Appalachian Trail

[sandman]

I've just finished re-reading Bill Bryson's very funny book ''A walk in the woods'' about walking the Appalachian Trail, very witty and full of little anecdotes of his walk. the bit about him being picked up by a pair of randy newly weds , or soon to be weds is hilarious.
But the subject of this thread have any of you out there any personal experiance of this trial or trail , both are relevent :) .
Although he's drawn some pictures ,i would really like to see some photo's of parts of this walk , can't find many anywhere , the 'net' has some but they won't come up to the standards posted on here.

Any out there anywhere ? or anyone walked part or all of it .

I've done a bit of hill walking , but like Bill just can't get my head around the scale of this walk , but thousands attemp it every year, some finish , some don't, but they all start out full of hope.

Any of you try it or thought about it ?.

Brian

[CaptJR]

Brian
The Appalachian Trail goes through the west edge of York County Pa. which I live in now and the adjacent Cumberland County Pa. which I grow up in. When I was a child, I belonged to 'Boys Brigade' which was our church's version of the Boy Scouts. All our hiking and camping trips took place on the Appalachian Trail. I was wondering where I'd go to take some fall pictures and you just made my decision for me. I'd better hurry up though before the colors are gone.
JR

[coughlin47]

JR - we aren't too far from each other. I'm in Northern Berks County - right along the Appalachian trail. Some of the most scenic parts of the trail are only about 15 miles from me - especially the 'Pinnacle'. I've hiked about 50 miles of this section of the trail several times when my sons were in Boy Scouts. We even did a couple overnighters during the winter! (good idea at the time .... now my body couldn't handle it!)
Today's newspaper has an article about a local man, age 45, who just finished the entire trail. He started the 2,173 hike on April 3rd and finished on Octber 4th. He took pictures - 152 rolls worth! The trip cost him several thousand dollars, including $2,000 for dried food. He did not take a cell phone, and he hiked it alone.
Brian - if you ever decide to come over and hike it, let me know - I'd hike a portion of it with you. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the hikes I took....maybe I'll have to head up there and get a few shots for you (when my S2 arrives of course!)
Regards,
Bill

[smunky]

Ive walked alot of parts of it, but was not inclined to take photos as it was more of a personal experience.
I live right near it too

[proberts]

I've done a few parts of it in Virginia and Maryland. Used to camp out past Big Schloss years ago. I never took a camera with me either, in the winter, I needed more room for the Peppered Vodka ;)

Paul

[jknights]

Brian,
The Appalachian Trail is meant to be really spectacular for autumn colours. I kept meaning to try and get some time off when I was in US during the fall to do some photography along the trail but time never permitted. Toooo busy.

Since I am going to be my own boss in 2004 then maybe time will be more available but then I need to get somebody to pay my airfare from UK.

[S_Leeper]

Several of my more favorite places to go shooting are on, or very near, the AT.

The below was my most recent shot last week, when I made the tremendous sacriface of commuting up to CT (85 mi) a number of days... of course the fall foliage, nor my average arrival time of 11am had nothing to do with my willingness to go...

The above was at Bear Mtn State park in NY, which is only a little out of the way...

[S_Leeper]

Another quick shot I ran across from last winter. This one in Stokes State Forest, NJ, along the AT...

[S_Leeper]

Hit the wrong button above...

[KPRussell]

Sam,

Those are both great shots ...

I would have probably bent that one thin branch back in the first summer shot you have, otherwise, both are great and remind me I need to hit the trail soon!

I live in North Georgia, the start of the Trail.

Take care and have a great weekend!

[S_Leeper]

Thanks for the compliment.

I was/am too lazy to clone it out.
As far as bending it back, the tree is rooted on the side of the cliff, making it out of reach. I had also left my rope in the car that I will sometimes be able to sling over out of reach branches to pull out of the way.
I went back & forth along the ridge to try & get a clearer shot... But, that area is on a 30-50 cliff, with lots of damp leaves & slippery green fungus*... I ended up setting up my tripod at about 18" high to try & get under it...

[sandman]

Thanks everyone
Some more pics would be good, but thanks Sam , 2 good pics that second one wants to make me pull my collar up .
I don't know if any of you have read Bryson's book , there one passage where the weather closes in and they have to struggle through snow drifts , wonderful stuff .

Brian

[CaptJR]

I promised Sandman some pictures of the Appalachian Trail. I sorry it took me so long, but I wanted them to be special pictures. Taken at what I think is one of the most picturest places on the trail. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I'm enjoying posting them.:) ;)
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JR:D

[CaptJR]

A closeup of the trail

[CaptJR]

A look at the trail from a distance

[CaptJR]

And finally, some of the beautiful scenery along the trail.

[sandman]

WOW capt i'm speechless (and thats saying something), they are without doubt the greatest pictures of the trail i've ever seen. they should be put somewhere, i think i've got the perfect place .

PLEASE PLEASE let me show you 2 of mine they are two of the most inspiring pictures i've ever taken , i've never shown them to anyone ,but you deserve to see them .

