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  1. #21
    Registered User tagg's Avatar
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    You could set up where the trail crosses the access road, probably 1/4 mile or so before you get to the parking lot. There is a small area where you can park a car on the left side of the road, adjacent to the trail. It would keep you from having to carry anything up to the top, and it's wooded in that area so you and your car and your trail magic or whatever someone wants to call it wouldn't be visible from the summit, or even from the parking area.

    I once hung out there on a weekday when it was less crowded and handed out beer/drinks/snacks to anyone who wanted them, and I didn't have a single hiker pass by without taking something before the final climb to the summit. I had two coolers in the trunk of my car and a basket of snacks, so nothing elaborate, but I hung out in a cool place all day, met some interesting people, and ended it with an overnighter on the summit. I guess I understand some of the animosity towards some of the hiker feeds that seem out of place when you come upon them, but if it bothers you to the point that it ruins your day, you're probably just an unhappy person in general.
    -tagg

  2. #22
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    If the AT crosses a USFS road and you get bent over a hiker feed occurring on a USFS road, then you may need to see a professional. What's next? You get mad when you see a dirt bike or Jeep on a Jeep road that intersects the AT?

    And, just for reference, back in the day they used to land sightseeing planes on Max Patch for picnics. Max Patch hasn't been "wilderness" since Mac Fox owned it and cleared it. That was around 1870, I think. IIRC we should all be calling it Mac's Patch...after McClure "Mac" Fox.

  3. #23
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    Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the AT a protected corridor that runs several hundred feet on either side of the trail? I remember watching a video where several people were working on the boundary lines, verifying survey markers and blazing the line with yellow paint. According to your logic, someone could haul in equipment and build a stage for a Woodstock style concert. While you say it's ok, I think most people, both hiker and non hiker would say that this is not what Max Patch was designed for. Granted the Forestry Service mows MP, I do believe that they are doing so in order to control the insect population. To answer your question, yes it does bother me to see motorized vehicles on a road that intersects the AT. Why you ask? Because it is another way to run off any wildlife in the area. I don't know about you, but enjoyed taking my children when they were little and now my grand children out in the woods and wilderness to see wildlife in their natural setting. Oh well, I have a car to paint.
    Blackheart

  4. #24
    Registered User evyck da fleet's Avatar
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    I don't think hiker feeds would ever ruin my day. But if you want my attention a spot in the middle of the green tunnel at the bottom of a climb is ideal. If you're setting up atop Max Patch Franconia etc you are now competing for my attention with nature. I'd rather enjoy my hike then talk about it so I'll probably set up a respectful distance and refuse your generosity.

    That being said, there will be plenty of soon to be dropouts, once trail days ends, that will love to tell you they are thru hiking and just as many who actually are.

    I also understand that it's much more enjoyable for the OP to sit atop the summit waiting for thrus than at a crossing in the woods.

  5. #25
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    so many people spend so much money every year feeding folks that don't need to be fed.

  6. #26
    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    so many people spend so much money every year feeding folks that don't need to be fed.
    Lots of people can't afford enough food - children, veterans, elderly. Hikers on vacation don't need to be fed. Here's an idea. Have a hiker feed but charge the hikers $20 each and then donate the proceeds to a food bank of some sort. To feed people who can't afford a vacation.

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4eyedbuzzard View Post
    Lots of people can't afford enough food - children, veterans, elderly. Hikers on vacation don't need to be fed. Here's an idea. Have a hiker feed but charge the hikers $20 each and then donate the proceeds to a food bank of some sort. To feed people who can't afford a vacation.
    good idea....

  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    so many people spend so much money every year feeding folks that don't need to be fed.
    Except that it isn't the calories that are being given away, its the quality of the food that most thrus only get when zeroing in town. Fresh eggs? Ice cold soda? Ice cold beer? Apples? Oranges? Bananas? Pie? Donuts? 1/2 pound Angus burgers with cheese and onion buns? Hot dogs? Fresh hot coffee/cider/tea/chai? Pancakes? Bacon? Ribs? Italian Beef? BBQ Brisket? Fried Chicken and cole slaw? Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies? Smores? Water stashes by the 5 gallon container at dry crossings? I've seen it all and more...It makes people feel good to give it and it makes most(not all) people feel good to receive it. Obviously, and as always, YMMV and probably does...

    Also, don't forget services/things that aren't "needed" but appreciated. Charge your charger? Empty your garbage? Need a lighter? Hand sanitizer? Seen all that and more...

