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  1. #41
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    I just noticed that MAPS are now posted to the description of the Tuscarora-Allegheny link component of the GET. See http://potomacappalachian.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=226&Item id=43

  2. #42
    Registered User traildust's Avatar
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    The Pine Mountain Trail is a link to this trail. A major link. Any idea here on the status of this section of the GET? How many miles are done, need to be done and how many were done in 2009?

  3. #43
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    Just a point or two to add to ki0eh's fine narrative. In the area of MST north of 322, Poe Valley State Park is currently closed completely for major construction project (new sewer system, major repairs to the dam there). When it reopens, it offers camping and a nice beach on the lake. I don't think there are any shelters, but it does have a few small cabins to rent.

    Poe Paddy is a rustic campground only. It is located right on Penns Creek and has good water (available from spigots located around the campgrounds), privies and it does have two small Adirondack shelters (sites 126 and 128). The shelters would probably fit 4 or 5 hikers. Both have tent pads beside them, as do many of the other campsites. All sites in the park are reservable and the two with shelters are very popular with fishermen and car campers during the spring and summer, especially on weekends. If you know when you will reach Poe Paddy, you might want to reserve one ahead (http://www.pa.reserveworld.com/)

  4. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by traildust View Post
    The Pine Mountain Trail is a link to this trail. A major link. Any idea here on the status of this section of the GET? How many miles are done, need to be done and how many were done in 2009?
    From http://www.greateasterntrail.net/KY.htm there is a link to the Pine Mountain Trail Conference, and from there an e-mail link to Shad Baker who is a great guy and likely knows all things PMT.

  5. #45
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    Not to get off topic, but any idea what the gold blazes in the Poe Paddy area are for?

  6. #46
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    I have hiked the Birch Knob section of the Pine Mountain Trail. There are some interesting rock formations and nice views. There are no shelters though. This trail is well marked. One big problem you will run into is it is muddy. The reason is people illegally bring ATV's and the like up the trail and it has ruined the trail already. Here's a video on youtube of some stupid rednecks getting stuck in a Yamaha Rhino. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SmPJEJrrRw It irritates me. I live like a mile away from this trail and I hate to see it ruined already. So don't be surprised if you meet an offroad vehicle on this trail.

  7. #47
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    Default NY section now has a name and maps


  8. #48
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    I think a WBer will have an announcement soon regarding this trail.

  9. #49

    Default the announcement

    Hello everybody,
    At the ALDHA Gathering in Athens it was an idea that I didn't want to announce just then. Since the meeting, I have come to the conclusion that this is the next adventure that I will be going on. I will be thru-hiking not only the Great Eastern Trail, but all of the individual trails it connects. I will be writing Thru-Hiker's Manuals for all trails involved. I have already published Manual's for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in North Carolina and the Sheltowee Trace in Kentucky. There will be around 9 more Manuals to be released in early 2012. I will start on Flagg Mountain in March and hike until October to finish in New York. My challenges right now is figuring how many extra miles off the GET I will be hiking on connector trails and how each trail connects to the other. I am guessing that the total mileage is going to be 2,600 to 2,700 miles.
    I usually don't hike with directions, maps, guidebooks, compass or GPS. I like to follow the blazes to see how well it is blazed to inform the trail organizations and to clearly document the confusing sections. How well are these trails blazed? I get lost a lot but that is how I learn everything about the trail. I may look into a GPS sponsor for this adventure to see if it has any benefits for me out there. I am a traditional person and still use a pedometer to track my mileage. I have found it to be fairly accurate according to trail organization mileages and mile posts on road walks. Each one of my steps are 29 inches. In order for this journey to be successful and to have the Manuals accurate, I need help from all the trail organizations that maintain the trails. I am going to have questions about where the trail is and may need to be able to contact locals to find some resupply points or in case of emergencies. I don't have emergencies but just in case.

    This is going to be fun. It's also going to be a lot of hard work. I will be seeking media coverage and more sponsorship for the journey. My gear sponsors right now are Teva, Leki, Lafuma, Moonbow, and Trail Hound/Wandering Buddha. The ultimate goal would be to find a television network that will follow the entire journey. Ted Richardson from the Raleigh News & Observer in North Carolina produced 3 fantastic videos of my first hike of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in 2008. They are viewable through my webistewww.Thru-hiker.us on the "Videos" page.

  10. #50

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    My plans for hiking the GET are on hold indefinetly.

  11. #51

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    I believe that I have made the decision to not hike the GET in 2011. It is still on the list of trails and manuals to do but this trail is not ready for me yet.

