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Seasonal roads in Harriman open April 1st each year. Honestly, it's kind of nice when they are still closed as it cuts down on the number of other hikers you'll encounter in some sections of the park. Bears are definitely out and about in Harriman but I'd personally generally be more...

There are also two designated tent sites along the trail into Flowed Lands/Lake Colden from Upper Works, so if you got to the trailhead not super late, you could just hike partway in. One is located maybe a quarter mile beyond the junction with the Calamity Cutoff trail (although note that you...

I would be careful about camping along Upper Works Road. There are no designated roadside campsites so any camping would need to comply with the 150 foot rule. The obvious roadside site, located north of the turnoff for the mine, is on private property. There are a couple of designated tent...

A bit late on this, but posting in case you haven't gone yet and/or for future reference. I stayed there a few years ago. I remember I had to hike back to the junction with the trail to Woodland Valley, and then follow that trail for a few tenths of a mile before I found a trickle of water...

It's a give and take relationship. No one way is inherently better than the others. The Park Service and the Forest Service have differing managing philosophies and neither is right or wrong- they both have advantages and disadvantages. There is value both in accessible and in untrammeled...

Some would argue that allowing trails to become overgrown in Wilderness Areas through minimal maintenance better preserves the true "wilderness" experience anyways. ;)

Colin Fletcher had an interesting comment in one of his books, which I've paraphrased below: I believe he said it in response to the proliferation of hiking-grade GPS units originally (which weren't really popular in the hiking community until selective availability was turned off in the late...

A pulk may only mean a difference of 60 pounds on your back instead of 70... but you'd be surprised at how much of a difference that can make. :)

I hike and backpack solo more often then not- probably at least 75% of the time, year round.

Through trial and error, I have found that this is the best use of a pulk- as a supplement to your pack, rather than a replacement. Especially if you're breaking trail through deep, soft snow. If you're on a groomed trail, however, you can definitely get away with loading as much as possible...

Well, the question was on familiarity, not implementation. Familiarity and implementation are two separate things. Personally, I would suspect that most backpackers and hikers both underestimate their impacts in the backcountry, and overestimate their ability to minimize those impacts. But...

Yes, I agree 100% that the questions didn't leave much room for specifics. To design a poll that did would be a lot of work... and go beyond the scope of "fun," I think. :)

I came across an old thread on VFTT that had polled community members about what types of uses they thought were appropriate (and inappropriate) within Wilderness. I decided to re-create the poll, and ended up using google forms to do so, as the polling mechanics of the vBulletin message boards...

I wasn't aware of this. This makes the difficulty in relocating the trail make even more sense. The railroad grade would've provided a stable, solid surface for the trail. With the railroad grade likely washed out in numerous places, the remaining options for routing the trail could easily be...

The hurricane likely moved a lot of sediment around and shifted drainage patters considerably. It stands to reason that there will likely be more erosion through out the valley in coming years as the streams settle into their new paths. In areas where the trail washed out, there is probably a...

I caught Lyme disease this past summer while working on Storm King Mountain, not too far from the AT. I was only really sick for a day or two, but I still had occasional feelings of lethargy for the rest of the summer. I never felt any symptoms until I saw the bulls-eye rash.

The streams still flow through the pond bottom. Any camping within 150 feet of these streams would be illegal, unless the DEC designated tent sites there. Interestingly enough, when the pond was still there, the DEC had plans to eventually relocate all of the lean-tos at Marcy Dam to bring the...

Decided to make a new thread for this as I have made a major update to the Lean-to Spreadsheet. The new spreadsheet has been expanded to include backcountry shelters in NY, VT, NH, ME, MA, CT, NJ, PA, MD, and WV. It includes lean-tos, shelters, cabins, and lodges for completeness. Each entry...

The National Park Service is in the process of preparing a foundation document that will guide management of the Appalachian Trail, and they are soliciting public comment in preparation for this. They have prepared 5 questions about the AT that they are inviting anyone to submit answers to: You...

While we're at it, can we get the original name restored to Panther? It was Henderson until USGS messed up and reversed the names of two nearby mountains... :)