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  1. #361
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    Default

    We are pretty lucky here in Austria, as the Corona thing seems to have passed without too heavy impact, health-wise.
    We had approx. 5 weeks of lockdown and this got released now partially.

    Our Mountain Rescue gave the following recommendations:

    (1) when planning the next trip, consider the relative inactivity of several weeks, stay conservatie and keep the strain down from your personal limit

    (2) during the whole activity, always keep your distance - the harder you breath and the stronger the wind, the bigger the distance

    (3) go for outdoor activities only when you feel 100% healthy

    The Mountain Rescue also said thank-you for all people having acted responsible during the lockdown, there had been tiny fraction only of the usual numbers of SAR actions during the lockdown.

  2. #362

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    Quote Originally Posted by illabelle View Post
    National Forests are not closed, at least not in Tennessee. We hiked a bit in the Cherokee NF near Greeneville TN several days ago. Camping areas and facilities were closed, gates locked, but trails were open. I called the Unaka Ranger District ahead of time to confirm, and was able to speak to someone.

    We hiked to Margarette Falls. It was beautiful. The trail was not crowded, and the parking area was more than adequate.
    Before going to Margarette, we started and abandoned a hike along Squibb Creek in Sampson Mountain Wilderness (17 creek crossings was too many for a chilly morning). Our NatGeo map showed an unpaved road going from the Squibb parking area up the mountain ending at a gate close to the AT near Jerry's Cabin shelter. Since we were driving a 4WD high-clearance vehicle, we figured we'd go exploring. A jeep went up before us, so we thought maybe it would be passable. Rough! Rocky! Narrow! We drove across one creek that was sorta iffy, but the next crossing was a definite NO. I guess the jeep went on??? Anyway, we backed up a bit and turned around. Then we went to Margarette, a much better choice!
    I didn't know this myself, maybe you do, but Jeeps can have the axles uncoupled so that the wheels are independent. I got a ride form a Jeep owner last fall on a CRAZY forest road, huge rocks and drops. I've driven on some rough forest roads but that was something else! Be careful following a JEEP.
    "Sleepy alligator in the noonday sun
    Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
    Call for his whisky
    He can call for his tea
    Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
    Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan

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  3. #363

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    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    that is what the news organization that i work for has been reporting.....closed at state line.

    I know that on one of the first days of the NC road closures, a reporter went on the Tail of the Dragon (129) and saw road was closed at Deal's Gap.

    Barricades in front of it.

    And apparently, officials decided to change the way it was closed so that emergency vehicles could get through (cant believe they didnt think of this when they
    closed the road the first time)..

    Not sure if we sent anyone to the Skyway to look............I was on furlough last week, but i doubt we did.....

    we might have used photos if a viewer or an official emailed them to us but furlough makes me not care.

    might check graham county government facebook and see if they say about skyway..

    I know that they did when it was first closed off but that was a few weeks ago and i never checked again.
    I expected to see a sign before the turn to River Rd and didn’t have enough time to drive up the Skyway to check it out. Hopefully it’s a moot point soon.

  4. #364
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    Quote Originally Posted by Traffic Jam View Post
    I expected to see a sign before the turn to River Rd and didn’t have enough time to drive up the Skyway to check it out. Hopefully it’s a moot point soon.


    did you come through tellico plains?

    I was under the impression that there was a portable blinky sign on that end.....

    but i cant confirm with my eyes......just thought i had seen that they put one there...

  5. #365

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    I parked at Beech Gap two weekends ago; there are signs announcing Skyway closure starting from the turn off of 68 at the Hardees all the way up to Beech Gap. Four mile ridge is a good place to stay away from right now. There is a ton of day hike traffic to the Hangover and some redirected smokies backpackers. It made me bail off down to Jenkins Meadow to get away from them. All the Citico forest road car-camps are staying full too.

    Man when are they ever going to fix that mess of roads? The section just past Jake Best took a serious beating in that heavy rain from last week; Major erosion that will be impassable even for a jeep if left unchecked.

  6. #366
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alligator View Post
    I didn't know this myself, maybe you do, but Jeeps can have the axles uncoupled so that the wheels are independent. I got a ride form a Jeep owner last fall on a CRAZY forest road, huge rocks and drops. I've driven on some rough forest roads but that was something else! Be careful following a JEEP.
    That is interesting. My husband is a mechanic. I wonder if he knows about that.

  7. #367

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    Quote Originally Posted by illabelle View Post
    That is interesting. My husband is a mechanic. I wonder if he knows about that.
    I may not be explaining exactly correct but I think that was how the driver described it*. A bit loose to drive on pavement.

    *Ok I looked it up, I think it was a disconnected sway bar.
    "Sleepy alligator in the noonday sun
    Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
    Call for his whisky
    He can call for his tea
    Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
    Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan

    Whiteblaze.net User Agreement.

  8. #368
    GSMNP 900 Miler rmitchell's Avatar
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    Default Phased reopening

    https://www.facebook.com/13061869366...5630302827613/
    Great Smoky Mountains National Park to implement a phased reopening of roads and trails beginning May 9. Campgrounds to remain closed. Not many details yet.