    Don't like/want/need? Just walk on by. You don't even have to smile. I just don't see how this on a road or atop an incredibly public place with all kinds of stuff going on(like a kid's soccer game or a wedding) can harsh anyone's buzz about anything on the AT. If you want to experience Max Patch without people, I'd try....a Wednesday...December 13 should work this year...

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by ScareBear View Post
    Except that it isn't the calories that are being given away, its the quality of the food that most thrus only get when zeroing in town. Fresh eggs? Ice cold soda? Ice cold beer? Apples? Oranges? Bananas? Pie? Donuts? 1/2 pound Angus burgers with cheese and onion buns? Hot dogs? Fresh hot coffee/cider/tea/chai? Pancakes? Bacon? Ribs? Italian Beef? BBQ Brisket? Fried Chicken and cole slaw? Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies? Smores? Water stashes by the 5 gallon container at dry crossings? I've seen it all and more...It makes people feel good to give it and it makes most(not all) people feel good to receive it. Obviously, and as always, YMMV and probably does...

    Also, don't forget services/things that aren't "needed" but appreciated. Charge your charger? Empty your garbage? Need a lighter? Hand sanitizer? Seen all that and more...

    Don't like/want/need? Just walk on by. You don't even have to smile. I just don't see how this on a road or atop an incredibly public place with all kinds of stuff going on(like a kid's soccer game or a wedding) can harsh anyone's buzz about anything on the AT. If you want to experience Max Patch without people, I'd try....a Wednesday...December 13 should work this year...
    gimme a break. "thrus" don't suffer. they need nothing.

  10. #30
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    Needing/wanting aren't the same, this is true. But, even in town, how many eat right? It isn't necessary, this is also true.

    There's lot's of things you don't "need" but want. Fresh fruit on the AT comes to mind. So does sex. Not necessarily on the AT. Just sayin....

  11. #31
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    whatever.....

  12. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by BuckeyeBill View Post
    .... hikers (who normally are made up of people who are trying to get away from such events and commune with nature) ....
    I would disagree with this, I don't think they are in the majority of the hiking population any more, nor the AT Thru population. I would agree it was true at one time, and many old school hikers want that to remain, but hiking is a fusion of social and nature for the new majority of hikers.

  13. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4eyedbuzzard View Post
    Lots of people can't afford enough food - children, veterans, elderly. Hikers on vacation don't need to be fed. Here's an idea. Have a hiker feed but charge the hikers $20 each and then donate the proceeds to a food bank of some sort. To feed people who can't afford a vacation.
    Then do it brother if that's they way you want to help, but let others do it their way, including showing human kindness the way they chose. Giving help to those who can really appreciate it and many will desire to help others due to the kindness they received. Knowing there is a place, such as the AT, where human kindness flows so freely has helped many restore their faith in humanity. Many people hike the AT to transition their life from one phase to another, a great time to extend kindness. IMHO this is a great cause to support.

  14. #34
    Registered User BuckeyeBill's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Starchild View Post
    I would disagree with this, I don't think they are in the majority of the hiking population any more, nor the AT Thru population. I would agree it was true at one time, and many old school hikers want that to remain, but hiking is a fusion of social and nature for the new majority of hikers.
    Yes us "old school hikers want it to remain a wilderness". That's our entire point! I am not directing this at any "New school Hikers", but instead of learning how to read a map and use a compass, they whip out their phone because "I got an App for that." Maybe not on the AT, but people go from the AT to the PCT or CDT. Out there your phone is not going to get you out of a jam. It will tell you the time and possibly your GPS Coordinates, but if you can't get a signal your pretty much SOL. How many times do we read about students on spring break that say "let's do the AT for a week or two". I just read one of the articles on here about kids from Minnesota who got hemmed in on Max Patch. Two were taken out suffering from hypothermia, and the rest had to wait for a second shuttle to pick them up. This all happened after they were told to turn back and get into town as there was a storm approaching. You aren't in Kansas any more Toto.

    I have seen the type hikers that go into town and won't follow the Hostel's rules, get loaded and cause disturbances in bars and restaurants and carry a bottle of some type of alcohol to the top of Mount Katahdin to drink even though the Baxter Park rules state very clearly that this is prohibited. Oh I forgot, those rules don't apply to them, it's only illegal if I get caught. Between this and paving paradise to put up a parking lot, there will come a time when the AT, PCT and all the other trails will be only written about in history books.
    Blackheart

  15. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by BuckeyeBill View Post
    Yes us "old school hikers want it to remain a wilderness". That's our entire point! I am not directing this at any "New school Hikers", but instead of learning how to read a map and use a compass, they whip out their phone because "I got an App for that." Maybe not on the AT, but people go from the AT to the PCT or CDT. Out there your phone is not going to get you out of a jam. It will tell you the time and possibly your GPS Coordinates, but if you can't get a signal your pretty much SOL. How many times do we read about students on spring break that say "let's do the AT for a week or two". I just read one of the articles on here about kids from Minnesota who got hemmed in on Max Patch. Two were taken out suffering from hypothermia, and the rest had to wait for a second shuttle to pick them up. This all happened after they were told to turn back and get into town as there was a storm approaching. You aren't in Kansas any more Toto.

