Have you every hiked the wrong way????

[camich]

Several years ago when we were dayhiking parts of the trail for the first time, we decided to hike from Newfound Gap up to Clingman’s dome. We had hiked Springer to Hightower Gap a few days before so I guess I thought that made me an expert (ha ha) . We parked one car at Clingman’s dome and then parked the other one at Newfound Gap. After the kids checked out the memorial, we anxiously began hiking up the mountain. I noticed the signs weren’t really matching my book (Exploring the Appalachian Trial, Hikes in the Southern Appalachians) but somehow I rationalized it all to be okay. Well, we got up to Charlie’s Bunion which we really enjoyed...couldn’t imagine why the book didn’t mention it...(of course it does if your looking in the right place). We continued on (and on and on)...with only our daypacks. When we were somewhere between Porter’s Gap and Laurel Top we ran into a gentleman who ask us where we were headed. I guess he thought it was strange for us to be there at 3pm, kids in tow, with only daypacks. We told him we were going to Clingman’s dome. He said “Well, you’re going the wrong way”...I argued, “No we’re NOT”. Shortly after these words left my mouth, I saw the chainsaw he was carrying on his back. I thought hhhuuummmm.... he may know what he’s talking about. He went on about his business and we turned around. The next few (backtracking) miles were not fun. The kids were really not happy. We saw the gentleman again before we got back to Newfound Gap. My husband asked him his name and thanked him profusely for setting us straight. It turned out to be a really beautiful hike and we made it back to the car(s) before dark. Imagine my continued humbling and humiliation when my husband showed me page 161 in the very book we were carrying...there he is...the trail maintainer that I argued with about going the wrong way!!!! Lesson learned...and now the kids (and husband) double check the book before we start hiking.

[Ender]

I'm going to love this thread, I can tell already.

I've never hiked the wrong way, per se, but one time the trail took a 90* turn to the left but I kept going straight on a side trail in the 100 mile wilderness. One mile later I hit a logging road with no more trail... realized my mistake, turned around and backtracked.

A good friend of mine hiked the wrong way. And when I did the PCT (not all... hurt my foot and dropped) there was one hiker who was notorious for hiking the wrong way, or getting lost altogether. I ran into him at least a half dozen times going south and not north.

[Footslogger]

NO ...but I woke up at Cable Gap Shelter in 2003 and watched a guy pack up and head south (he was a northbounder). A bit later I saw him coming back in my direction and hike by. I guess it was a self correcting problem in his case.

'Slogger

[AbeHikes]

I've never hiked the wrong way, per se, but one time the trail took a 90* turn to the left but I kept going straight on a side trail in the 100 mile wilderness. One mile later I hit a logging road with no more trail... realized my mistake, turned around and backtracked.

I think I did that near Justus Creek. If you're heading south, does it follow a FS for a bit but turn up the hillside? If so, I made it about a hundred feet before I realized things didn't "feel" right.

Never in the opposite direction, though...

[papa john]

In 2000, I hiked with Weather*** (named changed to protect the innocent) and I was always having to look out for him as he would inevitable go the wrong direction. He did this at Slaughter Gap, almost made it all the way back to the cutoff trail to the shelter before realizing that he wasn't climbing Blood like he should have.

He did it again at Blue Mtn Shelter. Left the shelter the next morning headed towards Springer rather than Katahdin.

One other time, but I can't remember where.

[Kerosene]

Nope, I've never re-traced my steps, but I have a very good sense of direction. I have missed a turn several times, but always realized it within a quarter mile.

[Jack Tarlin]

I once hiked out of Mt. Collins Shelter real early in the morning, and I was in such a hurry to get to Newfound Gap and Gatlinburg that I went the wrong way, and it wasn't til I saw the Clingman's Dome tower in the mist that I'd realized what I bone-headed thing I'd just done.

Instead of an easy 4.5 mile day to the Gatlinburg road, I ended up doing the better part of twelve miles, in the rain, and got in around dinner time.

The first beer in Gatlinburg was a real good one.

I think a lot of hikers have done something like this, tho not many like to admit it. And in most cases, they probably get their heads out of their asses before they've gone thre and a half miles!

Moral of the story: Keep focused!!

[TwoForty]

The only thing I have to say about this is that the trail looks a lot different going the other way! It took 3 miles to a road crossing to notice I had been there before.

Of course the trail was flat. I can't imagine climbing back up Clingmans dome.

[halibut15]

Bill Bryson's a Candy Ass, but anyone recall "Chicken John" from A Walk in the Woods who supposedly got lost around Blood Mountain and ended up in Tallulah Falls? Knowing the area between those two places, this sounds like a made-up crock of crap to me. There's almost no way to get from Blood to Tallulah Falls without crossing a road, seeing a car, something. I could be wrong, though...

[Skidsteer]

Bill Bryson's a Candy Ass, but anyone recall "Chicken John" from A Walk in the Woods who supposedly got lost around Blood Mountain and ended up in Tallulah Falls? Knowing the area between those two places, this sounds like a made-up crock of crap to me. There's almost no way to get from Blood to Tallulah Falls without crossing a road, seeing a car, something. I could be wrong, though...

No, I think you got it about right. But that dude, according to the book, was pretty much a space cadet and apparently didn't/couldn't pay attention to his surroundings.

