Posted on 07/30/2024 12:57:08 PM PDT by Twotone
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There’s a good book on the subject titled “A Walk In The Woods “.
Just a caution though along the first part of the AT near Amicalola the trail is infested with meth heads you do not want to meet up with unarmed. Mr. GG2 and a friend had a run in with some a few years back and he was glad he was carrying.
Mount Mitchell, NC - Highest point east of the Mississippi.
A beautiful place.
My sole experience with the Appalachian Trail was back in the summer of ‘94. I was visiting Shenandoah National Park - pretty much a day trip down Skyline Drive with numerous stops to take in the views.
There was a westward-facing view near Bearfence Mountain. The place i went was called the Rock Scramble - piles of boulders that many years later, I wouldn’t dare to traverse. I sat up there for a good hour taking in the solitude and the view. I took pictures but as always, the pictures don’t describe it. After a while, i stood up and let out a long primal scream. not sure why. I just wanted to.
I was in tennis shoes, shorts and a tshirt that day. I walked about two miles of the AP. Very rocky and uneven but still fun.
Shenandoah NP is great. I hope to get back there again - one more time in my life.
I worked for three years at Shenandoah National Park in Virginian. The Appalachian Trail goes through the backbone of the Park. In three years, and seeing many, many through hikers, I only saw one with a smile on his face. Everyone else had simply a look of grim determination.
I think that, for most people, driving to special areas and doing day hikes would work better and be more enjoyable.
an excellent denouement to a fine narrative.
I never knowingly met any meth heads when out hiking.
Met a mountain lion once.
A good enough reason to be armed, though anyway….
Yep. We do not go out walking in the woods unarmed. Ever.
He found self-reliance and independence on the trail. Something modern children aren’t allowed to learn. Good for him!
What an interesting story and experience for a young man. I kind of think he started out a teenager, but emerged a man who has instilled confidence in himself that will help him carry on for the rest of his life. Something to be proud of for sure, and gotta commend his love of America.
I learned my lesson once, and well!
Luckily I wasn’t injured of killed or anything!
Thank you so much for posting this. It was a delight to read.
I hiked a bunch of it in the White Mountains in New Hampshire along with my dog. He’s not up for it anymore.
As an old-old woman missing many body parts you can imagine what I remember as I hiked numerous trails, ran numerous roads, slept with and without tents, in rain and snow, heat and cold and occasionally perfect weather—rarely with another person and not for long with him or her.
I do not know how many people do what I do or how long they do it...each time and total. I haven’t any idea. I do know if I do it now I will surely die.
When I do think ‘about to die’ I wonder and if there is a point to all this living especially the obligation parts. As I rarely talk with other people about any of this traveling, often in silence and rarely with music though I was a musician for a number of years.
How many others do this or something similar? Are they young or old? Happy or not? Do they figure problems out like I do or do they have their own satisfactions remotely like mine?
After thinking about all this and not talking with someone else similarly thoughtful but alone I still don’t know.
The AT is just a few miles from my house. My house looks at a mountain that the AT runs across.
Did you get to Pearisburg?
Definitely a nice break from politics. ;-)
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