  12. #52
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    It's all been hiked in sections north of I-64 - that's the length of about 2-1/2 VT Long Trails, the PA MST by itself is longer than the Long Trail. Why the apparent lack of interest? (Not speaking to any one person, but generally...)

  13. #53
    Registered User traildust's Avatar
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    So many trails, so little time.
    Discover Kentucky's Long Tail. Join The Sheltowee Trace Association and help us maintain, grow and preserve this national resource.

  14. #54

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    Just wanted to add that my life is full of 15 minute life-altering decisions. I have no idea what I am doing or where i am going to be 15 minutes from now. But when I set a goal and announce to others that "this is what I am going to do" then at all costs that is what I am going to do. I may still choose the GET and feel like I should but I have heard many ccomments about the conditions, current locations and how fast the trail is changing. If I did go for the GET would my Manual be accurate enough for the next year? That's a long hike to do every year.

    I also feel like I should keep on with the Sheltowee Trace. I mentioned doing a yo-yo on the Trace next year to enhance the manual for the northbound edition and write a southbound on the way back. This trail is a tremendous experience. I fought my way through the first time but managed to finish the hike and the Manual before the Sheltowee Trace Assocation's first annual meeting. The STA is excited about the trail and wants it to, not only, be a thru-hikeable trail but one for every outdoor activity. The STA and I have been in constant correspondance since before I began the hike. Everytime I got to a point where it needed their attention, I would let them know by phone from the woods. A week later they were out there to check on it. I commend the STA for their dedication to this trail.

    Which ever one I choose will be the right decision.

    Taba

  15. #55
    Registered User Tennessee Viking's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Taba View Post
    Just wanted to add that my life is full of 15 minute life-altering decisions. I have no idea what I am doing or where i am going to be 15 minutes from now. But when I set a goal and announce to others that "this is what I am going to do" then at all costs that is what I am going to do. I may still choose the GET and feel like I should but I have heard many ccomments about the conditions, current locations and how fast the trail is changing. If I did go for the GET would my Manual be accurate enough for the next year? That's a long hike to do every year.

    I also feel like I should keep on with the Sheltowee Trace. I mentioned doing a yo-yo on the Trace next year to enhance the manual for the northbound edition and write a southbound on the way back. This trail is a tremendous experience. I fought my way through the first time but managed to finish the hike and the Manual before the Sheltowee Trace Assocation's first annual meeting. The STA is excited about the trail and wants it to, not only, be a thru-hikeable trail but one for every outdoor activity. The STA and I have been in constant correspondance since before I began the hike. Everytime I got to a point where it needed their attention, I would let them know by phone from the woods. A week later they were out there to check on it. I commend the STA for their dedication to this trail.

    Which ever one I choose will be the right decision.

    Taba
    I know the Cumberland Trail section still has a bit of road walk especially around the Black Mountain/Crab Orchard area. Then on the final leg up to Cumberland Gap.

    From what I heard Pine Mountain trail is pretty rugid. Not maintained on a regular basis.

    Let me know when you get back to NC to rewalk the new relocations on the MST. I got some helpful info on churches and re-supply. Still nothing new about camping.
    ''Tennessee Viking'
    Mountains to Sea Trail Hiker & Maintainer
    Former TEHCC (AT) Maintainer

  16. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by Taba View Post
    I may still choose the GET and feel like I should but I have heard many ccomments about the conditions, current locations and how fast the trail is changing. If I did go for the GET would my Manual be accurate enough for the next year? That's a long hike to do every year.
    Sometimes when I encounter both thru-hiker types and retired-guy trail builder types it seems like two different languages are spoken. Yes "hikers" often care for and build trails in the East but the term "hiker" seems to be in the eye of the beholder.

    The GET route north of I-64 is stable enough now that resupply options won't change, camping and water won't change much or very quickly. With all the individual groups involved the information available is honestly kind of a mish-mash. This is the area where I would honestly feel a Manual as you do would be helpful.

    As for trail conditions, it seems to me that feedback is helpful, although some of the extremes of section hiker and retired-guy-trail-maintainer types seem not fully to grasp that. I personally suspect that the overall condition of the GET north of I-64 is at least as good, and roadwalk percentage lower, compared to the ST or NC-MST, but there is the mish-mash of information to deal with which is why the Manual if anything would be more helpful for the GET vs. the other two.

    I am wondering if a large proportion of section- and thru-hiker types tend to get a lot of information through social means more than by poring over maps and guidebooks, not quite like Earl Shaffer in 1948 who plunged into the woods often with just a road map. Back then he certainly encountered other hikers, as one would now on the GET, but he also met many people who had no real notion of the A.T.'s existence. I would think that the mental challenge of a GET thru-hike would be more analogous to Earl's first rather than to the bubble of near-trail services that today's A.T. thru-hiker largely exists within.

