Eastern vs western US: hiking? (Home Depot, high school, live in)
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I prefer Western US. You got the volcanoes of Hawaii. The frozen mountains of Alaska. Yosemite. Grand Canyon. Arches National Park. Grand Teton. Yellowstone. Oregon Cascade lakes byway. Garden of the Gods Colorado.
I think the variety of hiking from desert to coastal to high peaks to canyons plus the immense beauty of these places beat the eastern US. I also think the eastern US is a lot more developed than the western US.
Having lived in the Rockies for 30 years and worked as a backcountry guide for the past several years, to me, I have been finding I prefer the East, specifically the Adirondacks, Whites and Maine.
Maybe it is because it is "undiscovered country" for me. It is very different. Lush, greener, wetter. In the West, much of the "prime" hiking is directly associated with being in the biggest highest mountains of an area. In New York, you can hike from one range to another through boggy, lake-studded lowlands, and that can be the most interesting part of the journey.
Basically, I just fins the east more interesting at this point in my life. Grandeur is great and all, but sometimes there is a lot of beauty and mystery in the forest cloaked slopes of the East.
This past winter I worked for an outfitter in the Adirondacks of New York and I have really gotten into nordic skating from lake to lake in remote backcountry. Kind of hard to do out west. And canoe tripping expeditions, too.
What kind of views do you want? If you like graffiti covered rocks, crowds of people, lots of trash on the trail, and never being more then 30 minutes away from fast food and booze, I suggest the East. If you want to get away from all of that, and be by yourself in real nature I suggest the West.
What kind of views do you want? If you like graffiti covered rocks, crowds of people, lots of trash on the trail, and never being more then 30 minutes away from fast food and booze, I suggest the East. If you want to get away from all of that, and be by yourself in real nature I suggest the West.
Not true...There is plenty of hiking that is accessible within minutes of cities in many parts of the East. This is a great source for the area I live in: https://cnyhiking.com/index.html
What kind of views do you want? If you like graffiti covered rocks, crowds of people, lots of trash on the trail, and never being more then 30 minutes away from fast food and booze, I suggest the East. If you want to get away from all of that, and be by yourself in real nature I suggest the West.
I have never seen any graffiti on hiking trails in Vermont or upstate NY. There also isn't any fast food here, nevermind 30 minutes from hiking.
What kind of views do you want? If you like graffiti covered rocks, crowds of people, lots of trash on the trail, and never being more then 30 minutes away from fast food and booze, I suggest the East. If you want to get away from all of that, and be by yourself in real nature I suggest the West.
Not true...There is plenty of hiking that is accessible within minutes of cities in many parts of the East. This is a great source for the area I live in: https://cnyhiking.com/index.html
What part of that is inconsistent with what I posted? Yes, if you want to hike within minutes of cities, the East is a good place to do that. If you want to hike days away from the nearest small town, the West is the place for that. If you choose to hike minutes away from the city, expect the big city problems, crime, pollution, congestion, etc. I suppose for people in the East, that is considered hiking. But for people in that West, that's just a walk in the park.
I have never seen any graffiti on hiking trails in Vermont or upstate NY. There also isn't any fast food here, nevermind 30 minutes from hiking.
That problem seems to be mostly in Maryland and Virginia, but from pictures and videos I have seen, it seems to be common all over the East. I'm not saying it never happens in the West, but try that BS in the West, and it will get you a lengthy prison term, and you will pay what ever cost it takes to remove the graffiti. That doesn't seem to happen in the East.
I have never seen any graffiti on hiking trails in Vermont or upstate NY. There also isn't any fast food here, nevermind 30 minutes from hiking.
To quibble...
The McDonald's in Rutland on Route 4/Woodstock Road across from the High School is 8.2 miles / 10 minutes to the Inn at the Long Trail.
The McDonald's in Manchester is 5.7 miles / 10 minutes from the Long Trail and Appalachian Trail trail crossing on Route 30.
The McDonald's in Bennington is 7.3 miles / 10 minutes from the trail head.
It's well less than 30 minutes from fast food in Burlington to The Winooski Footbridge near Cochrane's ski area. The Home Depot in Williston is 20 minutes.
There's a McDonald's in Morrisville. That's 15 minutes to the Long Trail trail head north of Mansfield.
I don't recall ever seeing graffiti but I've certainly picked up lots of hiker trash.
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