    I have seen the type hikers that go into town and won't follow the Hostel's rules, get loaded and cause disturbances in bars and restaurants and carry a bottle of some type of alcohol to the top of Mount Katahdin to drink even though the Baxter Park rules state very clearly that this is prohibited. Oh I forgot, those rules don't apply to them, it's only illegal if I get caught. Between this and paving paradise to put up a parking lot, there will come a time when the AT, PCT and all the other trails will be only written about in history books.
    Not all of the AT was "wilderness" before the AT. Over the years, many corporations have given land over to US and it has been incorporated into the AT. The AT goes right through former commercial timber land. The AT goes right through towns, for goodness sakes. How long has it been since Harper's Ferry or Hot Springs were settled? More than 2 centuries? The AT currently crosses privately owned land that is farmed or used as pasture. The AT crosses Interstate 40!! I am pretty sure Interstate 40 is not wilderness. I hope that the sound of semi-trucks for the miles before and after that crossing doesn't harsh your "wilderness" buzz too badly. The IDEA of the AT is for a "wilderness" corridor, and it is a good and noble idea. And, for the most part, it succeeds. But, if you want your best shot at "wilderness" LD hiking in the US....I am thinking CDT or PCT. The AT has plenty of "wilderness" but it aint exlcusively "wilderness". Never was, never will be.

    And although I do truly love Max Patch, it cracks me up to no end to hear people bitch about the crowds/activities that go on there. Max Patch was used COMMERCIALLY by it's OWNERS since at least 1870 up until it became part of the Pisgah. There was a report of a barnstorming fly-in and show that attracted over 3000 spectators in the 30's. If you think about it, a bald like Max Patch is really an ecological abomination. Solely man-made and not one damn thing "natural" or "wilderness" about it...

  16. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by ScareBear View Post
    .... a bald like Max Patch is really an ecological abomination. Solely man-made and not one damn thing "natural" or "wilderness" about it...
    A ecological abomination or a very natural part of what man does as part of the ecosystem? A cleared area devoid of any structures except for some "alter" ( such as what is at the top of max patch) is a very natural thing for a human society to have as a social gathering point going back to prehistoric times. This is not a
    Paved shopping mall but a field maintained for human use and gatherings. It is part of our natural tendency of being socIal and saying that is a ecological abomination is like saying a never dam or a ant hill is.


    It's not a ecological abomination it's a ecological accommodation. A fusion of nature and society and for some spirituality.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  17. #37
    Registered User -Rush-'s Avatar
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    Trail magic should be magical, not a big festival at a gap or other known area. I don't usually eat their food, but I'll grab a soda or energy drink. If you want to be part of real magic here are a few ideas:

    Position yourself with a cooler full of Gatorade at:

    - the top of Kelly Knob, Courthouse Bald, or some other ass-kicking climb.
    - down a blue blaze leading to a view that most hikers should see.
    - spell a number combo with rocks/sticks on the ground a mile before they see the combo locked cooler.

    You get the idea. Don't promote the spread of viruses. Keep it clean and add to the adventure.
    "Though I have lost the intimacy with the seasons since my hike, I retain the sense of perfect order, of graceful succession and surrender, and of the bold brilliance of fall leaves as they yield to death." - David Brill

  18. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by -Rush- View Post
    Trail magic should be magical, not a big festival at a gap or other known area. If you want to be part of real magic here are a few ideas:
    Volunteer for a trail crew http://www.appalachiantrail.org/home...ent#TrailCrews
    Join a local trail club to do trail maintenance
    Monitor trail corridor
    More walking, less talking.

  19. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by soilman View Post
    Volunteer for a trail crew http://www.appalachiantrail.org/home...ent#TrailCrews
    Join a local trail club to do trail maintenance
    Monitor trail corridor
    All good suggestion but let's not get preachy on how one must give back to the trail. There are many ways to help out the trail and not everyone fits into a neat box.

  20. #40
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    read elsewhere this morning that another group is doing a feed up there on april 22nd......

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