Tag Archives: Appalachian Trail

Backpacking

Spring opens a world of backpack opportunities

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Spring is one of our four favorite seasons to backpack because:

  • Temperatures are moving up — no worrying about whether your 20-degree bag will cut it on a 19-degree night
  • Daylight is increasing — no 14-hour nights in your sleeping bag
  • The world is coming to life — no explanation needed

Thus, it’s no surprise that spring is one of our busiest times on the trail. Here’s what we’ve got going on into June. For more information and to sign up, see the links below.

Learn to backpack

We have two options for folks who aren’t backpackers — but want to be. read more

Backpacking, Hiking, Weather

Post Hurricane Florence: What’s open, what’s not?

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A moody Graybeard Mountain.

We’re all wondering the same thing: are my favorite places to explore open post Hurricane Florence?

Here’s a look at what I’ve found for our upcoming GetHiking! and GetBackpacking! adventures. Hopefully, my sleuthing can help you in figuring out your own upcoming adventure plans.

=&0=&

When: This weekend

What we learned: I wasn’t worried about the trail being flooded: it begins above 6,000 feet and stays high for much of its 13.7-mile run. Still, my first check was with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy website, whose Trail Updates page is a complete rundown of current closings, reroutings and other issues that may affect your hike. The North Carolina section (updates are broken down by state) listed no specific advisory for this stretch, though it did advise caution in general for downed trees and hanging limbs as a result of the storm. Of greater concern were the roads getting to the trailhead: Florence dropped some wet on the mountains, and landslides had been reported. But not on the roads we take, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Travel Information page and its interactive map.

Status: It’s a go

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When: This weekend

What we learned: Virginia closed all of its State Parks in preparation for Florence, but all have now reopened, including Grayson Highlands. A look at the Grayson Highlands State Park page shows that only one park facility is closed, and it isn’t our group campsite. As for the Mount Rogers end of the trip, the USDA Forest Service site for both George Washington and Jefferson National Forests reported that all recreation areas were closed. That, though, from a post dated Sept. 12, before the storm. A call to the “customer service desk” for both forests indicated it might be faster to leave a message than to wait for a representative. It was also unclear whether the Virginia Creeper Trail, also part of the trip, was open.

Status: On hold, likely to postpone

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When: Weekend of Sept. 28-30

What we learned: Curtis Creek is in the Pisgah National Forest. (In fact, it was the first tract of land in the Pisgah, back in 1913). It’s in a particularly narrow valley that descends from the Black Mountains to the Piedmont, and thus seems especially vulnerable to flooding. And while it, along with the rest of the Pisgah, was closed prior to Florence, it has reopened. Graybeard Mountain is rather unique in that it is part of the Montreat Conference Center’s 2,500-acre Montreat Wilderness. It remains open to hiking as well, according to the website.

Status: It’s a go.

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Backpacking

With backpacking, there’s no reason to leave the trail

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Fall is our favorite time of year to go backpacking: temperatures are cooling, the forest is alit in color, the air is dry, the chance of rain is greatly diminished. It’s a great time to be on the trail — and to stay on the trail.

That’s one of the many joys of backpacking: once you’re on the trail, you don’t have to leave. Stay a night, or two or three.

If you’re already a backpacker, we’ve got some great trips planned for fall. Some are ideal for folks new to backpacking (Intro to Linville Gorge, the Neusiok Trail), some are for more experienced backpackers (Joyce Kilmer/Citico Creek Wilderness). Then there’s the Appalachian Trail trip from Carvers Gap to 19E, a trip that should be on every backpacker’s resume.

If you’re not a backpacker, there’s no better time to start, and no better people to start with than us. If you’re intrigued by the notion of backpacking but need to dip a toe in before committing, we have our new Overnight Sampler. If you’re pretty sure backpacking is for you, check out our comprehensive Intro to Backpacking class.

Either way, fall’s the time to backpack. We hope to see you on the trail. For additional information on each event, click on the link below.

=&0=&, September session. Our comprehensive learn-to-backpack program includes a two-hour session on gear and how to pack a backpack; a six-hour session at Morrow Mountain State Park where be go over everything from setting up camp to cooking to hanging food, to breaking down camp; and, finally, a weekend graduation trip to South Mountains State Park.

=&1=&, Sept. 15-16, Eno River State Park, Durham; Oct. 20-21, Raven Rock State Park, Lillington. You like the idea of backpacking, but you aren’t ready to make a full-on commitment — you’d like to take a test-drive first. That’s what our Overnight Sampler is all about: we provide the key backpacking gear and food, you get to see what it’s like to hike in a full pack and camp in the backcountry overnight.

