Hike your own trails, make your own journey. I'm planning a cross BC hike that will bring me to a lot of beautiful places, and the best part is little to no people.

>>2801178
It's probably because most of them are going to yellow blaze their way across with as minimal hiking as possible. For the rest of their life they'll tell all their fellow cashiers at Kohl's about that one time they hiked the AT because it's all they got going for them.

>>2801178
no, it'll still be filled with hobos and druggies

>>2801274
This. AT is overhyped garbage. In summer months the every shelter you pass is filled with waste, garbage, and flies. Thousands of fucking flies.

>>2801282
My first multi week hike was the AT, started in Georgia and quit in NC at the dam.
Every single shelter looked like a homeless camp. filthy califags and actual hobos trying to bum $5 and smoking pot/other drugs. Trash was everywhere and the trail was always crowded. I said fuck it and now only hike on lesser known trails.

>>2801248
Fuck you. I passed every single white blaze last year. Took me 7 fucking months because I had fun. I made no exceptions except for the detor in New York near Bear Mountain, but they put up new white blazes on the detor, so fuck you, too.
>>2801282
Just don't stay at the shelters if you're too autistic to handle flies. Holy shit
>>2801274
Just don't fuck with the hobos and druggies, and simply leave whenever you want because you actually have leg muscles while they sit on their asses all day. Holy shit

In the age of phone GPS I don't know what trails are even for. I can just Skyrim in a straight line anywhere I want easily.

>>2801302
>anon has never set foot on real mountains
unfortunate

>>2801316
I go summit hiking every once in a while, but usually I'm just going out to some remote forest or swamp.

>>2801302
I live in a high desert where you actually can Skyrim in a relatively straight line.
I visited Tennessee for the first time last year, I don't see how you could bushwhack in a straight line through the Great Smoky Mountains. Especially without getting fucked by poison ivy or poison oak or whatever version they have. I fully understand why trails exist in places like that.

>>2801325
You have to wear clothing that allows 100% freedom of movement and be prepared to use all four limbs at all times. A walking stick is essential. Ice cleats are beneficial year round because the wet leaves and mud can be as slippery as ice. The big difference between eastern and western terrain is that in the east you don't walk, you climb and crawl. You basically have to unlearn bipedalism to get anywhere efficiently without injury.

>>2801340
Considering I am unironically about 8 minutes from AT in Tennessee. I'm calling bullshit on most of what you're saying.

>wet leaves and mud
At no point has wet leaves or mud been as slipper as ice, ever. That's just you have weak ankles.

>>2801325
He is shitposting, I grew up here my whole life, family still lives on the mountains, I live in the Middle TN plateau now only a few minutes from them.
It's impossible to straight line through most of it because you'll be walking and cliff side out of nowhere into a drop that would instant end game you at a moments notice.
So even if you climbed down safely, you'll be met just a few minutes later with another cliff face you have to climb up.

Unless you're autistically into climbing and wasting hours of your day to travel a few hundred feet. We use the trails that bypass these sections entirely.
Some areas (Chatty white rafting rivers) would effectively be impossible to straight line by any reasonable person depending on which second you came across.

So sure theoretically you could straightline, if you're willing to add multiple days or weeks to your hike.
However guaranteed you aren't doing the full AT in one go. You'll reach the next town and give up because your body is a broken damaged thing.

>>2801358
Try spikes like these https://kahtoola.com/traction/microspikes-footwear-traction/

You'll be amazed at the difference they make year-round when you're off trail. I got the idea years ago when I noticed I had a strange subconscious temptation to keep wearing my snowshoes even after the snow was gone and realized it was because of the spike traction. Now I keep a lightweight pair of spikes in my pack at all times. This also means I don't have to be as discriminating about tread patterns on shoes so it's much easier to buy footwear. They're a bit noisy on gravel though, that's the only drawback.

>>2801372
I have never needed spikes period unless it was an ice storm.
It's a non issue, I go hiking in the wilderness rain or sun almost on a daily basis.

>>2801358
>It's impossible to straight line through most of it because you'll be walking and cliff side out of nowhere

There is nothing on the east coast that can stop me except bodies of water, unless I'm in the mood for swimming.

I've noticed lots of people wear clothing that makes freedom of movement impossible, don't understand the value of a walking stick, and have a hesitancy or inability to adopt crawling and climbing postures. If you're one of those types of guys who wears thick jeans sagging below your butt and heavy boots and you've always had that kind of thing going on training your body to move wrong then I can see why you'd find the Appalachians very challenging to navigate. I can tell just by looking at someone whether they have "mountain legs". It has a lot to do with squat posture. There's something that goes wrong with certain people and they don't learn to move their lower bodies correctly and it makes everything harder for them and destroys their backs at a young age. This is the most likely reason why you're saying these things.

>>2801379
You don't need them, but once you start using them you won't go back.

>>2801295
>lol hobos are fine bro just put up with all the garbage, drugs, and panhandling
average urbanoid

>>2801384
It's embarrassing that people actually act like that. Imagine having to wade through needle-ridden trash and having to sidestep a hobo camp on the fucking AT.

>>2801387
You and I both know it's not really that bad. There's a lot of wilderness and space out there. You can still hike without that kind of risk. I had only really two homeless encounters that were annoying. The rest was people smoking weed so much inside shelters, but that only pissed me off because I'm autistic.
>>2801384
Weak. But fair enough. Just because you can still hike when it's filthy like that doesn't mean it should be that way. The trash is half of the reason there are bear and mice problems.

>>2801380
what the fuck are you talking about schizo.
you sound like the same faggot in the ESSE knife thread and Fishkar axe.
Autistically ranting on about nothing important.
I guarantee that is you.

>>2801381
doubtful, any time someone recommends me some comfort item I find it just makes me weaker.
my feet do their best when they are quite literally beaten into the ground.

>>2801387
It's the AT, beat them within an inch of their life.
No one is going to miss them and there won't be anyone for literally hours by which point you would have been gone 20-30 miles away.

Why is there so much made up bullshit and wild assumption itt? Don’t you retards realize a few of us know you’re wrong because we’ve actually hiked the AT?

>>2801402
Don't be ridiculous, no one on /out/ actually goes outside

>>2801178
>registering for a hike
wut

>>2801404
normies cannot do anything without posting it on tic tac or getting a medal this much we know. So they register on this random site so they can say their name when they complete it

>>2801402
well im sure you are aware, but bad memories tend to come to the forefront when remembering something, so you'd say i almost got mauled by a grizzly before talking about a sunset you experienced with some hippy chick. It also makes you sound more rugged and cool to mongolian basket weaving forum enjoyers

>>2801395
If you prefer to suck more than you have to, go for it.

>>2801431
True but
>the AT is rife with homeless junkies
Is just fucking stupid.

>>2801455
it's not sucks more, it's about making yourself weaker.
you are losing stabilizer muscle mass by assisting your ability to dynamically stabilize.

>>2801178
I knew I had a good feeling about this year