Date: 2019-01-01
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Miles today: 0.0

Happy New Year to all! Wow today is the first hiking day for the 2019 class, best wishes and safe travels to those embarking on their journey . May God bless you and your family and friends while you are trekking thru the majestic Appalachians.Today I wanted to briefly review some facts about the AT , My lovely wife recently suggested that some of our friends and family may not know some of the basics and would appreciate a simple 101 of random AT info. The following information is from various sources and certainly appreciate any corrections /additions from our hiking community. There are tons of great books and web sites on the AT and certainly I will only touch the tip of the proverbial iceberg with this info. I must warn you the more you learn about this beautiful range the greater the attraction and desire to become one with the mountains and trek on every inch of the trail. I¢ll be jumping around a bit and hopefully I won¢t leave out any thing obvious,  if you have a particular question please post it in the guest book and some one will surely have the answer.The Appalachian Trail is a continuous foot path that starts at Springer Mountain Georgia and ends at Mount Katahdin in Maine. The total distance is presently listed as 2,190 miles but this distance is ever changing as the trails are often rerouted. The trail traverses 14 states ;Georgia 76.4 miles, North Carolina 95.5 miles, Tennessee 287.9 miles, Virginia 550.3 miles (1/4 of the entire trail!),West Virginia 4 miles, Maryland 40.9, Pennsylvania 229.6 miles, New Jersey 72.2 miles, New York 88.4 miles, Connecticut 51.6, Massachusetts 90.2, Vermont 150 miles, New Hampshire 160.9 and Maine 281.4 miles. Benton Mackaye proposed the trail in 1921 and the trail was completed in 1937 mainly with the help of volunteers that to this day volunteer groups maintain the trail for all of us to enjoy.The trail is enjoyed by thousands every year, there are many access points/ trail heads which makes all area of the trail accessible to all of us day hikers . Certainly there are many ways to enjoy every inch of this trail and some choose to do sections at a time . Section Hikers can complete the entire AT over a period of years a couple of days or weeks/months at a time. In my opinion this method  allows for continual growth of knowledge and evolution of the latest gear and technology and the hikes can be scheduled during any season selected. A thru-hike is defined as completing the trail in a 12 month period. The only time constraint is that Mount Katahdin in Maine closes approximately October 15 depending on the weather and opens usually a little after Memorial Day in the spring.Thru- hikers can start in Georgia and head north (NOBO¢s) or if they start in Maine and head south they are referred as SOBO¢s. There are also several Thru hikers that start somewhere along the trail , head south reach Springer and then catch a ride back to their starting point and head north to Katahdin these hikers are known as flip-floppers and they are probably the smartest of all as they avoid the crowds *and can be more selective on their hiking climate.The Appalachian trail Conservancy does not require hikers to register but encourages you to do so ,as they can help keep up with the numbers starting on any particular day and hopefully alleviate some of the overcrowding at shelters .The hiker bubble* normally is between March thru May and it¢s great to be able to see how many registered fellow hikers are starting on your date. So this explains why some of us start earlier in the year to spread out the numbers. Appalachian Trail Conservancy  www.appalachiantrail.orgOn average a Thru- hiker takes between 5-7 months to complete their hike eventually averaging 15 miles per day. Every 3-5 days a hiker will go into a nearby trail town and resupply their food supply and often take a Zero (complete rest day)or a Nero (low mileage day). Some times the town offers a shuttle service , hostels or even special thru hiker rates at some hotels. Churches and other very nice people known as Trail Angels offer assistance water, warm meals , rides places to stay etc. Thank you for these wonderful human beings.Interesting fun fact-The elevation gain/loss of hiking the entire AT is the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest 16 times. 2,000 people attempt a thru hike each year, 20-25% of those attempting a thru-hike actually finish, I hope to be one of the few the proud...Realistically so many things can go wrong and just the one shake down trip I took in October I had to get off the trail early.The highest point on the AT is Clingmans Dome in the Smokies at 6,644 feet. We are most likely to see a Black Bear in the Great Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah National park and New Jersey (NJ surprised me). The AT does require bear canisters to store our food in certain areas but for most of the trail hanging a bear bag in a tree is acceptable there are plenty of articles on line with further explanations on that topic.Traditionally many NOBO¢s will start their journey at the Amicalola Falls state park and this is where they will register their hike and be assigned a tag and a number. The approach trail to the AT is approximately 8 miles long and includes 604 steps alongside the waterfall. Unfortunately these 8 miles do not officially count as part of the AT and some get dropped off at the official trail head but I believe the road can be difficult to drive on? I¢m not sure what I will do as I hate the thought of blowing out my knees before I even get started...Any way I will be covering more useful information especially once I get on trail, please gather solid info from those that successfully completed the hike there are great enjoyable journals on this site , such as Beakers 2017 journal.Hike your own Hike , Trail names etc, etc etc...All for now