=&2=&, Burnsville. Sept. 21-23. A two-night, three-day 14-mile trip that may be the most scenically spectacular run of trail in North Carolina. We start at Carvers Gap and top Jane and Round balds right off the bat, meander through forests of mountain ash, then encounter more stunning views from atop Little Hump and Hump mountains.

=&3=&, northwest of Morganton, Oct. 5-7. Linville Gorge can provide a rewarding (and intense) immersion into backpacking. But on this trip, we’ll take a more relaxed approach, setting up basecamp on Shortoff Mountain, then day packing into the gorge.

=&4=&, Oct. 25-29, adjoining wilderness areas in North Carolina and Tennessee near Robbinsville. Its remote location and ruggedness helped spare this area from extensive logging, making it an easy choice for Wilderness designation. Participants will play a role in the actual planning of this trip, at a two-hour planning meeting a week before the trip.  

=&5=&, Croatan National Forest, New Bern, Nov. 30-Dec. 2. Late fall is the time to hike the coastal Croatan National Forest. Pesky flying things and slithering denizens of the dirt are kept at bay by the cool weather, and the fall color continues to linger along this 21-mile trail that starts all coastal but delivers some surprising twists at the end. 

Happy trails,

Joe

More info

Class: Intro to Backpacking

Class: GetBackpacking! Overnight Sampler (September)

Class:

GetBackpacking! Overnight Sampler read more

Backpacking, Camping, Hiking

An August adventure (or four) to save your summer

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Every year, it’s the same thing. Memorial Day arrives with great expectations for an adventurous summer. Then, suddenly, it’s August and that longed-for adventure has not yet happened.

Despair not!

We’ve got some great adventures planned for August that will salvage the summer and then some. Put on your adventure face, it’s time to get out and play!

=&0=&, backpacking, Linville Gorge, Aug. 10-12. Three days in one of the wildest, most scenic spots in the East will salvage any summer. Our 22 miles in the gorge starts at Table Rock on the East Rim. The first night is spent  atop Shortoff Mountain, with sweeping sunset views of the gorge. On Saturday, we’ll descend to the Linville River for our first river crossing, then head up over rocky terrain interrupted only by behemoth downed trees (this being a designated Wilderness Area, the management strategy is to leave ’em where they lay). Sunday’s hike out includes more traipsing in the wilderness. It’s a backpacker’s most excellent adventure.

=&1=&, Transylvania County (and surrounding environs), camping/hiking, North Mills River Recreation Area, Aug. 17-19. Appropriately, for the dog days of August, we spend this mountain camping trip in appreciation of water. From a base camp at the North Mills River Campground, we’ll do three hikes: On Friday, we start at Gorges State Park with a hike along the Horsepasture River to Rainbow and Turtleback falls; on Saturday, we’ll explore the waterfalls—some of them swim-friendly!—at DuPont State Forest; and on Sunday, we’ll hike along—and in, at some points—North Mills River to the Hendersonville Reservoir. And, to make things even more carefree for you, we’ll provide all the food.

=&2=&, backpacking, Eno River State Park, Aug. 18-19. Here’s your chance to have some fun and sow the seeds for a whole new life of adventure. If you’ve been curious about backpacking, this is your chance to see whether spending the day on the trail and the night in the backcountry is for you. It’s a minimal investment — not even 24 hours, and we provide the backpacking gear — that could alter the trajectory of your exploring life. We’ll get you fitted in a pack and get you packed, then hike in a couple miles, set up camp, cook and hang out. We spend the night in the great outdoors, then cook some more and hike out. Just enough of a taste to let you know if backpacking is for you; if you decide it is, you’ll get 25 percent off our more extensive GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking class in September.

=&3=&, west of Franklin in the Nantahala National Forest, camping/hiking, Aug. 24-26. When it comes to summer adventure, nothing does it for us like days filled with challenging, scenic hiking, followed by lounging around camp and trading stories. That’s what this Classic Escape is all about: Saturday, we hike an 11-mile loop that includes a stretch on the Appalachian Trail and tops out on 5,498-foot Standing Indian Mountain, with a large view to the south and east of rolling ridges of rugged green. On Sunday we’ll fuel you with a pancake breakfast, then hike a shorter loop that includes the Appalachian Trail. In between, we’ll loll in the cool waters of Kimsey Creek, which runs through camp.  

Join us for a summer adventure to remember.

Happy trails,

Joe

More info

For details on the August adventures mentioned:

  • GetBackpacking! Linville Gorge Intermediate Skills, go here.
  • GetHiking! A Transylvania Waterfall Weekend, go here.
  • GetBackpacking! Overnight Sampler, go here. Learn more about this class and our other GetBackpacking! programs here,
  • GetHiking! Classic Escapes: Standing Indian Area, go here.

