AT flooding: What do thru-hikers do ?

[Chip]

There's a section here (Ten Mile River) that I'm sure will be impassable for several days. Thru-Hikers could wait it out or back-track 4 miles, walk or hitch around and by-pass about 1 mile of trail. I'm sure there are plenty of sections in similar condition. Is by-passing any length verboten ? I suppose they could back-track, then hike in to that section they skipped and hike out again. That would be easy here, but I'm sure there are sections that would make that strategy very time consuming.

 

[MichaelJ]

Is by-passing any length verboten ?

There are no fixed rules (other than don't ford the Kennebec), each hiker lives by their own choosing. Some insist on passing every white blaze, acknowledging only formal closures or reroutes. Some will take non-AT loop trails over summits and happily skip a short section of trail.

It all depends on the individual.

 

[Bill and Sheep]

There are no fixed rules

Actually there is one fixed rule. No matter what a thru-hiker does in a situation like this, he or she will be flamed relentlessly on whiteblaze.net for cheating in some way!

 

[Chip]

Actually there is one fixed rule. No matter what a thru-hiker does in a situation like this, he or she will be flamed relentlessly on whiteblaze.net for cheating in some way!

Too bad. I guess it's been a difficult season; either not enough water or too much.

 

[RoySwkr]

Let's look at this not in terms of "rules" imposed by others but the experience the hiker wishes to have:

* Some people want to know that they've experienced the whole trail by hiking past every white blaze, so they will either sneak through closures or hitchhike around and come back later

* Some people want to have continuously hiked the whole way from GA to ME (or vice versa), and will be willing to walk around closed sections on public roads but not skip sections

* Some people want the long-distance hiking experience but don't insist on every foot of it and are willing to skip sections - Bryson and Older/Sherman even wrote AT books without doing the whole thing

Certainly there will be more blowdowns than usual and some missing bridges, but the rivers are dropping quickly and the trail crews will be out

 

[Raven]

There's a section here (Ten Mile River) that I'm sure will be impassable for several days. Thru-Hikers could wait it out or back-track 4 miles, walk or hitch around and by-pass about 1 mile of trail. I'm sure there are plenty of sections in similar condition. Is by-passing any length verboten ? I suppose they could back-track, then hike in to that section they skipped and hike out again. That would be easy here, but I'm sure there are sections that would make that strategy very time consuming.

From the ATC 2,000 miler application:

"Conservancy policy is to operate on an honor system, assuming that those who apply for 2000-miler status have hiked all of the A.T. between Katahdin and Springer Mountain, either as a thru-hiker or in sections. In the event of an emergency, such as a flood, a forest fire, or an impending storm, blue-blazed trails or officially required roadwalks are viable substitutes for the white-blazed route."

Full document:

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/docs/default-document-library/2011/04/17/2000%20Miler%20Application.pdf

I forded the Kennebec.

It had to be easier than crossing Snyder Brook would be now.

 

[peakbagger]

I ran into the policy in the past. When there is a forced relocation such as a bridge being out or a forest fire/or forest closure (happens in Harriman State Park in NY), then the relocation becomes the AT. There are usually signs posted to this effect. This was put in place as some folks were endangering themselves trying to go over closed sections of trails just to follow the white blazes. There was long running detour a few years back in CT to avoid some bridge construction. The MATC make a point to stress that the official trail route over the Kennebec is the ferry as a means of discouraging hiker from fording the river(which is potentially dangerous due to major level fluctuations from an upstream hydro dam)

Some thruhikers are really obsessed about following the entire route to the point where they have to leave a campsite via the same way they came in and have to backtrack any spure trails. Generally they become the exception and the majority of the folks who are out to have fun introduce some reasonable deviations. Of course for some its a slippery slope. Some terms generally used to describe folks who stretch the deviations are "blue blazing" (planning on using side trails as a means of reducing the length and effort) "yellow blazing" (hitchhiking), "aqua blazing" (using a river that runs parallel to the trail to cover the distance. There is a also a term "Pink Blazing", but we wont get into that

 

[sierra]

Actually there is one fixed rule. No matter what a thru-hiker does in a situation like this, he or she will be flamed relentlessly on whiteblaze.net for cheating in some way!

That to me is a joke. You walk from Georgia to Maine over 2000 miles and get acused of "cheating"? If it where me and I was forced to take a minor detour, I wouldnt give a rats ass what anyone thought about it. Its about being in the wilderness and taking all you can from it, not touching every dam blaze you pass. The people who make these complaints dont and will never get what being in the wilderness is all about, but like many people who spend to much of thier time on the internet think they are experts because they posted 2000 times about a subject. whew I had alot of coffee this morning.

 

[Ridgewalker]

That to me is a joke. You walk from Georgia to Maine over 2000 miles and get acused of "cheating"? If it where me and I was forced to take a minor detour, I wouldnt give a rats ass what anyone thought about it. Its about being in the wilderness and taking all you can from it, not touching every dam blaze you pass. The people who make these complaints dont and will never get what being in the wilderness is all about, but like many people who spend to much of thier time on the internet think they are experts because they posted 2000 times about a subject. whew I had alot of coffee this morning.

I agree. We've encountered people who get hung up about rules and forget about reality and common sense. It's all personal choice and after all we're adults we choose to follow the guidelines as how we play in the woods.

