The PCT vs. the Appalachian Trail, a hiker's perspective.
Click on the link in bio and head to "Hiker Sessions" or use this link to watch the full interview: youtu.be/3m6Vtp_jelk
@carollcoyne @thru_r @dirtbagceramics @CheerOnTheTrail #CDTclassof2022 #atclassof2023 #pctclassof2019 #appalachiantrail
Standing in a grassy meadow far up the mountainside of lofty Hump Mountain beneath a soft blue sky with hazy clouds. The lush green grass just ahead is interspersed with stalky plants. A handful of shrubs and rock outcrops also break up the green carpet. There are some dark gray rock outcrops to our right as the crest descends into a sag and then climbs over several summits. The crest remains grassy and open most of the way, but the flank of the mountains are wooded.
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June 3, 1983: Of all the mountains I have seen on this hike, Hump is now my favorite.
#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
If you love cascading water and waterfalls, this is a great section of trail! This is Part 2 from our March section hike along the Tennessee AT. #appalachiantrail #hiking #backpacking #waterfalls #hurricanehelene #bootsoff #blackbearresort #Tennessee #at2026 #seniorhikers
Beneath a soft blue sky with streaky clouds, we are standing high atop a mountain looking down into a sprawling valley. The valley is almost flat, with a few low hills. The valley is covered with farm fields and pastures, farm buildings and patches of forest. Some of the small hills are wooded. The air is relatively clear for summer, you can see for miles. A hazy line of mountains rises along the horizon, far in the distance.
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July 23, 1983: The trail route was rather weird today. It began with a healthy climb out of the Schuylkill Valley. Then, the AT dropped back down off the ridge crest to pass by a spring located a good distance down the side of the mountain.
#hiking #AppalachianTrail #backpacking
I'll soon be uploading part two of a three-part video series, featuring a section of the Tennessee Appalachian Trail. Catch Part 1 below! #hiking #backpacking #AppalachianTrail #seniorhiker #sectionhiking #AT2026 #Tennessee #mountainvistas
We are walking a trail through a field of lush green grass under a bright partly cloudy sky. Just ahead two trail signs mark the terminus of another trail joining the AT from the right. Just past the trail junction is a sprawling rather open grove of trees in full bud with pink, white or red flowers that continues along to the top of a knob. Beyond that knob rises the crest of a much taller mountain with wooded flanks and open, grassy stretches along parts of its crest. The two peaks of the mountain rise near the center top of the photo.
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May 18, 1983: A side trail, up from the North Carolina side, joins the Appalachian Trail just in time for this colorful display of trees in full bud.
#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
The sky is overcast, with smaller clouds drifting past below us. We are standing atop a lofty mountain on its alpine summit. A rocky trail before us winds across the crest and down the mountain. The crest is strewn with gray lichen-covered boulders. There are very small scrub spruce shrubs and small leafy shrubs turned bright reds and golds for autumn. At intervals small rock cairns are piled up beside the trail. There is a smaller wooded mountain to our right. The rest of the frame is dominated by a portion of a huge lake in the otherwise wooded flattish valley below. Beyond the lake is a low wooded ridge and then another valley with two more lakes visible. Beyond that are more ridges and valleys with a slightly larger peak on the far horizon.
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September 22, 1983: Morning emerged reluctantly from the murk, leaking a cold, bleak light through the persisting deluge. I glanced outside, rolled over, and slept in until 8:30.
#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
Rise doing a flip flop hike.
Mountain Man & Sticks doing a flip flop hike.
Missy & Kermit doing a flip flop hike.
Kermit with Cam Jansen & Pizza doing a flip flop hike. Cam & Pizza are also going into Canada to do part of the International Trail & then are heading back down to Harper’s Ferry to head past Georgia and into Alabama!
It was such a busy weekend with #AppalachianTrail #Hikers staying with me. It was really a great group of people to kick off my #hikerseason. There’s Rise, Mountain Man & Sticks, Missy, Kermit and Cam Jansen & Pizza.
