Southbound: BMT>AT

[medicineman03]

This past weekend a buddy and I hit up the Benton Mackaye Trail SOBO to the the AT and then down the Approach Trail to Amicalola Falls. We by chance met up with another buddy who was thru-hiking the GA Section of the AT over 4 days. We had incredible weather and some beautiful trail to enjoy it on. It was an excellent walk in the woods! I highly recommend the BMT to those looking for a bit more seclusion compared to the AT.

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Video Part 1:


Video Part 2:

[STinGa]

MM03,

Thanks for the post. I keep trying to squeeze that same trip into my schedule, but it just hasn't happened yet.

STinGa

[medicineman03]

It is a pretty cool section of trail. It shouldn't be to hard for ya since your ^ of Atlanta. Would you go southbound?

[STinGa]

My plans have been to start at Amicalola Falls and to finish at the suspension bridge.

STinGa

[sidneyhornblower]

Love thinking about this trail. Thanks for the excellent photos and videos. Whetted my appetite.

[Spacelord]

Never done this part of the trail even though it's right outside my back door. Was it crowded ? I really love the BMT from 68 coming south.

[Sweeper]

I have done the section from Springer that crosses the AT northbound several times; it's very nice to be able to avoid the crowds especially in summer. I will say that once we did the BMT northbound to over near Elijay in November and the water sources were poorly marked/dried up, that wasn't a fun section. We walked several hours very, very dry. Poor planning on our part. On the plus side, once you pass the suspension bridge you won't see much, if any people in the fall. I think Sgt. Rock has either written or is working on a guidebook, he might be able to give some additional insight into the BMT. I'd like to hike the entire thing one day as a thru hike since I'll probably never have time to finish the AT.

[abatis49]

Check out this page for all the information you need to hike the BMT. The store page has Sgt. Rock’s Guide.
http://www.bmta.org/

[medicineman03]

We didn't see a single person until we got down to Long Creek Falls. I used the pocket profile from Anti Gravity Gear http://www.antigravitygear.com/shop/...ofile-map-set/ It was pretty spot on with water sources. I have the guide as well and photocopied that section but hardly glanced at it. My buddy Pete has hiked the dry section and was unprepared for it as well. Said it kicked their butts. I'm hoping to thru-hike the BMT next year and am glad I don't have to learn about the dry section 1st hand.

[zukiguy]

Your timing is most excellent. I have a group of friends that normally tag along from FL to do a week on the AT at least once or twice a year. We're pretty much done section hiking from the start up through the Smokies but don't want to drive much farther. So, we've hit the Foothills trail and next will be the BMT. I just picked up the guidebook and I'll definitely have to make time to watch the videos. Looks like we're going to try and hit this some time in October. Hopefully water won't be much of an issue by then and we'll have some nice views as the leaves change/fall.