Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day in 2013, the Cumberland Trail's Grassy Cove Segment didn't yet connect from Brady Mountain Trailhead to Black Mountain Road.

A group of volunteers was building trail in that section that day.  We were able to follow flagging to get between the two sections that were already built.  This end of the trail is no longer the end thanks to volunteers.

Pictures and maps of the now-connected Grassy Cove Segment are available on the Cumberland Trail Conference website.

Map maildrops

There are far too many pounds of GET maps for thruhikers to carry all of them at once, so a few maildrops will be necessary.

Here are some post offices that might be good bets if you are just interested in sending yourself maps.  (If you are resupplying via post, you'll need to figure out more maildrops.)

Because many of these post offices are in small towns, they might be closed by now or have limited hours.  Most of this is from my memory, which may not be correct.  Don't trust me.  This list is just a starting point for your own research. :)

Cave Spring, GA: Very friendly post office, on route into town.

Chattanooga, TN: Be careful.  There are multiple post offices.  I'm not sure where general delivery packages go and it might be far out of your way.  

Wartburg, TN: The route into (or out of, for sobos) runs by or near the post office.

Cumberland Gap, TN: This is an ideal place to pick up Kentucky (nobo) or Tennessee (sobo) maps.   You might call The Cumberland Gap Inn and plead your case and send it there.  Plan to stay overnight or offer to pay for the service if you do get permission to use them as a maildrop.

Harlan, KY: The post office is not far off the route, but is 2 miles from the motel where most hikers are likely to stay.  (Harlan almost demands a night in a motel due to its location along an urban roadwalk - no stealth camping is possible.) Sobos can pick up their package on the way in, nobos will have to get it as they leave town.  Hikers might consider calling Mount Aire Motel and asking if they will hold a package.  Same etiquette protocol as Cumberland Gap, though you'd likely only need one or the other as they are relatively close.

Elkhorn City, KY: The post office is close to the route (and near a dollar store).  Would be a good idea to pick up West Virginia maps here if nobo.

Pineville, WV: The post office is just a couple of blocks off-trail.

Mullens, WV: The post office is on the route through town and is always decorated.

Hinton, WV: Whatever you do, don't mail a package here.  The post office is very far from the trail.

Narrows, VA: Post office is near the trail route.

White Sulphur Springs, WV: Post office is near the trail route.

Bergton, VA: The grocery/grill is also a post office.  Pretty tiny, not sure if they'd be down with holding a package or not. Definitely call ahead.  About 3/4 mile off-trail, but you might end up going there anyway because, you know, food.

Gore, VA: Post office on the trail route.  The little store has also held packages in the past, but you would have to call ahead and okay it.

Hancock, MD: The post office is several blocks from the trail, but the local hostel has accepted mail drops for me twice.  Contact the C&O Bike shop/hostel to get permission ahead of time. 

Everett, PA (west route): Easily-accessible post office.

Williamsburg, PA (west route): Pretty sure we walked right past the post office on our way out of town (sobo).

Three Springs, PA (east route): Post office close to route.

Woolrich, PA: Post office on route.  From here, it's probably not worth it to schedule a maildrop farther north.  The New York maps are so minimal.

Again, I want to stress that these are post offices I remember, some from over two years ago. I have no idea if they're all still open or if they're where I remember them.

AT boxes.  But the GET's were similar.

GET website

The Great Eastern Trail's official website has been redesigned, and it is fantastic!  Check it out: http://www.greateasterntrail.net/

Trail angel shout out

Happy happy birthday to my dad! He has been the official map and data printer for this and all my expeditions and is one of our most important trail angels. He also let me run around state parks by myself long before I should have been allowed to, so I can probably blame him for how I turned out. Thanks, I think. :) love, jo

Northbound vs. Southbound on the GET

On most long-distance north-to-south trails, northbound has been the traditional direction to hike. That does not have to apply to the Great Eastern Trail.  The two biggest considerations are:

1. When is your free time?  
2. Do you want to tackle the most mentally-challenging section (the south) when you are fresh and enthusiastic?  Or do you want to tackle it when you are tired but experienced?  

