Appalachian Odyssey: A 28-Year Hike on America’s Trail

426 Pages·2016·69.32 MB·English

by  Jeffrey H. Ryan

APPALACHIAN ODYSSEY
A 28-YEAR HIKE ON AMERICA’S TRAIL
Written and photographed by Jeff Ryan
DownEastBooks
C , M
AMDEN AINE
DownEastBooks
Published by Down East Books
An imprint of Globe Pequot
Trade division of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26-34 Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB, United
Kingdom
Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK
Designed by Hillary Steinau, Camden Design
Maps by Rachel Carter and Puelle Design.
Copyright © 2016 by Jeffrey H. Ryan
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer
who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available
ISBN 978-1-60893-578-9 (paperback : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-60893-579-6 (electronic)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America

Contents
Preface
About the Appalachian Trail
Katahdin
Vermont
The Boot Fiasco
Vermont, part II
Shenandoah
A Granite State of Mind
Back to Virginny
Land of Rocks and Hawks
Return to Port Clinton
A Time to Connect
Ridges, Fields, Rivers, and Byways
Return to New York
A Truly Historical Hike
New York, part II
From Bland to Grand
Virginia in Winter
The Test
Joyful Spring
Worlds Between
The Smoky Mountains
Back to Maine
360° Euphoria
Trail’s End
Carrying the Load
Glossary
About the Author
A message to readers who are thinking
about hiking the AT
This book isn’t a trail guide. The profile maps created for this book are meant to
portray general elevation loss and gain and to indicate the places we camped.
They are not designed for, nor should be used for navigation. If you are planning
a hike on the AT, I recommend purchasing and carrying a trail map and guide
(preferably one published by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy).
The guidebooks to each trail section (generally one guide per state) contain
detailed trail descriptions, profile maps and topographic maps. These three
pieces of information are not only critical to navigating the trail, finding water
sources, etc., they can also provide a much needed perspective on how to get to
help should you encounter a medical emergency (either yours or that of another
hiker).
Carrying a guide book and maps is more than common sense. The proceeds
from the guides also support the efforts of the chapter clubs that work tirelessly
to maintain the AT and surrounding trails for everyone’s enjoyment. Please
consider supporting their work by making an additional donation or becoming a
volunteer or member.