Tree Top Flyer

[Tree Top Flyer]

Let’s say, you have a curious nature about yourself that leads you to go places you probably shouldn’t be going walking. Say, an alligator and poisonous snake infested swamp. Let’s call said swamp, the Great Okeefenokee Swamp on southern Ga.

As if the gators and snakes aren’t challenging enough, decide to go when the place is experiencing a major drought and happens to be on fire. And if that’s not enough, how about you go when there’s a lot of lighning predicted for that day which most likely will start more fires.

Lastly, don’t tell anyone you’re going and wear flip flops on your happy little jaunt through this den of death.

No, I’m dumb, but not that dumb. But a buddy of mine sure is and only suffered some slighly toasted eyebrows and a really bad case of poison ivy. He still insists that it was a good idea and has plans to return to the swamp, very soon. I say, probably permanantely.

[Tree Top Flyer]

Then may I suggest a hike to Starr Mtn after you read a bit of the history about “The Hermit of Starr Mountain.” You can google Starr Mountain and read up on it and there’s also a book out but you can get the picture from the stuff on the web. Starr Mtn is located in McMinn County, Tn. It’s a great place to bike, hike, and ride horses.

[Tree Top Flyer]

I’ve been very careful on my blog about not saying that, doesn’t mean it’s never crossed my mind.

[Tree Top Flyer]

I’d love to say I’m going to stay below 30 lbs but I know me and I’ll bring some needless stuff along and will end up around 40 lbs, especially since I drink tons of water when I’m not hiking so I have to carry a huge amount when I go for a walk. Mostly, I just want room enough to be able to transfer some of my wifes gear into my pack if need be when she joins me on the trail.

I’m going to get a one person tent since I’ll be solo for the majority of the hike.

I appreciate all the advice and help. Again, my hike is going to be in about 5 more years as the Army isn’t going to let me go off and take 4-5 months with all the current ops going on. But it would be nice.

[Tree Top Flyer]

Stagefright:
Thanks for the reply and sorry for my delay, been doing some Army training for the last few weeks.
I guess a better question along this thread would be, how big of a pack do you actually need for the AT? I’m planning on staying below 45 lbs in the pack, hopefully. At the time of the hike, I will have retired from the Army and have pretty much learned to go without any sort of creature comforts for long periods, certainly not 5 months worth of misery though.
Any advice or suggestions will be very appreciated and thoroughly obsessed over.

Tree Top Flyer
SVN

[Tree Top Flyer]

I had one opportunity to “go high” in the Austrian Alps and absolutely loved it, and hated it. Why go high? I love the famous quote, “Because it was there.” That’s about the only explanation I think a person would ever need.

[Tree Top Flyer]

That’s a great post Treefrog. I just read, A Walk in the Woods four times in a row, lot’s of time out doing Army training, and it had me believing the Smokies weren’t very fun. Suddenly I remembered I grew up hiking that area and never noticed how bad they, the rules or crowds were, in fact, I have always had a blast hiking in the Smokies.

Wayne

[Tree Top Flyer]

Good choices, Shooter.

[Tree Top Flyer]

Guest:

Excellent question.
I grew up in the Starr Mtn area of Tennessee, just South of the Smokies and spent most of the Summer and about half of Christmas Breaks on top of the mountains for weeks at a time. I can remember hiking/camping trips where I didn’t even pack a jacket and ran around in shorts and t-shirts for about a decade during Christmas Break.
To me, the coldest and worst weather in Tn and Western N.C. would be late Feb through mid-March and then it magically warms up. These days it seems a lot colder just after Christmas, which makes me dubious of the Global Warming debate.
This past Christmas (2006) I spent about two weeks in North Ga on Brasstown Bald, in Western North Carolina, the Smokies, and SE Tn and the heaviest thing I wore was a light Old Navy fleece pullover, a pair of Polar Tech long undies, and either a ballcap or watch cap and never got cold, except when I got sweaty climbing rocks and then sat around for a while.
The good thing about hikng these hills during the Winter and early Spring is, there are no crowds at all. We had the hills to ourselves and a lot of interaction with the Rangers who were pretty bored so they were glad to spend a lot of time showing us different trails and even picked us up at the end of a couple. With the leaves gone, it’s also a great time for some awesome views.
With that said, I’d be sure to pack for the changing weather conditions in the mountains if you’re going “high” but the lower elevations are great. Winter and early Spring happen to be my favorite times to hike/camp for the reasons listed above and for the knowledge that the snakes and bugs aren’t out in force, a good thing for us and our exploring 3 yr old Son.
Hope this helps.

P.S.- Camp chili just doesn’t taste as good in the Summer as it does in the Winter after a day on the trail.

Tree Top Flyer
Savannah, GA

[Tree Top Flyer]

This is very exciting, I’m reading the book right now and would love to see it on the bigscreen. Here are a list of links you can go to concerning the movie:

A Walk in the Woods

[Tree Top Flyer]

I’ve been hiking and flying with GPS for almost 8 years and although my aircraft has two built in, I won’t go flying or hiking without my own personal GPS (Magellan Sport Trac). It’s like insurance, if you don’t have it, you’re gonna need it.
I’m still very old school in my navigating though. I prefer using a map and compass on hikes with the GPS as a great way to leave “breadcrumbs” or just to find where in the world I parked my truck.

I’d also suggest the Explorists series, not too bad on the wallet and comes with topos and mapsend at some retailers.

Wayne
Savannah, GA

[Tree Top Flyer]

In the human category I’d have to add:

Overconfidence
Ignorance
Bravado

All mixed with alcohol is even more deadly.

[Tree Top Flyer]

You could also do From the Mountains to the Sea Trail or sections of it. I’ve been reading quite a bit about this hike. This past week I’ve been all over SE and East Tn, and North Ga, and I’ve seen two other hikers other than folks in my own group. This is my favorite time of the year to get out into the woods, the bugs are gone, there’s not a lot of trail traffic, the vegetation is light as a lot of trail maitenance is being completed now, and there is plenty of fresh water to filter. The Rangers also have a lot less trouble on their hands and spend extra time explaining trails or good spots to go check out.

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