For me, I really wanted to get the southern gaps out of the way, because I wasn't 100% sure that the trail could be successfully (or enjoyably) connected by foot.  As it turns out, linking the trail by foot is actually pretty easy with a couple small exceptions.  That being said, next time I want to hike southbound so I can experience Pennsylvania in particular when I am fresh and end where it all began.

So, for the next hikers, northbound or southbound?  Here is a summary of what you might consider:

Hiking northbound (presumably beginning in mid-spring)

On the bright side:

• A meaningful mountain (Flagg) to mark your beginning
• A gentle start (with shelters!) on the Alabama Pinhoti Trail
• Relatively easy terrain throughout Georgia makes for faster miles and high morale
• Chattanooga provides a needed rest prior to tackling the challenging Cumberland Trail
• Reaching the halfway point in southern West Virginia and knowing that well over half the mental work is done
• Reaching Pearisburg, Virginia where the rest of the trail (over 700 miles) is dependably blazed and/or (mostly "and") has really great guides
• Greater feeling of trail cohesion as the trail heads north
• Some tricky resupply points in Virginia and Pennsylvania, but at this point you've been hiking long enough so you should be able to figure it out without much of a problem 
• Just a personal preference, but I was glad that I was heading UP the Thousand Steps
• Hiking north, Pennsylvania becomes less rocky
• A quiet finish to the hike with a shelter; a good place to take a day and reflect upon the journey

Challenges:

• Significant road walking/unblazed route in Georgia and on the Alabama incursion which could be mentally challenging so early in the hike
• Great guides available but not for the entire south - challenging gaps to figure out
• The first outfitter on trail is in Chattanooga, a few hundred miles from Flagg Mountain
• Significant roadwalking/linking of trail sections in Tennessee and on either end of Kentucky, still early-on in trip when you're figuring it all out.
• Catoosa WMA may be closed, requiring additional planning
• Potential for late-spring storms that could drop snow on higher elevations in Tennessee or Kentucky
• Spring flooding in Bluestone WMA may make the recommended route impassable.
• Challenging rocky sections of Pennsylvania when you're already exhausted 
• Intense heat on very dry ridges of Pennsylvania 

Hiking southbound (presumably beginning in late summer)

On the bright side:

• Beginning your hike at an intersection connecting 10,000 miles of hiking trails
• Dependable blazing for the first 700ish miles - less thinking involved in the beginning
• Reliable guides available for the first half of the hike
• A gentle, rolling beginning through New York and northern Pennsylvania
• Completing your first state in just a few days, which can be a big morale boost
• Hitting the tough rocky sections of Pennsylvania when you're fresh (and not making big miles each day anyway)
• First outfitter of the trail is in Wellsboro in northern Pennsylvania (about 100 miles into the journey); another is located in State College and there are shoes and socks available in Woolrich.  Pennsylvania has the most outfitters and they are more useful to southbound hikers who encounter troubles with gear they thought would work.
• Challenges of the south (unblazed sections, roadwalks, areas without guides) may be easier to overcome with all the experience accumulated in the northern half of the trail - at any rate, you'll be too stubborn to give up once you've come that far!
• Chattanooga is a welcome rest after one of the longest states on the trail
• Ending your hike at the end of the Appalachians

Challenges:

• Potentially tricky resupply points in Pennsylvania before you really settle into the trail
• Some water sources flowing for northbounders probably would have dried up by late summer
• Hunting season on several stretches of public land would have to be taken into consideration
• Reaching Pearisburg, Virginia and knowing that you have the hardest part ahead of you and that you're not yet halfway done
• Shorter hiking days on very challenging sections (night-hiking not recommended in many areas)
• Potential for autumn storms that could drop snow on higher elevations
• Significant roadwalking/linking of trail sections on either end of Kentucky, in Tennessee, in Georgia and on the Alabama incursion - these could be both physically and mentally challenging at a time when many hikers feel "done" with their journey already

Your mileage may vary, hike your own hike, and have fun no matter which way you go!

