Good news on the Headwaters Section

I missed this nice story that the Friends of Shenandoah Mountain posted last month.  The Forest Service has rejected the Atlantic Coast Pipeline route that would have impacted Shenandoah Mountain.  Read about it and check out the cool map here.

There's another really sweet map here.

This is a picture of the area that is being protected.  The Great Eastern Trail's Headwaters Section is hosted in this area on the Shenandoah Mountain Trail.

Well done, Forest Service and all who spoke up against this pipeline.

The Best 1-Mile Side Trip on the GET

Last summer on my way home from the Appalachian Trail Biennial, I completed a spur trail of the GET that had haunted me since the 2013 thru-hike.

On that late spring day in 2013, we had dry-camped the night before. Water was an issue on the Shenandoah Mountain Trail, but even moreso that day: my water bladder had sprung a leak and I had no water. Zero. Nothing.

When we got to this sign featuring a .5 (yes, it is point-five, the period is hard to see) spur trail to High Knob Tower, Bart and I knew that we just didn't have the water for a 1-mile roundtrip detour.

"It's a thru-hike, not a thorough hike," Bart pointed out, and I knew he was right.  We kept hiking until we found water. Using duct tape and super glue, I fixed the water bladder while Bart sat in the dirt and beheaded woodticks. At that point, it was way too late to turn around to come back and hike the spur trail. We carried on.

So last summer, I was pumped when my travel buddy/mother agreed to climb to High Knob Tower with me.  The trail is marked with this lovely yellow i, sometimes moderately obscured but not too badly. The trail itself was in great shape. The .5 mile climb was brutal in the heat, but the views from the Tower made it worth it!  Views of Virginia and West Virginia made my heart soar.

Mom sits in the grassy shade

Reddish Knob in the distance

 On the way back to the car, we got to visit with this little guy.  He wanted the whole trail to himself:

High Knob Tower is an amazing side trip on the Great Eastern Trail.  I very much wish I could have enjoyed it during the thru-hike, but it probably meant more to me to visit it in 2015.

Loop Hikes, Part 2: The Big Southeastern Appalachian Loop

For hikers who enjoy a true challenge, the Big Southeastern Appalachian Loop (please, internet, find a better name) would be by far the most challenging of the "small" loops.

This is a tough loop because it has the most incomplete trails, meaning there are some significant roadwalks.  On the plus side, resupply is overall fairly easy.  With so many miles, it might be hard to find the perfect time of year to hike this loop. 

The map here shows the majority of the loop with the exception of the Benton MacKaye Trail (pictured below) and the Georgia Pinhoti (which I can't find a decent map of -- anyone??)


This loop incorporates the following trails: 

• Georgia Pinhoti Trail
• Benton MacKaye Trail
• Appalachian Trail
  

And the following Great Eastern Trail components:

• Southern West Virginia (Mary Draper Ingalls, TuGuNu)
• Kentucky's Pine Mountain Trail
• Tennessee's Cumberland Trail
• Lookout Mountain Section of the GET

The miles breakdown is something like this:

• From the GET/Georgia Pinhoti Trail divergence near Taliaferro Creek, a counterclockwise hiker would stay on the Georgia Pinhoti, following it roughly 120 miles to its intersection with the Benton MacKaye Trail (pictured on right).  
• The hiker would turn south along the BMT for 70 miles to Springer Mountain.  (You could also head north on the BMT and intersect with the AT at the southern or northern end of the Smokies.  Choose your own adventure!)
• At Springer, the loop would follow the Appalachian Trail north to Pearisburg, Virginia.  This portion of trail is about 630 miles long.
  
  (At Pearisburg, the loop becomes trickier and mileages become fuzzy - the numbers I quote below may easily be off by 10-20% depending upon certain routes chosen, particularly in regards to roadwalk links.)
  
• From Pearisburg, the hiker then navigates the most challenging section of Great Eastern Trail: southern West Virginia's roughly 150 miles.
• Kentucky's Pine Mountain Trail and connecting roadwalks on either end add up to about 170 miles.
• The Cumberland Trail will be roughly 260 miles, depending on roadwalks and trail closures. It may be slightly more or less than that, but 260 is a good estimate.
• Lookout Mountain Section is about 100 miles (if following newer route through Little River Canyon) to meet up with the Georgia Pinhoti/GET divergence at Taliaferro Creek.

That equals a whopping 1,500-mile loop.

Why should I hike this?: No other GET loop will give hikers such a wide variety of trail experiences.  From the popular, perhaps over-loved Appalachian Trail to the wilderness Benton MacKaye Trail to the unfinished choose-your-own-adventure style of the GET in West Virginia, this loop has everything.

