Mapping the Sheltowee

IPreferPi · cub Joined: 23 May 2012 Posts: 2

Hello everyone. My name's Adam. I was planning a thru hike trip this year for the middle of fall. I have been to Red river gorge this year already. Backpacked a 3 night stay alone beginning of April. I loved the whole trip and I enjoyed the hiking much more than I thought I would. I hiked about 5 miles along the Sheltowee unexpectedly and now I would love to thru hike the whole trail. Im planning this trip to give me some trail hiking experience. I hope this is a good starter/ good experience for a thru hike through Pacific crest trail next year Smile

. Any helpful advice would be very much appreciated. Feel free to ask any questions for me as well.

1. How many miles a day is about average and is a good pace? I'm hoping to tackle a fast pace and am fairly confident I can do about 18-28 miles a day. I'm looking for about two week hike.

2. Are the resupply point easy to reach? Where and how many are there?

3. How many people actual complete a thru hike? It doesn't seem as common as I thought it would be.

4. Where are the toughest parts on the trail?

5. Which is best: north-south or south-north?

I live in Ohio about 5 hours from the start of the trails. I'm 19 right now, will be 20 when starting hike. I consider myself physically fit. I'm used to running around 6 miles a day. And if there is anything I can prepare for now, I will. Thank you for any help you can give Smile

MuddyBoots · on trail Joined: 25 Oct 2011 Posts: 31 Location: kentucky

Hi Adam and welcome to the ST. I am section hiking the ST with the 2012 Sheltowee Trace Association challenge hike group. We started from the southern terminus just across the border in Tennesse in January. We are about 150 miles into the trail now. Good water has been plentiful and the trail has been in fair to good condition. Fair due to blow downs in some sections.

If you've been doing 18-28 per day elsewhere, you'll be able to do the same on the ST.

Since I've been section hiking the ST, I can't speak to ease of resupply. You may want to pickup Scott Ward's guide book as he provides some tips for resupply points for thru hiking the ST.

Have a great hike!

IPreferPi · cub Joined: 23 May 2012 Posts: 2

Where and how could I get ahold of this guide book?

jbd · Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 8:09 pm Post subject:

Try this link to the Sheltowee Trace Associations trading post page.

When the page loads, scroll down a little to find the guide book.

http://www.sheltoweetrace.org/Trading_Post.html

rootman · Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 9:45 pm Post subject: Thru hike advice

Just finished section hiking the ST this week so I can say I've seen all of it. The northern half has a lot more road walking (forest roads and asphalt) than the southern so you should make good time there. Remember, though, that the days will be shorter in the fall. In my opinion the southern half is more physically demanding but you are a young guy and I'm 63 so it might not be a big deal to you. We had no problems getting water but remember if you plan to camp on a ridge you will probably have no water nearby. Be sure to fill your containers down below. Hiking in the fall should be good for several reasons. Rivers and creeks will be low. Fewer bugs will be out. Foliage might not be so dense. Temperatures will be moderate. I, too, recommend the trail guide as it is generally very accurate. You might also find the re-supply info helpful. Occasionally the trail markers might be missing and you'll have to get out the compass, map, GPS, and/or trail guide to be sure you are on course. We carried all of those items. DeLorme TOPO 9 software has the ST on its maps but we found that it wasn't super accurate. Nevertheless it gave us a general indicator that we were on track when we weren't exactly sure which way to go. I hope to have a thru-hike report up soon. Good luck!

jbd · Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 8:13 am Post subject:

Congratulations rootman!!!

Traildust · Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 10:18 am Post subject:

Rootman,
Congrats. Can you email me a photo of the finish or on the trail? We have a End - 2 - End or Thruhiker registry on our webpage that we are developing and would be honored to include you. If you keep any sort of journal or log we would appreciate having that to share as well.

Steve Barbour "traildust"
Executive Director
The Sheltowee Trace Association

director@sheltoweetrace.org

daavidfischer · cub Joined: 16 Oct 2012 Posts: 12

I read somewhere that the Red River Gorge is designated a Geological Area, National Natural Landmark and National Archaeological District and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. A portion of the gorge is also designated as Clifty Wilderness, 12,646 acres of rugged forest landscape.

__________
David Fischer
see here

Traildust · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 10:02 am Post subject:

Wonder if IPreferPi completed his thruhike?