Roadwalking on the Great Eastern Trail

"But aren't there . . . roadwalks?"
I get that a lot when talking about the Great Eastern Trail.  It's a fair question because yes, there are roadwalks.  There are roadwalks in the south, and there are roadwalks in the middle, and there are even roadwalks in the north, although they are rarer up there.

Hikers have a hard time with the R-Word.  I understand, because I used to have a bad attitude towards roadwalking, too.

Having hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, the thought of hiking a trail with roadwalking was very intimidating.  Except, oh wait, the AT has roadwalking too.  And not all of it is pleasant, in-town roadwalking.  Hiking out of New Hampshire into Vermont was not particularly scenic or enjoyable.
But what do the AT (and, for that matter, GET) roadwalks do for the trail?

• They allow for the best possible sections to happen.  
• They make resupply easy.
• The give hikers a break from constantly looking down at the ground
• They let hikers move at least 1MPH faster than they usually do.  
• They help the hiker out with useful bridges.
• They allow for hot meals and cultural tourism.  

The AT is always going to have some roadwalks and hikers like it that way.  No one really bothers to talk about AT roadwalks because they are no big deal.

But people do talk about GET roadwalks because we've got a 1,600 mile trail and about 25% of that is roadwalk.  Is this significant?  Well, let's put it into perspective.  First of all, this % is going down every year.  Since Bart and I hiked last year, I know of at least twenty miles that have been routed onto trail and off road, and there have probably been more. That's fast progress, but even so: this is a young trail.

Earl: Badass and inventor of the thru-hike

Back when Earl Shaffer hiked the young Appalachian Trail in 1948, the AT was nearly half on roads.  Half!
The Appalachian Trail Conference was founded in 1925, so the movement was around 23 years old when Earl hiked.

Compare to the Great Eastern Trail Association, which incorporated in 2007 and is about 7 years old.  The GET movement is much older than that but still, the active plans to link the GET host trails together are relatively new.  Yet it is about 75% finished already.  Pretty impressive, huh?



So yes, there are roadwalks on the GET and there will be for a long time.  Some will be there forever. The AT is still rerouting onto an optimal route; every trail is a work in progress. The Ice Age Trail and Mountains to Sea Trail are still 50% on roads; the Continental Divide Trail is 76% completed yet these all boast thru-hikers and positive hiking experiences despite roadwalks.  That's because roadwalks aren't inherently bad.

 Here are three examples of GET roadwalking.

Guess how many cars we saw on those roads?  The answers: 1, 0, and maybe 2.   Bonus: we got to see the POWERLINES sign.  It makes sense in real life, but I won't spoil the reason why.

Here are some things we saw along roadwalks:

Too bad there's no beauty along roadwalks.

This is without a doubt my favorite tree along the GET.

Nope, no roadwalk views to be found! :)

Roadwalks on the GET supplied all the perks of roadwalks on the AT, only moreso because as the roadwalks are larger, so too are the benefits.

•  Resupply was, on average, easier than the AT despite the GET's lack of hitch-hiker culture. 
•  Our packs were often very light, as some sections only required a day or two of food before resupply.  
• Faster miles were another perk that we could bank on - not only thanks to a lighter pack but also because roads offer fewer obstacles to trip on.  
• But most importantly, the biggest redeeming quality of roadwalks was the people.

We met people on roadwalk sections that we otherwise wouldn't have run into.  Like Ramar and Angie, whose kindness towards us inspires us even today.  So many people made time to talk to us, to help us. . . it was overwhelming.

Don't let the GET's roadwalks scare you away.  Many of the roadwalks are incredibly beautiful, unique, and refreshing -- just like the people you'll encounter.

The GET's version of the Doyle

Our night out of the rain. Glad they have central heat this time of year.

Bath County VA

Bath County is lucky to have Maggie and so are we! Thanks to her, we were able to spread the word about the Great Eastern Trail, meet some fabulous people, and enjoy a delicious supper at Cucci's! We were able to see parts of Bath County that we otherwise wouldn't have seen - what a piece of heaven this area is. We're excited that our 1000th mile will be in the area. Thanks to Bath County for welcoming the GET (and us) - it is obvious that a lot of hard work has gone into planning and maintaining this section.

Thanks MacArthur Inn!

Allen owner of the historic MacArthur Inn housed us tonight and hosted a luncheon for our arrival in Narrows VA. The MacArthur Inn is a hiker friendly haven.

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.

Elkhorn City, KY

I love this part of the world!

In all the busy relaxation of the last week (yes - busy relaxation), I haven't had the time to write about the delightful time we had in Elkhorn City a week ago.


Elkhorn City, KY has a special place in my heart. I went to a workshop there in 2011 with my friend Peggy.  The town has so much good stuff going for it - Breaks Interstate Park, water adventure opportunities, the Pine Mountain Trail, and a theater (not a cinema - a theater!).  Elkhorn City is the first place we've come to where I felt close to Mullens, WV (our mental and emotional halfway point, and Bart's home).  So when we came to the overlook of town, I did a little dance which thankfully no one witnessed.  I was ahead of Bart for once, so not even he saw it.

The rain held off up until the last two miles, when it began sprinkling juuust enough to threaten to actually get us wet.  We made it to the picnic shelter at the trailhead before it started to really rain.  Great timing!

Soon James came to rescue us and whisked us away to Castle James, where we were utterly spoiled and had a grand time telling stories, looking at maps, and NOT being in the rain (again, seriously fantastic timing).  James, thank you so much for your hospitality and letting us pick your brain!  We both really hope to return to the area to explore it further and hopefully we'll see you soon!

Jo, Wooly Nelson, and James at the PMT trailhead in Elkhorn City

Resupply

Another long but very successful day. We went about 13 trail-miles but did an additional 3 or 4 into Heflin to resupply. A huge thank you to Wayne of Becwayne's Grocery, our trail angel who gave us a ride back to the trail! You saved us a couple hours of roadwalking that we were able to spend in the woods. Thanks!

Bart has some cool pictures I think he will post tonight. He gets extra credit today for putting up with me when I was being a butt. Thanks Bart!

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!