[Lone Wolf]

Have I ever hiked the wrong way? Every time I take a blue-blaze some butt munch accuses me of going the "wrong way". God I love entropy!

[Tha Wookie]

I did it on the AT right after Kincora. I came out of the lake shelter and went south. In about 15 minutes I ran into my hiking partner coming towards me. I was shocked -was he cheating? He must have thought I was miles ahead, I thought, since I had skipped Kincora and he was lured in by a burger. I was convinced he was trying to catch up, and apparently he was coming in from alternate trail after hitching from ... the... um... oh no... his shocked look turned into laughter. I had skipped Kincora, a huge burger, and meeting Aswah to end up going the wrong way for nothing but an extra 2 mile workout on my firey shinsplints.

You know the worst thing about going the wrong way? You don't have to cover the distance twice, but three times!

Let's not even get into the other trails I've hiked. In comparison, the AT is like driving down an interstate: A map helps if you're not paying attention, but otherwise to go the wrong way, you have to really space it!

[weary]

NO ...but I woke up at Cable Gap Shelter in 2003 and watched a guy pack up and head south (he was a northbounder). A bit later I saw him coming back in my direction and hike by. I guess it was a self correcting problem in his case.'Slogger

It happened to me twice in 2003. I forgot which way I had turned onto a side trail to the shelter and the next morning turned back south. Both times I quickly ran into northbounders and from conversations I realized what I had done.

I never actually admitted my mistakes, but one couple looked like they wanted to say something as I hustled past them.

[sliderule]

Several years ago I was volunteering in the Great Smokies. Around 3 pm I was at the Silers Bald shelter when a gentleman arrived wearing street clothes and carrying only a camera. He asked "Is this still the Allegheny Trail?" I replied that it was the Appalachian Trail. About that time his wife appeared and he told her that there was no need to ask me anything else, as I did not even know the correct name of the trail. (The fact that I was wearing a Park Service uniform did not seem suggest that I might know what I was talking about!!!)
I asked him where he was headed. He arrogantly replied "We are on the loop" and proceded to continue southbound. His wife said "Let him go." When he was out of sight she asked how to get back to her car at the Clingmans Dome parking lot. Apparently, they had intended to make a loop out of hiking up the paved trail to the observation tower then taking the AT for a few hundred yards to the Forney Ridge Trail, then back to the parking lot. A total distance of maybe 1.5 miles. They missed the Forney Ridge Trail and continued on another five miles. And the husband would have kept going if the wife had not insisted that they turn back.

[wacocelt]

I have both accidentally and intentionally hiked the 'wrong' way on the AT. Once going South over Mt Greylock in a thick fog I got to the register nailed to the tre. I stood for a few minutes seeing how far ahead the people I was trying to catch up with were, when I started again I went right back to the bottom of that damn mountain. I just took the road back to the top.

[Chef2000]

I believe it was Bearsden hostel, the one thats downa side trail in PA, the little house run by the PATC. I spent the night, headed up the side trail to the AT. I stopped at the AT to enjoy a early morning saftey break. Fifteen min later I am hiking away, within a couple tenths of a mile I spot one of the woman who workrd at the other hostel, the one with beautful old building. Shes walking toward me, Istopped and said hello. She quickly informed that I was hikng the wrong direction.

In Vermont I ran into Socrates and ?. Two chicks from NJ who hiked in 2000. I was heading north, I had not seen them in 100s of mile. I did not know that they flipped at some point. They had me convinced for about a minute that I was hiking the wrong way!

[The Hog]

At Upper Goose Pond, Mass, I came to a sign that said, AMC cabin 1 mile. But the orientation of the sign was parallel to the trail and gave no indication of which way to hike one mile. At that pt, I was no longer carrying map and guidebook, and became convinced that I had passed the side trail to the AMC cabin. So I turned south. In about a half mile, I came upon my hiking partners, who looked at me funny and said, "Hog, why are you hiking south?!"

My friends got me turned around, and it was no small amusement to them. I was in a cranky mood, and made up my mind that I was going to give the perpetrator of this sign, the caretaker at Upper Goose Pond AMC Cabin, a verbal thrashing. So I stomped around the pond, and entered the cabin and asked for the caretaker. 'She's on the porch.'

"She?" I was expecting a he.

I made my way to the porch, opened the screen door and there she was, a very pretty caretaker, too. In the instant our eyes met, a voice, not my own, said, "IF YOU YELL AT HER, YOU'RE GOING TO MESS UP YOUR FUTURE." Now, I'm not into woowoo. I don't believe in it. But, nevertheless, there it was, this voice that was more like a telepathic message with no sound.

To make a long story short, I didn't yell at the caretaker. In fact, we were married three years later on the summit of Mt. Mansfield in Vermont!

[gargamel]

To make a long story short, I didn't yell at the caretaker. In fact, we were married three years later on the summit of Mt. Mansfield in Vermont!

Very nice story. Thank's for sharing.

[Marta]

Yep. But all's well that ends well.

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=96661

[kyhipo]

I have hiked the wrong way so many times my last trip on the pct I just gave up and started to enjoy getting lost .Matter of fact I started to enjoy bushwacking following streams and rivers untell I got bored and seen so many cool things,I loved it ky