Mt Whitney Webcam
Mt Williamson Webcam
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 52 guests, and 6 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
An Appreciation
#25201 06/18/12 03:14 PM
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,572
OP Offline
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,572
Just returned from a short weekend loop on the Appalachian Trail, Long Trail and a couple of side trails (NW Mass, S VT) as always, with a renewed sense of appreciation - for the High Sierra. As much as I have experienced read about the AT ad its kin, day hikes, section hikes, through hikes, I just don't get it. I have concluded that a few dozen miles in the Sierra can spoil you for thousands of miles any where else. Sections of the AT I have hiked, like this past weekend, are about 20 percent decently passable woodland, and 80 percent foot deep trench over some combination of mud, ankle turning rock and exposed roots. Often all three. You wouldn't think of woodland trails through these old, glacier worn, wooded gentle slopes as rough travel, but most of the mileage I covered this weekend was steeper, more worn, less maintained, and just plain harder walking than anything I have encountered anywhere in the Rockies or Sierra.

Denser population, easier access, shorter expanses between roads, all understandably contribute to the scene: lots of gunshots and two-stroke engines until sunset, a couple of guys in camo fatigues with ax and machete collecting firewood, and I kid you not fresh boughs, for shelter, a midnight snorer who pitched his tent not 20 feet from mine (sometime after lights out). Other things are inexplicable: the New Englander's refusal to build trails with switchbacks: ups and downs are almost always on the fall line. Insistence on ridge routes: all of the Long Trail (and much of the AT) was intentionally laid out on the ridges and peaks. Imagine the PCT literally on the crest.

And imagine the views! You have to imagine them, because you don't actually see any. Not one this weekend. It is a green tunnel, endless miles of vegetation interrupted by brief vistas of major highway intersections. I met one section hiker, w/1700 of the 2200 miles under his soles, who extolled the virtues of the AT as offering so much variety, and change, over its length. Every 3 or 400 miles the geology changes completely. Not that you can see it exactly, but somewhere in southern New Jersey, the limit of glacial progress, the rock, mud and roots changes completely - to mud and roots.

So remember, whatever the tribulations of MT, if the scenery never changes, either you're not the lead dog or you're on the AT.


Last edited by saltydog; 06/18/12 03:15 PM.

Wherever you go, there you are.
SPOTMe!
Re: An Appreciation
saltydog #25204 06/18/12 06:00 PM
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 595
Offline
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 595
Sorry to hear that your life really sucks ... wink

Re: An Appreciation
KevinR #25205 06/18/12 06:19 PM
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 2,251
Likes: 1
Offline
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 2,251
Likes: 1
You should try South-West Tasmania.Trails run in one of two directions - Upstream & Downstream... But there are magnificent views if you direct-climb the peaks.


Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
Re: An Appreciation
wagga #25207 06/18/12 07:37 PM
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,037
Likes: 6
H
Offline
H
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,037
Likes: 6
Salty - I concur, that is why I am returning to the Sierras for trip #21 this year, gimpy knee and all.

The only advantage of being in Virginia is that the AT travels more miles through our state that any other, I think.

We NEVER go on the AT in warm weather. Winter is better for better visibility (no tree tunnel), clearer air, fewer people, no bugs. I laughed (in agreement) at your comment that the scenery changes every 3-400 miles. Harvey

Re: An Appreciation
saltydog #25210 06/18/12 09:05 PM
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 69
C
Offline
C
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 69
As someone who grew up in Ohio and spent a couple adult years in Virginia, I must agree as well. I didn't hike much on the East Coast during my growing up years, but I sure did when I lived in Virginia (my wife and I spent many weekends hiking through the Shenandoah Mts, among other places).

While there's a certain undeniable charm to the mountains of the East I spent time in - Appalachian, Allegheny and Adirondack, it's nothing compared to the grandeur of the Sierras. I've only been in California a few years, but the Sierras make me feel at home.


Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4
(Release build 20200307)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.4.33 Page Time: 0.030s Queries: 24 (0.024s) Memory: 0.5919 MB (Peak: 0.6549 MB) Data Comp: Off Server Time: 2024-03-28 09:55:10 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS