How to choose campsite

[srbrunson]

It is my first time hiking long distance on the AT. I am 57 yrs old and plan to start SLOW. So when you don't make it to the shelter for the night and need to camp you are supposed to go 100 feet off the trail, correct? Any tips as to how to choose the right site with all the critters that live in the woods?

[mikec]

Welcome to whiteblaze.net. I too am a slow hiker and have failed to make the shelter many times. It's best to camp off the trail but sometimes, if you can't find anything else, you have to camp in some strange places. Just try to heed the local rules (no camping above treeline between shelters in MD) and you should be OK.

[Dogwood]

First, realize that you are now one of those critters that live in the woods. Exciting isn't it?

Try to get far enough into the woods so that no one notices you camping. Be aware of where you are in relation to where is the trail! Choose a flat sight. Not in a depression that might find you sleeping in a pond if it should rain hard. Don't sleep under or next to standing dead trees. If you are cooking be mindful of the location of water sources or plan on carrying water to your dry campsite from a water source. If critters are a concern they are largely attracted by scents. Bring about 40 ft of light wt cord to hang your food and other scented items(toothpaste, soap, cookware, etc).

[Blissful]

You're gonna have critters no matter where you camp. Just keep a clean camp and I always bear bag it, incl my toothpaste. Where are you going? A thru hike? There are places with hard rules and other places with lots of established campsites to choose from (like in GA and NC).

[Liv2Ride]

It is my first time hiking long distance on the AT. I am 57 yrs old and plan to start SLOW. So when you don't make it to the shelter for the night and need to camp you are supposed to go 100 feet off the trail, correct? Any tips as to how to choose the right site with all the critters that live in the woods?

You say that this is your first time hiking long distance but you don't mention prior experience with camping in or out of the woods. If you are camping out on the trail (any trail) for the first time I worry for you. If true, please do as many backpacking trips as possible before venturing out on a long distance adventure by yourself that involves a bunch of skills that are not intuitive or instinctive. If you do have sufficient experience with camping, hanging bags, staying clean etc., than all should go well on the AT. Just keep in mind that there are large areas of the AT that do not allow off trail camping so you either make it to the designated shelters or go stealth. Going stealth is an experience in it's own. As one poster said, make sure you remember where you are, where your camp is and where the trail is. It's very easy to get turned around and forget how to get back to your camp or how to get back to the trail. Even in daylight. As the saying goes, you can't see the forest through the trees. Good luck to you and congratulations on your decision to get out and experience the outdoors in a way that most will never ever do.

[srbrunson]

Thanks for the tips! Have years of experience with a tent in campgrounds, but little "primitive" experience. Do not have "bear bag" experience, although I did live in "bear country" in the mountains for several years.
Plan to start above Mars Hill in North Carolina. It seems the only place that requires you to stay in a shelter is the GSMNP, is that correct?

[Lilred]

Thanks for the tips! Have years of experience with a tent in campgrounds, but little "primitive" experience. Do not have "bear bag" experience, although I did live in "bear country" in the mountains for several years.
Plan to start above Mars Hill in North Carolina. It seems the only place that requires you to stay in a shelter is the GSMNP, is that correct?

yes that is correct. What isn't correct is the statement that there are 'large areas of the AT' with camping restrictions. The Smokies make you stay at shelters, but being a long distance hiker, you can camp at the shelter if it's full. Trust me, you'll want to camp. When I got to a shelter in the Smokies, I would wait till it filled up, then set up my tent outside the shelter. Nothing worse than cramming into a full shelter with 12 stinking, belching, farting, snoring men.

SNP also has restrictions, but those aren't a problem to deal with either. There are other places with restrictions on camping above tree line, but you really wouldn't want to camp above treeline anyhow. Of 2000 miles of the AT, about 250 have camping restrictions, not a 'large area' by any stretch. You'll find that most of the trail has camping areas already established. Don't worry about getting 100 feet off trail, just find an established camping area, they're everywhere.

As for the poster that is worried about you if you've never long distanced hiked before, well, LOL, ok, let him worry. You'll be fine. First time I hiked a section of the AT was the first time I had a backpack on. One week, nearly by myself, and I learned just about all I needed to know in that one week. Others have started a through hike without ever even car camping, and they made it just fine.

As for the advice from the same poster to go stealth if you can't get to the designated shelter in the Smokies, DON"T. There are HUGE fines for back country camping in the Smokies. Unless you're injured, hike to the shelter. You can hike after dark, it's not that bad. $500 fines are not fun to pay.

Make sure the advice you get is from seasoned long distance hikers. There are a lot of wannabe's that hang out on forums and never set foot on the AT. They will be happy to give you all kinds of advice, a lot of it bad.

Remember, when setting up your tent to look UP. Make sure there aren't any dead branches above you. Those are called widow makers for a reason. That, and the other advice Dogwood gave was good advice.

[Daydream Believer]

Nothing worse than cramming into a full shelter with 12 stinking, belching, farting, snoring men.

That would be my idea of Hell also...I'd not sleep a minute in a shelter like that!

On my last trip out, I carried a tarp and stayed near the shelters which made me feel better as it was my first solo hiking trip. I ended up staying at one shelter alone one night in midweek and it was very peaceful and a really cool experience.

If I were to camp alone, I'd also try to get back off the trail a bit for privacy as well as to not attract too much attention. I found 99.9% of the guys out there to be really decent and good people but there is always that element that is not. Wild animals are probably the least of your problems if you keep a clean camp and hang your food properly. Once the sun sets you are almost certainly not going to have anyone stop by (people wise) as most hikers are in bed at that point.

Another good bit of advice is to not camp near roads or trailhead/parking areas. Even the forest service roads have a fair amount of traffic on them so it's noisy and you are much more likely to have people troubles if you are accessible to non hikers.

[Liv2Ride]

...What isn't correct is the statement that there are 'large areas of the AT' with camping restrictions. The Smokies make you stay at shelters...go stealth if you can't get to the designated shelter in the Smokies, DON"T....There are a lot of wannabe's that hang out on forums and never set foot on the AT.

First of all I won't get into a pissing contest with you. I agree that there are a lot of people on these forums that have little to no experience with backpacking. Hiking and backpacking are similar although very very different. Being concerned for a person that appears to have little backcountry experience is not the sign of inexperience on my part. It simply means that I'm concerned. I may not have done a thru-hike on the AT and may never do a thru-hike on the AT but am a wilderness backpacker. I live in GA, I hike, bike and backpack. And yes I've had both of my feet on many sections of the AT although my preference is backcountry remote areas versus the highway.
My advise to the original poster is not bad or wrong advise. Her question was what to do if she couldn't make it to the next shelter. The distance to camp outside of a shelter is the same as the distance to camp inside a shelter. When she said "couldn't make it to the next shelter" it means exactly that. So, hiking in the dark over unfamiliar terrain with only a headlamp, hauling a 30+ lb pack and possibly fatigued means that it's time to stop for the night. Even if it means tucking yourself into the woods at an unestablished campsite.

The last time I checked the Great Smokey Mountains National Park is a very large area.

As always, HYOH.

[Toolshed]

Critters will usually both you more at a shelter or other frequently used camping area, than if you simply stealth camp along the trail. They are not as hardened to humans or as brazen when they come across something unfamiliar.

[Lilred]

First of all I won't get into a pissing contest with you. I agree that there are a lot of people on these forums that have little to no experience with backpacking. Hiking and backpacking are similar although very very different. Being concerned for a person that appears to have little backcountry experience is not the sign of inexperience on my part. It simply means that I'm concerned. I may not have done a thru-hike on the AT and may never do a thru-hike on the AT but am a wilderness backpacker. I live in GA, I hike, bike and backpack. And yes I've had both of my feet on many sections of the AT although my preference is backcountry remote areas versus the highway.
My advise to the original poster is not bad or wrong advise. Her question was what to do if she couldn't make it to the next shelter. The distance to camp outside of a shelter is the same as the distance to camp inside a shelter. When she said "couldn't make it to the next shelter" it means exactly that. So, hiking in the dark over unfamiliar terrain with only a headlamp, hauling a 30+ lb pack and possibly fatigued means that it's time to stop for the night. Even if it means tucking yourself into the woods at an unestablished campsite.

