>btw I did the longest trail possible

>>2753538
Holy shit, those clout-seeking kids are living rent free in your head. God damn.

>yeah bruh that 4 year old tattererd piece of rotting yarn is to remind me about my at hike broh
>my trail name was nasty butt wipe. It was the most human experience I ever had man. I can't believe everyone doesn't do it!
>do you want fries with that?

>>2753538
I'd do it just to be in the woods for an extended period of time.

>>2753706
yes, yes they do

I hiked a section of it right after the bubble went through and there was used wet wiped just thrown on the ground in plain view of camp
truly despicable

>>2753538
Maine, Vermont, NH seem like they would be cool. Maybe NY. The PA section is in the worst /out/ part of PA so I see little value there. Then VA/TN/NC/GA are probably great

Hiking the AT seems to have peaked in the late 2000’s and 2010’s. It was popular, which meant there were up to date guidebooks and apps, the trail was well maintained, and it had just enough infrastructure to be comfortable without being over the top.

But it wasn’t so popular that there was a constant crowd of idiots. “Trail magic” was still an unexpected surprise. You might not have been able to hitchhike into town. People received trail names for a reason, and a lot of people just didn’t.

That’s all gone. The past two years have been especially egregious. There are just way too many people. There’s trail magic at every junction. It’s just gotten way too comfortable. And the trail name nonsense has gotten out of hand.

Reading stories from the 90’s or earlier is the opposite; it sounded way too hard. The trail wasn’t as maintained, you’d get arrested for hitchhiking, and you were pretty much on your own. There was a guidebook, but it was printed and often out of date. There were a lot fewer hostels as well, and almost no outfitters incase something had to be replaced. Ultralight gear wasn’t mainstream either.

The late 2000’s and 2010’s were a mix of those things, a sort of middle ground. No long distance trails exist with the infrastructure of the AT from that time.

>>2753538
Are you really surprised the biggest outdoor focus of the northeast is overrated when the people of the northeast control our cultural narratives?

>>2754110
I'm surprised there's so little discussion here of other backpacking trails nearby other than it. There's many.

>>2754069
Just hiked nobo starting some time in april and gone roughly 900 miles up. It is not as bad if you just avoid the bubble. Less trail magic, and I don't mind there being lots of places to resupply. I didn't come on the trail to purposefully atrophy my muscles and look like a twig.
The trail names are meaningless, yeah. But they are useful for remembering people's names since you meet so many over time and also are good for the privacy that the aliases provide

Currently skipping to Massachusetts soon because the humid heat and no water is fucking stupid for hiking and trying to make miles. I'm hiking this trail to hike up and be alone in tall mountains, not these 1000 foot dicklet low elevation slogs in and after Shenandoa for like 600 and a half more miles. I will come back after I summit katadyn and do the middle of the AT when it is fall and I can just get it over with in like a month so I can say I hiked the whole thing.

The AT is still not bad for somebody like me who had no real experience hiking long distances, and by the end of it I will have at least 1100 hours of just walking around outdoors under my belt so I can then have a rock solid foundation for hiking other more difficult trails. Yeah, I know the trail is trendy, but it is really working out for me and doing wonders for my sanity and physical health.
>>2754055
>VA/TN/NC/GA are probably great
They are. Very relaxing and tall forests to be in. VA is kind of shitty with the water carries, but has very cool rock structures and the grayson highlands are awesome and still have ponies. TN/NC has no toilets or bear hangs because they hate us. Smokies are the worst they've ever been. Poop and TP everywhere in the tenting areas. Section hikers have a right to kick you out of the shelters. 40 dollars to get in. The town of folton is a price gouge that sells walmart brand flour tortillas for 9 dollars. GA is fun but too short.

>>2754114
Oh, gotcha. That's simple it's cuz this board is full of fucking larpers who like gatekeeping outdoor activities more than actual being outside. Post anything less than the ultimate extreme and they shit on it. Post attempts to get people actually outside with casual camping or outdoor activities and they get emotionally upset. So they don't want to talk about the Massapeequa-Thompson (whatever east coast name) preserve trail that's only 100 miles long and easy to access, it's gotta be the Big One.

>>2754217
>Smokies are the worst they've ever been. Poop and TP everywhere in the tenting areas. Section hikers have a right to kick you out of the shelters. 40 dollars to get in.
GSMNP doesn’t charge an entrance fee. There’s only one (1) tent area along the ~70 mile stretch of the AT going through the park. The other 12 sites are all shelters, and 7 of them have privies.

>>2754219
U speek truf

>>2754219
>who like gatekeeping outdoor activities more than actual being outside.
so true

>So they don't want to talk about the Massapeequa-Thompson (whatever east coast name) preserve trail that's only 100 miles long and easy to access
to be fair the 100 mi long distance trails rarely are that easy to access and often are difficult to resupply
I think people don't want the hassle of setting up a drop or arranging to meet someone to get more supplies

>>2754110
>the people of the northeast
that's a new one

>>2754279
Welllll, the region of the US (that actually has mountains) that gets talked about the LEAST here is the southeastearn US.