 

[BF]

What do Thru Hikers do?....Check out TrailJournals.com and read the AT thru hiker's journals. Specifically the journals that were recently updated. There's quite a few stories of hikers stranded in small towns and unable to get back to the trail head because of washed out roads. I'm not sure if it's ok, but I threw in 2 links of a couple of thru hiker stories.

A hiker stuck in VT:
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=11382

A hiker stuck in N. Conway:
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=11952

 

[MichaelJ]

All those journals are public, you can browse to them from the front page of the website, I'm sure the links are fine.

This is absolutely fascinating reading, I'm certainly going to read more of them.

EDIT: already found one of a hiker planning to start southbound from Katahdin on 8/26. I suspect they did not have a good time.

 

[mirabela]

I forded the Kennebec

Me too. On the other hand, I walked out the Caribou Valley Road instead of going over the Crockers in a pissing rainstorm after nearly drowning crossing the South Fork of the Carrabassett.

Flame away.

***

Seriously -- AT hikers are going to do all sorts of things in response to this, in line with their personal ethos and reasons, and it's all fine with me as long as they stay safe. It's a tough year out there.

 

[Raven]

Thru-hiking the AT and becoming a 2,000 miler is very similar to completing peakbagging lists in terms of thie following: in each case if a hiker believes he or she has, to the best of their ability, completed the trail or the mountains on the list, then IMO, they have met the "requirements."

I was a purist on the AT and hiked every white blaze including a section I returned to later on that was on fire during the hike (Shenandoah). I was not "required" to do this since it was on fire - this was a personal decision. Hikers dealing with the aftermath of the storm will have plenty of legitimate reasons to hike alternate routes. I wish them all luck with their trip through NE.

I also however am a firm believer in HYOH. A person can hike the AT any way they want. That's their business. 2,000 miler requirements are quite clear though if one decides to apply for it. There is not much ambiguity in the application.

I would think most of the peakbagging community would have an issue with someone who hiked 43 of the 48 in NH and decided to apply for the 4,000 footer club anyway because they opted to do 5 different mountains instead.

Regarding the Kennebec, I would imagine Steve Longley (or his replacement) has a white blaze on his canoe at this point.

Everyone associated with the AT has an opinion on this. The point of the hike is really not the certificate and patch anyway, right?

 

[Guthook]

On the PCT last year I was under the impression that most people didn't hike the actual PCT route in its entirety each year because of fire detours, getting lost on snow, blue-blazing, and so on. There was a bit more of a purist mentality than I'd guessed there would be, but you can't argue with forest fires.

On the AT I always remember there being more people obsessing about the "rules" of a through-hike. As if there are a specific set of rules. Some people said slack-packing was cheating. Some people think blue-blazing along an alternate route is cheating. Some people won't walk a quarter mile off trail for any reason because they won't hike any extra other than the white blazes. Silliness, I say. There are no rules.

Best to ignore the people doing the flaming and assume that when someone says they hiked the AT, they hiked the whole thing and maybe took some detours if they needed to or felt it was a better route. I guess there is a point where if someone skips too much I wouldn't say they really through-hiked, but I guess it depends on their reasoning. Skipping sections of trail because you had to is very different from being lazy.

 

[Raven]

Best to ignore the people doing the flaming and assume that when someone says they hiked the AT, they hiked the whole thing and maybe took some detours if they needed to or felt it was a better route. I guess there is a point where if someone skips too much I wouldn't say they really through-hiked, but I guess it depends on their reasoning. Skipping sections of trail because you had to is very different from being lazy.

Very well put.

These things need to be kept in perspective.

 

[NewHampshire]

The "rule" Nazi's are rediculous. If they want to be so snob-nosed about it then the truth is that the great Earl Schaffer is not good enough for them since he didn't not (actually a bunch of times could not FIND) step every inch of "official" AT his first time through. This is why I get so anti-list, not because the list exist but because there is always so much of the strictness and "rules" that seem to take away from what is supposed to be fun.

Brian

 

[peakbagger]

I post on Whiteblaze on occasion. The best advise is Big Earls tagline " dont feed the trolls" There is a lot of good info on the site but there are some folks that have nothing better to do but complain. They are quite obvious and the "ignore" option works pretty well.

I refer a lot of folks to the articles section which has some of the best long distance hiking info out there.

 

[Stash]

There's quite a few stories of hikers stranded in small towns and unable to get back to the trail head because of washed out roads. I'm not sure if it's ok, but I threw in 2 links of a couple of thru hiker stories.

A hiker stuck in VT:
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=11382
]

Maybe they're at the BBQ. Talk about making the best of it.

 

[TJ aka Teej]

Regarding the Kennebec, I would imagine Steve Longley (or his replacement) has a white blaze on his canoe at this point.

Yup. The trail was routed there by Myron Avery because of the existing ferry services to the camps south of Caratunk. The canoe has been the official, and white blazed, route across the Kennebec ever since Alice drowned.

Everyone associated with the AT has an opinion on this.

Yup. But mine's right.

The point of the hike is really not the certificate and patch anyway, right?

Everyone has an opinion on that one too. Again, mine's right.

 

[Raven]

Yup. The trail was routed there by Myron Avery because of the existing ferry services to the camps south of Caratunk. The canoe has been the official, and white blazed, route across the Kennebec ever since Alice drowned.

That brings up an interesting thought. The AT is considered a continuous footpath. You don't use your feet in a canoe. This is a break in the footpath it would seem. Curious...