The last time I checked the Great Smokey Mountains National Park is a very large area.

As always, HYOH.

Anybody who has hiked the AT knows there is no need to worry about someone with no hiking experience. Hence my assumption you have no experience on the AT.

Hiking in the dark, over unfamiliar terrain (it's all unfamiliar) with only a headlamp, "hauling" a 30 lb pack, ummm, isn't a big deal. People do it all the time. Being "tired" is no excuse to camp illegally on the AT in the Smokies and the Forest Rangers would agree and slap a $500 fine on you. So not only did you give wrong advice, yes, you gave bad advice. Of course, if you hiked the AT, you would know this.

Yes, the Smokies is a large area, but you said "large areas of the AT have restricted camping" which is untrue. Only about 10% is restricted and that is not a large area of the AT. Anyone with experience hiking the AT would know that.

The OP asked for specific information about hiking the AT, and since you've put your feet on it a couple of times in Georgia, you know all about it? Backpacking in remote back country areas is vastly different than backpacking on the AT.

You start your post stating you don't want to get into a pissing contest with me, then proceed to piss all over the place. Nice job.

[Liv2Ride]

Anybody who has hiked the AT knows there is no need to worry about someone with no hiking experience. Hence my assumption you have no experience on the AT.

Hiking in the dark, over unfamiliar terrain (it's all unfamiliar) with only a headlamp, "hauling" a 30 lb pack, ummm, isn't a big deal. People do it all the time. Being "tired" is no excuse to camp illegally on the AT in the Smokies and the Forest Rangers would agree and slap a $500 fine on you. So not only did you give wrong advice, yes, you gave bad advice. Of course, if you hiked the AT, you would know this.

Yes, the Smokies is a large area, but you said "large areas of the AT have restricted camping" which is untrue. Only about 10% is restricted and that is not a large area of the AT. Anyone with experience hiking the AT would know that.

The OP asked for specific information about hiking the AT, and since you've put your feet on it a couple of times in Georgia, you know all about it? Backpacking in remote back country areas is vastly different than backpacking on the AT.

You start your post stating you don't want to get into a pissing contest with me, then proceed to piss all over the place. Nice job.

You're welcome.

[kanga]

Don't camp near road accesses if you can help it. And expect critter concentration to be higher around shelters. You'll be fine. The at is pretty well travelled and a great place to get your hiking feet wet.

[Lilred]

Don't camp near road accesses if you can help it. And expect critter concentration to be higher around shelters. You'll be fine. The at is pretty well travelled and a great place to get your hiking feet wet.

Kanga is right. I rarely camp within a mile of a road crossing, especially on weekends. Some local boys love to camp out on weekends and get roaring drunk, but they rarely walk far into the woods.

I remember one road crossing where some locals set up their tent, and parked their pick up truck right on the trail. I literally had to walk around their stuff. Not much further up the trail from them was human poop, right on the trail. Disgusting. I had planned on staying at the next shelter, but it was too close so I hiked on.

[Bear Cables]

Thanks for the tips! Have years of experience with a tent in campgrounds, but little "primitive" experience. Do not have "bear bag" experience, although I did live in "bear country" in the mountains for several years.
Plan to start above Mars Hill in North Carolina. It seems the only place that requires you to stay in a shelter is the GSMNP, is that correct?

I suggest you look up some you tube videos on hanging bear bags. PCT method is pretty easy but still needs practice. You really don't want to lose your food!

[foreversuperawesome]

the AT will have a few designated camping areas since the ground is already flat and used up. Try not to crush too much of the wild plants.