Appalachian Trail Journals

If you enjoy reading Appalachian Trail Journals, I humbly submit mine for your perusal. I still hold onto the dream of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, but until enough time opens up for me, I plan on section-hiking the trail in big chunks.

This first installment covers a month-long, 300-mile southbound hike from just south of Damascus, Virginia to Wesser, North Carolina which I completed in June of 2009. Much of the trail through this section straddles the North Carolina-Tennessee border and includes Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Table of Contents

  1. Low Gap, TN US Rte 421 to Double Springs Shelter
  2. Double Springs Shelter to Vandeventer Shelter
  3. Vandeventer Shelter to Laurel Fork Shelter
  4. Laurel Fork Shelter to Moreland Gap Shelter
  5. Moreland Gap Shelter to Mountaineer Shelter
  6. Mountaineer Shelter to Mountain Harbour Hostel
  7. Mountain Harbour Hostel
  8. Mountain Harbour Hostel to Overmountain Shelter
  9. Overmountian Shelter to Greasy Creek Friendly Hostel
  10. Greasy Creek Friendly Hostel to Beauty Spot Gap
  11. Beauty Spot Gap to Uncle Johnny’s Nolichucky Hostel, Erwin, TN
  12. Uncle Johnny’s Nolichucky Hostel, Erwin, TN to near No Business Knob Shelter
  13. Near No Business Knob Shelter to Bald Mountain Shelter
  14. Bald Mountain Shelter to Hogback Ridge Shelter
  15. Hogback Ridge Shelter to Flint Mountain Shelter
  16. Flint Mountain Shelter to Hemlock Hollow Hostel
  17. Hemlock Hollow Hostel to Duckett House, Hot Springs, NC
  18. Duckett House, Hot Spings, NC to Walnut Mountain Shelter
  19. Walnut Mountain Shelter to Groundhog Creek Shelter
  20. Groundhog Creek Shelter to Standing Bear Hostel
  21. Standing Bear Hostel to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
  22. Tri-Corner Knob Shelter to Icewater Spring Shelter
  23. Icewater Spring Shelter to Double Spring Gap Shelter
  24. Double Spring Gap Shelter to Spence Field Shelter
  25. Spence Field Shelter to Fontana Dam Shelter
  26. Fontana Dam to Cable Gap Shelter
  27. Cable Gap Shelter to Locust Cove Gap
  28. Locust Cove Gap to Nantahala Outdoor Center, Wesser, NC

Thank you for reading my Appalachian Trail journals. I look forward to hiking the Appalachian Trail next year and posting another installment. I have included some Appalachian Trail resources that I found helpful in planning my hike.

Appalachian Trail Resources

The A.T. Guide

The A.T. Guide is the new and improved version of Appalachian Pages that I use to plan my hikes. There are Northbound and Southbound editions, available bound or unbound, so you can carry just the pages you need. The A.T. Guide has mileages, landmarks and elevation profiles for the entire trail, details about shelter locations, water sources, and services along the way, and maps of about fifty trail towns.

Appalachian Trail Conservancy

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is a volunteer-based organization dedicated to the preservation and management of the natural, scenic, historic, and cultural resources associated with the Appalachian National Scenic Trail in order to provide primitive outdoor-recreation and educational opportunities for Trail visitors. I ordered my trail maps from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. They also offer the A.T. Data Book and other publications about hiking the Appalachian Trail.

WhiteBlaze.net

White Blaze is a lively hiking forum where Appalachian Trail enthusiasts can ask questions and share their knowledge and experiences.

TrailJournals.com - Appalachian Trail Journals

One way to gain perspective on long-distance hiking is to read the Appalachian Trail journals of others. TrailJournals.com has hundreds of journals including other long trails such as the Pacific Crest Trail.