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    Backpacking, Hiking

    Trail Magic Revisited

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    Stretch on the grill.
    Stretch on the grill.

    On Sunday, I saw a Facebook post from a hiker visiting Damascus, Va., for Trail Days, the annual event celebrating the first wave of Appalachian Trail thru-hikers traipsing through town. It reminded me of what a delight it is to hike among thru-hikers and hear about their experiences. Back in April of 2010, I happened upon a wave of thru-hikers, along with a bit of paternal trail magic, in the Standing Indian area of western North Carolina. So I headed into the Wayback Machine to revisit this magical encounter. 

    Thursday a week ago, Chuck picked up the phone in his Chicago home. It was his buddy, Stretch.
    “What are you doing next week?” Stretch asked. “Wanna go on a road trip?”
    Four days later, after loading Stretch’s Chevy Avalanche with an arsenal of groceries and driving 10 hours, the two were standing outside a yellow tent on the Appalachian Trail near Deep Gap, knocking to see if anyone was home. It was 7:30 in the morning.
    Is that … my dad? Jaime, one of the occupants, groggily wondered from within. Jaime and her hiking partner/boyfriend Doug were stunned to unzip their tent flap and see their fathers’ grinning faces in the doorway. The two AT thru-hikers were even more stunned when they followed their paternal units the half mile back down to Deep Gap and discovered a truckload of what helps keep thru-hikers plugging along through cold and rain, through heat and ticks, through blisters and debilitating fatigue.

    Trail magic.

    There, on this flat clearing where the AT briefly intersects with civilization via a gravel Forest Service road, was a feast that would unravel the plans, at least for Tuesday, of at least two dozen AT thru-hikers. On the tailgate was a smorgasbord including bagels, oranges, Clif bars, carrots, Tootsie Rolls, Craisins, bananas, homemade chocolate chip cookies (from a friend of Jaime’s in Chicago), M&Ms, juice boxes, tortilla chips, avocados, salted peanuts, pretzels and sandwich rolls. Two coolers held tomatoes, lettuce, ice, Gatorade, cole slaw and potato salad. And on the grill—yes, the grill—was chicken and bacon.
    “I wasn’t as well organized as I could have been,” apologized Stretch. “There were a few things I forgot.”

    Looking around, that seemed improbable. Like what?
    “Well … I forgot plates.”
    No one was complaining about the absence of place settings.
    “We’ve spent days dreaming of the perfect sandwich,” said thru-hiker Dibbs as he assembled his dream Dagwood.
    “Our plan was to get here a day earlier and set up a lemonade stand with fresh-squeezed lemonade,” said Stretch. “We were going to charge 25 cents or a hug.”
    That plan got scuttled when the dads discovered the fast-moving Doug and Jaime were ahead of schedule. The dads had been following the couple’s progress via the Spot GPS tracking system the two were carrying.
    By 11:30 Tuesday morning, a dozen hikers were partaking in the feast. “Looks like we won’t need to stop for lunch,” said Bimbo, who got his trail name courtesy of the cycling jersey he wore bearing the name of a Mexican bakery.
    “I think we’ll be stopping for a lunch nap,” said Dibbs.
    Almost as popular as the food was one of the camp chairs the dads brought.
    “It feels so good to sit in a chair,” one hiker said. “Hey! You’ve gotta sit in this chair.”

    Also popular was another missed component of daily life — a newspaper.
    “Some kid was busted for disturbing a school assembly,” one hiker announced to no one in particular. “Can you believe that?”
    Despite the morning hour, the Dads had brought along a 5 o’clock favorite.
    “I asked Doug what he missed the most,” said Stretch, “and he said margaritas.” Thus was produced a stash of tequila, citrus juice and salt.
    From the avocados one industrious thru-hiker made the perfect margarita companion, guacamole. “Put 100 monkeys in a room and one will know how to make guacamole,” Doug observed.
    “It’s so hard to leave,” said Dibbs as he weighed the tailgate smorgasbord vs. his plan to cover another 11 miles.
    When they arrived at their kids’ tent, Stretch and Chuck were bearing a handful of welcome treats. That, for Doug and Jaime, was more than enough.

    “You really didn’t think we’d drive from Chicago and not bring all of this, did you?” asked Stretch.
    “I couldn’t imagine you would bring all this,” Jaime said. “But this is what you do, Stretch. You make people happy.”
    Just a couple of Trail Angels sprinkling some magic dust.