Cam & Pizza are also doing part of the #IATNLTrail & going to #Canada
#ATHike2026
Beneath a deep blue sky with a few clouds we are standing on the shore of a large lake looking out over some tall water grasses. There is a white rock and a small tree to our left. The unsubmerged portion of a tree trunk that fell into the lake is a few feet ahead. The protruding tip of a single branch of another submerged dead tree is a short distance past that. The far shore of the lake is heavily wooded, except for a single visible cottage. A tall green mountain rises above the trees on that shore.
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August 23, 1983: The initial four miles were a piece of cake. The Appalachian Trail traversed flat terrain through dense forests. I breezed quickly over that stretch to make some time for later.
#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
"An execution." 💔😢💔
#forests #wildflowers #nature #earthday #RoanokeVA #DamascusVA #BlacksburgVA #FloydVA #GeorgeWashingtonNationalForest #JeffersonNationalForest #AppalachianTrail #AT #Virginia #MountRogers #McAfeeKnob #GraysonHighlands
Looking up a mountain slope from the bottom of a grassy meadow filled with patches of yellow daffodils. To our right is a wire fence with rustic wooden posts that runs up the middle of that slope. Small patches of trees and shrubs grow along either side and hide much of the fenceline looking uphill. The very top of this slope is the wooded summit of a knob. Beyond that are the forested slopes of Hump Mountain rising above everything. Many of the trees on the top of the knob and the slopes of Hump Mountain are budding and everything is bright greens and yellows because it is still springtime at these elevations.
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June 3, 1983: I sat on top of Hump Mountain for almost an hour, drinking in views. The climb down was long and very steep.
#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
"Econoline" thinks you should do one of the other long trails before setting out on the CDT
Click on the link in bio and head to "Hiker Sessions" or use this link to watch the full interview: youtu.be/YlpD9HMjUaU
#CDT #CDTclassof2026 #atclassof2024 #pctclassof2022 #appalachiantrail #thruhiking
Looking north from the Appalachian Trail as it crosses Route 225 on top of Peters Mountain. The Susquehanna River in the background.
#appalachiantrail #susquehannariver #pennsylvania #sunset
Walking down a wide old dirt road with a surface of very light beige sandy soil. The road is bordered with tall trees on either side, they intertwine across the top, blocking out the sky and much of the sunlight, providing cool shade on a very hot summer day. The forest floor is grassy with some short leafy shrubs mixed in.
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July 9, 1983: The first seven miles of trail were another game of lost-in-the-woods. When it was over, I sat down to rest for ten minutes on a rock beside the trail.
#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
Anxiety lessens with each long hike you do, becoming more physical than mental.
Click on the link in bio and head to "Hiker Sessions" or use this link to watch the full interview: youtu.be/YlpD9HMjUaU
#CDT #CDTclassof2026 #atclassof2024 #pctclassof2022 #appalachiantrail #thruhiking #hiking
Gear changes Econoline and Dixon made for their CDT attempt this year after hiking the PCT and AT.
Click on the link in bio and head to "Hiker Sessions" or use this link to watch the full interview: youtu.be/YlpD9HMjUaU
#CDT #CDTclassof2026 #atclassof2024 #pctclassof2022 #appalachiantrail
Beneath a hazy very soft blue sky we are looking out from high on a mountain. The leafless, budding branches of trees frame the top right and top left of the photo. We are looking out over treetops covered with the small, bright light green leaves of early spring. Beyond the lower slopes of our mountain we are looking across a mostly wooded lower country of smaller hills and long valleys with green fields and farm buildings. The trees and fields are cloaked in the deeper greens of a much more advanced spring season.
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May 6, 1983: My camera received heavy use this morning, as I traversed another group of scenic ridges with equally picturesque names.
#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
Expectations for their 2026 thru-hike of the CDT.
Click on the link in bio and head to "Hiker Sessions" or use this link to watch the full interview: youtu.be/YlpD9HMjUaU #CDT #CDTclassof2026 #atclassof2024 #pctclassof2022 #appalachiantrail #thruhiking #hiking #hikersessions #baxterstatepark
A clear deep blue sky. We are standing beside a bush on the shore of a pond. The shoreline is rocky, there are more partially submerged rocks just offshore. A mixed evergreen and hardwood forest surround the pond, continuing up the slopes of a small mountain directly adjacent to the far shore. The evergreens are dark teal, the hardwoods are a riot of reds, oranges, golds, yellows and bright greens.
