Long Distance Hiking. Lessons from the Appalachian Trail.

Posted on January 19, 2008 by seanb724

Roland Mueser. 1998.

I’ve been reading this off and on the past several months, and finally finished it. Overall a good book, though it is starting to be dated in some areas, especially anything that has to do with gear technology.

Roland Mueser hiked the entire trail in the early 90’s, and then surveyed 125+ hikers that also thru-hiked that year after they all had finished, and compiled information on just about every aspect of long distance hiking, especially as related to the AT. Gear, food, sleeping, wildlife, planning, etc…

Much of the book is really good, but gear technology has changed so much, that many sections are definitely out dated now. Clothing, packs, footware, etc. are all much different than 15-20 years ago!

However, reading a book like this definitely makes me want to do the whole thing! I pretty much always have, but reading about it just makes my desire that much stronger. But with my family and job and knees, I doubt it will ever happen, but I can still dream. 🙂

Appalachian Trail Guide: NC – GA and Appalachian Trail Data Book

Posted on June 14, 2007 by seanb724

There are 11 guide books to the AT, and each comes with a couple maps. I carried the map we needed and the guide book on our backpacking trip last weekend. A lot of people say the book is too heavy, and while it is extra weight to carry around, it is well worth it in my opinion. Besides useful information like how far off the main trail each shelter is, or how far water is from a given shelter, there is a lot of historical information as well. And I enjoy reading that kind of stuff while on the trail.

This book just shows the miles between significant features. I did not carry it on the trail, though, since I had the other, more detailed book.

AT: Springer Mountain -> Neels Gap

Posted on June 13, 2007 by seanb724

This was my 2nd segment as a sectional through hiker. I now have almost 60 miles out of 2100+ done — still a very long way to go, and at the current rate, I’ll never finish it. I’ll have to step up to go more than once a year, and do more than 2 nights out, so I can knock out a couple 50-100 mile sections! Other than Jeremy’s bloody nose on day 2, and blood sugar/dehydration/heat exhaustion(?) on the way out on day 3, it was an uneventful trip.

The scenary the 1st day or so was not that great — there just weren’t any great views. Part of that was due to cloud cover on top of Springer, and the other part was due to all the trees being full of leaves this time of year. However, Blood Mountain did offer some nice views, and we got to watch the sunset and sunrise from there.

I have already made a list of items I will not carry in the future in order to cut down on weight. At the start, with all of my food and full of water supplies of 130 oz, my load, including my new 3.3 lbs Osprey Atmos 65 pack, was at 36 lbs. I think I can easily cut out 4-5 lbs. And I could have gone with less water, and just filled up more often. One item I will change out is my ancient Petzl duo headlight, and upgrade to a smaller/lighter Petzl tikka. I also want to get my own stove so I can do some solo backpacking, and I really like the jetboil, which weighs just under 1 lbs. I tend to carry too much food, so I will work on that next time. No 13 oz. bag of Combos! (Maybe just 2 small combos bags instead. 🙂 )

People: Sean, Jeremy, Gary, Mike, Ethan

Dates: June 8 -10 2007

Distance: 30.5 (Parking is .9 from Springer, so we hiked up and back down, so we hiked a little further)
Day 1: Springer Mountain – Gooch Mountain Shelter, about 15 miles.
Day 2: Gooch Mountain Shelter – Blood Mountain Shelter, 13 miles
Day 3: Blood Mountain Shelter – Neels Gap, 2.5 miles
Photos: Sharpcast Album

Map: Both Springer Mountain and Neels Gap are on this map:

AT: Iron Mountain Gap — > US 19 E

Posted on June 13, 2007 by seanb724

Note: I have now done 2 weekend backpack trips on the Appalachian Trail, so if I am going to become a “sectional thru-hiker” then I figure I should start blogging about it.

This 1st entry is from my 1st trip in April of 2005, when we got caught in blizzard like conditions, complete with white-outs where we couldn’t follow the trail and had to turn back in 60-70 mph winds. The 4 of us set up the 3 man tent and rode out the storm overnight, for 14 hours.

Trip Details

People: Sean, Mike, Jeremy, Gary

Dates: April 2005

Distance: 28.7 miles

Day 1: TN 107, Iron Mountain to Roan Mountain Shelter

Day 2: Roan High Knob Shelter, had to turn back at Bradly Gap as the snow/wind got too bad, slept in a tent somwhere south of there…

Day 3: From just south of Bradley Gap to US 19 E. Had to break snow at least knee deep.

Pictures: Click here for my sharpcast album. [ Update 11/20/2012: The sharpcast album is long gone so I’ll include a couple shots below…]

Map: Below is a map of the general area… TN 107/Iron Mountain Gap does not show up on this map, but it is north of Spivey’s Gap and South of Roan Mountain.