Highlights of this loop include:

• Experiencing a wilderness trail (Benton MacKaye)
• Summitting Springer Mountain
• Neels Gap and potential AT thru-hiker culture
• Southern balds and firetowers
• The Smokies
• Hot Springs, NC
• Roan and Grayson Highlands
• Damascus, VA
• Bluestone Turnpike Trail
• Pipestem State Park
• An adventurous route through West Virginia requiring map and compass skills
• The whole Pine Mountain Trail feels like a highlight
• Cumberland Gap National Historic Park
• Waterfalls and wildlife of the Cumberland Trail
• Chattanooga, the GET's largest trail town
• Cloudland Canyon State Park
• Little River Canyon
  Where should I begin?: Because this is the most challenging section of the GET, I'd recommend starting anywhere else: The Georgia Pinhoti would be a great place or Springer Mountain/Pearisburg would be ideal depending upon direction hiked.

What guides are needed?: Hikers will need an AT guide, the BMT guide, a GA Pinhoti guide, and all the GET resources for WV, KY, TN, and GA listed under our Guides Page.

We leave on Sunday. Today is Friday.

Bart: Hey, is it okay if we go grocery shopping tomorrow instead of late tonight?  Because I have to go to Beckley tomorrow anyway.

Jo, unenthused: Ehhhh.  It means we'll have a lot of extra work tomorrow.  What do you need to do in Beckley tomorrow?

Bart: Buy some shoes for the trip.

Jo: . . .

Wait, so, what?!

Here is the entire plan for summer 2014:

In a few days we are leaving for State College, Pennsylvania.  In Pennsylvania and Maryland, the Great Eastern Trail has two official routes.  To thruhike the trail, you need only choose one route and last year we took the eastern route, hosted on the Tuscarora Trail, Standing Stone Trail, and Greenwood Spur of the Mid State Trail.  

This year we want to explore the western route of the Great Eastern Trail.  We are returning to Detweiler Junction on the Mid State Trail, then heading south along the MST.  The MST is very proud to use the metric system, so we'll be brushing up on that while we hop over rattlers and sweat our butts off.

At the Maryland border, we will follow the GET through Green Ridge State Forest before our final GET jaunt along the C&O Towpath towards Hancock, Maryland.

From Hancock, Maryland, it is only 90 miles to Bruceton Mills, West Virginia where the northern terminus of the Allegheny Trail lies.  Had we more time we'd walk there, but instead we will be finding a shuttle.

You can read more about the Allegheny Trail by clicking here.  

Map courtesy of Cookerhiker.

The Allegheny Trail ends on the Appalachian Trail, about 16 miles north of Pearisburg, Virginia.  We will hike the newly-relocated section down into town and then flail our arms around until we figure out a way back to Mullens.

Even more info available at WVSTA.

Originally, this 500+ mile trip was planned to be a super-relaxing, no-stress 7-week trip.  We envisioned lots of time to chill out and visit with people.  Then Jo's summer gig needed her a week earlier than she had guessed.  Then Bart's school got extended a week in June due to snow days.  So our 7-week trip turned into a 5-week trip.  We are still looking forward to visiting with friends along the way -- we might just make you hike with us rather than relaxing with you. :)

The next adventure . . .

For a year, Bart and I have been talking about the next adventure. We didn't always know what that next adventure would be, but somewhere along the way we got the idea of hiking the western leg of the GET.  See how the GET splits in Maryland and Pennsylvania? Lured by the Standing Stone Trail President, we took the eastern route last year.  What better than to now hike the western route and then the Allegheny Trail south for a beautiful 500-mile summer?

(I think it's pretty cool that not only did we not push each other off a cliff, we're willing to hike together again . . . or maybe Bart just wants a second chance at the cliff thing?)

I have all the maps.  Bart and I have the chunk of time carved out in our schedules.  I have a modest but comfortable amount saved up for the inevitable pizza stops.  I even have a train ticket.  Yet the hike has been in jeopardy because of me . . . and I probably want to hike this even more than Bart does.

Getting food poisoning last year made me feel like this.
This seems quaint after all the stuff I've had this year.

I've gotta say that 2014 has been the most challenging year of my life due to being constantly sick.  I've been out sick from work for the past two weeks with ten different medications trying to find a balance in my system, and I just feel like a ghost of a human being.

So, the long process of healing has begun.  After 16 days of being confined to bed, I joined the world of the living.  I have just a couple of weeks to regain my strength.  Today, my humble goal was to actually go to work.  I did it, took a five hour nap, and then went for a walk.