>>2754263
I got stopped by a ridgerunner, and he asked to see my permit on the smokies wdym?
See this shit: https://appalachiantrail.org/explore/hike-the-a-t/thru-hiking/permits-regulations/
>Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee/North Carolina)
Backcountry permits:
>Permits are required for all overnight stays in the backcountry and hikers must have a printed copy of their permit on them.
>Hikers who meet the park’s unique definition of an A.T. thru-hiker (those who begin and end their hike at least 50 miles outside >the park and only travel on the A.T. in the park) are eligible for an A.T. Thru-hiker permit.
>Those backpacking on the A.T. who do not meet the park’s definition of an A.T. thru-hiker must obtain a General Backcountry Permit.
>The Thru-hiker permit is $40. The General Backcountry permit is $8 per person, per night.
Permits are valid for 38 days from the date issued, which provides 8 days/7 nights to hike through the park.

It's ridiculous. And there aren't tent areas, no. No disperse camping. That sucks too, since you have to go like 8 miles everyday and if you want to go more it's like 20 instead when your body still isn't ready for it. I was more talking about how at the shelters, they were full and you'd have tent around the shelter and there would be other people's shit 2 feet from you. I saw 3 privies total, and often times people would just refuse to use them because they were that nasty from all the day hikers eating slop from Gatlinburg and hiking in so they could poop everywhere all over it and leave their leftover trash up in the bear cables so we can lose privileges to those as well. I don't fuck with bear canisters, but I did not feel good for those people who carried them being forced to hang their whole entire pack with the canaster up in the cables rather than just have a fucking bear box installed with all the money they charge for people to spend the least /out/ most miserable most soggy time hiking on streams.

>>2754263
>>2754340
Oh, I'm sorry. SECTION hikers, not DAY hikers, since they're not staying there for just the day. Because they sleep one night in a shelter and aren't required to even bring a tent with them(which is why they reserve the RIGHT to kick me out of the shelter when it's raining bullets) they get to be called SECTION hikers.

>>2754340
Wait did you actually get stopped by someone who asked to see your permits?
How far from a trailhead were you?
It's funny to me how some anons go on and on about how wonderful National Parking Lots are but really it's just miles of red tape and fees.

>>2754342
I actually got stopped twice. First at Mollies ridge shelter in the morning eating breakfast. Second when I was hiking out of Peck's corner like half a mile. And no, you're absolutely right about the red tape and fees. I was having three times a much fun hiking and seeing views without much people around before I PAID to hike in the smokies. And after I got out of the smokies, there was Mack's patch and some really amazing peaceful spots that beat anything I saw up in those mountains.

What really bums me out is that at Davenport shelter, they still had prison bars on the shelter to keep the bears out, but apparently, dumbasses fed the bears through the bars, so they had to get rid of the bars and put up cables on all the other shelters and were just too lazy to remove the bars on Davenport, I guess.

>>2754342
I don't know, man. Shanendoa was only 15 dollars, but it didn't look anything like the smokies. You can tell the money you pay them is being used to keep the trail nice there. Almost all the trail is well cut and there are places to shit and spigots for filtered water and camp stores to buy food from if you want, and the shelters aren't overrun and you can just choose to camp on tenting spots at the shelters rather than it being a thing you can only do if the shelters are full like in the smokies. Also, they have bear boxes AND bear poles and don't have human food conditioned bears that will growl at you through the tent at 3 am and try to steal your hiking poles.
I was told that just a couple years ago, the smokies were 20 dollars for thru-hikers, so I think it might just be under bad management now and they're trying cash out.

>>2754344
Sorry I don't know the area. Is Mollies ridge a popular area near a main road or deep in?

>there was Mack's patch
is that in the smokies themselves or nearby?
We don't have much/easily accessible "balds/sods/patches" here

>>2754348
I'm pretty sure Shen is 30.
>but it didn't look anything like the smokies.
lol

>Almost all the trail is well cut and there are places to shit and spigots for filtered water and camp stores to buy food from if you want
just stay in a cabin and walk on roads

>>2754350
Mack's patch is nearby like 20 miles or something Northbound of the Smokies on the AT. It is regulated and you're not allowed to tent up there, but it is also free and surrounded by some pretty nice mountains and places to tent or sleep in a shelter.

Shen is only 15 for thru hikers. 30 dollars to buy a spot on one of their camp sites near the stores and SHOWERS and there might be a parking or entrance fee, I don't know.

>Just stay in a cabin/hut and walk on roads
I could, but that's not hiking the Appalachian trail. Plus, there aren't as many berries on the roads. It doesn't matter now, since I'm just going to come back and finish the shennies in the fall because it's hot as the inside of ski pants going down a black diamond and the mountains in Shenandoah are weak and boring except for hightop. Sue me

>>2753538
Esta pero unironicalle

>>2756462
was not being ironic

>>2754340
>day hikers at the shelters
The shelters are pretty far from the parking lots
>eating slop in Gatlinburg
Compared to the wholesome and complete nutritional profile of a thruhiker? Ok.

Come do the TA in NZ before it gets trooned out

>>2757242
What do you have against transgender folks? Some trans women and trans men like to hike.

>>2754069
>Things were so much cooler in CURRENT YEAR MINUS 10 when I was younger! now it sucks
I wonder what they'll say in 10 years.

>>2757592
Project 2025 will ban normies from the trails

>>2757243
Trans people reinforce sexist gender roles that oppress all of us.