Got us another live one, Sarge, what?
I'd like to hike the AT for a few years and just relax and take in the scenery and nature.
Sounds like a good job, if you can get it.
My goal in life is to be the kind of person my dog thinks I'am.
Be like Nike. Just do it.
Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.
Might know we would have a newbie revive this thread without actually reading the posts and seeing the error of their ways before jumping in!
The AT is a federally protected hiking trail and is not covered under any "homestead act". You can not simply "live on the trail" without outside support, legally.
There are people that try to do this. It is the hiking equivilent to being a hobo and the rangers and other hikers refer to them as "Trail Trash". Most of them plan their trips so they will reach the southern states in the autunm, find an off the record job somewhere for the winter and then hit the trail again in spring. They often find an isolated trail shelter and set up housekeeping for weeks at a time rather than actually hiking. They bum food off other hikers as they pass through, often in an intimidating way the same as the pan handlers in cities.
"Hey buddie, you gonna eat all that spam? You got any extra Ramen noodles you can let me borrow? If you are going back home tonight you won't need that half jar of peanut butter will you?"
Most are on the run from the law or have mental issues. Eventually they will cause a fuss of some kind, get reported to the rangers, get pulled into an office and have a background check run on them. This will usually result in an arrest for outstanding warrant and they dissapear for a while into the system.
I saw this twice in my one season on the AT. First guy had an outstanding murder warrant out. He got pushey with a girl and was removed from the trail at gunpoint in handcuffs. The other showed up with backpack, survival knife and compound bow. A true survivor. He wound up in a mental hospital some where in North Carolina.
And the AT is crowded this time of year. Section hikers and weekend hikers are all over the trail. It is not unusual to have 150 or 200 hikers intrude on your "peace and quiet" and mess up your pretty view in the course of a day. The AT is only a few hours drive from most of the major population centers of the east. It was planned as a quick getaway for the urban masses. They do use it.
The myth of the AT disapears after about two days of up and down hiking and listening to the cars pass at the bottom of the hill.
Last edited by kyratshooter; 08-04-2012 at 11:37 AM.
If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?
"Boss, boss, de plane, de plane!" (or, here we go again!)
SARGE
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
Albert Einstein
Proud father of a US Marine....SEMPER FI!
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin
Somebody watches too many reruns of Grizzly Adams, a purely fictional tale based on mass murderer Grisly Adams.
He dispatched his many victims with an axe and stole their stuff. You did not want to run into Grisly Adams in the mountains or on the prairie and you did not want to partake of his delicious bubbling stew.
Out here in the Rocky Mountains the rangers, etc., call them "Woods Rats."KYRATSHOOTER - " ... There are people that try to do this. It is the hiking equivilent to being a hobo and the rangers and other hikers refer to them as "Trail Trash".
S.M.
How come no one ever takes SD up on his offers?
That there is real wilderness living.
I might have a chance then cause I'm not much in the looks dept. but I know about work! I've had to always use my head and my hands since I've never had much money.
My goal in life is to be the kind of person my dog thinks I'am.
My youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ultsmackdown Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/antonyraison/
(BOSWA) ELITE SURVIVAL RANGER - BSR/16/05
Probably has family there? :-)
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