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September 29, 1983: A relatively-level ridge walk led to Mountain View Pond. Across the small, crystal-clear lake, Boardman Mountain’s slopes were aflame with fall colors.
#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
Why "Econoline" thinks people hike the CDT last for their triple crown achievement,
Click on the link in bio and head to "Hiker Sessions" or use this link to watch the full interview: youtu.be/YlpD9HMjUaU #CDT #CDTclassof2026 #atclassof2024 #pctclassof2022 #appalachiantrail #thruhiking #hiking
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is launching a toolkit to help small towns in Pennsylvania lead their own sustainability plans on the trail!
Learn more here: https://loom.ly/683Q2kY
#infrastructurewinswednesday
#appalachiantrail
#appalachia
Standing atop a rock ledge several hundred feet above a valley. There is a small scrub pine to our left growing through the rock and an even smaller leafy shrub to our right. A wooded slope of our mountain slants down into the valley. Across the valley are more wooded hills and low mountains. About half the valley floor is green fields. The rest is forested like the hills around it. A soft blue sky with a few clouds.
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August 14, 1983: The trail turned into a virtual rock climb straight up the face of a cliff to the top of Barrack Mountain.
#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
Balancing family responsibilities at home while hiking a long trail.
Click on the link in bio and head to "Hiker Sessions" or use this link to watch the full interview: youtu.be/YlpD9HMjUaU #CDT #CDTclassof2026 #atclassof2024 #pctclassof2022 #appalachiantrail #thruhiking #hiking #hikersessions
Sunset view near Vendeventer shelter along the TN Appalachian Trail. It's early spring and the amber rays are cast through the empty tree branches and land on a narrow leaf strewn path in the forest floor. A large rhododend grows on the right side of the path.
The best part about tenting are the sunsets and rises. #hiking #backpacking #appalachiantrail #sunsetphotography
A rugged green landscape of rolling grassy meadows with some green shrubs and a few trees. Two massive gray rock outcrops frame the scene on the left and right sides in the near distance. Centered between them but farther away across the grasslands is a third massive gray rock outcrop. The outcrop to our left is naked gray rock, the other two are partially covered with green grasses and small green shrubs. In the hazy distance, perhaps a couple of miles away, we see the forested flanks of a ridge rising several hundred feet above us.
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June 10, 1983: Later, as I descended along the ridge, I encountered a herd of about fifteen wild horses grazing a grassy saddle between two rocky knobs.
#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
...announcement will be made on the #AppalachianTrail 🤫
Even seasoned hikers still have anxiety prior to starting a long trail.
Click on the link in bio and head to "Hiker Sessions" or use this link to watch the full interview: youtu.be/YlpD9HMjUaU
#CDT #CDTclassof2026 #atclassof2024 #pctclassof2022 #appalachiantrail #thruhiking #hiking #hikersessions
Beneath a soft blue summer sky with hazy white clouds we are atop the crest of Blue Mountain standing on an overlook looking across the treetops of the forested mountainside below. Hundreds of feet below us is the vast agricultural Cumberland Valley with farms and rural lanes and small villages. There are a few low wooded hills and strips of forest between some of the fields. The air is relatively clear for summer, you can see for miles. A hazy line of mountains rises along the horizon, far in the distance.
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July 14, 1983: High Rock had a takeoff platform for hang gliders and excellent views north and west of the Cumberland Valley in Pennsylvania. I sat and watched for a few minutes and shot some pictures of the views.
#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
Beneath a deep blue sky with a few small clouds we are standing at one end of a line of light gray stone cliffs covered in many places with small leafy shrubs. A series of brilliant green ridges separating narrow valleys cascade to the horizon. The ridges are wooded, there are some large fields and pastures in the valleys.
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May 27, 1983: Less than two miles later, another side trail led to White Rock Cliffs, from which there were more great views.
#backpacking #hiking #AppalachianTrail