    Certainly in whatever venture you care to pursue, we wish you good fortune. Seems like your confident but grounded outlook has already gotten you far.

  17. #57

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    Quote Originally Posted by ki0eh View Post
    ....I am wondering if a large proportion of section- and thru-hiker types tend to get a lot of information through social means more than by poring over maps and guidebooks, not quite like Earl Shaffer in 1948 who plunged into the woods often with just a road map. Back then he certainly encountered other hikers, as one would now on the GET, but he also met many people who had no real notion of the A.T.'s existence. I would think that the mental challenge of a GET thru-hike would be more analogous to Earl's first rather than to the bubble of near-trail services that today's A.T. thru-hiker largely exists within...
    If I'm not mistaken, part of the GET is the Allegheny Trail in West Virginia. In planning my ALT thruhike for last Spring, I concluded that the ALT was more similar to where the AT was 50+ years ago in that (1) virtually no thruhiker services e.g. shuttles, hostels, nearby outfitters, AT-type "trail towns" existed; (2) much of the surrounding community was only dimly aware if at all about the Trail's existence; and (3) there was no guidebook to services analagous to the Companion. I suppose this is just a hypothesis since unfortunately, my hike didn't last long because of an injury to my hiking partner. But I became pretty familiar with the Trail corridor because of the enormous time spent planning the hike

    This is not a complaint, just an observation. While I welcome Taba's guidebooks, I actually enjoyed the challenge of determining and researching options for resupply, town or motel breaks, and transportation. I was able to find 3 establishments who readily and willingly agreed to accept supply mail drops even though as far as I knew, no one had ever previously made this request.

    And that leads me to the point that while some aspects of hiking the ALT resemble the early AT days, the internet is an option that didn't exist in Earl Shaffer's day. Not only the social network aspects (there's a good ALT thread here on WB), but simply using the search engines to learn more about the trail and corridor - that's how I located a B&B near Marlinton and a cabin near Durbin.

    I just finished re-reading Walking with Spring and came away more impressed than ever by the challenges Earl faced. But one of them was not resupply - in his day, there were many more small country stores closer to the Trail as well as lot of small hill farms who often offered him a bed (which he usually refused, preferring to sleep in the woods even in rain). So Earl could thruhike without maps, guides, and social networks in his day but times are different now as are the expectations of Trail users.

    Re. the GET, Earl would certainly favor it as an initial step - he longed for the AT becoming a giant loop so that the hike would never end.

  18. #58

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    I have heard the same about the northern section of the GET. It seems that from I-64 north it is hikeable and would definetly benefit with a good guidebook. My hang up right now is that I consider myself a purist thru-hiker and feel like my efforts would not be to the fullest of my ability if I just sectioned the GET. If I were to choose this trail for my next adventure I would want to start at the beginning and hike to the end not start in the middle. I have been on other extremely challenging and confusing trails and made it through. Clearing up all the confusion and frustration about where the trail is, where the water and camping is and where the resupply spots are. This is my only reason for hiking anymore. I have been light-weight traveling for over 20 years and it now feels like my job to strap on a back-pack and hit the woods but I really enjoy my job, still.

    I guess what I am looking for is more hikers to convince me that the trails I pick are going to benefit the greatest from what I offer to them. If there is a popular demand for a Manuual for these trails then I will go hike them. I just don't want my efforts to be in vain. It takes a lot out of me to go out there and be confused everyday for 5-6 months. So I have to choose wisely.

    Taba

  19. #59
    Peakbagger Extraordinaire The Solemates's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Taba View Post
    I guess what I am looking for is more hikers to convince me that the trails I pick are going to benefit the greatest from what I offer to them. If there is a popular demand for a Manuual for these trails then I will go hike them. I just don't want my efforts to be in vain. It takes a lot out of me to go out there and be confused everyday for 5-6 months. So I have to choose wisely.

    Taba
    I've already done parts of the northern section of the GET, including over half of the PA MST (of which a good manual already exists), but I would certainly benefit from and probably purchase a manual highlighting the GET in TN.
    The only thing better than mountains, is mountains where you haven't been.

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  20. #60
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    Default Great Eastern Trail in Virginia

    He's a link to online PDF brochere from Virginia on use of existing trails in that state and plans for development of GET in Virginia.

    http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/recreati...ents/tr_ge.pdf
    The trouble I have with campfires are the folks that carry a bottle in one hand and a Bible in the other.
    You never know which one is talking.

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