Can you pitch your hammock anywhere you want on the AT???
Can you pitch your hammock anywhere you want on the AT???
That is a loaded question. There are a few places like the Smokeys that all camping is restricted. There are some balds down south. The Whites are tough because you are either above tree line or the forest is so thick you have a hard time finding a place to hang. With that said, I and many others have thru hiked in just a hammock.
Peace Dutch
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I would say other than balds or fields you can hang just about anywhere. There is only one place I think you have to walk some distance to do that and it is the moonscape from the Zinc processing plant north of Palmerton, PA. Stay in the town though. My favorite on the AT in terms of cheap services and convience.
Other than that the most you would have to do is keep walking. Don't buy into all the crap about the whites. Most people I talked to stayed in the Huts. If not there is places to stealth most nights.
Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
The hanger formly known as "hammock engineer".
As a side note for MD, Since the AT travels technically through a State Park, They only allow camping at desginated sites, Like Shelters and desaginated campsites like Dalhgran Campsite (By South Mtn Inn) Annapolis Rocks Campsite, and others. There are definatly many places to hang around the shelters. That doesn't mean you can't stealth camp. They just don't want you to, for reasons unknown to me. Although one place i wouldn't advise it is on Lambs Knoll. The FAA has a control compound up there and I don't think I'd want to be caught stealth camping around there. JMHO
NREMT-B, WEMT
CPR goes up and down, up and down......because my patient's dead.
Hanger Fromally Known as Ghost93.
Don't fret the Whites too much. Open woods last until about 2,100 ft., when the first firs appear (the boundary is dramatic, very cool). As the birches disappear, the fir forest tightens and is often full of bare, sharp branches that can shred fabric. I think the thin soils at higher elevation are a bigger risk. You'll see trees growing on, around and over rocks that might not be able to take a hammock load. Treeline starts at about 3,800 ft.
I'm a recovering Appalachian Money Club member. When you're in that area, please, please, please avoid paying them if you can. And while the hut croos can be cool to thru hikers, the hut guests generally won't understand why you're so smelly and dirty. Courtesy on the trail in the Whites in popular areas is long gone (sigh ).
Last edited by Three; 01-29-2008 at 15:09.
I enjoyed the huts. Try and talk with all of the people staying and the croo. The cool croo's will hook you up with good food. I also was given some snacks by a lot of people staying there. Yogi skills are a valuable skill on a long hike.
Talk with anyone you see hiking if you are in the mood to answer the usual questions. Most of the time when people learned I was thru hiking they would offer something to eat. Usually healthy crap, but hey.
Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
The hanger formly known as "hammock engineer".
I didn't think about hanging on the porch. I cowboyed on the Zealand falls hut. One of my favorite nights in the Whites. Only way to get away from the snoring or large groups inside.
There are some cool spots and a place with a list of stealth sites. PM me if anyone wants them. I would rather not post it since the AMC is really great with piling up wood or whatever else they can to make them unusable.
Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
The hanger formly known as "hammock engineer".
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