It's a start.

Warrior Nation!

Heading home

No we didn't walk back! Three wonderful people helped get us home. Pat Monahan from NY(no not the city) took us to Duncannon PA where we ate lunch at the famous Doyle Hotel with(thanks for lunch) Pete Fleszar who traveled us to Morgantown WV(not before dumping us out of his convertible to hike a section of the GET West Route) (glad he thought it was a good idea) to Peggy Pings where we indulged in burgers, salad and potatoes before leaving to the Center Of The Universe!(My back porch Mullens WV!) sorry no squirrel gravy Peggy was walkin not huntin this year!

Thanks John!

John Spies was such a wonderful host and has a fantastic slice of heaven in the woods. Wish we could spend more time with him and maybe we can if he joins us further up the trail. Thanks for the meals, shower for us and our clothes, good conversation dry comfy place to sleep and cold beer!

20 miles of beauty

Last nights rest spot after 20 miles for my:HillyBillyBart

A day of misadventures

Someday we will look back on today and laugh. Not today - it is way past hiker midnight. The short version is today we lost each other!  Oops! Tomorrow we enter the Headwaters Section.

Supper

Yep- HillBillBart enjoying Pinot and Peanut butter at the Graham Shelter on the Allegheny Trail.

Allegheny Trail beauty

The view and shelter has been much enjoyed by us thanks to the Graham family hosting it and hikers on their land. Matthew Bordas earned an Eagle Scout rank building it. Thanks to all private land owners for letting hikers pass through. Lots of trail would not be possible without your generosity.

White Sulphur Springs

White Sulphur Springs WV! Love this town brings back memories as a kid riding through for our annual squirrel hunt stopping to view the trout at the hatchery. Our stay at the Village Inn was delightful. We were soaking wet when we arrived.

roadwalk into White Sulphur Springs

Jo comin through the train tunnel near White Sulphur Springs. Water diverted on right and further up out of view a man made concrete water fall from the top.

Allegheny Trail gap

Moncove Lake WV to White Sulphur Springs WV. 17 miles of ominous weather but cool view of the Tuckahoe Dam.

On to San Francisco!

Out of cell service for last 3 days. That is why the calm smile. Jo made me a dandelion head band. Looks cool but don't soak up sweat like a bandanna.

April 17th

Hello from Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory! No picture can do this place justice - 360 degree views of what seems like all of Virginia and West Virginia! Today we left the Appalachian Trail and headed out onto the Allegheny Trail. 16 miles later, we have the best supper spot ever. Today on the ALT, Bart saw a mama bear and 2 cubs. Yesterday on the AT, I saw a red-spotted purple. I think we were equally excited. Huge thanks to the West Virginia Scenic Trails Association volunteers for the excellent blazing - I felt like we were following the yellow brick road to the Emerald City!

A "rest"

OK I had to take a day off to -well- to do stuff. Not like I took a day off. Hard at it!

Hinton, WV

We didn't get a picture of both of us here, because Jo was melting into a puddle when we took this photo.

Hinton, WV is the last trail-town we hiked through in southern West Virginia.  It did not disappoint!  What a beautiful part of the world this is.  

 When we got to the dam, we knew we were close to town.  It was about 900 degrees outside, and so we stopped at the best Dairy Queen I've ever been to.  The view from there is spectacular.

While there, we met a local who shared stories with us and whose son we'd once met while we were on a TuGuNu Hiking Club mission. . . it's a very small world.  Mr. Maddy, it was nice to meet you!

Hinton from Zion Mountain Road

We spent the night with Bart's cousins Christy and Lee, who prepared steak dinner and a bacon-drippin'-with-gravy biscuit feasts for us, which powered us up the mountain.  Thank you for your kind hospitality, and it couldn't have been on a more perfect night - the crazy rain lasted most of the night, turning the Bluestone brown and raising water levels quite a bit.  It was so nice to be inside.

The next morning we awoke and went to a reception held in the Belle Point park.  Mayor Blankenship was there and presented us with a certificate, and everyone who came was excited for us and eager to hear stories.  Thanks to everyone who braved the blustery weather to come out and say hi to us.  Bart was especially happy to see his cousin Kenna and her husband Jimmy - Kenna has been a fixture in Bart's life for a long time and it was nice for me to finally meet them.  Special thanks to Rick Moorefield who helped arrange the event, and to Jessica Lilly, who continues to follow our story (and who I also finally got to meet in person!).

Hinton, it was a wonderful time.  Thanks for being a Great Eastern Trail town!

This guy watched over us as we got water later in the day.