Nct

[partly cloudy]

I'd like to welcome all the white blazers to hike the North Country Trail. So far we have 1700 miles certified and more coming each season. Starting on the east end in the "daks" and working with the Finger Lakes Trail, it continues across N.Y. to pass into Pa. near Warren Pa. Thru the Allegheny National forest, Cook's Forest and many state parks. In Ohio, there is the Wayne Nat'l forest and state and private land. Straight north thru Michigan and across the Mackanac into the UP. Across the UP and Wisconsin, into Minnesota. Finally ending half-way across N. Dakota. When completed, it will be the longest trail in the U.S. For more info go to www.northcountrytrail.org

[Tilly]

Aww, 750 views and no replies!!

[mkmangold]

Tilly: not quite as lonesome as it sounds. "Ice Age" has been promoting the trail and did a summary of his 2 week jaunt there this summer. It's also on my list of "must do" trails, especially since part of it is here in Wisconsin. Ice Age's account really talks it up.

[ki0eh]

Been doing a lot of work to make the connection closer between the NCT and the A.T. http://www.greateasterntrail.org

[mkmangold]

Been doing a lot of work to make the connection closer between the NCT and the A.T. http://www.greateasterntrail.org

And I'd like to see a connection between the Ice Age Trail and the NCT. Which means one could hike trails from southern Wisconsin all the way to Alabama, via NY!

[Toolshed]

Back in the early 90's I lived in Buffalo and spent a lot of weekends on the NCT between Canada and Clarion PA. Conservation trail in Western NY, The FLT in the Southern tier of NY and then big chunks of the NCT in PA. Pretty country. Few backpackers, some very overgrown sections of trail back then, at times following gasline/powerline cuts, IIRC. I still get sick at the smell of Ferns - Miles of them. Wet, Knee Deep, strapping across your boots and shins, still heavy with morning dew or rain. So many that the bright green color turns hazy as you look at them across the distance in the woods.

[Tilly]

Yeah, I've hiked on the SHT in MN (lovely, wonderful trail that makes me want to move to Duluth) and 1 mile of the NCT in WI off of US 53 near Solon Springs. And I've camped at Lake Sacakawea (sp) in ND where the trail ends.

Kind of like when I "section hiked" W. Virginia, ha ha.

Well, at least that's 101 miles down and only 4,099 more to go!

[ki0eh]

We've been attending NCT conferences with our little girl to see more of the country and the Trail. Always a pleasure, and a lot of driving.

Fern-filled forests in northern PA are the result of deer eating everything else. The PA Game Commission has been trying to reduce deer density for a few years now so the endless ferns aren't quite as endless as they were maybe six-eight years ago. Folks sure do have a love or hate relationship with ferns though, many hikers seem to really like the fern fields.

[SoulSista]

I live in North Dakota where we like to say the trail "Begins" at Lake Sakakawea. You won't convince any North Dakotan otherwise.....*L* They are rapidly certifying the trail out here but much if it is still roadwalking, although it is relatively quiet roadwalking out here.
Folks are friendly and helpful as a rule, but towns and supplies are going to be few and far between, and water will be generally influenced by the local cow population.
Wildlife however includes both white tail and mule deer, as well as moose, bobcat, mountain lions, wolves, coyote, and others.

North Dakota is understandably proud of what the North Country Trail will do here now and in the future. There are only 2 major trails here- the NCT and the Mah Haah Dey, which is being expanded by 45 miles this year to the south- YAY! Just wish that one was more hiker friendly.

Peace Folks and let's hope to see the entire trail certified soon!

Soul Sista

[SoulSista]

Tilly- you would only want to live in Duluth in the summer mos- winters up there are BRUTAL. And of course in the summer, the mossies carry you off in droves. :P

I'm a Minnesota native. They see wintertime temps up there of -60F, without figuring in the windchill factor. Only thing movin out there in the winter is Bigfoot. *LOL*

[Tilly]

Tilly- you would only want to live in Duluth in the summer mos- winters up there are BRUTAL. And of course in the summer, the mossies carry you off in droves. :P

I'm a Minnesota native. They see wintertime temps up there of -60F, without figuring in the windchill factor. Only thing movin out there in the winter is Bigfoot. *LOL*

Oh, yeah, I thought of that. I have only been up there in the brief shoulder seasons--very early May, before the mozzies are out, and late Oct, when they're all dead. I may as well move to Fairbanks, AK as far as the cold weather goes. But for 3 months out of the year, it's the best place to be...now negotiating that huge ridge through town on my bike in subfreezing temps for 6 mos, I don't know if I can do that. And I LIKE cold weather...

[Robin Hood]

Hey all. I'm looking for a good section hike (two weeks?) this winter, preferably in NY. I'm having trouble figuring out where, if at all, the NCT is complete in NY. Any other long distance trails going through New York and specifically the Adironacks?

[ki0eh]

NCT in the Adirondacks remains a long-term dream. The Adirondack Park is managed by a host of slow-moving bureaucracies that after 25 years seem to be finally moving in a positive direction.

One can buy maps from NCTA and its affiliate Finger Lakes Trail Conference, showing the NCT route from Rome, NY, south-westerly to the PA line. Most of this is off-road, but the first county-and-a-half out of Rome offers practically no dispersed camping options.

The maps will show you that there are still a couple of half-day roadwalks and a number of shorter roadwalks that are not NCT certified, in NY south-west of Rome. There is a lot of nice trail, see the "Finger Lakes Trail" thread for discussion comparing it to the A.T.

[Tilly]

I used to have a complete set of the updated FLT maps. They are very good. They also have a milepost ala AT Data book with a lot of trail description on the back. You could get a good idea of where you would want to hike from those. Western NY would be a WONDERFUL place to hike in the fall.

If you're set on the Adirondacks, though, you should look at the Northville-Placid Trail.

[Tilly]

Just to clarify, the FLT is concurrent with the NCT through NY for several hundered miles. I believe a connector trail from the north & Adirondack area is complete? Is it the Interlochen trail?

[Robin Hood]

thanks for the feedback. i'll be sure to check out the flt and the northville-placid trail

[ki0eh]

Just to clarify, the FLT is concurrent with the NCT through NY for several hundered miles. I believe a connector trail from the north & Adirondack area is complete? Is it the Interlochen trail?

The Interloken Trail is in the Finger Lakes National Forest which is basically in one township (supposedly America's smallest N.F.) between two of the larger Finger Lakes.

From Rome north to the Adirondack Park is on the order of 100 trail miles that essentially doesn't exist yet. I think there may be a couple of short certified segments on an old branch canal towpath along the Black River in this zone but I see no map is yet available from NCTA for north of Rome.

(Now that I check http://www.northcountrytrail.org/Mer...egory_Code=MNY it seems the map south of Rome is out of print, so I have an old copy There is now a lot more off-road trail than shows up on my old copy so that should be why.)

[Toolshed]

thanks for the feedback. i'll be sure to check out the flt and the northville-placid trail

Robin Hood, WE have some very good threads here about the NLP. In addition please check out the htreads at ADKforums.com and
ADKhighpeaksforum.com.
I have done the NLP both thru and in chunks a number of times and while it can be muddy, boggy and mosquito infested, it is a very isolated wilderness trail in parts.
I used to maintain a couple of lean-tos and a section of trail on a connector trail about 2 miles from the NLP Just S of Lake Placid and would be glad to help with any information.