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.

Trail Overlove

It happened in 2009 on Mount Moosilauke as I hiked southbound on the Appalachian Trail.

I’d heard stories, read Bryson, understood in a very cloudy way how popular the AT was.  But I didn't understand – truly understand – until my hiking partner Hungry Creepster and I reached Beaver Brook Shelter on the north side of Moosilauke in New Hampshire.  It was there I UNDERSTOOD.

Not really a joke.

We arrived in the late afternoon – certainly no later than we usually pulled over – and there was nowhere to sleep.  I don’t mean that the shelter was full.  I mean, it was.  But there was Nowhere. To. Sleep.  Every inch of the area was covered in tents and people.

It was too late to continue up Moosilauke – besides, thunder rumbled.  There was no chance of flat land up ahead anyway. Retracing our steps down wet ladders was absolutely not an option.  So we set up the tent on roots and rocks, surrendering ourselves to an awfully uncomfortable night.

It would have been okay if not for the constant noise.  Zipping, unzipping.  Privy door squeaking.  The crumple of ziploc bags.  A backpacker symphony that I could almost sleep through.  And all night long – well past “hiker midnight” – some rowdy thru-hikers were partying.  By “partying,” I mean “lighting their farts on fire.”  I am serious.  This actually happened.

(I’m not bringing this up to contribute to any northbound/southbound squabble on the AT.  There were some real winners in the southbound class that year too.  I know the average northbounder does not stay up all night farting into flames - thanks, by the way.)

This is the privy at Beaver Brook.
I like it.
That's all.

That night, I understood.  So many people love the AT: the leave-no-trace purists, the fart-lighters, and the vast majority of us in the middle who try to be decent stewards.  The AT is epic, legendary -  it deserves the attention.  But on Moosilauke I understood the perils of its popularity: people can flatten a wilderness with their feet and with their love.  

The backpackers - all of us - did not mean to trample the Beaver Brook Shelter area.  But with so many people in one place (even ignoring extracurricular fire activities and the cacophonous night) it was grossly impacted by humans: vegetation visibly crushed, trails widened, mud holes deepened . . . and this was the effect on an area after most aspiring thru-hikers (both northbound and southbound) had quit the trail.

With such popularity, the hiking community needs to continue to be proactive before our trails get loved to death.  There are so many ways to help the AT: it needs volunteers to maintain it.  It needs hikers who know how to leave no trace (such as not tenting directly on tree roots, as I did that night).  It needs financial support.

The Great Eastern Trail: happy sigh.

And I believe it needs the Great Eastern Trail. 

The GET is growing into a trail that can and will relieve some pressure from the Appalachian Trail.  The GET isn't the whole solution for the overcrowded AT, but it's a big part.  When I volunteer on the GET, I feel like I am helping both trails. (FYI: We need more help to complete the GET and to maintain it.)

In the past week I've responded to more Great Eastern Trail inquiries than I have in the last year.  I am grateful to the hiking community for embracing this trail - both for its own, well-deserving sake and for the sake of the Appalachian Trail. 

Great Eastern Trail vs. Ice Age Trail

The Differences             

Great Eastern Trail 1,600-ish miles, Alabama to New York Generally painted blazes of every color: red, orange, yellow, gold, green, blue, purple, white High point 4,300 ft Months of prep recommended to gather together the needed resources About 20 shelters A few outfitters on or near the trail Locals generally unaware of the GET 3-4 months needed to thruhike

Ice Age Trail 1,100-ish miles, Wisconsin to . . . Wisconsin! Yellow blazes that may be painted or plastic markers on trees, on stakes, may be different shapes High point 1,920 ft Thorough map and guidebook available for purchase, free updates and hiker notes from volunteers A few shelters I don't know of an outfitter along the trail; REI accessible by a long shuttle Locals more generally familiar with the IAT 2-3 months needed to thruhike The Similarities

• The Ice Age Trail and the GET have much more in common than I would have guessed.  Most importantly, with both trails, were the people.  I feel like each trail I hike brings wonderful lifelong friends into my life, and the IAT was no exception.  

• These trails are also both lonely.  While Devils Lake (IAT) may always be comparatively crowded and the Thousand Steps (GET) is a popular dayhike, neither of these trails boast many long-distance hikers.  I met 4 on the Ice Age Trail.

• Easy resupply due to frequent town visits - just one section on each trail that is dicey for resupply
  
• Challenging camping situations at times due to private land or public land where camping is not allowed
  
• Maps are a necessity - neither the GET nor the IAT is fully blazed (this mostly applies to connecting roadwalks but there are wooded sections that are unblazed or underblazed
  
• Both trails have an element of choose-your-own-adventure, as the connecting roadwalks are often unofficial and you can link the trail together by foot as you like.
  
• Both trails have a bifurcation!  East or west, which will you choose?
  
• They have similar ideal seasons for hiking: spring or autumn are your best bets to avoid ticks, heat, and mosquitoes.

• Both are routed through a large city (Chattanooga for the GET, Janesville & Madison for the IAT)

Ice Age Trail video

Hi all.  Just a quick update to say that I've been out of the woods for a month now after finishing the Ice Age Trail.  I have to say, the Ice Age Trail got a little rough at the 800-mile mark when I realized that I had walked the equivalent of Alabama to Mullens, West Virginia . . .  but I was still in the same state.  But overall it was a perfect adventure.  If anyone's interested I made a video about the experience:

-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. :)

AT vs. GET

GET or AT?
(Trick question!)

Many AT hikers have asked me how the GET compares.  Because this is such a common question, I made a whole page comparing the two trails.  If you're trying to decide between the two trails, this may help.  Look up at the tabs and you'll see it listed there.  Or you can click this.

Happy hiking!
-Jo

C&O

The C&O Trail was lovely.

C&O Bicycle

What a pleasant hiker town Hancock MD was. It was bustling with all kinds of outdoor activities from fishing boats , kayaks, bikers, hikers, joggers, walkers etc.....loved our stay at C&O Bicycle would stay again thanks Dennis!

PMT

Thanks Pine Mountain Trail for the membership. I will carry my card proudly the remainder of my trip. Now identify everything in the picture and win a free calendar and an autographed Mac and Cheese box by me and Someday!

Strider's North Country Trail hike

I recently learned about a hiker from my home state of Minnesota who is thruhiking the entire North Country Trail this year, starting next week!  He has many more miles to go than Bart and I have, and he will have a lot of similar challenges to face.

Follow along and learn more at www.stridernct.com

I am excited to leave him a note at Moss Hill Lean-To in New York, which is where our journeys will overlap.

Go Strider!