People let me tell ya, this is no place for your average "run of the mill hiker," like myself. You can d@mn sure get lost up here real quick if you do not know what you are doing.
I only know of two people who have completely hiked the Appalachian Trail from point "A" to point "B." It took them six months of arduous painstaking effort to travel this trail. It is said that the chance of survival on such a trek along this trail can be very risky.
The Appalachian Trail has become adultrated over the years. Many other trials now join in with it, making the possibility of getting lost, even greater. I only hiked a short distance along the trail, following the light gray blazes, until things became "ify" from my point of view and expertise and then turned around and headed back. Many people hike along portions of this trail every year and so far I have not heard of many horror stories but from what I have heard, this trail has a great many areas where there are stomach churring drop offs that one must travel along.
You have got to remember that this is not a "managed trail." Conditions change from day to day, year to year. What maybe okay this year, might take your life the next. This may all sound melodramatic but I would hate to hear about you on the evening news, so a word to the wise. However accidents happen all the time on a good many managed trails here in the mountains because folks have there heads up somewhere they should not be. This is a portion of the Appalachain Trail that I went down for a mile or so.
Since we are only allowed four images here, I will leave you with the area where I accessed the trail, atop Roan Mountain, Tennessee. Back many years ago, the 1800's I believe, there was a hotel up here, "The Cloudland Hotel." Aptly named I would think since as you can see, there are clouds rolling by at the moment. It was a balmy 57 degrees F. at the time and after 110+ F degrees of the past couple of weeks, I enjoyed every degree up here.
The Appalachian Trail, a trek across history...
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
I can appreciate your concern for hiking alone these days. You never know who or what you will meet along the trails. However, if there is an area where the trail head is located in a state park such as Roan Mountain is here, you should be okay for a short hike of a mile or two and back or maybe five. Just keep an eye out for the light gray blazes marking the trail.
Yes it is extremely beautiful and taking a pair of small compact binoculars along with your camera is a good idea, along with some snacks and water. However taking a full size dSLR might not be a good idea unless you are a glutton for punishment. So your G5 should be considered here or any other small compact digital.
Thanks Sue
Yes it is extremely beautiful and taking a pair of small compact binoculars along with your camera is a good idea, along with some snacks and water. However taking a full size dSLR might not be a good idea unless you are a glutton for punishment. So your G5 should be considered here or any other small compact digital.
Thanks Sue