeys and dividing it into 3 trips.
1. Lakeshore Tr (going south)
2. Smokemont to Lakeshore Tr
3. Smokemont to I40

I hope to see y'all on the trail.

[SGT Rock]

I'll be out there sectioning/day hiking it over the next year. I'm already a little nervous about the sketchy trail markings I've heard about and I'm grateful to have such expert guides here on WB. Any suggestions for how to section it in 4-5 day blocks would be appreciated. I'm slow and 10-12 mi days are my norm. I'm planning on starting in the Smokeys and dividing it into 3 trips.
1. Lakeshore Tr (going south)
2. Smokemont to Lakeshore Tr
3. Smokemont to I40

I hope to see y'all on the trail.

That sounds like a good start. You may want to look at going Tapoco to the Cherohalla, Cherohalla to Unicoi Gap. Unicoi to Reliance, Reliance to Thunder Rock. Thunder Rock to Blue Ridge, Blue Ridge to Springer as good section options.

[Traffic Jam]

That sounds like a good start. You may want to look at going Tapoco to the Cherohalla, Cherohalla to Unicoi Gap. Unicoi to Reliance, Reliance to Thunder Rock. Thunder Rock to Blue Ridge, Blue Ridge to Springer as good section options.

Great advice SGT Rock, thank you. I'm patiently waiting for your updated guide. Let us know when it's ready.

[TNhiker]

hey papa d....

i live down down in TN and if dates and my schedule line up---i could be convinced to help you with rides into town and what not.......

and may join ya for a weekend hike or something like that....

[Papa D]

hey papa d....

i live down down in TN and if dates and my schedule line up---i could be convinced to help you with rides into town and what not.......

and may join ya for a weekend hike or something like that....

hey that would be great

[Dogwood]

I only saw six backpackers on the BMT...4 of which were a few miles from the Smokies parking lot.
A few misc day hikers near a popular falls (can't remember off hand) and that was it.

Nice little trail.

This past summer as I did the 500 mile AT/BMT loop I met only two other BMT thru-hikers and less than 10 BMT day hikers. I met more hikers on the entire loop at two AT shelters than the entire BMT. One of which was Slo-go'en from here on WB on my last night of the loop at Spring Mt shelter.

[Bati]

As I approached SMNP heading northbound on the BMT, I set a goal to try to see more people than bears inside the park, which was the opposite of my experiences for about a hundred miles south of the park. I was quite glad to achieve that goal, though I did spend a couple of nights alone in the park, including one on a Saturday night in May. My first night in the park, I actually had company at the campsite ( two people at site 98), the first time it had happened since my first night on the BMT. But the solitude isn't that bad, if that's what you're concerned about. I think I only had one day in the park when I saw no one on the trail, and south the of the park, I often saw people at the road crossing (drivers count as human contact if they honk or wave, in my book.)

My BMT experiences in the park were more crowded than the AT was when I came through there. One night on the BMT there were a massive number of groups at the campsite (firetower); on all the others it was either just me or me and one other small party of two or three. At no point on the AT in March/April did encounter more than one other group (two or three people total) at a shelter and on only two nights was there anyone there who wasn't with the "thru-hiking" group. The secret to finding solitude is hike a popular trail when the weathers bad. If you want to see more people on the BMT, try to stay at the more popular sites like #90, #38 or the shelter. If you're concerned about hiking alone, there is a fair amount of traffic and what I consider to be a large number of rangers in the area (I talked to rangers/etc. twice on the BMT and even hitched a short ride to the ferry site with one, whereas on the AT I only saw one and he was at the rest area just North of Clingman's Dome.)