Twig Adventures

Tag: thru-hiking

BMT Day 2: Ridges then Rivers

Benton MacKaye Trail

Thursday, May 2nd, 2024, 0710-1930Wallalah Mt. to Fall Branch Falls, mm 4221.5 miles, Gain: 4600′, Loss: 5500′, elevation 2190′ It was such a wonderful night on top my little mountain. There were some distant farm sounds like dogs barking, but I felt so far above everything else. In the middle of the night, I heard something crashing through the forest below, snorting as it went … probably a deer. But I felt like I was at the top of a castle and that nothing could get me. I woke to watch a beautiful sunrise while packing, then started down the trail. It followed a series of ridges to another mountaintop: Lick Log. Then more ridges which seemed to go on[…]

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BMT Day 1: Picture Perfect

Appalachian Trail, Benton MacKaye Trail

Wednesday, May 1st, 2024, 0740-1900Springer Mountain Shelter to Wallalah Mt., mm 2121 miles, Gain: 4400′, Loss: 5050′, elevation 3086′ My goodness, what a beautiful trail the BMT was at the start! Green tunnels, waterfalls, swing bridges, rivers, creeks, and mountain top sunsets and sunrises. I didn’t set an alarm and woke with the dawn. The birds were in full swing with their songs, so lovely. The sun came up over the ridge and the rays penetrated brilliantly through the trees. While having breakfast at the shelter, RocknRoll asked if I’d screamed in the middle of the night and if I was ok. It was such a peaceful night, but perhaps I had a night terror. Or maybe it was one[…]

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BMT Day 0: The Approach

Appalachian Trail, Benton MacKaye Trail

Tuesday, April 30th, 2024, 1400-1930Amicalola Falls State Park (famous Stone Arch at the beginning of the AT approach trail) to Springer Mountain Shelter, mm 010 miles, Gain: 3270′, Loss: 1300′, elevation 3780′ It was an auspicious and serendipitous Day 0 to get to the start of the BMT. In actuality, it was a several day journey to get to this point, which I’ll try to quickly sum up. Two days before, I drove from Miami to Gainesville so I could split the drive and also reconnect with my friend Eve. I met her through the Florida Trail Association and we had adventured together a lot in years past. She moved from Miami to Gainesville a few years ago, which made[…]

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Up Next: the Benton MacKaye Trail

Benton MacKaye Trail

The Benton MacKaye Trail (BMT) is named after a visionary, who, in 1921, was the first to propose the idea of a continuous footpath running from Maine to Georgia…the Appalachian Trail. Incidentally, his New England roots are the reason original AT signage says “Maine to Georgia”, rather than the other way around, which is typically the direction the trail is hiked. (I, of course, followed historical protocols and hiked the AT southbound in 2021.) The BMT was officially opened on July 16, 2005 and is maintained by the BMT Association. Description from the Benton MacKaye Trail Association website: With its glorious ridgeline views and the innumerable crossings of mountain streams, the almost 300 mile long Benton MacKaye Trail comes by its reputation[…]

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PCBCRT Summary and Stats

Bigfoot Trail, Oregon Coast Trail, Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail, Pacific Crest Trail

Since the Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail was my conglomeration of 4 named long distance trails (Oregon Coast Trail, Bigfoot Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Tahoe Rim Trail), it was difficult to summarize such a journey in one post. I struggled between breaking the summary into distinct parts to cover each trail, or lumping all the data together. In the end, I did a little bit of both. Several of the trails were pretty intermingled, especially the PCT and BFT. I also followed a spur trail down the California Coast, which I characterized as part of the Oregon Coast Trail, yet it was really just an extension to connect to Crescent City (terminus of the BFT) and see parts[…]

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PCBCRT Bonus Hike: The Pinecrest Loop Trail

Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail, Pacific Crest Trail

Scott and Sailor, the hosts of the Sonora Pass PCT Hiker Cabin, were keen to share a 78 mile loop hike that they created. I met them at PCT Trail Days, which is where they told me about their cabin and the Pinecrest Loop Trail, or PLT. You can read more about this trail here. The idea behind it is for PCT hikers to be able to connect to Pinecrest on foot, if so desired, but to also provide the local community with a route encompassing nearby trails that connect all the way to the PCT and Yosemite National Park. I had some extra time at the end of my thru-hike from the Columbia River to the Tahoe Rim Trail[…]

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Hayduke Route Summary & Stats

Hayduke Trail

First and foremost, a huge thanks goes to Mike Coronella and Joe Mitchell, the creators of this route. Their passion and vision for exploring the Colorado Plateau was groundbreaking. Such a challenging and remote route was only made possible by the information generously shared by them and others that followed in their footsteps. There are some notable mapmakers and alternate-seekers that also deserve some accolades: Jamal Green, Andrew Skurka, Li Brannfors and Nic Barth. I also benefited greatly from information contained in many blogs and videos by these intrepid hikers: Buck30, Wired, Katherine Cook, Carrot Quinn, Constantine, Plants, and Samson the Bear. Carrot appropriately described the Hayduke Route, as this: “Walk cross-country towards a canyon, over lumpy slickrock and/or sagebrush[…]

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Hayduke Bonus: Zion Canyon & The Subway, Zion National Park

Hayduke Trail

Wednesday Oct 11th-Thursday Oct 12th, 2023Total distance: 12 miles Day 1: Zion Canyon Day hiking, 2.5 miles After finishing our Buckskin/Paria hike, Worm and I headed straight back to Zion National Park (well, besides a long pit stop for AYCE pizza in Kanab). We had just enough time in the afternoon to drive to the park headquarters and take the tourist shuttle into the main canyon. On the way, we went past Checkerboard Mesa, where we’d ended our Hayduke hike a few days beforehand. We couldn’t continue to the official Hayduke terminus of the Weeping Wall because a 2018 landslide destroyed the trail. We also had a timeline to make our permitted dates for the Buckskin Gulch hike, so we[…]

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Hayduke Bonus: Buckskin Gulch and the Paria River

Hayduke Trail

Monday, Oct 9th to Wednesday Oct 11th, 2023Total distance: 45 miles You can watch Worm’s accompanying video here. To celebrate finishing the Hayduke, we walked down some MORE canyons! This was all thanks to Worm, who scored us some last minute permits and also provided his wheels to get us to the hike. While I’m at it, note that most of the pictures posted here are also his…basically if I’m in the photo, he took it! I also must thank our Hayduke cohort, Sky, who shuttled us from Lees Ferry to Wire Pass trailhead so that Worm’s van would be waiting for us at the end of the hike. Sky’s impeccable timing meant that they just so happened to be[…]

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HayDay 44: Zion, the Promised Land and the Finish

Hayduke Trail

Saturday, Oct 7th, 2023, 0700-1300East Fork Virgin River & Poverty Wash to HWY 9, later a visit to the Weeping Wall6 miles (this is a guess, I forgot to check) It was a lovely night and we woke to our last day on the official Hayduke route. In true Hayduke style, we had to face several more challenges, even though we only had a few miles remaining. First was braving the cold water in the morning, but this was pretty easy. I’d gotten really used to wet feet on the Hayduke and the water wasn’t all that cold. Next we had a final waterfall to bypass. I was so glad I downloaded the bypass description from Across Utah, because there[…]

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