  9. #369

    Default AMC Huts closed for the 2020 season

    A member on the VFTT forum had reservations at one of the AMC huts in the whites for July. He just got notice today that AMC has closed the huts for the rest of the 2020 season. I have not seen an official notice but expect one will pop up soon. My speculation is this most likely also impacts the AMC shuttle. Guests with reservations are offered either a refund on stay at Pinkham or Highland Center. Rationally it makes sense as they most likely needed to make big financial commitments soon to run a hut season plus make commitments to staff with no good way to assure that they could open this season as the huts inherently are not good for social distancing.

    I do not know if that applies to the AMC managed campsites like Kinsman, Liberty Garfield Guyot and Nauman. They alll have composting privies that need near daily emptying during the busy season. The caretaker has to compost the bins and dispose of the composted waste. Without this service the privy tends to fill up above the seat in a couple of days. The water sources all have the potential to be contaminated by improper disposal of human waste. In theory the tentsites should provide more social distancing but the reality is they pack the sites to near or ar above overflow every weekend.

    There really is no good alternative to LOC except the Jewell trail sites which cant handle to load so anyone doing the ridge is either camping illegally above treeline or dropping down a long way below treeline to be legal.

    The impact to thru hikers is that the huts especially the high huts are reliable sources of treated water along the ridgeline. Water sources may still be there but the huts also act as toilet facilities for the general public and thru hikers. Therefore the water sources are potentially vulnerable to human waste as folks traditionally use these facilities near treeline before heading above treeline.
    Last edited by peakbagger; 04-30-2020 at 19:13.

  10. #370

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    Quote Originally Posted by PatmanTN View Post
    I parked at Beech Gap two weekends ago; there are signs announcing Skyway closure starting from the turn off of 68 at the Hardees all the way up to Beech Gap. Four mile ridge is a good place to stay away from right now. There is a ton of day hike traffic to the Hangover and some redirected smokies backpackers. It made me bail off down to Jenkins Meadow to get away from them. All the Citico forest road car-camps are staying full too.

    Man when are they ever going to fix that mess of roads? The section just past Jake Best took a serious beating in that heavy rain from last week; Major erosion that will be impassable even for a jeep if left unchecked.
    There were no signs posted this week. I could have been oblivious and missed them but my daughter, who drove separately, corroborates this.

  11. #371
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    fwiw----we (wbir) are doing a story about this for our 6 pm show...

    should (i'm not working on it so i cant confirm) have some more answers....

  12. #372
    GSMNP 900 Miler
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    I don't understand NOT reopening camp grounds... unless they don't have everything in place yet for the employees to do their job safely.

    But I hope that doesn't mean they are also going to keep the back-country campsites closed too...
    The back country permit web page still indicates everything is closed... but then since the news only came out today, I would imagine they would need at least a day to get the website back going.
    But even if the park fully reopens trails and back country campsites on May 8th, will they start taking reservations for back country campsites now... or wait to reopen the web page on the 8th as well?

  13. #373

  14. #374

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    Yes, I received my email this afternoon. I reserved for the Presidential Traverse in July. I was wondering if/how AMC would reduce density in huts. Safety first. At least NJ trails are open again on Saturday. Be safe & well fellow backpackers!

  15. #375
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    I don't understand NOT reopening camp grounds... unless they don't have everything in place yet for the employees to do their job safely.

    lots of variables of how they are actually going to do this, is from what im hearing....


    But I hope that doesn't mean they are also going to keep the back-country campsites closed too...

    at one point earlier today, they said BC campsites would be open....

    they have changed that stance though and are still trying to figure it out...

    hopefully our story will address that issue (although it might just say what i wrote)..

  16. #376
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    ok....

    as i was typing this out---i got a text from my reporter---opening BC campsites and shelter but limit to ten...

    not sure how reservation system will work...

  17. #377
    Registered User Christoph's Avatar
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    Valdosta, Georgia
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    Finally some good news!!! More time will tell, but thanks for the updates!
    - Trail name: Thumper

  18. #378

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    Man the OP’s post seems like another age ago.

  19. #379

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    Hum, was wondering about that. They bring crew in from all over and I can see that could be a problem. Just getting the campsites staffed will likely stretch them thin. Puts a whole new wrinkel in the 2020 White mountain traverse.

    While it's nice to camp in the woods, most of the traffic is peak-bagging-day hikers, so I don't think there will be a big impact on numbers. Just not as many from "away".
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  20. #380
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    Default will summer hiking on the AT be possible?

    I am a section hiker and was planning to finish the NH portion of the AT in early summer. Now the huts are closed and I know it can be dangerous/exposed to stealth camp - one isn’t supposed to. There are few shelters. I’m so bummed! Thoughts about AT hiking during this virus period?




    Quote Originally Posted by FlyPaper View Post
    Doesn't seem easy to predict. It might be a good time to be away from civilization, but not sure how smart it would be to sleep in shelters.

    Anyone thinking about this other than me?

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