Extending the AT!!! suhweeet!!!

[evansprater]

http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/eco...february-2013/

Extending the A.T. - Atlanta, Ga.

A conservation group is working on a plan to extend the Appalachian Trail all the way to the Gulf of Mexico via the Chattahoochee River. The Trust for Public Land has already secured acreage in an effort to create a new route from the headwaters of the Chattahoochee near the southern terminus of the A.T. down to the Gulf of Mexico by combining riverside footpaths and designated blue trails for canoers and kayakers. The Trust has already acquired 17,000 acres of land that touch 76 miles of the river, and partners have also expressed interest in neighboring Florida, where the Chattahoochee becomes the Apalachicola River and flows into the Gulf.


Thoughts? My first reaction was "hell yes".

[Chuckie V]

A longer trail is a better trail!

[10-K]

Why? What's in a name?

For example - you can start in central Alabama on the Pinhoti trail and hike all the way to the Benton MacKaye Trail in north Georgia. From there you can get on the AT and hike all the way to Katahdin.

So... trail is trail is trail why do they need to go through all the gyrations it's going to take to make it part of the current Appalachian trail?

[evansprater]

Because of exactly that, the name. I think keeping the name attached to an already prestigious, super long trail, and making it longer, will help it make even more of a...name. for itself.

[10-K]

My driveway goes all the way to San Francisco - it just has different names along the way.

[evansprater]

good one...

[Chuckie V]

Why? What's in a name?

Asks the man with his trail resume under his profile name!

But I hear you: trails are trails, regardless of designation. They all require love!

[10-K]

The reason I have the trails I've hiked in my profile is so someone thinking about hiking those trails can ask me questions.

I frequently get PM's asking about them from people planning hikes.

[rocketsocks]

My driveway goes all the way to San Francisco - it just has different names along the way.

Damn right, it' all the same trail, and it's all the same day.....

You take the I-AT south, make a right on to the first blue blaze ya see after the big rock, and your half way there....Can't miss it!

[Lone Wolf]

the official AT will never extend south of springer or north of katahdin. it is set in stone

[Coffee Rules!]

My driveway goes all the way to San Francisco - it just has different names along the way.

**Snerk**

+10

[rocketsocks]

the official AT will never extend south of springer or north of katahdin. it is set in stone

The old lincoln highway has many names rt 80, and every little town along its length has taken a little piece and called it what they will, time and money has a funny way of changing things. but I hear what your sayin.

[topshelf]

ehh, longer isnt always better, i dont think it fits with the character of the AT

[Slo-go'en]

Sounds like it would be an aqua blaze.

[takethisbread]

The length of the trail is perfect. It alreAdy the longest, time wise, hike we have in this country. This trail takes 5 months for a serious minded hiker. They lengthened the trail a few times already by small amounts and its led to earlier departures. A few people can afford a 2,000 mile hike in terms of time and money. How many can thru hike a 3,000 mile 7 or 8 month trek?
Plz not officially. Like lone wolf said

[Cookerhiker]

the official AT will never extend south of springer or north of katahdin. it is set in stone

The length of the trail is perfect. It alreAdy the longest, time wise, hike we have in this country. This trail takes 5 months for a serious minded hiker. They lengthened the trail a few times already by small amounts and its led to earlier departures. A few people can afford a 2,000 mile hike in terms of time and money. How many can thru hike a 3,000 mile 7 or 8 month trek?
Plz not officially. Like lone wolf said

Yes to these.

[brian039]

Stuff like this comes up all the time. It's wishful thinking on the part of the conservation group. Anybody read the part about the Walmart Rafters? Glad they survived but I thought that was pretty funny.

[Malto]

The length of the trail is perfect. It alreAdy the longest, time wise, hike we have in this country. This trail takes 5 months for a serious minded hiker. They lengthened the trail a few times already by small amounts and its led to earlier departures. A few people can afford a 2,000 mile hike in terms of time and money. How many can thru hike a 3,000 mile 7 or 8 month trek?
Plz not officially. Like lone wolf said

Not exactly. The pct is longer both mileage and very likely in the number of days hiked.


As far as extending the trail, only extend it if it keeps the same charter. I wouldn't view a riverside trail down the Hooch to keep with the charter. Establish the trail and then people can combine them if they don't view the AT to be enough challenge.

[Capt Nat]

If I hiked the AT this year and next year they extended it, would I lose my stripes until I did the new full length? What about everybody else that has through hiked? Is there a lawyer in the house?

[hikerboy57]

ehh, longer isnt always better, i dont think it fits with the character of the AT

it not only doesnt fit with the character, where do the appalachian mtns run between georgia and the gulf?