And don't forget the GA>MA Tour Bus via the AT. Routed for the best views, of courseOriginally Posted by Tin Man
When your bear gets wet, you can hang him on the cable to dry out.
Or was that for hanging your food bag in bear country?
Anyway, it works for either purpose.
I hear you, man. I remember when I got the "idea" to go hiking one day with a buddy of mine last year. We were both 19. His mommy didn't want him to go so he didn't.
Here's one maybe not trail related but how many out there remember when mom kicked us out of the house all day long every day during the summer, when packs of kids roamed the area out of doors, vs. structured play dates indoors with a couple of other kids....not exactly ideal for breeding tomorrow's outdoor enthusiasts!
Walking Dead Bear
Formerly the Hiker Known as Almost There
It warms my heart to see the bus will only go as far as Massachusetts (MA) and will not be despoiling The Long Trail or the AT in Vermont (VT), New Hampshire (NH) and Maine (ME). The official postal abbreviations for AT states remain unchanged.And don't forget the GA>MA Tour Bus via the AT. Routed for the best views, of course
I'm only 20 and I've noticed that within my lifetime. Hell, we were always running around the neighborhood causing trouble. I look at my younger cousins and they're "booked" until 5 everyday, get home and play video games. Rinse and Repeat every single day.
Ah, the 70s. When every campsite had a fire place -- and a can dump encroaching on the fire place. I've buried scores of them, on and off the AT -- the last one a decade or so ago at an AT site in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
My packs have gotten heavier, not lighter. Back then I was still carrying a $3.95 pup tent. No floor, no mosquito netting. I had bought from an ad in a hunting and fishing magazine in 1949. It would sleep three in a pinch, by just stretching out the stakes and leaving the door open. I never thought to weigh it. But I'm sure it was less than a pound.
The ultra light fad was already underway Gerry ------- (I forget his last name) but he founded the Gerry gear company. About 1970 he published a small paperback book describing how to backpack a week with a 21 pound pack -- including food.
The Maine trail is more protected now. About 1972 I spied a logging truck piled high with spruce logs, several of which were blazed with the white AT symbol.
By the end of the decade nearly 100,000 formerly private acres on Bigelow, the Mahoosucs, Four Ponds, and Nahmakanta were state owned. It took another decade for the National Park service to buy the intervening trail corridor.
Some complain bitterly about the trail in Maine being too difficult now. But we are gradually getting used to it.
Weary
Weary, ever thought of writing a book?
"It was on the first of May, in the year 1769, that I resigned my domestic happiness for a time, and left my family and peaceable habitation on the Yadkin River, in North Carolina, to wander through the wilderness of America." - Daniel Boone
I've toyed with the idea. I once had a publisher interested, but they bowed out.
By the way, as I think more about the 70s, Gerry's last name is Cunningham and his 21 pound pack instructions probably were published in the 60s, maybe as early as the late 50s.
Weary
I've toyed with the idea. I once had a publisher interested, but they bowed out.
By the way, as I think more about the 70s, Gerry's last name is Cunningham and his 21 pound pack instructions probably were published in the 60s, maybe as early as the late 50s. Gerry is in his mid 80s now if he is still alive. He severed connections with the company he founded a couple of decades ago.
Weary
Bear Cables
More specifically: "bear cables" is shorthand for those cable systems mounted between trees or poles, upon which the hiker may hang food bags, backpacks or other items to keep them out of the reach of bears and other varmints. The Carolina Mountain Club is initiating a program this year to install them at each shelter in the Club's area (between Davenport Gap and Spivey Gap).
ADA requirements DO come into play for all new construction of privies and shelters. There are variables within the regs to allow a certain amount of variation from structure to structure, but anything new HAS to conform...waste of money or not. (Yes, it does seem strange to put an ADA-compliant privy where no wheelchairs can go, but that's the law.)
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass - it's about learning how to dance in the rain!
I also stared hiking the trail in the 70's (early 70's), and I see LOTS more folks on the trail now. There are even more folks out in the wintertime, which was something that you rarely saw in the 70's. Some of the equipment is more technical than it was back then (waterproof/breathable fabrics, for one), and packs are lighter.
From the regulatory end of things, there's more involvement from the federal government, but there seems to be more cooperation from the state governments, too. Back-country sanitation has become a big issue - there are more privies, although they don't always meet the guidelines for ALL the states (ie - mouldering toilets are sub-standard for Pa.). Shelters got bigger and fancier to accomodate more people.
But the trail is still the trail: ups and downs, rocks, mud, views, "green tunnels", sore muscles, sunburns, and inner peace. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass - it's about learning how to dance in the rain!
I am reading Hiking The Appalachian Trail Vol 2 which came out in 1975. Most of the hikes were in 1969. The differences are really obvious. They had trouble finding the trail in places.
In the first story, Eric Ryback mentions spending time with the Shaw family in Blacksburg. I spoke to Mrs Shaw at church today and she remembered Eric.
I knew someone when I lived at Orono who met Grandma Gatewood. Never met her myself, but I did get to meet several of the other early 2000 milers no longer with us.
Campsite? Nobody said anything about a stinkin' campsite!
Actually in the '70s, at least out West, there were few established campsites, most of which were designed for the car camper. Since the Government interfered little, one could throw down just about anywhere and go "primitive". The biggest difference I've seen over the past 35 years is that equipment has gotten lighter and more high tech, food for the trail has gotten a lot tastier with more varieties, and it seems at times that everyone has there hand in the pie when it comes to regulations, some of which are needed and some are not.
One bridge over Detweiler Run on the Greenwood Spur of the Mid State Trail (which is part of Great Eastern Trail) has red carpet on it, I kid you not!
I still have the first down bag I ever bought, back in 1972 or so, from some hunter's supply store in downtown Rochester, NY. It cost $65 at the time and has about 2.5 pounds of down fill. Bags #2-4 were bought in '89 and '90 and '07. All four are still in good working order. That first (1972) bag is still quite useable, though one of the baffled segments has collapsed.
70's
I was only knee-high to a grasshopper in the 70's, but I remember looking at pictures of the AT and thru-hikers being shown to us by our Den Mother in the Cub Scouts. Even now, there is something about those pics of backpackers with their 70's hair, external frame packs, blue jeans, flannel shirts and heavy leather work boots that I find inspiring. Can't really explain why.
Here's something to inspire you, naturejunkie! http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=65
GA←↕→ME: 1973 to 2014
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