If you have to hike up Katahdin to start the AT Sobo, you should have to climb up Springer if you are Nobody. It's why Sobos aren't pussies.
Only if you are hiking South
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Next up, something, something, something, about purity.
Paul "Mags" Magnanti
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The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau
It most certainly should be hiked....what is it's reason for being there? It's long been a part of the A.T., in fact the very first shelter is right behind the visitor center; the Max Epperson shelter. For the life of me I don't understand someone wanting to skip parts of the trail right out of the gate.....The arch behind the visitor center is the portal to the Trail....
Let's head for the roundhouse; they can't corner us there!
If you are saying the Max Epperson shelter is the very first shelter constructed on the AT you may not be correct. Blood Mtn Shelter was constructed in the 1930s and Rocky Run Shelter was built in 1940 and I believe they are both older than Max Epperson. If you are saying that Max Epperson is the first shelter you pass on a Northbound hike of the AT you may also be wrong because its on a blue blaze trail. The first shelter on the AT heading North is Springer Mtn Shelter.
this post is patently ridiculous!!! You are going to be hiking 2200 miles and gaining more elevation than the height of MT Everest many times over and you are worried about a 8 extra miles and a stinkin' series of steps? I bet you would be slack packing before long. START at the visitor center where the approach trail begins.
It does not matter one way or the other. There is no rules committee, no referees, no umpires, no trail traffic cops. If you hike from only Springer to Baxter Peak you qualify for the 2000 miler designation, certificate and patch. If you hike from Amicalola Falls State Park to Baxter Peak you qualify for the 2000 miler designation, certificate and patch.
I am not young enough to know everything.
Much ado about nothing. But if one is looking for the easier alternative at the beginning of the hike, what happens farther down the trail when things get tough. Yellow blaze?
More walking, less talking.
Person 1: I walked from point A to point B.
Person 2: Well if you don't start at point Y, then you didn't really walk from point A to point B.
The silliness of this logic is breathtaking.
By the way, I hiked from point Y to point A as well, it was nice too. It just has no bearing on what person 1 chooses to do.
Last edited by Sarcasm the elf; 12-21-2017 at 15:34.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Why not just start at Mt. Ogelthorpe which was the original southern terminus of the trail. Or start in AL since initially it was planned to have a spur trail to/from there (Katahdyn was initially planned to be a spur trail) but this hasn't happened yet, officially despite the arguments of many to start at Flagg Mtn. But as it stands today, the white blazes from a NOBO perspective start on Springer, that is the trail. With that said, I did the approach trail and am happy I did. But it wasn't necessary. Many folks I met on the trail skipped the approach and felt no regrets. Bottom line, do what you want. Do the approach, do the pinhoti/bmt/at combo, don't do the approach. Just do what you do and be happy and thankful that you have the opportunity.
Do what you want to do an enjoy the hike. I’d be pretty surprised if, after finishing the trail, anyone gives you grief over skipping the approach trail.
If they do, they’ve probably never they hiked.
I’m of the opinion that you’re off on an adventure and you should do your own thing.
I’m kinda baffled people care what the internet thinks. We met a girl in the shennies who was so worked up about slack packing that she wrote half a page about how anyone who slack packs wasn’t a real thru hiker in a trail register.
Everyone had a good laugh at her expense and there were a few pages of people ripping her apart
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