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I always wanted to hike trails through the Rocky Mountains, but it seemed back problems always prevented it. My back is pretty good now, but the back caused nerve damage that's given me a very weak ankle. I wish sure wish I could. I used to walk 50-70 miles every week for exercise and enjoyed every minute of it. I love the outdoors.
I got so turned on to the Appalachian Trail after reading a book on a friend’s coffee table, that I wanted to plan a trip right then and see some of the places in person that were pictured in the book.
Then I realized that it would involve miles of walking carrying a pack on my back, so I put down that book and read the one about making goldfish ponds in your backyard.
If I build one, I wonder if my cats will catch and eat all the fish?
They had to rescue 3 hikers on the A.T. yesterday around the Damascus, VA area because of sever weather conditions. I think it got down in the teens there last night and they got around 2 to 3 inches of snow. Even in a 20 degree bag that would have been rough.
Well Sunday My wife and I did a section of recreational trail I had never been on. It starts in Abingdon, VA and ends on White Top Mountain in NC and is approx 31 miles long. We only went as far as Damascus, VA on it and have done the White Top to Damascus before. It is called the creeper trail and I've written about it before. It has interesting history, its a section of railroad line that operated from 1900 to 1977 and is very scenic. Today you can walk, mountain bike and ride horses on it. We found the remnants of an old building off the trail on someones farm that sets adjacent to the trail about 40 feet south that was not mentioned on a map that intrests me, I'm curious if it used to be a train station or a hotel and am dieing to bring my metal detector next time I go. Its been there a long time, the foundation is poured and formed concrete and not block and a tree that looks to be at least 45 years old has grown over it. It was a nice day for the hike and now I've completed all 31 miles of it.
I used to do a bit of hiking back in the day. Any more when my son and I take to the scrub we do it on horses. We cover more ground that way but the pace isn't to fast like on a quad or something. Seems we see more wildlife that way to. We use horses for a lot of stuff but our pleasure rides are something we look forward to. We did a 'live off the saddle" ride with our reenactment group a couple years back. Rode out and "escorted" a wagon train group crossing the 40 mile Desert. Cold camp, hard tack rations, water bags for the horses and no coffee...ugggg. It was fun, but when we made camp with the wagons that first night it was kinda tough when the drivers unhitched and started pulling gas BBQ"s and ice chests out of their wagons and grilled steaks and ribs. We were told by the event coordinator that it was supposed to be a "period" ride. They did share their coffee the next day though. We all did picket line duty in shifts, stood gaurd etc. Lol, we had a coyote that kept messing with our picket lines. The horses would get all snorty and stamping when he would pop up, we'd shag him off, he'd skitter away for a spell and then come back and do it again. LMAO, it was pretty amusing and made standing the watch a bit less tedious. Getting back to nature, as it were' is an experience I feel is well worth it. Those who havn't done stuff like that are missing out.
Get a copy of "A Walk In the Woods" by Bill Bryson. He is a hillarious guy and wrote an incredible book about hiking a portion of the AT. It's part travel guide, part history and part comedy. You can pick up copies for not much money at 2nd hand bookstores or from Amazon.
It's one of my favorite books.
yes, that is a good read. I did a day hike 2 summers ago on the Berkshires portion of the AT. Very easy but very buggy - the day was humid. I'd like to start at the top of the AT some year and work my way down. Hiking is a great way to sort out those feelings of despair we all get from time to time.
Yesterday while it was raining we decided to take the dog and go for a hike on a trail we had never done before. We have been getting a lot of rain lately and the springs were flowing in the middle of the trail in several spots making it incredibly slick in some steep and cliff side locations, anyone that has ever hiked in the southern clay knows what its like when it gets wet, it was beautiful though, looked like one of those laser prints of the amazon with the thick green foliage dripping and the mist rising off the forest floor.
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. We were told by the event coordinator that it was supposed to be a "period" ride. They did share their coffee the next day though
. We all did picket line duty in shifts, stood gaurd etc. Lol, we had a coyote that kept messing with our picket lines. The horses would get all snorty and stamping when he would pop up, we'd shag him off, he'd skitter away for a spell and then come back and do it again. LMAO, it was pretty amusing and made standing the watch a bit less tedious. Getting back to nature, as it were' is an experience I feel is well worth it. Those who havn't done stuff like that are missing out. 
