anyone have any info on this trail or Joyce Kilmer Trail??? HH
anyone have any info on this trail or Joyce Kilmer Trail??? HH
Last edited by MOWGLI; 07-17-2009 at 10:17. Reason: corrected spelling of trail name
Hammock Hanger -- Life is my journey and I'm surely not rushing to the "summit"...:D
http://www.gcast.com/u/hammockhanger/main
HH,
The book "Hiking Georgia" has a little info on it and a small, not very detailed map.
For more info (brochure and 8 detailed maps) they refer you to
The Benton MacKaye Trail Assoc
PO Box 53271
Atlanta, Ga 30355-1271 (sorry no phone number is mentioned)
and
US Forest Service
Chattahoochee Nat'l Forest
Forest Supervisor
508 Oak Street
Gainesville, Ga 30501 (770-536-0541
I hope that helps a little.
Thanks for the info. HH
Hammock Hanger -- Life is my journey and I'm surely not rushing to the "summit"...:D
http://www.gcast.com/u/hammockhanger/main
You can find information & map of the
Benton MacKaye Trail at:
http://www.georgiatrails.com/trails/...mackaye01.html
Click on the overview and topo map.
You can also find a complete set of topo maps at:
www.georgiahikes.com/maps/
Last edited by veteran; 11-18-2002 at 10:08.
The best info is on the BMT web site:
http://www.bmta.org/
The BMT used to sell individual maps/guides for the 11 sections (I don't know if they still do) and the REI stores in Atlanta used to carry them. The info on the web site does not contain all 11 sections. I have copies of the old individual map/guides and an electronic copy of the maps on TOPO! that I found on the web. I backpacked this trail on weekends this year, and the only places that it was difficult to follow was in the Big Frog Wilderness (section 11) and section 7. They don't blaze trails in the wilderness area and someone had vandalized/destroyed most of the trail markers at the trail junctions, and there are several trail junctions in the Big Frog Wilderness. Section 7 is mostly single lane country access roads and a walk through a pretty neat 'subdivision' of mountain homes. I liked the walk through the subdivision, some of them were underconstruction and had great views...I could just imagine what it would be like to have a neat country home with senic views and the BMT going through my back yard!
Youngblood
Take a closer look at the vandalism. Its the bears that rip up the signs. They have been doing it for years. If you look a the damage it is apparent that teeth and claws did it. I think Homan ever mentioned that in his guidebook for Big Frog.
Skids
Insanity: Asking about inseams over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein, (attributed)
this proves that threads never die. Even six year old ones.
Hammock Hanger -- Life is my journey and I'm surely not rushing to the "summit"...:D
http://www.gcast.com/u/hammockhanger/main
[ Had I not pulled a "Hokey Pokey" the whole trail would be done. ]
Say what!
[COLOR="Blue"]Hokey Pokey [/COLOR]
Sounds right to me - see the TJ : http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=213582 - that is as good a definition of a "Hokey Pokey" as I have ever heard except for the original on Slickrock Tr.
Its a bit more remote trail compared to the AT. And its not blazed as much as the AT through their wilderness sections. But look for white diamonds.
Starts at Davenport Gap then travels down to Big Creek and through the NC Smokies to Fontana. Then travels down into the Joyce Kilmer/Citco Creek Wildernesses & the Frog Wildernesses to Springer.
Sgt Rock is probably one of the resident experts since he is a maintainer for the BMT. But he will be tied up this year for his AT thru.
The BMTA just put out a Data Book, and there is a guide for the section south of the Oconee River.
Joyce Kilmer and Citco is a good area if you want to camp.
''Tennessee Viking'
Mountains to Sea Trail Hiker & Maintainer
Former TEHCC (AT) Maintainer
That is true. If you are going to hike the BMT I highly suggest you get a map and a databook or something that tells you where the BMT goes - one that outlines which trail designation the local trail is for the BMT is a great idea. What I have found is there are some sections of the BMT that are as well marked as the AT. Then there are some sections where you can go for miles and never see a blaze or a sign that says the "BMT goes that way". The problem with this I've found is you get used to not seeing a blaze for miles at a certain point and then what happens is you take a wrong turn, walk for a while thinking nothing is out of the ordinary, and then realize you have just walked the wrong trail and have to go back. The worst this has happened to me is about 1/2 mile in the wrong direction - I had to turn around and go back up-hill that half mile to get back on the BMT. If the trail had been longer I could have really screwed up.
I'm still around at times.Starts at Davenport Gap then travels down to Big Creek and through the NC Smokies to Fontana. Then travels down into the Joyce Kilmer/Citco Creek Wildernesses & the Frog Wildernesses to Springer.
Sgt Rock is probably one of the resident experts since he is a maintainer for the BMT. But he will be tied up this year for his AT thru.
The BMTA just put out a Data Book, and there is a guide for the section south of the Oconee River.
Joyce Kilmer and Citco is a good area if you want to camp.
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
-----------------------------------------
NO SNIVELING
Excellent observation Sgt. Rock. I made the "wrong trail/missed junction" mistake heading north out of Bryson's Gap. I was dumber than you though, I went about 2 miles DOWN the mountain before I realized the error of my ways. That 2 miles of uphill hurt extra cause it was uneccessary.
Map, compass and databook are definetly a must.
If you don't make waves, it means you ain't paddling
Sgt. Rock, how is your data book on the BMT coming along?
Conquest: It is not the Mountain we conquer but Ourselves
I just got lucky. The trail I was on looked sort of right until I got to the road and realized what I had done. If the trail would have been longer, who knows?
I did as much as I could given my experience with the trail at that time. I passed it off to my partner in the project, Bill Ristom, who was going to add some notes from his hikes on the BMT. His wife works at the printers that is going to do it, so I told them they had my agreement with whatever formats they worked out on it. Bill and Diana are going to Hawaii this month (smart move!) so I don't know what the status is. The hope was to have a product this month. I've been pretty impressed with how accurate the thing is considering I did all my initial research through the Internet and looking at maps. There are some small things I am working on changing based on my hike so far. I figure Bill and Diana will probably already have most of what I am observing. So, that said, next years edition will probably have my notes and whatever they are adding to make the descriptions stronger.
On top of the descriptions I am thinking about writing a couple of pieces. The first would be a re-supply article similar to what Baltimore Jack did for the AT. A "How to thru-hike" the BMT guide so to speak - with that I am also thinking about making a comparison article about how the BMT compares to the same stretch of the AT for those contemplating what I'm doing. The other thing is a inclusion of some observations of the trail in the preface of the guide. The more I hike the BMT the more I belive folks that complain about the AT needing more blazes would be totally screwed on the BMT.
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
-----------------------------------------
NO SNIVELING
On our trip on the BMT from 20 mile to Smokemont last Oct., I had to "guess" which way the trail went several times. And yes, I had a map. Went the wrong way at least twice before eyeballing the trail and figuring....geez...this can't be right....looks like someone's picnic trail down to the lake.
Another surprise we had was that CS #72 is NOT avaialble from the trail. It is boat accessible only.
Still, seemed like it all made the whole thing more of an adventure.
I wonder if it is walking access now with the drought?
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
-----------------------------------------
NO SNIVELING
There was no trail off the BMT to access #72....
~If you cant do it with one bullet, dont do it at all.
~Well behaved women rarely make history.
any got any new info on a new BMT guide book