Guides Page

I've been working on a list of resources that Bart and I used to hike the GET.  This list can now be found on the Guides Page.  It is still a work in progress, but it should help future hikers see what resources are available.  Feel free to contact me with additional links, corrections, etc.  Thanks!

-Jo

Hall of the Mountain King

Standing Stone Trail ROCKS!!!! Notice our position at the time. We had no idea what was ahead of us. We are having so much fun on this trail I'm happy to have been talked into it. -HillBillyBart

Map

One of the best sections of trail ever:

CYOA

Choose your own adventure!

A benefit (maybe) of hiking a trail that is not 100% completed: choosing our own path.

We had a magical visit with Ali and Choda. Thanks for everything! It was perfect.

Maildrop preparation

My task today was to find travel-sized supplies.  My timing could have been better, but at least I was not trampled to death by a horde of consumption-driven Christmas procrastinators with their glowing life-sized stuffed puppies that actually wee and the clearance-rack camo-colored ShakeWeights. 

I felt like a dork when I was checking out.  The cashier must have thought that I buy everything in travel-size containers due being obsessive-compulsive or that I give the world's lamest Christmas gifts EVER.  Hopefully neither of those assumptions is true.

My Christmas gift to myself.
Ho ho ho.

Backpack weight is the enemy of every hiker.  Keeping that weight down is priority #2, and it helps significantly with priority #1, which is "don't die in the woods."

Sometimes Hillbilly Bart and I will arrange to have a supply box sent to us at points along the way so we can get new supplies. We can't avoid maildrops, primarily because of maps.

Maps weigh a lot.  

 I have accumulated piles to help us through the trail.  Some piles weigh over a pound. There's no overall guidebook, no one place to access everything needed to hike the Great Eastern Trail.  It has been a delightful journey to find all the resources we need to make this hike a reality.

We begin the trip carrying the maps for Alabama and Georgia.  This keeps the weight down and will keep us from getting overwhelmed.  Tackling the trail in chunks is necessary for sanity.  In Georgia we will pick up Tennessee information and in Tennessee we will get Kentucky maps, and so on.  Along with maps, our maildrops will include travel-sized toiletries, new journals, socks, and so on.  These are things that I have had problems finding in towns during my previous hikes, so I am buying them now.

Some hikers along the Pacific Crest and other long-distance trails mail food to themselves along the way.  Bart and I are not doing this.  First of all, we think we can reasonably figure out ways to resupply from the Great Eastern Trail.  We may not always have the food we want, but we can likely get by, as neither of us is very picky.  Secondly, we are both very passionate about the economic impact that this trail will have in small towns such as Mullens and Pineville, West Virginia.   Trails can mean big business for small towns, and we want to model that by buying groceries locally.

We'd love to get mail along the way.  Email may be difficult to access, and letters can really brighten up a day.  If you send mail to Jo's parents' house, they will include it in the next upcoming mail drop.  Contact Jo for their address.  Thanks to Mom and Dad Swanson for rocking the maildrop situation yet again!

The planning process

The trail's not all there, but neither am I!

What does it take to hike a trail that isn't completely marked?  This picture is part 1 of the information that I'll be bringing with me.  I have maps on order for the Tuscarora Trail, Crystal Hills Trail (Finger Lakes), and the Headwaters Section (National Geographic maps 791 & 792).  There's a lot more information to print out from the internet, more maps to order and organize, and I have to get a waterproof system and figure out how to get the information to me as I hike, since hiking with all this would add 5 pounds to my pack.

I've really been enjoying the planning process, though I know that as the start date nears, it may get stressful.  I just wanted to take a moment to thank some folks who have helped me out so far, particularly the board members of the Great Eastern Trail Association and my dad.

The Board has been very generous with advice, insider knowledge, and offers of help.  One of the experiences I am looking forward to along the hike is to hopefully get a chance to visit most of them - you all are welcome to join the hike for a day (or days!). 

My dad has been my publisher for this journey.  Living on a budget in West Virginia, I don't have a printer and I don't want to use my work printer for the massive number of maps I require.  I've been harassing him for months already with links to documents I need printed, and they always turn out perfectly.  Thank you for all your help!