Both are very personal to me

[sandman]

a hole

[sandman]

This is a beauty you have to stare at it for about 6 hours to get the full meaning of it

Watching concrete dry

[sandman]

I realise my meagre efforts are not in the same league as yours but i hope you know i went to as much effort as you did , Thanks again.

Brian

[smunky]

Sandman:
Your poignant photograph of that hole was so moving that I cried buckets.
Ive never seen a more intelligent look at a hole.
*sniffles*
Bravo!

[sandman]

Dug it with my own fair hand Kim , it's like a baby , i cried when it was filled in ..
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. Sod it i'm getting fed up with all this , i'm going to have a drink .

[Swampy]

Where ever Smunky goes--- Someone's drinkin'. :D

[sandman]

This was almost like a religous experience to me . Drool over this Capt .
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last bit of piss taking ... thats it . finished.

Bryan this threads enough to drive anyone to drink..

[smunky]

I hope swampy isnt implying ppl need a drink to be around me :)

Theres nothing more satisfying than digging a hole.

[sandman]

Amen to that smunky

[Swampy]

I'm not implying ANYTHING. I am just observing and taking notes. :cool:

You have to admit that after digging a large hole like that, there is some great satifaction in getting yourself out of that hole......

[sandman]

Just to finish this thread on a serious note Capt's pics just show that the trail is'nt all about beautiful views and wild woodland walks, this shows the urban aspect to it as well .

Thanks capt (mean it now ).

Brian

[CaptJR]

Originally posted by sandman
This is a beauty you have to stare at it for about 6 hours to get the full meaning of it

Watching concrete dry

I've been sitting here waiting and waiting for that concrete to dry. It's starting to get dark out. I think it looks dry now.

[sandman]

Now it's O.K, just needed a few more hours .
glad it's done i can drive my trucks in without worrying about broken axles.

[CaptJR]

I'm glad its finally dry, I'm tired.
Camping out

Later
JR

[smunky]

LOL that picture is almost believable.

[sandman]

Yea i'm going to reverse right back over him .
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I've enjoyed this thread , it's been a bit out of the ordinary , but enough is enough .
Lets get back to the trail pics please.

Brian

[jknights]

In response to your request.
I just wish I had taken those two shots by Sam.

Really beautiful.
USA at it's best. No greyness like here in UK !

Today the sky is grey yet again. If you wanted a perfect 18% grey then just take a shot of the (sky) clouds.

BTW: the grey in Brian's photos is not the cement, but a reflection of the sky in the UK.

[S_Leeper]

Thanks for the compliment.

Having lived in western Washington for approx 5 years I know just how grey the skies can stay for month's on end. Though some people hear think I'm a bit daft when I see a beautiful blanket of clearly defined, but softly undulating grey clouds giving the sky a nice consistent texture...
Ok maybe I am a bit off, but I do agree that the fact that today will be the first Sunday in the last six weeks that I will be able to shoot my kid's soccer game at something other than iso800 or 1600 will be a welcome joy!!!
To make you feel better I'm attaching a where there is almost NO cloud cover showing those beautiful blue skies, also very near (or on the AT) in northwest NJ.

[Smithcottage@ms]

I live near to the "AT" but rarely use it. It is much too busy and over-hiked. Look to trails in Pa such as the Loyalsock trail, the West Rim Trail, and The Old Loggers Path for wonderful remote hiking!

[CaptJR]

Looks like I'm going to shoot a wedding. My niece is getting married and she ask me to. I haven't done anything like this in so long now. So I remember having learnt so much on here and decided to review some of the questions I had ask. I did a search on my own name here and ran across this thread. I laughed pretty hard Sandman. Maybe there are some new people here that will get a little kick out of this so I bumped it. Start from the beginning and check out the little back and forth between me and Sandman. Pretty funny if I do say so myself.

I stop in from time to time and look at pictures. Always enjoy them.
Have a great year all.
JR

[sandman]

Glad your still around Capt , i enjoyed that as well , 2 years old i'd forgotten about it .
Still want some shots of the trail if anyone has any (not you capt).

Brian

[Linda G]

How did I MISS this back then? what a riot!

How many holes have you dug and filled up since? How many naps?

Oh, and how many beautiful images of the trail have been taken, by anyone here or elsewhere?

Capn, as for the wedding, remember, have fun. Be relaxed. I know it's not easy but pretend so everyone else stays calm, that'll make your job so much easier both then and when you're processing the pics.

One of the most important speeches I make as I'm photographing a wedding is, "I know there are many people behind me, wanting to take pictures too. That's fine but PLEASE, when I'm taking pictures, look at me. We don't want to get the pictures printed and see eyes headed in every direction."

Make them laugh, make them understand and then you'll have better results.

Even with the speech, the last wedding, one of the older ladies had already been into the refreshments and out of 7 pics of her, not ONCE is she looking at me! The bride was a little furious when she saw them but not at me. whew!